Another day another week.... Monday gone Amanda was set to be heading off to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool for a couple of blasts of radiotherapy (typed with a casualness that should never be taken with the overall long term damage radiotherapy does). One to the cervical spine and one to the lumbar region. When Sunday arrived she wasn't feeling up to it. Washed out, sick and sore. I cancelled.
Last weekend she lay still. As opposed to getting up, lifting things and moving around too much. She has since managed the past 6 days without any 'breakthrough' medication, on top of her regular morning and night time painkillers. A chat with the doctor, and
Arthrotec was also dropped.
With her main problem being the pain being referred down the arms and hands, and loss of full use of the hands due to the root nerve compression in her neck, I do wonder if rather than getting up and about she should be attempting stillness. If someone breaks their back or neck, they are kept still, immobilised to allow healing of the bone to take place. We get no advice on this. It's simply 'Amanda has complications due to cancer/tumour growth in the cervical spine, more pain killers'.... Up the painkillers, up them some more..... and so on. They just keep masking the problem. We don't even know if it's the tumours that are pressing on the root nerves or whether there has been a partial collapse or crumbling of the vertebrae, and this is what's pressing on the nerves. It would be nice to know. Do the oncologists, doctors and surgeons and everyone else involved in orthodox medicine not realise they are also human, and they will also fall under the umbrella of recent statistics suggesting that within 20 years 50% of us will suffer some sort of cancer. 50% of all oncologists, radiologists, doctors, chemotherapy nurses, Macmillan nurses et al will be diagnosed with one type of cancer or another. It's frightening. Why the hell aren't they involved in trying to find an actual treatment that isn't 90% unsuccessful for the majority of cancers. Has life expectancy of cancer sufferers increased or are they just discovering breast cancer earlier due to women self examining more regularly and thoroughly, plus the regular screenings for the over 50's. Imagine if they screened for testicular cancer the way they do for breast cancer!!! 'Good afternoon sir, can you please drop your trousers and pop your ball bag on this trouser press for me. Don't worry it's not on sir' Oh my lord!!! I could run for the horizon thinking about it! There have been many studies as to whether breast screening through squashing breasts to the thickness of a naan bread is actually a beneficial way of screening for breast cancer. They all know that pressing, banging, massaging or knocking any type of tumour can cause further damage, allowing the cancer to spread, so why use this most barbaric method of screening. A recent study in Scandinavia showed that there was higher life expectancy of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer when they didn't have to suffer the rigors of mammography against those who did have the mammography screening. Is this because the tumours were damaged during the mammogram? That in itself should be enough. Even if there was no difference that should be enough to rule this sadistic inhumane technique of breast examination out. I was talking to my Mum about it just the other day. She said on her last mammogram she 'came round' sitting in a chair, having passed out during the examination. How many women does this happen to?..... Good God. I'm glad I'm not a woman.... ?
With chemotherapy they don't even have a control to compare the results of patients who are infused with it. They simply give it to everyone unless it's refused, then they don't even bother to study or follow the folks that refuse it. All other pharmaceuticals that come to market have to have 'control' tests where placebo's (sugar pills) are given instead of the actual drug to see if there is actually any real benefit from having the treatment. Not chemo though. There are better treatments, less damaging solutions out there but the governments and pharmaceutical companies want nothing to do with them. Even the cancer charities, one of which in 2005 had funds of over 90 million pounds, some of which, incredibly, was invested in British American Tobacco!!!? All about the money! There are clinics in Germany and other parts of the world having great success in treating cancer in totally different ways..... it's simply maddening.
Who would have thought this beautifully curved spine could cause such pain, discomfort and frustration..... I suppose it's not the spine's fault, it's the cancer....
The word cancer evokes fear, worry and a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness in many of us. It's associated with death.... That's the problem.
If doctors said 'It would seem you have a cell that's mutated and is dividing over and over, making little bundles of cells in assorted areas of the body that could in the future cause problems if we cannot find the root cause or a method of reversing or at least slowing the process. You have out of control cell division.'
It doesn't sound as awful as, 'Sorry, you have cancer'. It doesn't sound as threatening. It sounds like something that could be prevented or treated without harming the rest of the body doesn't it? The same institutions mentioned above love to 'treat' cancer.... But why not look in to preventing it? Why not do studies in to natural courses of prevention. Study foods, lifestyles.... It's not just in your genes to get cancer. Genes can be switched on and off and are greatly influenced by the environment you live in and the lifestyle you have. Never think 'If I'm going to get it I'm going to get it.' It's simply absurd. Cancer is a systemic disease involving many many factors...... Anyway I'm starting to rant..... and for that I apologise.
