Cancer Free!!

Two weeks ago I had my yearly mammogram at Warren General Hospital. The radiologist informed me my results would be mailed to me. About 5 days later the letter came in the mail and I was called back for diagnostic mammogram, because my breast tissue is at a level 2 density.

Being called back for another mammogram is worrisome. I set up another screening with my doctor's office who calls the order into the hospital, and had a 10-day wait....

My husband met me at the hospital yesterday, and proceeded with me to the three waiting areas (two signature stations, and one changing room). The radiologist allowed Paul in the screening room. He stood behind the leaded, plate-glass patrician with the radiologist. She took only two pictures this time of one side. We waited and prayed. Finally she came back and said all was clear and we could go home!

PRACTICING FAITH:

I had seen a Facebook posting earlier in the week claiming Ch. 4 in Matthew's Gospel of the King James version of the Bible (p. 859) cures cancer. I read this passage two times before having the 2nd screening done, believing it would clear up any problem. Also, every night before bedtime and every morning before we rise out of bed, my husband and I pray together for our health and my clear x-rays. We also attended Adoration during Lent at St. Joseph Church with the same prayer intentions, among others.

FOOD:

Following are the foods my diet includes. I start by reading food labels, and try to only buy products with:

No preservatives (like BHT)

No Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

No Modified Food Starch

No artificial coloring and artificial additives

No high fructose corn syrup

No alum

No glycol (which is a type of antifreeze)

No (or few) monoglycerides and diglycerides

No sulphites

low in fats and cholesterol

low in sodium

low in calories

high in fiber / multigrains

organically grown (USDA)

fresh fruits and vegetables (or frozen, then canned, when first two are not available)

legumes (not canned)

Earth Balance butter (for cooking and flavoring)

real butter (sparingly, for toast and rolls)

organic green tea (and occasionally black teas)

little or no pop (Diet Pepsi about twice-a-year) Lipton Diet Green Tea (in summer) * I pile on the onions, garlic, peppers, and Portobello mushrooms. We eat Portobello mushrooms, twice-a-week, on top of spaghetti and on pizza.

* We bought local beef from a reputable dealer and butcher and stocked our freezer. However, the doctor said we should only eat red meat once-a-week.

* I do eat fish and chicken, more than once-a-week as a main meal.

* We try to buy fresh eggs from local ranchers, and are looking into fresh poultry at Barry's Barnyard. http://barrysbarnyard.com/

* We also have our own garden, and raid our Uncle Pete and Cousin Davey's gardens in the fall, since they grow big and have abundance to share.

We bake sweets from scratch, including: cakes, pies, and cookies. But I limit these to only a few times a week.

Use glass containers, instead of plastic, for food storage and especially for cooking.

I was drinking two beers-a-day with my husband after work until I had the basal-cell carcinoma on my arm show up in October of 2013. (They removed it all successfully.) I gave up the beer because of that, and I was starting to gain weight. It was fun, but probably not a good idea. I do have a beer or glass of organic red wine on occasion.

EXERCISE:

My husband and I joined SNAP Fitness and we went religiously two times per week during the trial offer. We rejoined, a month later, and will go randomly but will start two times per week again after Easter.

OTHER:

I avoid lotions with preservatives and glycol, and only buy lotions at reputable wellness shops; such as, Whole Foods Co-op in Erie, PA and Herbs 4 U in Warren, PA. http://www.wholefoodscoop.org/home/

SUNSHINE:

I have fair skin and burn easy. So, I wear long sleeves and a hat when gardening and try and avoid long sun exposure without a sunscreen. The sunscreen I use can be purchased at Whole Foods Co-op in Erie, PA.

CONCLUSION: I like to think if there was or is any cancer lurking in my body, our way of life is cleaning it up. I still wish I could do more to find answers.

Updates

Last year about this time, I had a clear mammogram.  So, now I only have to go once-a-year.
I continue to eat well, but stopped pH readings after discussing it with my doctor.  He pointed out that the readings reflect activity from 4-6 hours prior to the test. I haven't checked my pH for over a year.


