Now that I know there is a fair amount of people following these blog and video updates, I feel like I should have a unique term to address you all. You know, something to start blog posts off with: “Hey, ___________.” My younger brother suggested “Lymphomies” a while back, but that feels just slightly off.1 Any suggestions? Pun and portmanteau alike welcome.
Anyway, here’s the latest video update. If you’re unable to see the video embedded below, click here to watch it on YouTube. (Side note: This is the fourteenth video I have made. Crazy, huh?)
Oh. And please be sure to “like” the video by clicking the thumbs-up while it’s paused. I found out that the more likes a video has, the more exposure the video gets on YouTube, based on its (YouTube’s) algorithm.
Additional, non-video updates
- Libby and I made the difficult decision to see a different oncologist. Because my usual oncologist was out of town during a scheduled appointment last week, we met with another oncologist in the clinic and really liked him. We knew right away that we’d probably want to make the switch and after wrestling with it for a few days and being encouraged by friends and family, I finally bit the bullet and made the phone call earlier this week. The only thing that is affected (besides the obvious of having a new oncologist) is that my next chemotherapy appointment has been pushed back a day (to next Friday) to accomodate the new doctor’s schedule. Go ahead and call me a softie, but that was a difficult thing to do. Phwew.
- As you saw in the video, I have started taking curcumin (pronounced KERR-kyoo-minn) to boost my health during treatment. A bit more on that: In one of the Blaylock Wellness Reports that our landlord graciously lent us, Dr. Blaylock writes extensively on the benefits of curcumin and its antioxidant, anti-cancer properties.2 One of the things he writes is:
“Curcumin powerfully protects the brain against the harmful effects of conventional cancer treatment. This is especially important when considering that chemotherapy has now been shown to cause significant brain damage that can lead to learning and memory problems… [My patients] were amazed that they did not get sick the way other patients not using curcumin did, even though some of my patients were getting [high doses] of chemotherapy.”3
Additionally (and again, graciously), our landlord ordered us Dr. Blaylock’s book Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients, which Libby is planning to read during the month of April. I am particularly looking forward to seeing if taking curcumin helps lessen the post-chemo side effects after next Friday’s (fourth) treatment.
- For the first time in a loooong time, I pulled out my guitar and began lazily working on a new song (As a side note: For those unaware, in a previous life I was a wannabe singer/songwriter — I even have an album on iTunes). The last song I put any effort into completing, Ghost In A Wedding Dress, was written over two years ago. Anyhow, like I said, I started fiddling around the other day, and the embedded tune below is what came out (Click here if you don’t see an audio player).
- Minnesota Public Radio aired a show on Thursday titled The Challenges Facing Young People with Cancer on the show The Daily Circuit. Thanks to a few tips (thanks, Bethany!), I was able to tune in and catch the last 20 minutes or so. It was excellent. I highly encourage you to listen to the whole episode when you get a chance. Much of the stuff I have been trying to articulate in both video and written word is perfectly said during the course of the hour.
That’s it for now. Thanks for tagging along for this ride, everyone. You’re making this more fun than it should be.
- Or does it? [↩]
- You’ll be relieved to know, as I was, that Dr. Blaylock cites many peer-reviewed journals; likewise, he is quick to point out that, “Because these natural substances [like curcumin] often work as well or better than drugs and with a far greater record of safety, the response of Big Pharma is to ignore them and, in fact, keep as much of this valuable information as possible from the public.” (Blaylock, Russell L., ed. “Curcumin Protects the Brain and Fights Cancer.” The Blaylock Wellness Report 8.8 (2011): 1. Print.) [↩]
- Blaylock, Russell L., ed. “Curcumin Protects the Brain and Fights Cancer.” The Blaylock Wellness Report 8.8 (2011): 7-8. Print. [↩]
