CANCER and B17

Here we go . . . .

A lot of folks are asking what I’m doing as far as treatments since the docs found four more tumors (three in my lymph-nodes and one on my rib). My oncologist wanted me to get another biopsy, which included collapsing one of my lungs and entering between delicate blood vessels that could potentially cause great harm, and I could get pneumonia after the surgery, etc. This, of course, is routine to them, but not to me. I believe they would do a good job if I decided to go through with this procedure, but if I’m not doing chemo, what’s the point? See, they want me to have this done to make sure the cancer is what they think it is, because if it’s not T-cell Lymphoma, they would want to treat it with another kind of chemo.

Some are shuddering at the thought that I’m no longer willing to do anymore chemo. I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you, but please know that I’m still FIGHTING. I may or may not succeed, but I may or may not succeed with chemo, either. You see, the kind of chemo I’ve been on are TWENTY-TWO hour bags, and numerous other “brands” that made it so I’d have to stay in the hospital for five days at a time in and out for eight months straight (with the last “bag” of chemo being enough to “kill a healthy” person; or so my oncologist liked to brag, but that was in prep for the stem cell transplant). I rarely got those IV injections where I went into the infusion center, got my one minute or four hour injections (I know because my stepdad went through this, and btw, he died last April), and drove myself home. No, the kind of chemo I got nearly made me bleed to death TWICE, I landed in the ER about five times, and there was no way on this green planet I was able to drive myself home after getting my chemo “fix.” In fact, I spent a good year, sitting and lying down on our living-room couch, while I had to watch someone else take care of my four children with no ability to take part in their lives, other than as a spectator. So, no. I’m DONE with chemo.

Again, I’m still FIGHTING. Here’s how.

I’m doing everything I can to UP my immune system. There’s ONE thing ALL my doctor’s agree on (which is RARE that they would agree on anything), both my oncologist and naturopathic docs, and that is I need to up my immune system. This is a difficult task because chemo and radiation have destroyed my GI tract in many ways, and if you know anything about the immune system, it needs the GI tract to ripen, grow and function.

You see, the new stem cells are supposed to kill the cancer, but I’ve been on an immune suppressant drug ever since the transplant because my onc (oncologist) doesn’t want the new cells to attack me. Trouble is, he’s been very slow at lowering my tac (tacrolimus, which is the immune suppressant drug) levels. At one point, I was actually given an overdose of this drug, and it was shortly thereafter that three tumors arrived on the scene (this was AFTER the transplant), which my onc said was his worst nightmare. So, continuing with the tac, I got radiation on those three tumors, from which I got extremely sick and lost 70 pounds (of course, I was “dying” to get down to this size, but I wouldn’t recommend the radiation and chemo diet).

It was around that time, shortly after radiation, that I went to see my naturopathic doc in AZ. He put me on a “million” supplements (okay, it felt like a million; I had about twenty bottles of supplements prescribed by him). And visiting him cost us approximately 1200 to 1700 dollars a day (yes, PER DAY—and that was with HUGE discounts), plus another 9800 dollars for one particular IV. It was after one of those two-week treatments on top of the supplements that I was declared in remission at the end of the 2011 year.

After that wonderful declaration, I simply got sick and tired of taking so many pills. I’d called my AZ doc and asked if I could lower my “dose” down to a few “most important” bottles, but he said I had to take them ALL. It was so exhausting shoveling down so many pills a day, that I finally quit taking them all, mainly because I didn’t know which ones were most important. From hearing my hubby talk, I suspected that B17 was pretty important, but I’d also heard talk of it being dangerous (that it killed some folks), so I was actually scared to take it. So . . . there the B17 sat, among all the other “trillions” of pills.

