Feeling Lost

I have been following this forum and posted a question about chemo price a long time ago but I never could get a courage to ask you all about the natural therapy drugs that I have already ordered and sent them all to my mum who lives in Mongolia.
My mum (70 years old) had an op and biopsy taken on 29 October 2007 and was diagnosed with OVCA stage 3c. The Doctors removed 2 litres of fluid from her peritoneal cavity during the op. The bilateral cancer tumors of size 10 x 8 cm were removed. Unfortunately, the cancer tumor has grown into (got attached to) her bladder, rectum and pelvic tissues so the doctors told me that there was nothing they could do about them but to leave them as they were. They also told me that a huge number of small mestastasis were located in the peritoneal surfaces. The mass of 20 x 15 cm found in her omentum and was removed as much as possible and the size of aortic limph nodes were increased. They conducted an intraperitoneal chemo 5 days after her operation. Since then she completed 4 cycles of Taxol and Carbo on 1 February, lost her hair, her blood test showed that her liver has a small infection (according to the oncologist) but she still has a good appetite. She occassionally gets very itchy skin for which I sent some Sea Salt to try. Bearing in mind the poor supply of medical help in the country she lives, I have spent hours on the net trying to find other solutions or cure for mum's condition and managed to order the following for my mum from the US:
1. Natural Cellular Defence
2. Algae Blue Green
3. Liver Balance Plus
4. Nano-DHLA
5.Ge-ProCoQ10.
However today when I spoke to my mum over the internet messenger chat line she told me that she is considering to start taking the above natural herbs that I sent to her. Now that my mum wants to start taking the above I started having second thoughts because of what I read in this forum about the Natural Cellular Defence yesterday.
At the time of placing the order I read about the cancer fighting strategies and was fully convinced about them. I could not find anything negative about these products. However, when they arrived to me I received the Medicine Man Tea, that I also ordered, only in 1 huge tea bag that was placed in just a plastic bag and stapled across and it had no manufacturer or ingredients details. It is then when I started having doubts because I was very much disappointed to have received just 1 teabag placed in just an ordinary plastic bag even though they advertised it lasts for several weeks. I had to return it straight away because I could not believe they could also charge me $169 for this.
Anyway my main concern at the moment is that whether or not I should tell my mum to go ahead and start taking them or dispose of them.
Just to let you all know I live in the UK. I also sent my mum Shark Cartilage from a reliable natural products shop that she is taking now and recently Esther -C vitamins. I know it sounds very silly of me to find all these and to make matters worse I broke up with my brother and sister while I was there in Mongolia with my mum in October through December because they were all against my idea of putting my mum on to natural herbs i.e. Cordyceps that I obtained from China and now I am feeling very much lost and lonely and also feel like the last stupid person on earth and don't know what to say to my mum. Please help. Has anyone of you tried or think that the natural herbs listed above is something that I should forget about.
Thank you
Bee

[dian07]

Hi there...first of all...don't feel stupid and you are not alone!  This is a terrible disease and most of us would try anything to rid ourselves, or someone we loved , of this horrible disease!  I can certainly understand your need to help your mum.  I am unable to give you advice on the products you purchased , but hopefully someone will come along who does have knowledge in this area.  Please know you are not alone.
Peace.
dian

[journeymom]

I agree with Dian about your efforts to help, Im sure it's really frightening that you are so far apart. My gyn onc said to avoid mega doses of vitamins, especially C. The components that strenghten healthy cells also enforce the cancer cells.  these herbals are not approved nor tested by the FDA  and you won't find research on how they interact.  
jen

[Bee07]

Thanks for your support and effort to chase it up with someone who may know the answer. I will certainly bear in mind the dosage for Vitamin C. It really is nice to know that I am not alone cause I do struggle sometimes when I hear about my mum, it is kind of hard to describe feeling especially every time I hear bad news from home. It is the time when my mum needs me most and I hate myself for not being there for her.
God Bless You All and God Bless to Whoever Created This Chat Room. You are all in my prayers.
Bee

[PinkTissue]

I am really sorry to hear about your mum. I can understand what you are going through as my mum was diagnozed with the same disease just 2 months ago. At the initial diagnosis, the cancer was spread throughout the stomach and almost inoperable. She went through 3 months of chemotherapy and together with Chinese medication, shrunk the cancer that by the time she was operated, she has very few small spots of cancer left. What caught my eye is that your mum is in Mongolia. Maybe the following recipe would help since the food/herbs should be familiar to you:

