Nontoxic Cancer Treatment Financial Need Vastly Underestimated

I had gotten the information about the nontoxic treatment for my breast cancer from my holistic health practitioner, who had gotten hers from the clinic.  What she had not done is get the entire overview of what actually happens beyond the initial 4 days of IV treatment with the $32,000 price tag.  A few days after my Indiegogo crowd funding project was up and running, I took the time to call the clinic myself to get the full download.  As someone who prides herself on being a wise researcher, this is something I can't believe I didn't do earlier because I got seriously brought up short. 

I was truly sobered to hear that a much higher total is needed to get everything handled under the current protocol and during the first year of required follow-up to be certain the cancer is gone and stays that way.  In case new readers come on board and just for the collective memory, I must elaborate.

The clinic does have an initial 4-day treatment with a price tag of $32,000, but the current average stay is 9 or 10 days.  Each subsequent day beyond the fist 4 costs $5,000 per day at the clinic. Blood test expenses at a local lab are not included in that number and, even if there were insurance that might pay, it would certainly be "out of network" and covered at a reduced rate.  Some people have had to continue the IV for much longer with the longest infusion being an incredible 22 days!  With everyone's system being different, they have no way to estimate how long I would need to be there.  So, just planning for an additional 6 extra days to be "average" tacks an additional $30,000 on to the bill. 

It is important to note that the woman to whom I spoke who had been there since early in 2013 had yet to see anyone come with an uncompromised immune system like mine is.  Most have compromised or ruined their immune system with chemo and the cancer was not gone back or had returned with a vengeance and the patient was looking for another answer to give them hope.  This is the tragedy of the traditional approach to cancer.  Chemotherapy is so counter-intuitive to maintaining good health.      

But,  I digress.  Back to the treatment costs.  Two days prior to the infusion beginning, a PetScan must be taken and a port inserted in a large vein.  Price tag for those items - $4,400-$6,600 for the PetScan and $2,000 - $3,000 for the port.  I split the difference on them both which added $8,000 more to the total need.

Required blood tests beyond the 4th day and during the first year bump the total by another $10,000.  While a few might be covered by insurance under Obamacare, the biggest share of that total are not.
Adding the required post-IV immune system testing, paying for the organic food and its preparation to accommodate the rigid dietary requirements while at the clinic that is not included in the cost, and travel to and from brings the war chest requirement to nearly $100,000. 

After I got over the initial shock and my jaw off the floor, I thanked Rebecca for the reality check and then asked if she was aware of any other options with a smaller price tag.  She told me that Cancer Treatment Centers of America requires a bank roll of a minimum of $250,000 for anyone who seeks to take advantage of treatment outside that which traditional insurance covers, which they do offer - things like acupuncture, vitamin supplementation, massage therapy, hot infrared treatments, and more.  So, with that in mind, the more holistic treatment I want is quite the bargain.

That's it for today.  A lot to digest, but I figure anyone following my blog now or who may do so in the future should know the truth that I know. 

Enjoying Bread While Keeping Carbs Down

Years ago I met a doctor who was over the top about carbs and managing leptin resistance in the body as weight management tools.  He snacked nonstop on things like herrings in olive oil and nuts.  He was thin as a twig. 

A key way to keeping your weight down is by limiting carbs, which is virtually impossible if you eat bread.  The doctor told us about Heavenly Manna Bread, SmartCarb1, and SmartCarb2 bread made by the Julian Bakery in La Jolla, CA.  This stuff is chock full of proteins and carbs, tastes great, and only has 1 net carb per piece in the plain bread.  There are 2 net carbs in the cinnamon, raisin almond bread.  If you knew how persnickety I am about food, you would believe me when I tell you it is yummy!

The bakery recently changed their formula and made slices thinner, probably to reduce the calories per slice.  I liked the old formula and size better, but it is still a terrific way to keep bread in your diet.  I think it tastes best toasted.

You can order it online and have it shipped to you, but some small natural grocers and a few #Whole Foods carry it, too. 

