It has been a while since we last wrote so we thought it is about time we give an update so people know what is happening with henry and the Fund raisin.
Henry had his first cycle of chemotherapy which ended in May 2012. In July 2012 he started to loose weight again and at the same time, developed a lump on his chest; on the right side, where the cancer is.
As Henry's Oncologist advised Henry to start chemo within two weeks, we decided to spend a few days in Barcelona (Sitges). We had a fantastic time, the weather was great and for 5 days al we did was chilling on the beach and having sea food and fresh fruit.
The second day in Spain we went to the city centre of Barcelona. We found out about an Oncologist clinic who provided complementary support to cancer patients. Henry was seeing by an Oncologist, Natalia Eres Charles. What she is doing for Henry is prescribing nutritional and herbal supplements meant to support Henry's immune system through chemo. As an Oncologist he knows about chemotherapy side effects (not all chemo has the same side effects), so she warned Henry of possible side effects with the new chemo the Hospital was going to administer once back in the UK. As well as nutritional and herbal supplements se recommended for Henry to walk 40 minutes every day and muscle building exercises, as the new chemo attacks muscles (something he is already experiencing now that he is on chemo).
Henry is getting a lot of support from this clinic, not only with regards to the physical aspect of the illness but also the emotional part.
I almost forgot to say that Henry ended up being unwell while in Spain as he strained a chest muscle (this was related to the lump he got on his right chest and that was putting pressure on the other side. So we had to spend 4 extra days in Spain, in a lovely hospital by the country side. Surrounded by fields and pines. No a house, no a shop, just peace and a fantastic and really hot weather that allowed him to go for daily walks. As he was the only foreigner on the floor where he was, he got a lot of attention from Doctors and patients in general, so he had people visiting in his room all the time. So even the hospital incident did not cause a great disruption.
Back in the UK, he, unfortunately, ended up in hospital again. His calcium levels were so high that he had to be hospitalised for 3 days.
Now Henry has just had his third session of chemo and next week he will have a CT Scan to see what the response to chemo is. So far the lump on his chest has gone and his blood results are fine. Things are no too bad and Henry, as usual, keeps this great, strong and positive attitude before this difficult situation.
As for the money we need to raise, which is £30.000 and possibly more later on as the treatment won't be a one off thing, it is obvious that we have got a great support from people. During the last event unfortunately only just enough was raised to break even after the expenses for organising it, but still, thanks to those who participated. Thanks also to those who could not make it but made sure they still paid for a ticket so they could participate towards the fund raisin..
Thanks to those who still show interest and after months are still in touch to help in whatever they can. Specially to Peggy (Steve C grandmother) who does not even know Henry and has been in continuous touch over the phone to offer Henry Healing sessions. Thanks to Sharon, in Greece, thanks to Graham and to Errol. And thanks to our floor neighbours!!! always reminding Henry that if there is anything he needs, they are there!!
This week has been a little difficult. Henry has not been feeling well after chemo. On Saturday we went for a walk and after 30 minutes since we left home Henry started to feel light-headed so we had to make our way back (to safety). He spend the rest of the day lying down cuddled up to a hot water bottle. Since Friday he has been feeling unwell, and this "funny" sensation in his hands is a constant reminder that he is ill. Only the fact of not being able to forget that you are very ill can be enough to exhaust anyone. Chemo has not marked Henry physically but inside his body it is obviously taking its toll. But the good news are that Richard - Henry's brother - and a few other people, Stephen Conroy one of them, are organising an event that will be held in just a few weeks.
We just need several events over the summer to meet our target, and it seems that there are people who are willing to keep on believing that Henry can make it. This is really great!! We really needed something to bring Henry's spirits up and Richard, Stephen and the rest of guys involved in organising the event have just done this for Henry.
In a
Henry went to his routine appointment with the Oncologist. This time he saw a different one. According to her (the Oncologist) the CT scan does not show significant changes. The fluid around the lung is gone but the tumor is still there.
I cannot say how frustrating it was to hear this, mainly because Henry's Oncologist said three weeks ago that Henry´s X- ray was showing that the tumor had shrank.
We have agreed that no matter what the doctors say, we will keep fighting and keeping our selves positive but really, it has got to us. It is confusing to hear one thing during one appointment and a different thing in another appointment. Because the information comes from different Oncologists you cannot really query why the information varies. But obviously both Oncologists are in the same team... so I really don´t understand.