Food:

Avoid prawn/crabs - they are believed to be 'poisonous' in Chinese medication.
Fish is good though.
Avoid food/hot (as in chilli hot) food - and no pepper!
It is important to keep up the appetite (we call it 'raise the appetite'). Have someone to boil this soup everyday - lean pork meat/chicken with bones, goji seeds, dates, haw (shang-cha), nuts. You can mix the soup with various ingredients like lotus root, radish, xian vergetables, black beans. The source of the herbs/grains are important - if they are sprayed with insecticide, it is of no use. Finish up the soup and the meat - it is a source of protein and help with raising the appetite and to help your bone marrow to regenerate the blood cells killed during chemo.

Drinks
You have to drink loads of water but most people do not know how difficult to drink 8 glasses of plain water if you do not have the habit of drinking them and because of the treatment, it even makes your feel like vomiting. This is what my mum drinks:

Plain water - boiled water - very important. Get your mother to invest a water bottle. If she goes out and needs to drink, drink from your own bottle. Water outside may not be clean.
Barley - boiled from barley at home
Aloe vera - boiled at home
My special formula - chrysanthemum, dried pear, dried long an, dried wild berry, goji seeds, dates, haw - mix it up and pour boiling water to it and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
It is important to drink water throughout the day - especially during the chemo session. The more urine she passes, the more toxic she passes out from the body.

How not to feel like throwing up
I think your mum should know what is cheng pi - salted orange peel. Get her to suck on it regularly. It would keep the nauseau down and because it is lightly salted, it sort of produces natural saliva and you would want to drink water naturally which would give a nice tinge of taste. And the best part, salt keeps your mouth free from germs (it is easy to get mouth sores during chemo) and is better than gurgling with salt water.
Also get some shan cha (haw) sweets for her to eat. The more she eat, she would actually feel hungry for the real food.

If you are not adverse to chinese medication - this is what my mum takes (and the cancer patients I know take)
- wild ginseng (the older the better)
- cordyceps
- deer antler
- cow gallstones
Grind the above into powder. Take one tea spoon and mix with hot water to take everyday. Make sure that you have the 'real' herbs - genuine wild ginseng is hard to get but your mother may be able to get the real ones.

[PinkTissue]

I am really sorry that you broke up with your siblings and they are against using natural herbs. We have the same problem - there are 2 schools of thought - some asked my mum not to go for chemo/surgery and just rely on herbs. The other school of thought said   not to take the herbs at all and go for the 'western' way.

My mum took a combination treatment. The Chinese doctor who prescribed the herbs told my mum that it is the best to take the best of 2 cultures to fight this cancer beast  

We are cautiously optimistic by the treatment regime - by the 2nd chemo, half the tumors were gone and CA125 dropped to normal and by the 3rd chemo and surgery - all visible cancer have disappeared on their own or easily removed during surgery. And.....my mum's blood count is normal throughout the chemo and has no loss of appetite. Something worked for my mum - we are not sure what.

If your siblings are against the 'natural herbs' way, you may still be able to get around it by incorporating into the normal food regime.

[Bee07]

Thank you very much for your very valuable advice. My mum has been on cordyceps since she had the first cycle of chemo and I believe that must have helped her a great deal with her immune system and steady appetite because the Oncologist told me at the time when she started the 1st chemo that my mum's body may find it hard to cope with the second round of chemo. Apart from bone aching crucial pains that would last for 2 days after each chemo treatment she had an incredible appetite and did not lose any weight. She loves fruits and vegetables but she heard from somewhere that vegetables (or anything that contains multivitamins) are not good for her so all she has at the moment is mostly meals with beef or lamb and pastry (flour), occasional yogurt and milk and granites because it is her favourite fruit. I will definitely work on ways to changing her diet cause I am also a great believer of fruit and veg diet.
Thanks again and God bless you and your mother. I will keep your mother in my prayers.
Bee

[lucymullis]

I have read some studies stating the value of ginger and vitamin D in killing cancer cells.  I am taking both now.  Of course, these are fairly new.

I am so sorry your mom and you are having to deal with this.  This disease is truly a monster.  Since you have been so willing to share your situation, I would like to make a suggestion.  Do everything in your power to make amends with your siblings.  Joining together for support will help your mother so very much thru the hard times.  