Cancer and Sugar Connection Still on My Mind

I started on this subject in September and it is still dominating my mind an unfair amount.  Knowing that if food is not a protein or a fat, then it must be a carb that turns into sugar in your body is a basic fact that a lot of people don't get.  Vegetables and fruits are all carbs.  Some, like arugula and spinach, have some protein, too.  Same with milk.  The less the fat content, the higher the carb level. Most breads and cereals are virtually 100% carbs, making label reading an absolute necessity.   

I have long known that carbs turn into sugar in the body, but did not understand how MUCH sugar can be in so LITTLE food.  For example, a medium tomato contains 5 grams of sugar!!!  In an ideal world, if anyone wants to starve cancer cells, they should consume less than 30 grams of carbs per day with absolutely none of them coming from refined sugar. 

So, you look at a package label that indicates there are 9 grams of carbohydrates, but there are 7 grams of fiber in the serving, you only have to count 2 net grams of carbs.  My latest brain download said that my own cancer gets an unhealthy level of stimulation with more than just 7 grams of sugar per day!  That is so little as to be virtually impossible to avoid going over.  Counting carbs and measuring portions is a pain if you are truly disciplined and want to stay in control.  I wax and wane on this.

The bottom line is that healthy eating means limiting carbs and sugar to a great degree.     

The Hill to Climb is a Lot Bigger Than I Knew

I may be talking to the wind, but a couple of weeks ago, I talked to the clinic where I plan to have this treatment.  I had gotten information about the treatment and costs from my health practitioner and talked with the doctor in charge a couple of times who, of course, was not in touch with administrative procedures by the front office.

The bottom line is that my $42,000 goal is WAY too small.  I was told I need a war chest of $100,000 before I head to the clinic.  The 4-day treatment for $32,000 is the beginning, basic, required, expected initiation.  After that, the individual's personal circumstances and internal health and cancer status dictate the number of additional days needed at the clinic.  The average patient gets treatment 9-10 days, with each additional day beyond day 4 costing $5,000.  That adds $25-30K to the basic $32K before anything else gets done.  Some people have had to stay even longer.  One man was there for 22 total days!

Furthermore, the first 2 days at the clinic are not part of the treatment during which a port is inserted and a current PetScan taken at an additional cost of $8-10K depending on the vendor.  Then there are blood tests for days beyond the first 4 and during the first year of follow-up to make certain the cancer is gone that builds the total higher.  The sublingual capsules of the intravenous product cost $1,400/month and a minimum of 4 months must be budgeted.  Finally, an immune system test before clinic departure which costs $4,000 is mandatory and the suggested protocols for immune system boosting make the monetary need even higher.  Travel and food costs are additional.

I went through the items one by one with the staff there and it was indeed perilously close to $100,000 for a 9-10 day stay and the first year of testing and support beyond the clinical treatment.  When I shared the information with my health practitioner, she was floored and surprised, too.  Information is power, isn't it?

Rather than staying discouraged very long, I realized that, while the hill is a lot higher than I understood initially, I don't need a lot of wealthy people supporting my project.  It only takes 100,000 people contributing $1 to get there.  Or 20,000 people chipping in $5.  Or 10,000 people letting go of $10 and getting the book.  Or 4,000 people with $25.  Or 2,500 people with $40.  You get the drift.  Now I am just on a mission to find enough bloggers to write about me so the message can get out.  I know people out there are interested in learning about ways to handle a dreadful disease without compromising their body. 

Join me in getting the message out.   

This Is a 2-Way Street

I want to be sure that anyone reading my blog or looking at my Indiegogo project realizes that this is not just about me getting some treatment.  As I said in one video, I am convinced there are a lot of people who are looking for information on things they can do when they get a cancer diagnosis that go beyond what the traditional doctors say must be done.  I have not enjoyed the doctor appointments where the "My way or the highway" approach has been given to me.  The "Me, Tarzan, you Idiot" approach doesn't work with me and I bet there are others who could use some courage and support and ideas to take care of their bodies.  My book is going to tell about my journey and I plan to inform readers of things they can do that may assist with their own healing.  I disclose that I am not a doctor or medically qualified, but I do know enough about the human body and care about my own health enough to want to do whatever I can to be well.  If you are of that mind set, I sure want you to stay tuned.   