The good news are that the tumour has not spread. That is what we have been told in the latest appointment....
Henry got his last cycle of chemo on the 2nd of May. Now he won´t be seen by Doctors for two months.
Henry's Oncologist was a little surprised about the results he is seeing in Henry and the response he is having to chemo treatment.
In January 2012 Henry weighted 49 kilos ( and his height is 5 foot 10 inch).. He was 16 kilos underweight and because of that we all were afraid that Henry's body could not handle chemo. I remember he worked really hard to gain weight before chemo started. His stomach was so small that he could not handle food. I remember him having really small meals: a child' s portion that sometimes he could not even finish. Sometimes he sat for almost an hour trying (really trying) to finish his food.
It was hard to see how he could not handle such small portions of food. Henry used to get around 500Kcal in food and 1.500 Kcal from supplementary drinks...And not being able to eat, how could he prepare his body for chemo?...
God, looking back Henry has come a long way.
Now Henry weights 59 kilos and this weight has been gained strictly from eating healthy food. Well, he has some junk once a week, like a chocolate, just to feel normal and to no to be obsessed about good-for-you food. Anything that turns into an obsession only leads to lose the authentic essence of life. So yeah, a chocolate or a bag of sweeties now and again is al right, isn't?. However, the good thing of eating healthy is that because you feel the benefits of it straight away, it is like if automatically you go off anything that is unhealthy. So really, Henry is not struggling on that aspect.
Chemo is working well and Henry's tumour has shrank a fair amount after having had only two cycles of chemo.
We asked the Oncologist if this could change Henry's initial diagnostic in some way. He said yes. "Yes, according to the results up to date, yes, it could expand Henry' s life expectancy.". This is what Henry's Oncologist said.
We were so happy when we came out from the Oncologist consultation room... It was only when we walked into the waiting area full of cancer patients that we thought that maybe that was not the place to show our happiness, unfortunately no all patients get to hear such positive news. None the less, Henry still has stage IV lung cancer and that has not changed.....
So we kept a low profile and then, thinking about it, the profile has been kept low regardless. We are happy but we still understand that cancer and responses to treatment can be volatile.
We are happy but we also keep an stable estate of mind. Good news only mean that we have to keep on working hard, full stop. If at some stage we get bad news (fingers crossed that it won't happen) we will still have to keep on working hard, full stop..
I am not sure if I am explaining my self well enough.
So, nothing has changed since Henry spoke to the Oncologist. Henry is still having lots of fruit and vegetables and Aloe Arborescens.
Henry has not lost his hair, nor has he been sick or lost his appetite. His temperature has not raised and his thin body has managed to stay strong to fight possible infections (which is something that can easily happen after each chemo treatment).
Henry has not lost his smile either.
We hope that, as well as updating on Henry's situation, we can provide with some useful information and hope to anybody who is going through similar, if not the same, situation as Henry.
Henry has not been him self since he had the chemo treatment four days ago. He still makes an effort because he is just like that. Still smiles.
But he is not his usual and he seems very tired. His nose bleeds, we do not know why.
Yesterday he started taking Aloe Arborescens after a 10 days break so we are hopping that this will pick him up again.
We'll see.
I think it is also important to talk about the struggle of not having much money, I am sure this is an issue for many people who are ill. For everybody really. To look after your self costs a lot of money. We are not big spenders, we have always been ok with the basics but now more than ever we understand that happy days are those that Henry is free of pain from the illness and side effects from chemo. So we do not really need to spend money in fancy things to be happy.
The money that needs to be raised is a lot and even though we do not want to think about not being able to raise it, we know that the possibility exists. So while the money is being raised he needs to help him self by other means. We have decided to invest our little money to have good-for-you food.
A friend of Henry's, Sharon, sent him an email with an article on "what cancer cells feed on". So we have drastically decided to take all that food away from our daily diet.
It is complicated because Henry is underweight and according to the dietician he needs to eat cakes, milk, ice cream, chocolate and fatty foods in general to increase his weight. But we do not understand why Henry is being recommended to do what this country is campaigning against; NO FATTY FOOD!!. We do not understand why his weight needs to be increased at any cost.
Sooo, we have drawn our own little plan. No ice cream, no milk, no cakes and no fatty food. All this is following the article we got from Sharon.
