Since the third phase to our wellness program enveloped education and
knowledge, how to combat cancer, there were certain basics we needed to
understand. Essentially the reasoning was, when the doctors said things
to us, we were confused, we didn't know what questions to ask, or how to
follow up his remarks, although they were compassionate, we still didn't
understand and it became frustrating. At that point say around the 2nd
month of chemotherapy treatment, I started to log and journalize all
medications and blood tests and yes even count the times she was "stuck"
or injected with a needle.
Now, you may ask, what was Barbs emotional and willingness to take
charge. The first 9 months, she was emotionally and physically ill. She
ran the gamut of emotions, denial, fear stayed with her all the time
(and me althought I did not outwardly show it to Barb), negative
emotions, attitudes and beliefs. So, in effect, she didn't want any part
of taking charge or researching, nothing. She gave up. That attitude
and negative beliefs change which I mentioned I will discuss in future
articles. It probably is the most important one can realize and
effectively succeed in combatting cancer. Ones belief that they can get
well. I can hardly wait to discuss with you but first may I share with
you the basic understanding of what tests Barb was taking, and how to
read them, because I know all of you take similar blood the tests.
First lets start with where does blood come from and what is blood and
what is it comprised of: Medical community correct me if I am wrong.
I needed to know what cancer was: and basically all that I read and the
people that I talked too said that it starts with the deficiency of the
immune system and that it is a general term for more than 100 diseases
characterized by the uncontrolled, abnormal growth of the cells. The
cause, well the cause is not certain according to the professionals, but
the opinions are that they vary from carcinogens such as radiation (from
the sun) or drugs or chemicals or from toxic stress (which I believe was
the case in Barbs diagnosis). Once cells become malignant, they
multiply more rapidly than usual. Then they often form masses called
tumors that invade nearby tissue and interfere with normal bodyily
functions.
Cancers are classified according to type of cell and organ in which they
start:
Carcinoma: the most commone kind of cancer, arises in the layers of
cells covering teh bodys surface or lining internal organs and various
gland
Melanoma: starts in the pigment cells located among the cells of
the skin
Sarcomas: originate in the supporting (or connective) tissues of
the body, such as bones, muscles and blood vessels
Leukemias: begin in the blood-forming tissues: the bone marrow, the
lymph nodes, and te spleen, all important components of the immune
system
Lymphomas: are born in the cells of the lymph system- the bodys
circulatory network for filtering out impurities.
Blood are cells that produced from the bone marrow, which is the inner,
spongy substance in the center of the bone. It produces red blood
cells, platelets and most of the white blood cells.
Red blood Cell: carries oxygen to the tissues in your body.
Hemoglobin and hematocrit are the tests used to evaluate the red blood
cell. When these measures are low, your body tissues do not get enough
oxygen to do their work. this results in a condition called anemia.
Platelets: Help your blood to clot, st that excessive bleeding
is prevented. If you are injured you may bleed or bruise more easily
than usual if your platelet count is low. The blood test that measures
the platelets in yor body is called "platelet count"
White blood cells: helps protect the body by fighting bacteria that
cause infections.
The blood test that includes all of the components above is called a
"cbc" or complete blood count. This is the most used and recognized for
the results of the normalcy of the red, platelet and white cells.
The white blood count normal values for men and women range from 4.8 to
10.8. The red blood count normal ranges are from 4.7-6.1 and for women
4.2-5.4. There are many other tests that are listed in the "cbc" that
revolve around the measuring of the red, platelet and white blood cells.
The important ones, especially while going through conventional therapy
is the white blood count, red blood count, platelets, hemoglobin,
hematocrat, absolute neutrafil, etc. Your lab and medical team will
monitor these closely and should be often to see your progress and how
you react to therapy. It was necessary for us to understand this as
well.
In Barbs case, she had complications, as a secondary effect to cancer
and that was clotting of both jugulars, the vena cava and superior vena
cava veins. So she was taking a blood thinner called "coumadin" to
control and new clotting conditions. Miraculously she developed
collateral veins that found their way back to the heart to give her good
blood flow. To date Barb has been stuck with needles 977 times in 3
years.
At the end of the 9th month, 9 treatments of taxol/carboplatin, her
tumor marker, (mentioned in previous articles) went from 490 to 900.
She was not doing well and did not respond well to chemotherapy.
This article is getting somewhat lengthy, but, tomorrow I will discuss
what we feel begins is the turning point point for Barb and I. I will
discuss the significant books that gave us HOPE. I know there are many,
we have many but, there are certain books that were more instrumental to
giving us the HOPE we were, seeking.
Thank you and God Bless YOu All.
Marty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an automatically-generated notice. If you'd like to be removed
from the mailing list, please visit the Medicine-On-Line Discussion Forum
at <http://www.meds.com/con_faq.html>, or send an email message to:
majordomo@lists.meds.com
with the subject line blank and the body of the message containing the line:
unsubscribe mol-cancer your-email-address
where the phrase your-email-address is replaced with your actual email
address.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
