A Great Book You Must Read!
I recently finished a book given to me entitled "Never Be Sick Again" by Raymond Francis. It's basically an entirely new, but simple and powerful way to look at health and disease. Disease (which is cellular malfunction) has 2 primary causes -- deficiency (lack of nutrients) & toxicity as its root causes. This researcher makes a case for 6 major ways we can take control to prevent & even reverse diseases in the areas of nutrition, toxic avoidance, emotional well-being, physical maintenance, awareness of how we can control our genes, and choosing/refusing medical options. Please check out his book or website at: www.beyondhealth.com -- it will radically shift your outlook on being healthy & trying to avoid almost any kind of disease.
I don't look at cancer now as a "scary monster" that just all of a sudden attacked me. What was under my control that possibly led to my diagnosis? How much toxicity was I exposing myself to (both under my control or not?) A holistic viewpoint is needed to make sense of it all & I'm still trying to assess both my past & current lifestyle. Traditional Chinese Medicine offers some answers too. With the advice of an acupuncturist in the Bay Area, I've been trying to boost my immune system to prevent a recurrence -- he recommends Chinese herbs as well as a number of certain supplements, anti-oxidants & mushroom powder. And I'm trying to look into other methods too.
Back in November, I attended a breast cancer prevention talk by Dr. Nancy Gardner, who is from the Bay Area. Her talk focused on what feeds cancer, how to avoid toxicity & the benefits of breast thermography, an overlooked screening method to help detect breast cancer that doesn't involve any radiation. Compared to a mammogram, thermography is supposed to have a much lower false positive & false negative findings. Curious, and hoping to avoid an upcoming mammogram, I signed up for a screening (for $175, which my Kaiser health insurance doesn't cover). The process took about 15 minutes, where she used a special camera to capture heat images of your chest at various angles, then have you hold something cold & repeat the pictures. She then analyzes the images to see if there are blood vessels that could possibly be feeding tumors & gives you a score. Based on that score, I received a 3 (on a scale of 1-5), she suggested a follow up thermogram in 4-6 months to see if there would be any changes, as well as supplements & other steps to take to prevent cancer.
Well, today I had another diagnostic mammogram. It was uncomfortable at times, but bearable. The technician did her best to position me since she didn't want to damage my port, which she thinks was implanted too low in my chest. I'll see my oncologist in a few days with the results & for another exam. I had asked my oncologist for an ultrasound instead to avoid too much radiation since I had done a few dental x-rays recently & will need more soon -- but he said a mammogram would be more accurate. However, he would be willing to authorize an MRI, which would take a long wait & had to be done on Oahu. One of the recommendations in "Never Be Sick Again" was to avoid x-rays, so I was went back & forth on going ahead with the mammogram. I really need some peace of mind about being cancer free before Pete & I start trying for a second child, perhaps next year -- after all, I'm 39 now...
I don't look at cancer now as a "scary monster" that just all of a sudden attacked me. What was under my control that possibly led to my diagnosis? How much toxicity was I exposing myself to (both under my control or not?) A holistic viewpoint is needed to make sense of it all & I'm still trying to assess both my past & current lifestyle. Traditional Chinese Medicine offers some answers too. With the advice of an acupuncturist in the Bay Area, I've been trying to boost my immune system to prevent a recurrence -- he recommends Chinese herbs as well as a number of certain supplements, anti-oxidants & mushroom powder. And I'm trying to look into other methods too.
Back in November, I attended a breast cancer prevention talk by Dr. Nancy Gardner, who is from the Bay Area. Her talk focused on what feeds cancer, how to avoid toxicity & the benefits of breast thermography, an overlooked screening method to help detect breast cancer that doesn't involve any radiation. Compared to a mammogram, thermography is supposed to have a much lower false positive & false negative findings. Curious, and hoping to avoid an upcoming mammogram, I signed up for a screening (for $175, which my Kaiser health insurance doesn't cover). The process took about 15 minutes, where she used a special camera to capture heat images of your chest at various angles, then have you hold something cold & repeat the pictures. She then analyzes the images to see if there are blood vessels that could possibly be feeding tumors & gives you a score. Based on that score, I received a 3 (on a scale of 1-5), she suggested a follow up thermogram in 4-6 months to see if there would be any changes, as well as supplements & other steps to take to prevent cancer.
Well, today I had another diagnostic mammogram. It was uncomfortable at times, but bearable. The technician did her best to position me since she didn't want to damage my port, which she thinks was implanted too low in my chest. I'll see my oncologist in a few days with the results & for another exam. I had asked my oncologist for an ultrasound instead to avoid too much radiation since I had done a few dental x-rays recently & will need more soon -- but he said a mammogram would be more accurate. However, he would be willing to authorize an MRI, which would take a long wait & had to be done on Oahu. One of the recommendations in "Never Be Sick Again" was to avoid x-rays, so I was went back & forth on going ahead with the mammogram. I really need some peace of mind about being cancer free before Pete & I start trying for a second child, perhaps next year -- after all, I'm 39 now...
posted by goforsushi @ 9:32 PM
0 comments