Despite my being in remission, I went back to AZ to get one more big treatment so I could make sure the cancer would stay gone. But it always bothered me that during all these treatments, I was on the tac (the immune suppressant drug). So when I got back, I asked my onc if we could lower my dose, and he FINALLY did (I’d been asking for a while by this time). But he wanted to see me back ASAP to make sure I didn’t show any signs of graft vs. host disease (this is where the new stem cells would attack me; and despite upping my immune system so much in AZ, the stem cells never attacked me). After going in right away, there were no signs of graft vs. host, and in fact, my liver counts improved, so my onc kept me on that dose of the tac. During that time, I had a PET scan that revealed one small tumor on my pelvis. Devastated by the blow, especially after I’d just gotten treated in AZ, I followed my onc’s advice, and did radiation, yet again (keep in mind, I haven’t taken any supplements since the beginning of the year). However, I set out the B17 and stared at it as it sat on my shelf (B17 is also called Laetrile = apricot seeds--which MUST be the correct variety, click this link for details). I wanted to take it because I’d heard good things, but I had to take it with something in order for it to be safe.  Afraid I might be risking my life by taking it the wrong way, I left it sitting on my shelf. It was also at this time my onc said I needed to up my immune system, and he lowered the tac again, but very little. A week after this lower dose, with no signs of side-effects, and my onc showing little concern that I needed to get in quickly for a check-up, I lowered the dose again on my own without telling my onc, and after finding out I’d lowered it, he lowered it again, but very little. Too little IMO.

After the test results for the radiation were done, the PET scan revealed a successful radiation treatment on my pelvis, but FOUR MORE TUMORS were found in my body. Three in my lymph-nodes, and one on my rib. So . . . that’s where I find myself today. That’s when I took myself completely off the tac against my onc’s advice and to his horror, and I’ve been off it for over a month now, and I’m FINE. I’m hoping the new stem cells will finally KILL the cancer, which was the goal in the first place. I figured I didn’t have much to lose, especially with the cancer coming back in droves.

It was at this time, I called my AZ doc to order more B17 and Zinc (he’d given me orders to take the B17 with Zinc; but I’d been on so many other supplements, I wasn’t sure if I needed the others or not). But when he quoted me a price of 225 dollars for one bottle of B17, I knew I had to find another way. There was no way I could afford those prices. So . . . I Googled it. I found the SAME EXACT BOTTLE that I’d purchased from the AZ doc for 80 bucks on Amazon! I ordered two bottles and still paid less than I would have for one. I realize my doc in AZ has got to make a living, but I’ve trained to run my own business, and even assuming he has to purchase this at retail cost like me, his price for this stuff is still over the top.

During all this, I’d made contact with a naturopathic doc here in Colorado and he’s helping me up my immune system. His supplements aren’t nearly as expensive as in AZ. And I only have to pay 40 bucks to see him, versus 100 dollars for a the same kind of visit in AZ.

Because of the incredible costs in AZ for treatments, and since despite getting a treatment when I was in remission, the cancer still came back, I decided I really don’t want to go back to AZ for more treatments. What I am doing, however, is juicing like a madwoman and taking 1000ml of B17 with Zinc citrate, vit C, and mag, which is what my naturopath doc here said was usually taken with it (though he said he wasn’t an “expert” on the stuff; mind you, B17 is illegal to be prescribed by doc's in in Colorado, so he can't suggest I take it). He said the B17 simply won’t work without Zinc. So . . . it wasn’t that it was dangerous if I didn’t take it with something else, it was that it simply wouldn’t work or be effective! I started back on it a week ago. But when I got on it, I had to find out how dangerous this was, and how long I should take it, etc. So, I did some more Googling . . . .

In short, here’s what I learned from the book “World Without Cancer” by G. Edward Griffin; following are a few quotes from experts on pages 102-103 (emphases are all mine):  

Commenting on the question of possible toxicity of Laetrile, Dr. Burk has summed it up with this emphatic statement:

“With FORTY-FIVE YEARS (oh, and remember this was written back in the SEVENTIES) of STUDY and RESEARCH on the cancer problem, the last thirty-three years in the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and with files of virtually all published literature on the use of amygdalin (“Laetrile”) with reference to cancer, and with innumerable files of unpublished documents and letters, I have found no statements of demonstrated pharmacological harmfulness of amygdalin to human beings at any dosages recommended or employed by medical doctors in the United States and abroad.”