In October of 2013, I found a tiny bump on my arm.  It's the part that receives the most sunlight when riding in a car.  My doctor excised it and I got 3 stitches b/c it was quite large and grew really fast in 2 months time.  He thought it was Basal Cell Carcinoma.  The pathology report states it was Squamous.  The latter is a bit more serious, but in the same family.  The pathology said there was no indication of spreading and all of it was removed.  This news was quite saddening to me, because it's telling me my body is not dealing well with cancer cells and can't get rid of them.


I had promised to do some research and found a grant to apply for.  My research will involve the poetry writing of cancer survivors and specifically, an aging population.  If you meet these requirements and would like to participate, you can email me a letter of interest to rogus2006@verizon.net.

6 Month Diagnostic Mammogram

I had my 6 month diagnostic today and nothing new was spotted.  The marker and two lead stickers show that the problem area had a couple tiny round calcifications (that may have been on other xrays), which are harmless and non-cancerous.  Krista, the technician of 31 years, assured me there was nothing alarming as we looked at the slides together.  She checked with the doctor and he agreed it was all clear.  So, this is great news! 

Celebrating by texting my two lovely daughters, calling my husband at work, and enjoying a small, Iced-Cappiciano with my daughter, Gabby was fun.  We enjoyed chatting and allowing her bunny to freely run-around her room.  Bun enjoyed fluffing a bag of spent cedar, to our amazement and laughter, and she also chilled for us to pet her.

Maintaining a diet complete with fruits and vegies, avoiding preservatives and artificial coloring/flavors is still in order.  Remaining stress-free as much as possible, is also a plan.  I will one day conduct research to find out more about why cancer grows in the first place; and especially, find concrete reasons why some people develop cancer, while others (who are often times smokers and carcinogen carnivores) don't get cancer at all.  My pH has still never been in the middle range of 7.0, but runs much lower than that (too acidic). I continue to occassionally check it and continue eating low-acid forming foods as much as possible. 

Thank you, God!

Cancer Fighting Strategies Website Contains Interesting Information, Especically the pH References (I would like to see Research on the products before trying anything...not FDA approved.)

http://www.cancerfightingstrategies.com/ph-and-cancer.html

POSTED ON MORNING JOE - FACEBOOK PAGE

Phil Marineau, former President of Pepsi-cola was on your show today discussing serious health problems related to soft drink consumption with Mika Brzezinski. Marineau said the soft drink industry is interested in what consumers prefer because Pepsi-cola is part of the economy.  Well, here's an idea for you soft drink innovators. Stop focusing on the sugar factor; instead, make a drink that creates a base inventory in the body and not an acidic environment. In other words, San Pellegrino and Apollinaris bottled water are carbonated AND affect the body's pH in a healthy way. Homemade ginger tea is pH balanced. Research conducted by Dr. Susan Brown shows that consuming pH balanced food and drink mitigates the symptoms of arthritis, cancers, allergies, asthma, and diabetes. Americans need healthy alternatives in their diets and the time is now. Schools and consumers would buy it because the shift is toward better health, as long as it's marketed as a fun drink and healthy for you. Those with chronic illness and organic consumers will buy it for other reasons. For more information about pH balancing and the affects on the body, read the "Acid Alkaline Food Guide," by Dr. Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri. Also, visit my blog at http://researchingcancer.blogspot.com/ for my own personal reasearch into the important issue of health and pH balancing.

Yesterday I explained why I have not been posting, but today my pH was 6.75, which is in the optimal range. So I would like to share yesterday's menu with those interested. (The portions are for 1-person, since I ate alone all day.)

BREAKFAST:  1 fried eggwhite in Country Crock margarine; bran flakes, organic oats, Bob's(R) flaxseed; 3 celery stalks (quartered), 1 generous size slice of watermelon (quartered), 1 cup of organic green tea, and 1 glass of tap water with half a lemon (squeeze juice into water) + 1 multi-vitamin and 1,000mg. vitamin C.

