The Political Side of Medicine

Ah, I remember like it was yesterday.  Our fearless leader was trying to sell us on the "Affordable Health Care Bill."  They wouldn't actually TELL us what was in the bill.  Remember Pelosi's you have to pass it to find out what's in it?  But we were assured that we would get to keep our doctors if we liked them, our premiums would not go up, our care would not be determined by some bureaucrat sitting in an office and a lot of people would get insurance that couldn't afford it before.  We were also told that even thinking there would be death panels was ludicrous, it would never happen in this land of lollipops and candy canes.

And then reality hit.  I just got an email yesterday that my insurance premiums are going up 17%.  Let's do the math here.  My income didn't go up 17%.  My husband makes $15 an hour.  In order to get a 17% raise, he would have to start earning $2.55 more.  He's never gotten a raise that big.  He had to threaten to leave to get $1.  And I think that's the only raise he's gotten in 7 years.  For his military retirement to go up 17%, he'd have to get $241.23 more a month.

When I write my budget, I take everything that comes into the household and then what I need to pay for.  I divide some by a month, because my husband's retirement is a monthly income.  That would be the mortgage and truck/car payments.  Then I use an average 40 hour week for the estimate of his work income.  Yes, he gets a retirement check but you don't actually think we can retire on it, do you?  It means I don't have to go out and get an $8 an hour job, and then pay for child care for an adult handicapped person.  I can't just add another few bucks in without lowering something else.  What am I going to lower?  Food?  Gasoline? Am I going to tell the utility company, "I'm sorry, but I'm not paying the full amount you charged me because I have to have healthcare?"

Then, as if that weren't enough, I called to find out when my next appointment was with my oncologist.  I just got a new doctor.  We decided that instead of the shot for suppressing my calcium (I have cancer on my spine, rib and next to my breastbone), he would start me on an infusion that would strengthen my bones.  But when I stopped to make the appointment, the appointment lady was on lunch break.  Usually they just make it and then call me.  It's tomorrow, and they hadn't called yet, so I called them.  She said I'm getting 2 shots.  I explained that they changed one shot to an infusion that was supposed to take about an hour.  She said they changed it back.  I asked why and she said it "was the channel they chose to use."  I said, "Oh, so my insurance company wouldn't approve it?"  She just said that she'd let someone else tell me that.  So, my insurance company has written me off and decided I'm not worth the cost of the better drug, I get the cheaper one.  But there are no death panels.  And our doctors will be able to treat us as they see fit.

It's a good thing I think the Big Pharma is suppressing a cure for cancer.  I'll continue my B17.  I raised the dose.  I now take a 100mg tablet at night and another one in the morning.  I started getting pain on my breast bone about 3PM. I figure this ought to stop it.

I hope I have a few readers, because I must reiterate:  I am on government health care.  This is what you all have to look forward to.  I have to wonder what standards they'll use to determine who gets what care?  Is the money that they would have spent on me (as a veteran of only 4 years, and a dependent) going to someone injured in the war?  Does the fact that I'm now nearing 50, and no longer in the work force play a part in it?  What standard would they use on you?  Is your newborn too young, with not enough money invested in him/her from the education department, etc., thus not eligible for that life saving procedure they need?  Is your mom, who just turned 70 and has had a stroke, determined to be of no value to society anymore, so they're just going to give her a pain pill and let her slip away in comfort?  When this happens to you, remember my story.

Laetrile, Vacation and New Meds

I'm back from vacation.  It was exhausting for someone fighting my battles.  I got a little more tired each day.  The first night I was up until about midnight because we had a meet and greet at a local bar.  I don't drink, so I had a coke, but I got to see people I haven't seen in 30 years (some I hadn't seen in 10 or 20 if they showed up at the other reunions).  The second night I didn't get to bed until probably 1 AM or so, because we had a dinner/dance.  The next night was an easy one, because we went to a local winery and it broke up about 3:30 PM, so we relaxed around the hotel and I went to bed about 10 PM.  The next day was a 12 hour drive home, but I slept most of the way.  My sleeping caused my husband to make a wrong turn and we ended up with a 12 hour drive instead of 10....one hour backtracking, then another backtracking the backtracking. Love those confusing on/off ramps in Arkansas.

All things considered, I think the Laetrile made me less tired than I would have been.  But because I wasn't spending half my day in my recliner with my feet up, my ankles swelled up, as well as my bad arm.  It will be nice to take it easy for a while.

