Posted 6/9/2008 5:06 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Lauré:
So kind of you to respond, so long after my original post, I've decided to take a moment to update. There came a point when I had become completely frustrated with "medicine". I had been unable to find any doctor able to help other then with pain meds and nerve desensitization meds. I woke up one day and said to myself, that's it! I've had enough with doctors, appointments and bs! I had been seeing a doctor at UCLA that was from Tibet, he was involved in a research project attempting to show that traditional Tibetan methods worked, proving them with the assistance of Western methods---eegs, computers, etc. I continued to see him, until his project ended, but that was it. I went to a bookstore and bought a bunch of books. I had heard about Dr. Paul Pearsall, who believed that lots of good sex cured him of his fatal cancer. I decided he was possibly onto something and that was what was missing in my life. I set about to try to meet a willing 'victim'! I dated for awhile, and then finally met my boyfriend (we are still together). I have 4 sons and an ex-husband, but sadly and honestly, he was never good in that department and I never felt that I could say anything. Starting a new relationship and moving forward with my 'plan', meant I got to know him for awhile before becoming intimate, made a promise to myself to be forthright and honest, crossed my fingers and hoped for the best! Well, things went great from the start, and before long I went completely off all meds! Which is really quite shocking. I had lost some use of my left arm and I noticed this returning. I had been unable to go for walks without a cane---I walk my dogs 2, 3 times a day now, I never use my cane anymore. I could sleep in a bed again. After about a year, I noticed some of the pain worsening and I became worried. It had now been 2 years since my last MRI. I went to my endocrinologist to have my thyroid bloodwork done, and she insisted I have one and wrote the order. I went to UCLA, where all my previous MRIs had been done, for accuracy.
The tumors were gone. The radiologist referenced my most current 3 MRIs done there that had shown the tumors and the various changes between each MRI and noted that he could provide no explanation for their disappearance. My endocrinologist theorized that it is residual nerve damage that was causing the increase in pain and that I may always experience that or I may eventually overcome it. She talked me into restarting a couple of the nerve desensitization meds, at low doses.
By and large, I have been feeling really good. A few months ago I went to UCLA to see a different doctor I hadn't seen in a long time and I had forgotten that she didn't know about the tumors 'disappearing'. When she asked about them and told her they were gone, she refused to believe it. She left the room, came back with the Radiologist's report & a copy of the MRI and in a shocked voice said, "They're gone. I can't believe it. I have to show this to my head of department." I was like, "That's what I told you. They're gone. I can't believe you didn't believe me!"
My ana's are still highly elevated and I am currently going through some skin cancer issues. I had melanoma a couple of times in the past, 15 years ago & 12 years ago, as well as 1 small squamous cell 13 years ago & a basal cell 4 years ago. A couple of months ago I had a marble shaped squamous cell tumor removed from the back of my head where it meets my neck, last month I had a more superficial sqamous cell patch removed from my scalp from where it had started to spread. I am now going through a topical chemotherapy treatment. I am awaiting the results of a biopsy of my left shin, which looks as if it could be another melanoma.
Someone else mentioned that their ana's went back to normal once they were cancer free. I wonder if this will be the case for me as well. I haven't always had elevated ana's. I wonder now, if I look through my chart, if my ana's have been down at the times when I had no cancers/tumors.
Thank you, Lauré, for your well wishes. I wish everyone else the best as well.