Dr. D.M. Greenberg, Professor Emeritus of Bio-Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, and consultant to the Cancer Advisory Council of the California Department of Public Health added this note of concurrence:

“There is no question that pure amygdalin (Laetrile) is a non-toxic compound. This is not questioned by anyone who has studied the reports submitted to the Cancer Advisory Council of the State of California. “

Griffin:

“Each year in the United States, over ninety people die from aspirin poisoning. NO ONE EVER HAS DIED FROM B17.”

“In another series of tests, white rats were fed SEVENTY TIMES the normal human dose of Laetrile, and the only side-effects produced were greater appetite, weight gain, and superior health; just what one would expect from taking a vitamin.”

What’s the big deal about B17? It KILLS CANCER. Read all about it in “World Without Cancer” by G. Edward Griffin. B17 doesn’t kill good, normally functioning cells, like chemo does, but it kills CANCER CELLS. Why don’t the doctor’s give cancer patients this? I’ll let you figure that one out.

All I know is while I was on B17 (which in its simplest form is APRICOT SEEDS, something God invented and gave to us for our GOOD), I was in REMISSION. I just hope and pray that it’s not too late for me, and that I didn’t discover this too late.

Another thing I’ve learned. If I want to be well, I’ve got to take charge of my own body and decide what I want for treatments. I know my body better than anyone else on the planet.

Lastly, I'd like so share a comment made to a one star reviewer of the book "World Without Cancer." This father loved his baby daughter so much that when he found the TRUTH about how to fight cancer, he saved his daughter's life. 

BTM says:

In 1978 my youngest daughter was born with a Stage 5 cancerous tumor ("Fibrous Sarcoma") on her lower back close to her spinal cord. The Doctors told us there was little hope for her survival. As the tumor had already begun to attach itself to her spine and once it entered into her spinal fluid it would spread throughout her body. The only thing they said they could do was to perform an emergency operation on her to remove the tumor. However they said that chances were 80% or better that the tumor would return. And if it did return she had absolutely no chance of survival.

So at just 1 1/2 months old she underwent a 4 hour surgery to remove the tumor. In the meantime I went to the public library and started reading anything I could find about alternative treatments for cancer. That is when I came across "World Without Cancer" by G. Edward Griffin at the Atlanta Public Library. As soon as my daughter returned home after her surgery, my wife and I followed the books instructions and began feeding her ground up Apricot kernels in her baby cereal every morning. We continued to do so until she was 3 years old. The cancer never returned and she is now a healthy 29 year old mother of 3.

Later, the Doctors told us that they were actually 100% sure that her cancer would return. Because Fibrous Sarcoma was such a virulent form of cancer that if they missed even a single microscopic cell it would re-propagate and kill her. But they didn't want to tell us that, because they wanted us to have some hope. Her Doctors also scoffed at us for feeding our infant daughter the Apricot kernels. 3 years later when she was still cancer free they were no longer scoffing at us. 

Here's where to find the book "World Without Cancer" by G. Edward Griffin. And here's where you can find B17. Because I'm full of cancer, I'm taking 1000ml a day with Zinc citrate. I plan to do this for three years. After that, I'll lower my dose to 100 or 200 ml a day with Zinc citrate. Here's where you can find B17 in 100 ml doses.

Here's a one hour video summary of Griffin's book "World Without Cancer." Notice how OLD this video is, how LONG we've known the TRUTH. We're in 2012 for heaven's sake!!! ***adding this a few days later: I've come across some very good information from Alex, who commented below on this post, about the proper dosages of apricot kernels. This is one question I've had for a long time!

I've also learned "all" the important vitamins to take with B17 for it to work well. Here's a list:

Zinc, Vit C, Manganese, Magnesium, Selenium, B6, B9 and B12, Vit A, and Vit E (at least 2000 I.U.) Here's the LINK where I learned this. I suggest you read the entire page if you're fighting cancer.