My mom is a retired nurse (can you say brainwashed by the AMA?) and doesn't approve of my decision of treatment.  She believes doctors have our best interest at heart.  I think most doctors want to do what's best for the patient, but just don't have all the information.  I think Big Pharma has done a bang up job of hiding the facts and twisting statistics to make this seem like quackery.  I'm going to go on how I FEEL, which is great.  I didn't get to eat my lentils every day while I was on vacation, but I can get back into that.  I'm doing so well, I'm considering taking 2 pills a day.  I went to the website of the place I bought the Laetrile from, and they sell it in 100 mg and 500 mg doses.  I suppose the 100 mg dose is a maintenance dose, while the higher is for active cancer.  I figure it can't hurt to take 200 mg, since they sell it in such a high dose.

I received my meds that my doctor ordered.  The pharmacy called right before we left and said they couldn't accept them, but had to have them shipped to a different store that did "specialized care."  They came in a chemotherapy bag with lots of warnings.  They want me to take 5 tablets that are 250 mg each, once a day an hour before or after a meal.  That sounds like chemotherapy to me, and I'm not doing it.  I am supposed to have an appointment with my new doctor and I'll discuss it with him.  I'm NOT taking chemo again.  I want to stay feeling well, not sick all the time.

I actually don't see that extending my life by a few months is of any benefit if I'm unable to get out of my chair and do my work around the house or take care of myself.  I'd prefer to take care of myself, my house and my family, even if it means for a few months less time.  From the research I've found, chemo only extends the "life" a little bit.  Eating right and doing alternative therapies may only extend the life a bit, but it's more of a life.  I would actually prefer doing nothing over taking chemo again.

I guess we'll see what the new doctor thinks.  I will tell him I'm taking Laetrile.  We'll see what he says.  He is, after all, from Columbia.

Laetrile Update

For a recap, I've been battling stage IV Breast cancer with conventional medicine for a year and 7 months. My cancer came back after a 7 year vacation, into my spine (T5 which is about bra strap level) and my left lung. They have decided I'm stable because I only got a little worse from March's PET scan.  I don't want to be stable, I want to kick it out, so I decided to try a different route recently.  A friend sent me a link about B17, or Laetrile.  I tried at first to do it with just foods that are high in B17, raw apricot kernels, apple seeds, lentils, and chick peas.  I got my Laetrile in yesterday and took one last night. 

I didn't really think much about how I felt.  I got sleepy, but didn't know if it was from the Laetrile or from working hard.

I'm getting ready to go on vacation, and I did 2 loads of laundry and ran a couple errands today.  I also packed my clothes for the trip.  I realized at about dinner time, that my back hadn't hurt at all today.  I realized this because it was just starting to hurt, just a couple hours before the 24 hour mark from taking it last night.  I couldn't wait to get my hot shower and take my Laetrile.  So, if nothing else, it is helping with the pain, and it's not hydrocodone. 

I got a call from my Pharmacy (as a side note).  The doctor had put me on a new pill, that I suppose does the same thing that the Herceptin does, block hormones.  I had stopped the Herceptin after a year and a half because I was having allergic reactions.  The first one was an all over itch.  I had stopped the Benydril, so I started it back up.  Next I had my tongue swell and interfere with my speech.  I'm not taking the chance of anaphylactic shock.  So I stopped it.  This new pill is a substitute for that.  Apparently it's so toxic that my local pharmacy can't accept it.  Something about having to be a "special" pharmacy.  So they sent it to the closest one, which is over an hour drive.  They are going to mail it to me.  Not safe enough to have delivered to the pharmacy, but it can go through the mail system?  Am I sure I even want to take it?

Laetril Trials

OK, I got my Laetril in the mail yesterday.  I'm not going to say where I got it, because supposedly you're not supposed to sell it in the US.  I guess the big Pharma companies know it's a cure for cancer.  How do you patent something that came from a plant?

I took my first one last night.  I had no ill side effects.  It's a 100mg tablet and I can't read everything on the label because I only know a little Spanish.  I looked up some of the words I didn't know, and it's mostly your standard warnings.  Keep out of reach of small children, keep in a cool dry place, use only as directed (which is one tablet a day) and that it's a supplement, not a drug.  I think it also says the person taking it is responsible for any consequences if they live in the US.

I did get a bit sleepy, but it could have been from working all day.  I'm getting ready to go on vacation and there are a lot of preps that need to take place, laundry, packing, making sure I have everything for snacks (special diet for me and both kids), etc.  I seem about the same on energy level today, but, hey, it was only one dose.

