Eat your Wheat Germ

Just read a fascinationg article, and sent it to mom, on Avemar, a derivative of Wheat Germ.
A short excerpt from the article from Health Sciences Institute newlsetter:

Avemar is supported by more than 100 reports (written for pre­sentation or publication) conduct­ed in the U.S., Hungary, Russia, Australia, Israel, and Italy and is validated by the publication of more than 20 peer-reviewed pub­lications describing in vitro, in vivo, and human clinical trials.
Reduce cancer recurrence
Since 1996, over 100 studies done on Avemar have impressed oncologists and cancer researchers. Studies have shown that when Avemar is used as an adjunct treat­ment, it enhances the effects of the standard treatment agents. It's par­ticularly effective in reducing the chances of cancer recurrence.
.......................
Avemar also reduced the fre­quency and severity of many common side effects, including nausea, fatigue, weight loss, and immune suppression.


Here is a link the published research on Avemar
http://www.avemarresearch.com/TOC.html

Avemar is sold by The Harmony company at:
www.harmonyco.com
or specifically to their Avemar product:
http://tinyurl.com/dnnlb

Send a sample to the lab...

Can dogs smell cancer?
Source: (cancerfacts.com)
Friday, January 13, 2006

SAN ANSELMO, Calif. – Jan. 13, 2006 – Dogs can accurately identify cancer from breath samples of people with lung and breast cancer according to a new study, giving new meaning to the term, "sending a sample to the lab."

To keep reading, the whole article is at:
http://tinyurl.com/aus2l

Relief

This week Mom passed the halfway mark on her raditaion treatments and met with both the Radio-Oncologist and the Chemo-Oncologist.

Dr. Koletsky gave her some anti-nausea medicine which seems to work better than the $40+ per pill stuff and other than the fact that she has parkinsons and cancer, she is healthy.

She has chosen to eliminate the extraneous stress brought on her by her sisters by not talking to them anymore. For now, she says, she has three great kids and a husband who is doing a fine job taking care of her.
Phil is going down for a week in February, the 7-14, I think, and there is still a chance I might get down there with the kids the following week. If not with the kids, then I will go on my own a week or so later.

Dr. Koletsky said that after the radiation is complete, today is #19 of 33, he will take 2-3 weeks off and then resume Chemo for an additional 3 weeks until she is tested again to see how all the treatments worked. He said that the person who told her that she might not lose her hair because she is getting low dose chemo might have been mistaken, since she is not getting "low dose" but a dose appropriate to being in combination with the radiation treatments. She has a wig, but no need for it yet.

While she isn't playing tennis, she is walking some, not losing weight, and not getting weak. She is getting around fine and she and Mort even went out to a sprots bar to watch the UConn game the other night.
So, thank God, for now she is holding up well with no intentions other than to get even better.

The Latest

For those of you have actually been trying to access this blog for timely updates, I apologize. I've had my hands full trying to launch my new business and I'm still dealing with a bit of tzuris left over from my divorce. But I digress. This is about Mom.

Mom started radiation on January 2nd. She has treatments every weekday, 5 times each week, and will need 33 treatments in total. When raditaion therapy is complete they will retest her 6 weeks later to determine the success of the treatment and the progression or remission of the cancer. During that time, chemotherapy may continue.

Chemo also started during the first week of the year. Mom goes to treatments every Friday and has to sit for intravenous delivery of the medicine for 4 hours.

The good news is that, despite what we all expected, the chemo actually makes her feel better. It is the radiation that is making her nauseated. Evidently during chemo they also iclude other medicienes to help with nausea and other side effects.

The radio oincologist said that the nausea is a result of the dead cancer cells entering the blood stream. If that is not a positive spin on feeling yucky, I don't what is. It certainly made Mom feel better to hear that.

They have tried different medicines to help with the nausea. When she went to fill the latest prescription at Cosco, and discovered that it cost more than $40 per pill, $480+ for ten pills, she decided not to fill it, saying it didn't work that well anyway.

Psychologically, Mom is holding up pretty well. There are always benefits to having family around, but it does not come without its stress, something that Mom does not need more of as she focuses on getting healthy.

Mom's younger sister, Aunt Ruth and her husband Uncle Sheldon, drove down from PA to visit this past week. With her older sister already living in the same complex, we were confident that she was getting the support she needed.

Unfortunately, she is now not talking to Aunt Sis. Mom is very upset that her sister has complained about Mort playing tennis while Sis takes her to treatments. Hopefully they will work things out, but for now, Mom has chosen to cut out spenidng time with Sis.

I think she and Ruth have worked out the tensions that come with the stress of fighting cancer and close family trying to do whatever they think they can to help, even when it is not always appreciated or the right thing.

In February, Phil will be going down for about a week, and, if the money I am owed from my divorce ever comes through, I still may spend a week down there with Daniel and Nina.

Anyway, Mom loves hearing from friends and family. Call her at home at 561-496-3979
or on her cell at (860) 995-7333.

That's it for now. I'll try to keep this up to date from now on.

Joshua