10 Home Remedies for Chemothery Side Effects

This is my second "go round" with cancer and chemoptherapy, this time I'm much more educated in helping myself deal with side effects and would like to pass my remedies on to others.

Chemotherapy affects the stomach in a very devastating manner from the top to the bottom and though the prescribed Katrill was a life saver, it doesn't do it "all". Here are a few home remedies your oncologist will not tell you about...he's busy with the chemical aspect of treating the disease and not much into home remedies....I am!

1. Ginger

Ginger has long been known as an anti-nausea agent....I used fresh ginger, sliced it up thinly and put it in the freezer. I would put a few slices from the freezer into a cup of hot water and sip it as tea. I was surprised to read that they have a clinical trial going on using ginger in capsule form to treat nausea in chemo patients...worked for me!

2. Aloe

Aloe is another soothing agent to the stomach and intestinal tract and aloe water is tasteless and can be found in any supermarket in the produce department. It's inexpensive and helpful...I personally know a man that cured himself of bleeding ulcers with aloe juice, his doctor was amazed.

3. White food

Now for eating....I read many years ago that eating "white food" was a good idea as most white food doesn't have a strong smell or strong taste....I can't say that it worked for me but it could work for you. I'm a believer in organic food and foods made from scratch....we have enough chemicals racing around our body, we don't need more. You might want to check out the "Budwig Diet" on the internet.

4. Baldness

Your oncologist will tell you if you will lose your hair....for me it was somewhat of a blessing, not having to shave my legs, no blow drying etc. Cut your hair very short and once it starts falling out, shave it! The American Cancer Society will give you wigs free of cost....I prefer my baldness as I live in Florida and I also have a nicely shaped head. My eyebrow are very sparse and rather than pencil them in, I use eye shadow that I apply with a brush....it's more natural looking.

5. Attitude

Should you experience depression...fight it, talk to yourself, convince yourself that depression will not help you and imagine yourself healthy again....and smile as you talk to yourself...I don't know why, but it works.

6. Acupuncture

I went to an acupuncturist during my first experience with cancer....it helped so much with the horrendous headaches and the nausea. I don't know why I didn't do it through this battle.

7. Water

Drinking water is of the utmost importance and I'm sure your doctor will tell you that, but he doesn't tell you to drink mineralized water which will put your body in an alkaline state

8. Exercise

DO NOT let yourself become a couch potato....even if you must force yourself to walk around the block, it will be helpful. Somedays you must force yourself to put one foot in front of the other....but do it. Exercise helps your body, but it also helps your mind. You will feel good about yourself and proud.

9. Grooming

Keeping yourself well-groomed can be an effort on some days, but it's a must! I found on the days I HAD to go out and groom myself with make-up etc....something magical happened and I'd feel better....the effort was great but well worth it......I try and do that everyday now. I mean beyond taking a shower and brushing my teeth.

10. Power of Prayer

I think one of the most important remedies is prayer....it has such power and has gotten me through some really rough times. I don't know how it works, IT WORKS.

Oops! Forgot something.....dealing with constipation. I hate the thickness of prune juice and read on the internet to combat that... put dried prunes in a cup, pour boiling water over them... drink the liquid while warm and then eat the prunes. One woman told me her nurse told her to add a bit of butter to it... I chose to pass on that one but the woman found it quite effective. Flaxseed is also quite effective and you can add them to your cereal or mix them in a salad or just eat a teaspoonful... of course, taking laxatives work but they are not a good idea unless it's an emergency as your body will come dependent of them.

Good luck to all you "warriors" and I hope that I've helped you in your battle... it's a tough battle but it can be won... keep positive... it's the attitude that will get you through this... fight on and beat it!

By Donna Parra  

Cancer care rationing begins in America as cancer clinics turn away thousands of Medicare patients

Federal sequestration measures that came into effect on April 1 are making it impossible for many cancer clinics across the country to administer conventional care to patients, and particularly to those on Medicare. Consequently, thousands of cancer patients with taxpayer-funded insurance coverage are being turned away, according to reports, as clinics simply do not have the capacity nor the funding to administer expensive pharmaceutical-based treatments such as chemotherapy.
According to the Washington Post, many cancer clinics are having to turn away patients without adequate coverage, or else face potential closure of their practices. Since many of the latest cancer drugs now cost upwards of $35,000 or more per year, it is grossly unsustainable to deliver such treatments to patients without adequate insurance coverage -- doing so would spell financial suicide for even the most successful and well-funded cancer clinics.
"If we treated the patients receiving the most expensive drugs, we'd be out of business in six months to a year," said Jeff Vacirca, chief executive of North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in New York, to the Washington Post. "The drugs we're going to lose money on we're not going to administer right now."

Back in October, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, another New York-based cancer center, announced that it would not be administering an expensive new cancer drug known as Zaltrap (ziv-afilbercept), a Sanofi-Aventis creation designed to treat metastatic colorectal cancer. According to an op-ed piece published by The New York Times (NYT), an average month's worth of treatment with Zaltrap costs more than $11,000, or more than $132,000 per year.
"We don't sugar-coat things, we're cancer doctors," explained Charles Holladay, an oncologist at the Charleston Cancer Center in South Carolina, to the Washington Post. Holladay's facility began informing many of its government-covered patients several weeks ago that they would have to seek out alternative treatment options.
"We tell them that if we don't go this course, it's just a matter of time before we go out of business," he added.
Prevention, natural treatments are the keys to beating cancer and avoiding a total healthcare meltdown