They also say it's critical to take pancreatic or proteolytic enzymes (caution: these are blood-thinners). Anyway, I have no idea what pancreatic or proteolytic enzymes are, but what I do know is that they digest protein. Am I taking these? I don't know. I am on a regime of supplements that support my digestive system in order to boost my immune function. So . . . who knows. I'll figure it out. ...Coming back to this later. I found the enzymes at Vitamin Cottage (they're not cheap), and I'm taking them. :-)

ALSO, and this is important for those on blood-thinners and/or who have low blood-pressure (I have low blood pressure, and I've noticed this). B17 WILL lower your blood-pressure. I tried taking 1500ml of B17, but it was too much, so I dropped back down to the 1000ml dose per day. It's possible I have low blood-pressure at the moment because I still have a tri-fusion picc line that requires heparin to avoid clots in the line. This thins the blood. So . . . there ya have it. :-)

A GOD THING

Okay, I just did something a bit nutty, perhaps it might be considered "stalking." But I wasn't exactly stalking anyone, just a house. I asked God to lead me to this house because I didn't have the address, and I wasn't sure if I'd recognize it when/if I did find it.

Here's what happened:

Last Saturday, I went to two "open houses" with my second oldest daughter. You see, the RICH neighborhood across the big street from us was having open houses! A chance to see one of those gigantic mansions! Why pass up an opportunity?

So, as we were touring the second mansion (and to be honest, I've talked often with family about the idea of moving into a large house that would house all of us--aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc--so, I was looking to see if any one of those houses would actually be suitable for that kind of living----umm, nope). Anyway . . . back to the second mansion (okay, just learned these were "big houses" not mansions). We entered the front doors. Right before us were vaulted ceilings, a grand staircase to the right, and towering windows with curtains from the ceiling to the floor presided at the head of a long dining room table. It was awesome!

As we walked through the dining room, two ginormous pictures of a boy in a tuxedo and a girl in a wedding dress were on display. And throughout the entire house we would encounter clusters of toys, paperwork, and games stashed in nooks and cranny's, giving the home a "lived in" feeling, despite its grandeur. Up the grand staircase were sayings on the walls such as "happily ever after" and other forms of "home sweet family" in modern, scripted letter-style, and different pictures of three children floating down a hall, and pictures of Mom and Dad in wedding photos and other photos of joyous times together. In the master bedroom, a sign above the bed read something like: a kiss before goodnight, with pictures of this couple on either side. As we walked through the smaller bedrooms, one was in blue for a boy, another neatly-kempt room was for a girl, and then the last bedroom was clearly for the youngest girl where she left some of her clothes and toys piled on her bed.

In the basement a carpeted playroom stretched from one end of the house to the other and opened up to a backyard where two golden retrievers sat in the shade in their dog run, and where I could imagine these three children romping and swinging from their large playhouse/swing-set. And when we went into the last bedroom nestled just a few feet away from the playroom, I wondered why this couple was moving when they had such a lovely home, and clearly a cozy setting for their family, so I asked the realtor, "Why are they moving?'

Her answer, "They're getting divorced. And the husband sleeps down here in this bedroom."

My heart dropped to the floor. But they love each other. How could they divorce? How could they want to break up their beautiful family? So many thoughts swished through my head, and I left that house feeling absolute heartache for that precious family: for the parents and their three beautiful children.

That was on Saturday. Today is Tuesday. Ever since that day, and every time I drive by the "rich neighborhood," I think of that family falling apart, and thoughts of writing them a small note, something, anything to encourage those parents constantly leaped through my mind. Finally, I asked God if He wanted me to write a little note to encourage them, to remind me of it. I had no idea what I'd say to complete strangers. And what in the world would they think of getting an "encouragement note" from a stranger?

Well, thoughts of that precious family dogged me for three days, that finally today, I found a little card, and it "just so happens" that our preacher wrote an amazing article about healing marriages in a recent bulletin. I cut that out with the information of our church with a little message written in the card:

LOVE is written all over the walls of your house and in your photos. Your marriage is worth fighting for! ---From someone who's been there.

I was ready. Got the message written and it seemed perfect that the article about marriages was available. I sealed the envelop with the note and article inside and grabbed my oldest daughter to accompany me on finding that "big house." Here was my plan, Lord Willing, I was going to tape this envelop to the front door of this lovely home where they could find it (it's illegal to leave unstamped envelopes in mail boxes). But the question was, could I find the house? I drove up and down streets, trying to jog my memory of where that house was. How in the world was I going to find this place? I didn't have the address. I kept my eyes open for a "sales" sign, all the while praying, "Lord, if You think this is a good idea, please lead me to the right house." I mean, can you imagine leaving a note like that on the wrong door?