Fantastic First Day

I feel GREAT!  Day 1 with a little over 2% of the goal met with $858 pledged.  I HAD to do the numbers.  $42,000 divided by 47 days = $893.62 per day is all that is needed to make it.  Sounds a lot more do-able at that rate.   You may wonder how I decided on a 47 day campaign.  8 days left in November plus 31 days in December is 39 days.  It will end January 8.  My baby's birthday (she will be 43) is January 9.  I figure there will another reason to celebrate that day.   ##Breast cancer takes it on the chin.  ##Nontoxic Cancer Treatment

http://bit.ly/1cbBjFk  @BCCare

       

Indiegogo Launch November 22, 2013

My world has been forever changed today.  My Indiegogo project to raise funds for a nontoxic breast cancer treatment launched a few hours ago.  It is entitled "Help Me Get Nontoxic Breast Cancer Treatment". Proceeds will go to the treatment itself and tests in advance of it, as well as helping me get the book published that is in progress.  (The first four pages are in my very first blog as a teaser.)  I am excited to get a lot of people following my progress now and as I get the treatment.  People with cancer often need reasons to be hopeful and I plan to be a go-to-source for that.  It may be raining in Sedona, but it is bright sunshine in my heart!

Officially Home-less Now and Feeling Lighter

Some people think the number 13 is unlucky.  I am not superstitious, but I will always remember 2013 as the year of big changes   We sold our house in Vegas in May for less than we paid for it in 1993 and moved into a small house that we are renting rom a friend.  On November 13, we closed on our home in Denver, got no money out of it, put our stuff in a trailer for storage, and are now officially home-less. 

Why do I feel so good, then?  I am convinced that I am not alone in feeling weighted down by too much clutter, too many things, too much maintenance, and too many things on my to-do list.  You don't have to give up your home to feel lighter.  It's a decision that can just be made.  As Abraham Lincoln said, "People are about as happy as they make up their mind to be." 
   

More on the Sugar and Cancer Connection

When I told the story last week about the lady and, apparently, her doctor, who were unaware of the sugar-cancer connection, I ran out of room to be properly short in a blog.  So, this is the continuance.

I read an article in Natural News written by Jonathan Benson published July 18, 2013 which talks about  scientists from University College London (UCL) in the U.K. experimenting with a new cancer detection method that involves utilizing a unique form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ordinarily cancer screenings use low-dose radiation injections to identify the presence of tumors, which makes sense as radiation is another known cause of cancer. Cancer tumors, which feed off sugar, light up brightly as they contain high amounts of sugar.

"The new technique, called ‘glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer’ (glucoCEST), is based on the fact that tumors consume much more glucose (a type of sugar) than normal, healthy tissues in order to sustain their growth,” explains a recent UCL announcement, noting that tumors appear as “bright images” on MRI scans of mice.

I care about this in particular because the treatment I want to have if my Kickstarter project is successful requires that I have a PETscan first.  PETscans use a radioactive SUGAR dye injection that doctors use because it allows them to see cancer tumors "light up".  The treatment doctors want to see how many and where tumors are throughout the body of anyone seeking treatment.  I know there are things I can do to mitigate the effects of the PETscan radioactive dye, but there is nothing to be done about the sugared "dessert" the cancer cells are going to get as a bonus for the doctor's learning.  I have never had a PETscan, but I know they are often prescribed.  If you get interested in my book project, you will learn more intimately about my experience, but I promise to keep my blog followers informed along the way.  Stay tuned.

You Know Sugar is Poison When You Have Cancer, Right?