Even if sequestration was not a factor in the current cancer treatment crisis, the ever-escalating costs of conventional cancer treatments would still be bankrupting an already-overburdened American healthcare system. The public at large is still not being informed about effective cancer prevention strategies, for instance, nor is there any effort whatsoever being made by public health authorities to teach people about effective natural cancer treatment options like the Gerson Therapy protocol, Indian black salve, and all-natural cannabis oil.
This, of course, is due to the fact that the conventional healthcare system is owned and operated by the pharmaceutical cartel, which has no interest in actually healing people. Instead, a sadistic combination of greed and eugenics is what drives healthcare, and especially the cancer industry, today -- and this death-care model is directly responsible for pushing the healthcare system to the precipice of complete destruction.
"With an aging global population and an endless conveyor belt of expensive new drugs and technologies and increasing financial pressures, the cost of cancer care in high-income countries is becoming unsustainable," said the journal The Lancet Oncology in a statement back in 2011 about the failure of the conventional cancer industry.

by: Ethan A. Huff
Sources for this article include:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.fiercepharma.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com

Heart Cancer

It will be surprising for many knowing about this term Heart Cancer. It is not that common and that is the reason why this is not there in our encyclopedia books. Let us take a look on what it is really and how it can be avoided and if possible how to cure it.
In General:
Many doctors say that this form of cancer is extremely rare and not many patients are seen suffering from this either. But yes it is a strong disease and is of the capacity of other heart disorders like arrhythmia and Congestive Heart Disease in terms of suffering and pain. The interesting thing to learn is that these cancers are not that dangerous as other forms of cancers are. Yes, but there is a threat of death and that too sudden death like seen in the cases of heart attack and Cardiac Arrest. In facts recent numbers game indicates that only a mere 0.1 deaths are due to Heart Cancers. Whether they died of cancer or other reasons is another question that is still answered.
Cancer in any part of the heart is called as Sarcoma. This is a type of Cancer which originates from the soft tissues of the body of the patient. However there is no necessity that the cancerous cell from the tissues should then affect the heart as they can any part of the body. The Lymphomas are the cells that may cause the Heart Cancer as they originate from the heart and then may affect the heart on its way causing Cancer. The other Cancers which affect the heart include melanomas and sarcomas.
How do they affect the Heart?
Heart Cancers not only result due to the proliferation of the cells in the heart. It can also be caused due to several reasons. The one way is by affecting the heart valves, which is called as Marantic Endocarditis. The term Endocarditis here does not mean the infection of the Heart Valves. The other form of Heart Cancer is called as Cardiac Fibrosis. It is commonly associated with the stiffening of the heart muscle. This stiffening process makes the heart work more and thus makes the heart tired and the person is susceptible all other complications of the heart like Arrhythmia and Heart Failure. Also the treatment given for any other cancer may in turn affect the heart itself. This is mainly due to the usage of certain chemotherapy drugs like Anthracyclines, High-dose Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), 5-FU, Taxanes, Trastuzumab (Herceptin) and IL-2.
Also radiation treatments should be given carefully as they may affect the heart if they are given directly as the heart muscle gets exposed directly thus damaging it. The patient may even develop other complications like Heart Murmurs, Congestive Heart Disease and other heart disorders.

By Peter Marsden

Cancer Juicing - What Are the Best Juices For Fighting Cancer?

More and more, those who have been diagnosed with cancer are choosing to heal their bodies naturally and are opting to use alternative treatments for healing cancer. Juicing has proven to be a very effective way to help the body rid itself of cancer cells. People have been juicing to treat cancer naturally for decades, although it is just now increasing in popularity.
Cancer juicing, or juice therapy, has proven to be very effective due to cancer killing nutrients contained in certain fruits and vegetables. So what are some juices that help the body to rid itself of cancer?
Below are lists of foods that are known to fight and prevent cancer. These items must be consumed raw in order to get the full benefits, which is why juicing is such a powerful healing treatment.
Cruciferous Vegetables contain very powerful anti-cancer properties. Some cruciferous vegetables are:
- Collard Greens
- Kale
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Turnip
Beta Carotene is another powerful cancer fighting ingredient found in foods. These foods include:
- Carrots
- Peppers (chili, green, red, yellow)
- Leafy Greens (mustard, romaine, collards, kale, turnip greens, spinach, dandelion)
Proanthocyanidins (or PAC's) are powerful cancer fighters as well. Foods that contain PAC's include:
- Beets (including beet tops)
- Blueberry
- Plums
- Purple Grapes (with seeds and skin)
Other fruits that contain powerful cancer fighting ingredients include:
- Pineapple
- Tomato
- Dark Berries (strawberry, blueberry, red raspberry, black raspberry)
There are also bottled juices that are power packed with cancer fighting nutrients. Please research the brands and only go with the best. Recommended bottled juices include:
- Noni Juice
- Mangosteen Juice
- Goji Berry Juice.
Although the bottled juices listed above are great due to the powerful nutrients that they contain, fresh juice made from organic produce is definitely the best. During the juicing process, the fiber is removed with the pulp. Because of this, the nutrients needed to heal the body and restore the immune system go directly into the blood stream in the form of juice.
Many are amazed at the benefits of juicing because they quickly notice that they alleviate many other ailments as well including migraine headaches, allergies, dandruff, stiff joints, dull skin, dandruff, fatigue and high blood pressure. Many shed excess pounds as a result of juicing as well.
It is important to note that in order for juice treatments to truly be effective, the person must have a diet that does not include artificial chemicals, meat products or dairy products. Diet plays a major role in the healing process. Eating a natural diet and eliminating processed foods is essential to the healing process as well. Rebuilding damaged cancer cells through nutritional juice therapy is extremely effective and a much better alternative than chemotherapy, radiation and toxic drugs.

By Pat G.