During these thoughts and prayers, and giggling at the insanity of this night-time adventure with my daughter (it was around 10:00 at night), I drove by a house and stopped. That might be the house I was looking for, but I wasn't sure. That's when I realized, I never really got a good, solid look at the front of the place. So, I prayed and drove on. After driving back home in hopes of finding one of those many brochures we'd collected of the homes on that day (this one was worth $800,000), and not finding it, and not daring to wake the daughter who accompanied me that day since she had to be up at 5:30 the next morning for school, I headed back out with my oldest daughter, the envelop and a prayer.

Back in the neighborhood, which is only two minutes away from our house, I drove by that one particular house we stopped at, and I saw a man standing in the front yard with his dog. I didn't dare stop, but I couldn't help but wonder if that was the place.

"He looks like the man I saw in the pictures that were in that house," I said to my daughter. "I wonder if that might actually be the place?"

So, I made a U-turn, and pulled up to the house, butterflies in my stomach and a prayer on my lips. I parked across the street, and left my door open, since it was the only light, other than the nearby fancy-smazzy street lamp. As I crossed the street toward the man who had a handsome face and ruffled hair and was on his cellphone in the late hours of the night with the two dogs I suddenly recognized from the home I was in, he told his friend in the receiver to hold on and asked me kindly and with an edge of concern in his voice, "May I help you, Ma'am?"

With my nerves loosening in the slight breeze because of the man's comforting, helpful tone, I asked, "Do you have three children?"

He nodded, a kind friendly grin, almost like I was meeting a old friend, or someone I knew.

"Then I have the right place," I said sighing with a smile, not sure if he could even see my face clearly. So I told him, "I came to your open house."

"Oh, really?" he said, with bright eyes shining in the lamplight and one of his dogs sniffing and rubbing against my legs, tail wagging. "When was that?"

Trying to remember when I'd come, I finally said, "Just a few days ago." Then I laughed, remembering the day. "Oh, yeah. Saturday."

With a nod and a bright smile that I thought should look tired but didn't, he asked, "Oh, so are you interested?"

Of course, he would ask that, but it still caught me off guard. I'm sure he was wondering why I didn't let him know I wanted to buy his $800,000 house during daylight hours.

I just said to him, "No, it's not really what we were looking for." Of course, I said this with the previous thoughts of my grand scheme of having three or four families moving into his home. I chuckled at myself, and then handed him the envelop.

Without hesitation, he gladly took hold of it, and as we both held the card together I said, "This is for you."

"Oh, thank you." He took the card with such eagerness, it was as if he was waiting for me to drive by and give him my little note.

So, after he thanked me, I thanked him, but before I could turn around, he asked me my name. And I said, "Sandi."

And then he said, "Thank you, Sandi," and turned around, calling his dogs, and walked toward his open garage.

I slipped into the car where my daughter waited, and we drove away, thankfully finding our way back out of the neighborhood, but the first words to my daughter were, "That was a God thing."

I mean, who in their right mind goes out so late at night into a neighborhood (where you know there's surveillance) with the plan of sticking a card to an immaculately polished door, where there's no traffic on the roads, no signs of any person on the streets, where lit and unlit homes that back up to golf-courses have doors that are tightly locked and possibly rigged with alarms . . .  but the one house you're trying to find has it's owner standing on the front lawn with the two dogs I recognize, practically waiting for me . . . REALLY?!

That's a God thing.

It's moments like this that make me thankful to be alive. Please pray for this family. I SO want them to stay together and work things out and have the kind of marriage they've obviously dreamed of having. All things are possible with God. I just hope and pray that they know that too.

One Thousand Gifts

Today I received this amazing book, "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp, from a friend, and I can't put it down. It's an answered prayer. I've been praying for peace and joy amidst fighting cancer for nearly two years, and now I know the way to it is through thanksgiving to God for His many gifts. I'm not even finished with Chapter Two, but already I'm thanking God for the gift of this book, and the gift of understanding eucharisteo.

Thank You, Lord, for loving me.