A few months ago, a shirt-tail relative told me that her 43-year-old niece was dealing with life-threatening ovarian cancer for the third time and did not know what she was going to do.  She was not certain that her body could take any more chemo.  After the initial around of it, she had lost a lot of weight and was scarily thin.  Her doctor told her she needed to put some weight back on because her system was even weaker without some meat on her bones.  He supposedly told her to eat ANYTHING she wanted to get that weight back on.  I imagine she believed her doctor was trying to help her.

So, she porked up by eating ice cream, soda, pizza, candy, and milkshakes.  I am not kidding.  In six month's time, her weight was back and so was the cancer.  She endured a second round of chemo, eating more of the same when she felt well enough to eat.  She was trying to decided whether or not to try their "last" option.

So, I told my relative that surely the doctor and her niece knew that cancer cells are particularly joyful, indeed reproduce at even faster rates, when refined sugar is present.  She said she was unaware of that and obviously her niece did not, either.  I told her that I had a personal interest in knowing that and shared that I had been coping with cancer naturally for nearly 8 years.  I told her to have her niece call me any time to talk about alternatives.  She never called.  She died after doing what she was told to do for the third time, leaving a husband and two teenage daughters to grieve for her loss.  The last couple of years of her life were unbelievably miserable and she died anyway.

Sad, but true.  I don't know what it will take to get basic information like this out to people, but I hope my book will help.  I guess things are lined up now so my Kickstarter project can launch soon.  I hope you will watch for it and support it. 

Me, My Story, and the First Four Pages of My Book

I decided to try and fund my book on Indiegogo and wanted to provide both my blog readers as well as my potential investors with a preview of the book that is to come.

Before you start reading this, know that I am not a doctor or medical professional.  I am just a regular person with opinions and an experience I want to share.  I am not a product vendor for anything I have taken for my health and no one is paying me to say anything.   What follows is the story of what I have done (and not done) about it.

And so the story begins...

Chapter 1:  Wait...  I Have WHAT?!

On August 1, 2005, I was sitting in the parking lot of Whole Foods near our Las Vegas home when I got the call telling me that I had breast cancer.

The news was truly surprising, given the laundry list of attributes I reviewed that were on my “credit” side:

• I am a positive person, long interested in being healthy. I read and research about what can be done to look and feel young. 
• The vitamin regimen on which I have my husband and me is extensive and has gone on for many years.  
• When I am in charge of meals, I buy and prepare organic, pesticide-free foods. 
• I am fussy about what we consume when we eat out.  Fast food so rarely crosses our lips, I can’t recall the last time we darkened the doors of a chain where “What is that meat?” is served.
• I may be 10 pounds overweight, which makes me a little pudgy, not obese.
• I don’t smoke or do drugs.
• I was going to be 55 the following month and still not menopausal. 
• I love my husband with all my heart. 
• I would have put our sex life up against any youngster, as we only “missed” a few days every month.
• We shared a bottle of red wine almost every day for dinner, not over-indulging very often. 
• We were making a good living serving a predominantly high-end business owner clientele in the financial services industry.
• We were and still are members of a wonderful spiritual community where we feel nurtured and our leader is a living inspiration.

 Other than not having a disciplined exercise program, given my lifestyle and mental attitude, there is no sensible reason for this diagnosis.  I called my husband, Bob, and told him the news in a matter-of-fact tone, which he properly mirrored.  No emotion.

Just four days earlier, on July 28, I had my sort-of-annual mammogram in Denver.  Despite having lived in Las Vegas since 1993, I never found the medical community there one that commanded my confidence.  The few times we had “needed” care in Las Vegas, it was not a positive experience.  When you think about it, every medical class has a bottom 25% and I am convinced that an unfair share of that 25% must locate in Las Vegas in order to serve the burgeoning senior population and escape the onerous income taxes of the neighboring states.  Everyone I know in Las Vegas who has faced anything important medically has sought help at Scripts or the UCLA Medical Center in California or the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.  I am not alone in my beliefs and my opinion is just that.