I'm continuing the humus (chick peas are high in B17) and lentils when I can.  I also eat the seeds of the apple I eat.  I'm slowing allowing a couple of things a day.  Originally, if I had an apple, with the seeds, I didn't eat any apricot kernels.  I'm almost through my first bag of apricot kernels.  I eat about 10-12 in a sitting.  I don't recommend this to anyone else, this is just what I am doing.  With stage 4 breast cancer (and there being no stage 5), I feel I have nothing to loose and everything to gain.  I've been battling this beast for a year and a half solid, with my first battle being about 7 months long 7 years ago.  That's a long time.

I haven't had my first appointment with my new doctor yet.  I imagine it will have to wait until after my vacation.  I did tell the mammogram people I didn't want a mammogram.  I'll have to tell my surgeon still, but with getting PET scans every 3 months, I don't need more treatments.  I am just tired of all the tests. 

Dropping the Herceptin has given me more energy.  But now, my injection sites are getting sore.  One on each "buttocks".  Sucks.  Will I have to stop those, too?  I am aiming for quality of life.  Why extend life if it's going to be spent in a chair all the time.  I have things to do.

My PET Scan resulsts

I got my PET scan results last Tuesday.  I'd deem them not good, though some might say mixed.  My lung mass was the same.  The mass they found on my 6th or 7th rib (depending on which report you read) is slightly smaller, but now there's another mass on my sternum of about 7 mm, about the size of a pencil eraser.  My doctor said there wasn't enough regression to jump up and down and bring in the big guns (his words).  He tweaked my treatment a little.  I had already dropped the herceptin.  He wants to start me on a pill that I take daily for 3 weeks, then a week off.  I can't remember if he said it did the same as the Herceptin, or the Zometa.  I'm thinking the Herceptin.  He also wants to add a shot (that I'm thinking replaces the Zometa) that I would get once a month, along with the other shot.

While I was there, I mentioned that we had a mix up with them putting his associates name on an authorization for the PET.  I had gotten a bit excited at first (didn't tell him this) because his associate believes in taking diet into consideration, a more holistic approach.  I told my doc that since he's only here 2 days out of the month, I'd like to go ahead and switch.  It was a hard decision, because I've had this doc for 7 years.  But, I've also been in treatment for this round of cancer for a year and a half.  It's time to try something different.

I've been eating lentils almost every day.  I made a humus out of chick peas (garbanzo beans) and I'm using it for a dip.  Not bad.  The first time I had one (they were soaking, and I wanted to see if they were tender enough), I suddenly developed a craving and ended up eating a whole handful, in one sitting.  My body must recognize that I need it.

I got my book in, A World Without Cancer.  It's been an interesting read so far.  I won't go into detail, I'm not a book critique, but it's well worth the read.  I'm a bit disappointed, as it's all trying to convince someone that this is legitimate therapy, when I'm already convinced.  I was expecting a bit more about what foods to eat, etc.  I did learn that the medicine form of Laetril is even more safe than the natural foods.  You can't buy it in the US, only through mail order, and I understand it has a label all in Spanish.  That's OK, I'll have someone I know interpret it for me.  I know lots of people who speak Spanish.  So I ordered some. 

I have noticed a bit less pain.  The pain had been in my shoulder blade and cervical spine.  It's now mostly gone, unless I overdo it a bit on housework.  Yesterday I managed to move all the furniture in the living room and vacuum under them (turned the recliners over on their backs, moved the end tables (4 of them) to vacuum under them).  It's nice to be able to do housework again.  I can't wait to see the results of taking actual Laetril.  I haven't decided if I'll tell my new doctor or not.  I suppose I'll feel him out a bit by starting a conversation on alternative therapies, maybe ask his opinion.

I had always heard that once it went to stage IV, there was really nothing you could do but make the patient comfortable.  My mom (who is a nurse and lives a 12 hour drive away from me) always sounds so sad when I talk to her.  I try to keep it upbeat, because I know that's what she's thinking, too.  It's just a waiting game.  This book talks about clinical trials, and how they're not really testing different drugs, but trying to find the dose that will treat or kill.  It throws a really bad light on pharmaceutical companies.  It makes it sound like the only reason this won't be considered a cure is because it's a food/vitamin/supplement that you can't really patent.  The drug companies make more money selling poison that doesn't work, or even increases the number of people that need it, than they ever would with Laetril.  We shall see.

That's why I started this blog, to document my efforts to cure myself.  Just think, if Obamacare gets fully implemented, all of us over a certain age may be treating ourselves, because the doctors will be giving us pain pills and making us comfortable until the end comes.