The Care and Feeding of Cancer

Feed a cold, starve a fever. Or is it the other way round? I can never keep that one straight. But I am learning the care and feeding of neuro-endocrine cancer. At the risk of stating the obvious, not all cancers are alike. You can do basic research, and there are some great sources of information available. But it's important to specialize when you get down to it—especially when the GI tract is involved. Between the oral chemo, and weeks of radiation that toasted his upper abdomen just short of crispy, food and nutrition became a bit of a challenge.

Most of the serious books on cancer nutrition warn against ANY sugar. Some are so anti salt that you're supposed to stop bathing in softened water. .Some are anti animal products, some are anti gluten. Some deny all nuts and most fruits. Some require mega doses of wheat grass four times a day. Some require certain foods in certain combinations at specific times of day for specific numbers of days. I skimmed several books before narrowing it down to the three books I studied, looking for a happy medium. There wasn't one. Each book promised the Way the Truth and the Light. There were minor differences, none of them palatable. The common denominator was that if I followed any one of these books to the letter, which is what each book required, I wouldn't have to worry about the cancer.
Rich would want to kill himself.

Two of the many things Rich and I have always enjoyed together is good food and cooking. We eat healthy without being psychotic about it. By that I mean that even when we were trying to lose a few pounds, there's no way we could ever “count points” or look for ways to “cheat our food”. I refuse to have an adversarial relationship with my food. If we want a piece of cake, it's going to be really good cake, not pretend cake. We just won't have it every day.

So the good news is we didn't need to make a bunch of changes. We were already eating mostly vegetables—fresh or steamed; using mainly herbs rather than sauces; desserts were maybe three times a year; red meat even less often; whole grains; reduced fats, reduced sugar. We were at this well before cancer entered our lives, from years earlier when we watched the movie “Super Size Me”.

What we discovered on this path was that a small portion of something truly lovely (and healthy) with excellent ingredients was far more satisfying than ANYTHING from a drive thru window—even super sized. The better you eat, the less you eat. It really is quality over quantity. Once you get the hang of it, it doesn't take any more work to eat healthy, and it's more environmentally friendly when you opt for fresh cooked over the extensive packaging of convenience foods.

Sermon not intended...my point being that no matter how well you're doing, cancer makes you desperate to do more. Even if you don't know what “more” is.

As I mentioned earlier, I started daily juicing. I stepped it up to organic whenever possible. Reducing chemicals and preservatives as much as possible. All animal products had to be hormone and antibiotic free. I'm thinking the last thing you want to introduce to your cancer cells is growth hormone. Call me crazy. And I'm anti antibiotic on principal—enough already with creating Super Germs, and since chemo is going to compromise his immune system, well, you get the idea.

I will tell you that the last topic you want to broach with doctors is... nutrition. It's like trying to teach a pig to sing. The pig's not interested and you'll just get frustrated. Don't believe me? Just ask any doctor, regarding any medical condition, what they recommend in the way of nutrition. At best you may hear them recommend a “low-cholesterol” diet. Ask them what that means or how to do it! Seriously. That's just good, clean fun.

I also started herbal supplements focusing on liver function, herbs for sugar metabolism since we're dealing with the pancreas, and your basic anti-oxidants. We started Protocel based on extensive research and high recommendations from close sources—people who successfully fought cancer. We started Willard's Water, also highly recommended by reliable sources. I was researching everything that came my way, and it was exhausting. I was determined not to be blinded by my desperation; equally determined to keep an open mind.

Lest I sound dumb and gullible, I need to note here that once the doctors finally got a handle on what, exactly, we were dealing with... they had no clue. Rich has a neuro-endocrine pancreatic cancer that is so rare that have been no studies on it. According to our radiologist, only 8,000 cases have been documented in the past fifty years. So I figure if they Practice Medicine, I can add milk thistle and mojo to the mix.
Because the bottom line here is that chemicals and herbs aren't going to save Rich, they're only going to assist him in saving himself. This fight will be won or lost in his heart and mind. So I do what I can do, and bring the best I can to the table.

Whatever you do, it needs be right for the person in the fight, not the author of a book, or family members who are NOT doctors but like to play one at family functions. It needs to be done in harmony and balance. You're not just starving the cancer and feeding the body. You're feeding the Body, Mind and Spirit. The most perfect cancer diet won't work if you can't persuade your patient to choke it down, or they're miserable if they do. Whatever you cook or conjure up, make it lovely enough to feed the Mind and bless the Spirit.

And every now and then, DON'T underestimate the power of a good Margarita!