The radiologist, a decade or more my junior with the sad eyes and demeanor of someone who has delivered a lot of unhappy messages in his life, reviewed my films that Friday.  He suggested he take a biopsy of a small, suspicious mass in my left breast, which he “happened” to have time to do right then if I would take the additional time to do it.  Given how hard it is for me to take time out for schedule invasions like a doctor visit, I agreed.

 

The procedure was interesting and radiologist, Dr. L., explained what he was doing as he worked.  My first ultrasound was an education with the introduction of a cold jelly on my skin to make it easy to “drive” the monitor, allowing the doctor to pinpoint and measure the area of interest.  He made markings on the screen and note of them somewhere.  It was odd for me to see the tissue of my breast as he rolled the scanner around.   Some numbing lotion came next and then a long needle was poked into me from several angles.  As a pain weenie and a needle-phobic person, I wanted to hold someone’s hand and nurse, Beth, obliged.  The digging around he did to get several pieces of tissue was not comfortable – a feeling he predicted would last through the weekend. 

No results were given that day, but knowing glances between Dr. L. and Beth and her hug for me as I left the office made it clear the path they believed I was headed down.  I did not own their sentiments at all.  I had reviewed my positive list of attributes.  I believe in a kind, abundant Universe.  I was not afraid. 

I had to keep ice on my breast Friday night and Saturday to keep the swelling down from the intrusion.  No big deal.  I was honestly surprised by that parking lot call from Bob’s general practitioner, who had gotten the news from Dr. L.  At that time I had no doctor relationship, general or otherwise, and I still don’t.  Bob’s GP was the only name in my Palm address book that I could offer for where to send my test results.

When I got the call, I did ask what the doctor suggested  -to make an appointment to discuss my options.  I wrote down “invasive ductal carcinoma” on a piece of paper, vowed to do some research on the internet about the term, and agreed to come in to talk in a couple of weeks and bring Bob with me.

The meeting was brief.  I asked for a copy of the paperwork that came with the films – The cancer is Stage 1 (out of 4, so it is slow-growing), hormone receptive (most common), and its size an innocuous less than one centimeter.  My junior high metric conversion facts came immediately to mind.  2.5 cm = 1 inch.  Less than 1 centimeter is less than ½ inch.  The unhealthy cells have taken up camp in a milk duct, all of which were unused.  I had not breast feed my children due to a variety of factors - my immaturity, the stupidity of raging women’s lib drivel at the time, and vanity concerns about how I would look “after” (droopy). I heard the information like a third party bystander and owned none of it.  Dr. S. offered the name of a surgeon to whom he often referred people with this diagnosis. 

Other than my daughter and my best friend, Judi, who is like a sister to me, I told no one about this inconvenience.  I would not have told Judi, but she knew I had the biopsy because we had dinner together the weekend after I had it.  My arm was sore and she followed up and asked about it – true to form for her as she functions in her own large family’s role as the go-to caretaker.  She just added me to her fold of care and concern. 

You know how it is when you hear a word for the first time and then, suddenly, you hear or see it again and again?  That’s how it was for the pesky words, “breast cancer”.  It suddenly seemed to start popping up everywhere.   The young (early 40’s) wife of one of our clients was given the diagnosis in September and by Thanksgiving, she had a radical mastectomy.  Chemotherapy was scheduled to begin in the new year and their always-anticipated holiday party was cancelled due to the attention her condition commanded.  While I was in my self-imposed silence about my own mental prison, my work as a “card fairy” went into full gear, sending cards of encouragement, humor, and thoughtfulness to her mailbox several times each week for many months.   (See the “Card Fairy” article in the appendix to learn what to do to become one.)  I tried to take my own medicine of the hopefulness and upbeat outcomes about which I wrote to her. 

Then, one of my longest-term, physically beautiful clients a couple years older than I, came into the office, her face atypically round, her eyes appearing to almost recede into her head.  When I tried to gently inquire about what was going on, I learned she had undergone a lumpectomy for a growth in her breast, found it was cancer, had it removed, and she was on the drug Tamoxifen, which was causing the facial roundness and unprecedented weight gain.  She disclosed she “only” had to be on it for several years before the medical establishment considered her out of the woods for a recurrence.  I asked her for the specific kind and stage of her cancer.  This woman with a PhD in education knew the stage (II), but could not recall the type.  I mentally resolved to research Tamoxifen.   