[alanpvegas]

Hi Bee, I just saw your post today.  I spent months...months...researching natural remedies for my mom as well.  Here is my top five picks:

1) Maitake D-Fraction.  Safe with any chemo (actually helps some).  Unless she is allergic to mushrooms, it's a top pick.  I recommend the pro version from the best manufacturer at www.maitake.com.  When I gave it to my mom via J-Tube her CA-125 did go down.

2) CoQ10.  You are good to find out this one.  I like the ones from www.lef.com as they have some very bio-absorbable ones.  I have an article written about this supplement on ovarian cancer on my site:   http://www.alanpeto.com/articles/3/1/Coenzyme-Q10-CoQ10-as-a-possible-adjunct-treatment-for-Ovarian-Cancer/Page1.html

3) Fermented Soy / Genistein:  This is a big one in the reserach community...in-fact the drug Phenoxodiol is based off Genistein.  You can take this normally as well (their version is just tweaked a little bit and costs alot when it goes to market).  I also have an article on it:  http://www.alanpeto.com/articles/7/1/Genisteinthe-cure-for-platinum-resistance/Page1.html

4) Turmeric:  Excellent supplement which emerging research is showing has effect on OvCa

5) Omega 3 (Fish Oil):  VERY IMPORTANT...helps prevent 'wasting syndrome' during cancer.  Although I prefer Omega 3 from flaxseed, Omega 3 from fil oil works better for cancer patients.

Others;

a) Blue Emu:  This can be found at Walgreens or on the Blu Emu website...this stuff works great at aleving the pain cause by per-neuro.  

b) Look for the book "How to Prevent and Treat Cancer With Natural Medicine".  Excellent book that will answer pretty much all your questions.  It has not been updated with recent discoveries but it's a good guide.

The above five supplements are really all she will need.  She does not need the 'Natural Celluar Defense' and should probablly leave it alone.  And the others, well I guess it doesn't hurt but you can really go overboard on this (believe me) because *everything* has some sort of cancer fighting bit in it.  Maitake D-Fraction is my top favorite because it is used by the very impressive Memorial Sloan Ketting cancer hospital (and according to them it can be used with ALL chemotherapies except radiation) and has an excellent safety record (it was allowed to bypass Phase I FDA safety studies...all chemo's have never been able to do that!).

Let me know if you have any questions.  Remember that nothing, except FDA approved chemos, are authorized to fight cancer.  This is because none of the natural methods have the millions of dollars to fund an FDA clinical trial thus we will never really know their true worth in cancer research...but it also means nobody, not even me, can tell you they will fight cancer or treat any condition.

[dian07]

Thanks.
Peace.
dian

[marie3B]

Having chemo-resistant ovca, I really appreciate learning from you. Marie

[Bee07]

I can't thank you enough for your advice. I am just beating myself for not consulting with this forum first of all before ordering Cellular and other items (all cost me nearly $1000). At the same time I am very much relieved when you mentioned about Omega 3 cause I was not completely sure when I sent my mum Shark Liver Oil for her to take and recently changed that into Shark Cartilage Oil in addition to Vitamin C, Panax Ginseng she is on at the moment. I will certainly go ahead with Maitake D-Fraction and look into the sites your recommended and spend more time this forum from now on.
Thank you again for your kind thoughts and God Bless You!
Bee

[Bee07]

Thank you very much for your comments. I tried very hard to make peace with my siblings and even told them that this IS THE TIME when we should ACT like grown ups, like one person for mum's sake cause it may somehow effect mum's treatment if we won't be communicating. The biggest problem is that in our culture it is quite normal not to tell about the condition or disorder to the sufferer especially if we are talking about cancer. So we could not communicate with each other properly in the presence of our mum and that is how it all started. The worst part is that my mum is in the middle of all of this trying to figure out what is going on and why we don't get on after all these years. I told my Dad recently that it is up to him at the end of the day to decide whether or not to tell mum the truth about her condition but he is still very hesitant because he is worried about how my brother and sister would react to this. I wish to God that nothing like that would ever happen to any family and I know damn well that my mum needs and deserves more love and togetherness especially now in order to help her get rid of  this monster disease.
Thank you for listening, You are in my prayers.
Bee