MID-MORNING: 1 generous size slice of watermelon (quartered) and 3 celery stalks (quartered),
and 1 cup of nettle tea. One glass of tap water.

LUNCH: Whole grain rice (1C.) and sweet potatoes w/ tsp. Country Crock margarine (cooked and mashed), and a glass of iced tap water.

MID-AFTERNOON: 1 generous size slice of watermelon (quartered) and 3 celery stalks (quartered),
and 1 glass of homemade cold, ginger tea (thinly slice fresh ginger, boil in a quart of water for 20 minutes - and refrigerate)

DINNER:  1 whole cooking onion sliced into rings and simmered in 2 C. low-sodium beef stock until tender, topped with 1 slice Rudi's Organic Multi-grain Oat Bread (toasted and broken into bite sized pieces) and a sprinkle (3 tsps.) of shredded mozzerella cheese, 1 tsp. of frresh, dried dill (smells heavenly), then microwaved until the cheese melted. One glass of ice water from tap.

Later in the evening, I drank *3 Straub Beers (no preservatives) and switched between "She's Having a Baby" and "Kate and Leopold" on tv for a much needed rest. I also typed poetry I had handwritten a couple of weeks ago.

EVENING SNACK: 1 C. bran flakes, organic oats, and organic pumpkin seeds (mixed together)
and 1 Cuties(R) mandarine orange, and 3-5 glasses of iced tap water.

Exercise included walking a total of 40 minutes (20-min. each direction) to and from my part-time job downtown in the afternoon with the B&P Railroad's property management office. I also used a lot of mental energy reading and grading college papers in the morning, and fielding email.

*Adding a beer to meals on a daily basis does not lower acidity in pH readings for me. Two-three, one night per week do lower readings. Sad news for beer lovers, but everyone is different.

I also mentioned that timing of readings has a lot to do with the outcomes. The directions indicate 6-8 hours between going to bed and then taking the reading in the morning, assuming you sleep 8 hours and don't use the bathroom during the night. I am up several times because I drink a lot of water in the evenings. So I am never quite sure when to take the reading. The directions suggest the reading be taken upon awakening, and that's when mine are registering low numbers. I may try each time I get up to see if there are fluctuations.

5/4/2012
I am working on having a book published, based on pH balanced recipes since the information discovered is too much for only a blog.  Also, concerns over pH levels not remaing in the healthy range of 7.0 have me worried. I have been trying to figure out if the 5.5 and 6.0 readings are because of the time of morning the samples are read in relation to the last meal eaten, or if it is related to food choices from the previous day.  In other words, I don't want to print information that is not true, or misleading in any way.

As it stands now, I feel better and breathe easier since I try and eat 80% of each meal green. By green I mean green vegies; such as, celery, broccoli, curly kale, and cucumber.  I also include seasonal fruits in the 80%. At the present time, the Cuties(R) mandarine oranges are about out-of-season, but cantelope, pineapple, and watermelon (all low, acid-forming fruits) are available, though not raised locally in northwestern PA.  I breathe easier because my allergies are almost entirely gone and I don't feel the need for an antihistamine anymore. My allergy to almonds, which produces exzema on the back of my neck and elbows, has ceased since finding out the rash is realted to almonds. Exzema is known as atypical dermititus, a name similar to my cellular condition.

Photos of meals will be published soon, so visitors' time is not wasted.  Your patience is greatly appreciated. 

A typical, pH balanced breakfast consisting of SALAD: cucumber, culry kale, broccoli, celery,and topped with Cuties(R) mandarine oranges; DRINK: Organic Green Tea; CEREAL: bran flakes, organic oatmeal, and topped with Bob's Flaxseed; 1 eggwhite fried in Country Crock margarine.

I look forward to my own vegetable garden, which won't yeild a whole lot, but will keep me active. Onions are a plus to pH, which I am planting tomorrow, weather permitting.