Blogging in B Minor

I’ve talked quite a bit about supplements in the past so I thought I would post a nice picture of the supplements I take on a daily basis. These have changed since I have completed radiation of course but the documentation in the resource library will give you a run-down of everything I have done. The previous links will show you the pics. Here is a quick list - obviously these are on top of lamitil, topomax, pepcid and a few other prescriptions that I take. Suffice it to say that my daily intake of pills is ridiculous!

Starting from left to right in the picture:

1. Peppermint Complex (digestive)
2. Boswellia (frankencense - anti-inflammatory)
3. Super Antioxidants - click the link for the supplement facts on the type of Antioxindant that I take. The essentials here, among others, are selenium, zinc, N-Acetyl Cysteine, CoQ10, Grape Seed Extract.
4. One-a-Day Multi-Vitamin
5. Aloe Vera Gel - Digestive Tract
6. Temodar 140mg - Chemotherapy. For my dosing it’s 280mg a night - I’m doing 1 week on / 1 week off. I’ll continue through 12 cycles.
7. Probiotics - Acidopholis
8. Fish Oil - 1000mg - Omegas - Important for brain tumor treatment, breaking down blood brain barrier.
9. CoQ10 - additional dosing

For me and based on my research, this is what I’m doing. I’m not a doctor nor a nutritionist so I don’t advocate “copying” what I do. This is what I have been doing since I’ve gone straight on to just chemo. I have had stable scans. Can I attribut them to this regimen and the chemo? I have no idea. For all I know I could be doing none of this, including chemo and still have stable scans. However, I’m going to do eveything I can, based on my research, to make things right and fight the fight!

As an addendum, here is video called Nutritional and Herbal Strategies to Complement Conventional Brain Tumor Treatments by Jeanne Wallace, PhD, CNC. It’s about 40 minutes long and focused on diet and supplements

That’s my supplement post - been meaning to do it.

Subscribe by Email RSS Subscription Stream River of Faith Purchase River of Faith

Tags:  blood brain barrier , Brain Tumor , chemotherapy , My Story , nutrition , oligoastrocytoma , supplements

I’m definitely back on track now and it’s such a relief. This weekend was the best weekend I have had in over 6 weeks. It was great because I felt more more myself than I have in so long - even while I was going through radiation and chemotherapy concurrently. Of course I had the break in-between the initial treatment of 4 weeks but second to that, I’m feeling good now. I think I’m becoming more acclimated to the Temodar as well. All in
all
this is
moving in a
positive direction.All in all this is moving in a positive direction. I’m doing a few things that I’ll document here that I think are helping:

Chemotherapy

1. In the evening, I eat dinner around 5 or 5:30pm. This allows me to have something else around 7:00pm if I want - a snack, grapes or the like. Yes, I cheat sometimes and have sweets. Sugar is not good for tumors but at the same time, I’m going to live my life and not shackle myself.
2. I don’t eat anything after 7:00pm. This allows 2 hours to elapse prior the the start of chemo. At around 9:00pm, I take Zofran, an anti-nausea medication that is used to combat the primary side effect of Temodar which is nausea. I take it with plenty of water - 8-12oz.
3. After the Zofran has been given 30 minutes to be absorbed, I take the Temodar and I go to bed.

Rest

Rest and pacing myself is important. On the weekends, I try to take at least an hour nap at some point during the day. At this point, as of today, I can do some things although I’m gaining my stamina back from going through this period of radiation side effects. Over this weekend, I ran errands, I went to the mall, I planted plants out in front of the house and did other things which was fine. When I’m working, I backed off a bit after my surgery. Before surgery, I hammered away 10 hours a day, sometimes 11 or 12. I had to pull back on that. Basically, listening to my body. Rest is important.

Diet and Food

This is my challenge. Sticking to the right foods is hard, particularly when I am really hungry. Eating fish all of the time can be, in a word, boring! So, I am trying to find different and interesting ways to cook it. I have also never been a vegetable eater! Not so healthy!! I eat them but not like I should. My physicals always come out great as does my complete blood work but I need to do better in this area. So, if you read the documentation I put together in the Library section of the site here and if you read any book and Cooking for Cancer, vegetables are important.

The main point and what is important is to eat smaller meals throughout the day. Not to eat a big breakfast, big lunch, big dinner. Snack on things and this seems to help me. Smaller portions. It’s harder to do but it helps.

Water

I drink a lot more water than I used to do. Chemotherapy dehydrates you. I have water with me wherever I go. I drink 6-8 12oz glasses a day if not more. I get a dry mouth all the time. What also helps is sugar-free gum. I chew a lot of this - it helps quench your thirst a bit and just helps with this taste you get in your mouth that is tied to chemo - can’t explain it but it helps.

Supplements

Protect Healthy Cells

Remember, chemotherapy kills cells in your body. The goal of course is to kill the cancer cells in your body (brain tumor) but unlike radiation therapy, chemotherapy doesn’t differentiate between “good cells” (healthy) and “bad cells” (cancerous) cells. Therefore, the following list contains supplements to help protect healthy cells

1. Coenzyme Q10 - may protect the heart muscle from toxic drugs such as Temodar.
2. Antioxidant nutrients – Vitamin C, selenium, mix tocopherols and mixed carotenes – as part of an antioxidant supplement to provide protection from the free radicals used to kill cancer cells (friendly fire). These should be taken only after treatment starts, when cancer cells are vulnerable
3. Green tea contains strong antioxidants, and its tannins may prevent matastasis.
   Brew yourself a cup or two every day.

To Prevent or Slow Metastasis

In brain tumor patients, metastasis is not as much of an issue as it is with other types of cancer. The likelihood of a brain tumor metastasizing to another area of the body outside of the central nervous system is quite low. However, it could spread to the spine or another area of the brain. Therefore, these supplements are designed to prevent or slow metastasis based on my research.

1. The oil in fish has EPA and DHA, which decrease cancer cells’ ability to stick to blood vessels when they try to escape. During treatment, get these fats from fish, not supplements. I have used supplements here - mainly flaxseed capsules because I have trouble eating fish all the time. Again, you’ll have to judge for yourself and do what you can do. I’m in the process of moving more fish into my diet using different preparations.
2. Eat plenty of fiber-rich foods to keep blood sugar levels even. This will help to “starve” the glucose‐hungry cancer cells. Again, sugar is a problem. I cheat from time to time - it’s not easy to cut out all sugar from your diet. Try it. Look at the labels on everything. The key here is to try and minimize it. My oncologist told me a story that made me feel better. Two patients. One of them was “good” but lived his/her life - had some foods sometimes that were sweet - cheated here and there as it were. Another patient had a husband that cracked down - NO sugar, ever. She loooooved chocolate but it was not to be found in the house. The patient who is living life and letting go a bit is still here - the other one isn’t. Does this mean anything? I don’t know. But it’s something that I thought about. Does it mean that we go out and pound a Halloween-sized bag of M&Ms?! Well, I never did before! But the answer is obviously a resounding no.
3. Decrease polyunsaturated fats, which can increase inflammation.

This post ended up being longer than I had planned! If you don’t have a brain tumor I lost you a long time ago. For those that do, I hope this is helpful in some way.

Hope those of you in the US enjoyed your Thanksgiving Holiday…and for everyone else, hope that you are well…

Site Search Tags: chemo tips, chemotherapy, brain tumor, brain tumor resources, my story, temodar, nutrition, diet

Subscribe by Email RSS Subscription Stream River of Faith Purchase River of Faith

Tags:  Brain Tumor , Brain Tumor Resources , chemo hints , chemotherapy , diet , My Story , nutrition , Temodar