Under the guise of comparing notes from the second woman, I called the younger woman with the mastectomy and asked her what kind of cancer she had and the stage it was in before she agreed to any treatment.  She did not know the answer to either question before agreeing to the radical mastectomy!!!  She said she had never asked!  She just wanted it “out”.  The doctors and surgeons and fundraising ads on television have done a swell job of instilling paralyzing fear into the public about cancer.  Drugs and expensive “procedures” which add significant burdens to the health care system and the associated medical costs are the paths of choice, both of which are far less demanding than courses requiring searches for information about alternatives and root causes.  Now I know how Kevin Trudeau feels trying to blow the whistle on an outrageous system not really geared whatsoever to promote healthy well-being.  Profit and fear are the drivers.

So, on my slow path of discovery, we continued our busy professional lives and personal travel.  After arming myself with pages printed off the internet and a list of questions, I set the appointment with the recommended surgeon and my hubby attended, stalwart and silent.

The woman was a brisk, no-nonsense person with the bedside manner of a drill sergeant.  She had no interest in my questions.  She had allocated so many minutes for the office visit.  Her goal was to set a date to do surgery (thus her title, you think?).  When I expressed reticence to jump right into that, she said if I didn't  the disease would eventually kill me.  I imagine she wrote a big note in my file to be certain no one in my family could ever sue her if that happened when I did not take her up immediately on her scalpel offer.  No worries.  I had no plans to ever talk to her again.   The “Me – Tarzan; you – idiot” approach doesn't fly with me. 

Here’s the thing.  I had some beliefs about cancer before anyone told me that I had it.  I know you don't catch it at the zoo or on an airplane or by not washing your hands after a restroom stop.  It’s an inside job.  That simple fact is what made me think that cutting (surgery), burning (radiation), and poisoning (chemotherapy) don’t make much sense if you don’t first figure out what caused it internally first.  If I caused or allowed it in the first place, surely I could step up my immune system and get rid of it, right?  I believed that “opening people up” gives oxygen to the unhealthy cells which incents them to grow more quickly because of the stories of people I knew who had not been well, been opened up, and died soon thereafter.  I had personal experience which was instrumental in shaping those beliefs.   

My father died at the ripe age of 55 from multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood plasma, after nearly three years of suffering and pain and doing everything “they” said he should in terms of chemo and tests and guessing what to do next.  He was a lamb on the way to the slaughter with the methods and predictions of the timing of his death, which he did right on schedule.  I have no idea if his life would have been any different if he had gone vegan or drank Johnny Walker every day or chosen meditation over following the instruction of his truly caring oncologist. I do believe that my dad changed the chemistry of his own body when his business partner did some things which obligated my dad without his knowledge (as that’s how legal partnerships work), which caused him to have to file bankruptcy at the age of 50.  That blow to his self worth was the beginning of the end for him and no amount of chemotherapy or organic vegetables could have changed the internal poison of his thoughts.  He died on August 17, 1985.  I turned 35 the following month.  There I was, 55 years old myself.  In the dark of the night, thoughts about whether I was destined to die young like him flitted through my mind....

So, that is how it all began.  Cut to today - 8 years later.  I have learned a lot about options and protocols.  My path has hardly been a straight line. Some people have long lobbied that I should tell my story in a book as way to educate and inspire others in the same boat.  If you feel inspired, I hope you will join this project on Indiegogo (our promotion will begin sometime between 11/22/14 and 12/1/13) and help me get a cutting edge, healthy therapy that is proving highly effective in knocking out every kind of cancer that (of course) my incredibly expensive health insurance won’t cover.  I will include what happens with it in the book and my writing progress between now and then.  Come along with me.  The ride could be amazing!