The sun has returned for another week or so. Let's all make the most of it.
Have a wonderful weekend x
Last weekend she lay still. As opposed to getting up, lifting things and moving around too much. She has since managed the past 6 days without any 'breakthrough' medication, on top of her regular morning and night time painkillers. A chat with the doctor, and
Arthrotec was also dropped.
With her main problem being the pain being referred down the arms and hands, and loss of full use of the hands due to the root nerve compression in her neck, I do wonder if rather than getting up and about she should be attempting stillness. If someone breaks their back or neck, they are kept still, immobilised to allow healing of the bone to take place. We get no advice on this. It's simply 'Amanda has complications due to cancer/tumour growth in the cervical spine, more pain killers'.... Up the painkillers, up them some more..... and so on. They just keep masking the problem. We don't even know if it's the tumours that are pressing on the root nerves or whether there has been a partial collapse or crumbling of the vertebrae, and this is what's pressing on the nerves. It would be nice to know. Do the oncologists, doctors and surgeons and everyone else involved in orthodox medicine not realise they are also human, and they will also fall under the umbrella of recent statistics suggesting that within 20 years 50% of us will suffer some sort of cancer. 50% of all oncologists, radiologists, doctors, chemotherapy nurses, Macmillan nurses et al will be diagnosed with one type of cancer or another. It's frightening. Why the hell aren't they involved in trying to find an actual treatment that isn't 90% unsuccessful for the majority of cancers. Has life expectancy of cancer sufferers increased or are they just discovering breast cancer earlier due to women self examining more regularly and thoroughly, plus the regular screenings for the over 50's. Imagine if they screened for testicular cancer the way they do for breast cancer!!! 'Good afternoon sir, can you please drop your trousers and pop your ball bag on this trouser press for me. Don't worry it's not on sir' Oh my lord!!! I could run for the horizon thinking about it! There have been many studies as to whether breast screening through squashing breasts to the thickness of a naan bread is actually a beneficial way of screening for breast cancer. They all know that pressing, banging, massaging or knocking any type of tumour can cause further damage, allowing the cancer to spread, so why use this most barbaric method of screening. A recent study in Scandinavia showed that there was higher life expectancy of women who were diagnosed with breast cancer when they didn't have to suffer the rigors of mammography against those who did have the mammography screening. Is this because the tumours were damaged during the mammogram? That in itself should be enough. Even if there was no difference that should be enough to rule this sadistic inhumane technique of breast examination out. I was talking to my Mum about it just the other day. She said on her last mammogram she 'came round' sitting in a chair, having passed out during the examination. How many women does this happen to?..... Good God. I'm glad I'm not a woman.... ?
With chemotherapy they don't even have a control to compare the results of patients who are infused with it. They simply give it to everyone unless it's refused, then they don't even bother to study or follow the folks that refuse it. All other pharmaceuticals that come to market have to have 'control' tests where placebo's (sugar pills) are given instead of the actual drug to see if there is actually any real benefit from having the treatment. Not chemo though. There are better treatments, less damaging solutions out there but the governments and pharmaceutical companies want nothing to do with them. Even the cancer charities, one of which in 2005 had funds of over 90 million pounds, some of which, incredibly, was invested in British American Tobacco!!!? All about the money! There are clinics in Germany and other parts of the world having great success in treating cancer in totally different ways..... it's simply maddening.
The word cancer evokes fear, worry and a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness in many of us. It's associated with death.... That's the problem.
If doctors said 'It would seem you have a cell that's mutated and is dividing over and over, making little bundles of cells in assorted areas of the body that could in the future cause problems if we cannot find the root cause or a method of reversing or at least slowing the process. You have out of control cell division.'
It doesn't sound as awful as, 'Sorry, you have cancer'. It doesn't sound as threatening. It sounds like something that could be prevented or treated without harming the rest of the body doesn't it? The same institutions mentioned above love to 'treat' cancer.... But why not look in to preventing it? Why not do studies in to natural courses of prevention. Study foods, lifestyles.... It's not just in your genes to get cancer. Genes can be switched on and off and are greatly influenced by the environment you live in and the lifestyle you have. Never think 'If I'm going to get it I'm going to get it.' It's simply absurd. Cancer is a systemic disease involving many many factors...... Anyway I'm starting to rant..... and for that I apologise.
The sun has returned for another week or so. Let's all make the most of it.
Have a wonderful weekend x
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