Open up and say ahhhhhhh.......

Today I went to see Dr. Michael Long at Desert Oncology. I had blood work done last Thursday so this was the visit to see the results. In November my CA125 was 47, in December it was 20.2 and today it was 23. I think that is pretty fantastic considering I haven't had chemo for a year and a half. Dr. Long thinks it's because of the Megace. He thought in December that it went down to 20.2 because of the surgery I had in December to cut the tumor down again. It turns out I had the surgery the day after the blood work. They started giving me Megace after the surgery in May. It is a hormone therapy that Dr. Copur thought might help to keep the tumor from growing back so quickly. It probably is helping but that doesn't explain the ups and downs in my numbers prior to that. I of course think my excellent numbers are a combination of things.

I am still seeing Dr. Porman for Body Talk. He had advised me to have three colonics. He also referred me to a life coach. I haven't done that one yet.

I have been having colonics with Susan Neva, L.P.N. C.C.T and just completed a once a week, three week session. That third treatment I had last Monday was really unbelievable. The bloating I have had forever really did go away (totally). I swear my stomach was almost flat for the first time since 2004. I almost couldn't walk because it threw off my balance (ha! ha!) For four days I felt like a new woman. Late on the fourth day I began to feel the bloating coming back. Boy, did I dread that. Dr. Porman knows his stuff-three treatments it took to clear me out. Of course Susan knows her stuff also. Susan is such a gentle and caring soul I really am comfortable with this procedure. Never thought I'd be able to say that. If you've ever been constipated you know it can be very uncomfortable. If you've ever had chronic constipation you know you can actually have more pain than discomfort in the abdomen and the back. Any relief is a blessing from heaven. Susan also does Tong Ren. This follows the principals of acupuncture but without the "puncture". Check it out.

I have also been going to see Andria Valent, L.M.T. She is a massage therapist who also does something called cupping. It is unbelievable how much she has helped with pain that the doctors didn't understand.

One issue was the pain in my inside, upper right leg. In 2004 when I had my original surgery they had "yanked" a lymph node from this leg. It bothered me first with extreme numbness and after about three years the feeling started coming back but then I had fairly constant pain. Since Andria worked on this leg I have had no pain. She has also helped to alleviate most of the pain in my back that seemed to radiate from the front to the back on my right side. I believe this could be a combination of her work and the colonics. All I know is it's nice to not have to deal with almost constant pain. My stomach pain has really not bothered me since late September.

I know some people think alternative treatments are a waste of money, time and energy. I can tell you that whether there is a medical reason for these things helping or not, they do help. Whether you believe or not, I have had improvement the doctors have been surprised to see. Sure they try to say it might be this or it might be that. They would never admit it might have something to do with the other modalities that I've been receiving. On my part you may think it's mind over matter. That's okay because I believe in that and whatever it takes to give me more time and heal me is alright by me.

If faith the size of a mustard seed can get us through the gates of heaven, where can it get us on this earth?