So yesterday we topped up the fridge with tones of fruit, vegetables, fish and almond milk. He is also having seed, pulses and dried fruits. We have bought a proper juicer so we can juice raw vegetables to make the most of its nutrients. Henry is now eating every 2.5 hours so he can stop having the "Insure" drinks and get his 2.400 daily Kcal just out of good food.
Yesterday was Henry's first day without the supplementary drink and that is another little step forward to be thankful for.
As long as we can we will invest in antioxidant food. Surely nutrients play an important role in the body.
Apart from staying positive, that is all he can do at the moment; eat very well.
I have put the "What cancer cells feed on " article on the blog just in case somebody is interested in reading it.
In just one week we have managed to put together a nice little event. There is plenty of food and prizes. Some have been bought and some donated by a few shops in Richmond. Soon I will add them all to the supporters page.
Henry had a good time, many of his family members, friends and work colleagues have turned up. Now Henry can say that a few of his work mates are also friends. Some of them have been really caring and understanding and as well as paying the entrance and participating in the raffle, have also donated there and then discreetly by putting some cash in birthday's cards for Henry.
i will not spend much time on negative stuff but it must be said that some people that turned up for the event tried (and accomplished) to get away without paying the £10 for participating in the event. This needs to be mentioned because I consider it a lack of manners and respect.
The thing is that people are not forced to donate, not even to believe in Henry's cause but if you turn up to an event that involves Fundraising and you are told in advance that there is a fee, very small fee, of £10 to participate in the event then you should naturally understand. This is just common sense, but because common sense can not be taught and we did not want to waste time, energy and principles in chasing people around for that fee, many of them stayed at the event without paying what they had to by giving inexcusable excuses
Henry is having a difficult time, to be given 18 months to live is not an easy thing to go through so Henry needs "nice and easy"
and that is one of the things that is going to contribute to maintaining him positive and as healthy as possible. We do not want needless difficult situations and for that reason we will not have again the people that has created these situations in our next event. We do not need to give out names, they know who they are.
Apart from those that brought tension to the event, everybody was excellent and Henry had a fantastic time. Just what he needed.
Thanks to those who really care!
A big apology to Denis. I was terribly rude to Denis thinking that he was one of those "awkward" ones when reality is that he has been one of the nicest ones. So, still today, two days after, I feel bad for being so rude to him.
Purely because he did not deserve it at all!!.
I am sorry.
Thanks to Roger Greaves who won the first prize (and the second and the fourth...) and donated it to Henry. That is another hundred that he has given to Henry's cause.
Thanks you.
It is 7.30 am and Henry is still in bed, that is unusual, he is always the first to be up.
I go to his bedroom to see if he is ok. He says he feels very tired.
I tell him to come to get some to eat and his tablets. When he comes to the kitchen I realize that his face is swollen; his eyes and lips specially. He has had trouble breathing during the night but has not complaint about it. Henry never complaints about nothing.
It could be an allergic reaction to chemo, even though he is taking steroids for it, so we phone to the chemo Clinic at Charing Cross Hospital and explain the situation. Henry is advised to go to any A&E. We decide to go to Charing Cross, where he gets his chemo treatment.
Four minutes after arriving to A&E he is called in. They are extremely diligent with Oncologist patients so he is taking to a private room where within an hour, maybe less, they carry out a full check up. Blood test from vein and oxygen levels from his artery. An X-Ray scan and a CTG scan.
i explain the Oncologist what happened after chemo and the fluid overload so as all tests come up perfect they assume that Henry has been retaining fluids. The gave him two diuretic tablets and that' s all he seemed to need. Apparently steroids also make you keep fluids so it must be a combination of both.
We head home in a cab so Henry can spend the rest of his birthday at home.
Thanks God!
Henry went to Hospital for his second cycle of chemo.
The time we where there all was OK, it was only when he finished the treatment that again, he put over four kilos weight in the 8 hours treatment.
The nurses where too busy to realize that Henry went well over the weight. Any weight over two kilos has to be treated with diuretics so Henry can release all the fluid. I mentioned before that over load of chemo can affect other body organs. So after chasing the nurses they realized that Henry needed diuretic tablets. They gave him one.
We went home.
Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:
Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.
Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.
When a person has cancer it indicates the person has nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc., and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
*CANCER CELLS FEED ON":
Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc. are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat,
like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..
Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes
to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.
Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.
No plastic containers in micro.
No water bottles in freezer.
No plastic wrap in microwave..
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food Cover food with a paper towel instead.
Please share this with your whole email list.........................
This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life...
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