Cure for Cancer

Or killer, rather... but since cancer kills people, we want it dead, yeah?

So I know I'm not usually a utility model, but sometimes I learn stuff, and I really oughta share it...


Did you know we all have cancer in us, almost all the time? That the reason we get cancer bad enough to die from it is because our bodies lose (fail to get) what they need to fight it?

I saw a video last week that had a LITTLE of it debunked by a chemist friend of mine, but the gist of it is good.

1)  Don't smoke. (Duh) Wish a couple of my family members grasped this simple concept.

2) Avoid chemicals. This is broad and spreads through tons of domains from fish with mercury to processed foods with ingredients you can't pronounce. It also means organic vegetables and washing well because pesticides are (catch this)--CHEMICAL. Hormones are chemical. All that stuff intended to make food processors richer and food cheaper? Yeah, that's mostly chemical.

But I'm guessing that isn't new.

What was new to me was this:

3)  EAT YOUR IODINE.

Did you know cancer cells are so pernicious because they don't die natural cell death? So they grow tumors instead and take over. IODINE is what kills cancer cells. Pretty much the only thing. Cancer killers (chemotherapy and radiation) kill it ONCE but teach those damn cancer cells to fight back, so if it comes back, you're screwed... (or such is my exaggeration that isn't so far from truth. Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor, but I believe this)


Did you know ALSO that 97% of people are iodine deficient? No WONDER with all our medical progress, cancer deaths have NOT changed rates in a century.

Salt is fortified with iodine. But how much table salt do you eat in a day? How much CAN you? A dash? Whatever trickle comes through in your baking? My guess is not much and that's good because normal table salt just isn't all that great for you.

Iodine USED to be in BREAD but in the 70s they changed that for Bromine which is cheaper. And big surprise. Does NOT kill cancer cells. My chemist friend Steve assures me bromine doesn't take over Iodine receptors as the video I saw suggested (what goes in bread is BO3, not BO, so not capable of attaching to the same cells), but it remains that for a few decades we could count on bread subsidizing our iodine intake and now we can't, so we need to make a point of it (IT, being getting enough iodine).

HOW?

1)  Sea salt. This doesn't have the same harmful effects (on blood pressure and so on) as table salt and we should try to get a teaspoon a day of it.
2) Sea vegetables (kelp comes to mind, but there are dozens)
3) organic cranberries
4) organic strawberries
5) organic yogurt
6) orange versions from the potato family (skin on)
7) organic navy beans

So there are some things to add to your diet. Unlike the chemical iodone, these won't get you to toxic levels, but they will help you fight cancer.

If It's Not One Thing...

Oi! So I'm not supposed to talk about HWMNBMOTI, right? Sort of by definition... (he who must not be mentioned on the internet, for the uninitiated). HWMNBMOTI is my sweet baboo... 21 years marriage this month. He is a private guy... and an anti-internet guy...

But darned it if he hasn't had a year of health challenges... and while THAT is his business... it affects MY LIFE, too, and my life is YOUR business, right? Erm...

Okay, so maybe that is a BIT of a stretch, but I can't seem to help myself.

So yesterday HWMNBMOTI had his 4th ER visit of 2012... and they checked him in AGAIN... a day or two in the hospital, which means it's not nothin.... And the REALLY wonky thing is NONE of these things has anything to do with the others. He has had 4 DIFFERENT things go BIG WRONG with his health.

And here is where I get whiny... it's HARD to have your partner unhealthy. He can't work. He can't do nearly as much around the house. He has little energy for fun stuff. And some of the lingering stuff makes him not sleep well, so he is ALWAYS tired. (and frequently crabby).

I get it. I study pain for a living, so I KNOW it makes a person crabby and depressed to hurt (I forgot to mention the arthritis diagnosis, didn't I?) and more so if a person can't SLEEP.

I want to go to Richard Dreyfus and have him write me a prescription to take a vacation from my problems.

But see, as the OTHER person in the household... I want him to FEEL BETTER (because I love him), I am terrified there is some huge underlying thing causing ALL of this (though for the life of me I can't imagine what that would be), I feel GUILTY for wanting a break from the health troubles for MY OWN sake as well as his...


For all that, I KNOW I'm lucky. I know most of my life is really good. I just want HWMNBMOTI healthy again. So if you have any spare mojo, karma, prayers or hugs, send 'em my way. We could use em.


And don't forget to come by FRIDAY, as I have a special post from our buddy Jessica, and NEXT WEEK I will have a guest post from Alison... so don't let my whining scare you away...

Lynch Syndrome

So most of you know the story of going to take care of my aunt with cancer. But one of the details I haven't talked about, mostly because it is so peripheral to the 'what needs to be done now' domain, is one of the details of her illness.

They suspect, based on family history, which I didn't fully understand until now, that she had something called Lynch Syndrome.

What it is

A genetic disorder, in short. Cells reproduce themselves, yes? Well we have a protective cell function whereby they RECOGNIZE if the cell they reproduce isn't LIKE them and destroys them... mutant destroyers. In Lynch Syndrome there is a failure of cells to murder those unlike themselves... which sounds all nice and all, but SOME... in fact possibly MOST of those mutant cells are cancer cells. I don't mean that in a judgmental, mean way... it's just how it is. Cells like to breed others that are like themselves and in the case of cells, that is probably for the best.

The Effect

One in five people is destined for colon cancer. Did you know? Among people with Lynch Syndrom, 60%. That is triple the chance. Lynch Syndrome is most commonly associated with colon and reproductive cancers for whatever reason, though there is a slightly elevated chance of other cancers as well.

Indicators

At least three people in two successive generations, one of them first degree, with cancer.

See... the PROBLEM... as an only child I have no SIBLINGS to the first degree... and my PARENT on this side died at 31 of a car crash... well before the age he was likely to have gotten cancer. The age is early—50s, they say, but not THAT early. So I will never meet the technical qualification, even if in reality, I may very well be in line.

I COULD just get the genetic test done, but here's the rub... I not only have to pay up front for the test. I then have to pay higher premiums for having a pre-existing condition... financially, it is not better to know.

But See, That's Not So Bad.

Why? Because all testing positive does is earn me the nudge to get screened more often. It ISN'T so often my insurance won't allow it (especially once my doctor documents possible risk). So while a portion of me hates not knowing, I am just going to act like I have the gene... (lack the gene? Am a mutant? Whatever it is... am genetically pre-disposed).