CHAPTER 3 The minute you get a cancer diagnosis advice and stories start pouring in from all sides like an ocean. All very well-meaning and welcome but a little confusing sometimes. First port of call and paramount always is NHS treatment and advice from doctors and my oncologist but looking at how to support my immunity through alternative or complimentary therapies was important for me too. You don’t know where you stand at first. The waiting for a diagnosis and a prognosis is the worst in the beginning. That waiting and not really knowing what’s going on – it’s a hard time. You live in fear of the worst and hope for the best. I don’t know how long it takes for a cancer diagnosis to sink in but because I felt well at the time and still do, I find it hard to relate to the chaos going on inside my body.
My case was immediately taken up by the Marsden section of the Kingston hospital and I was under a top Gastro consultant and an MDT (multi disciplinary team) of doctors and specialists who look at each individual case and make decisions. So it’s never up to one person alone and that inspires confidence in the patient. They were very worried in the beginning with massive tumor on the pancreas and several in the liver (more recent PET scan also revealed metastasis (spread) to some bones). So I was in a two week cycle, every two weeks but I had to start looking at how I could support my body and get my immunity up to begin fighting this disease in the meantime. Decided alternative or complimentary therapies rather, was something to explore. I have a wonderful oncologist Dr Charlotte Fribbens who is monitoring all the moves so in the best hands possible.
Healing is a full time job job! Here are some of the things I am approaching my healing with.
Accupuncture
Going with my gut instinct I turned to accupuncture which I have used in the past. I have two local therapist, Toby Stevens at Genki in Wimbledon Village and Dr Li in Southfield. They both do slightly different things and I try to go twice a week. Accupuncture is an ancient art which always leaves you feeling very relaxed and calm even when you’ve had dozens of needles stuck into you! It doesn’t hurt and it works on the meridians or energy lines running through your body to unblock and increase the flow of those energies. Clearly there are massive blocks otherwise I wouldn’t be ill.
My magic PEMF mat
Another big revelation came from a fellow cancer sufferer friend call Jackie who recommended a hi tech bit of kit called a PEMF Mat. This stands for ‘pulsed electro magnetic field’ and it replicates the earth’s energy field through your body which is supposed to regenerate each cell and works hard on your immune system. It comes with a VR type headset/goggles which, through a series of flashing lights, puts you into a deep meditative state in each session. It feels amazing! I try to get on my ‘magic mat’ 4 times a day for at least 10 minutes at a time and for cancer patients it goes on a very low intensity of 10. It can go up to 400 for professional athletes to boost their performance. Please get in touch if you’d like to know more about this amazing machine.
Tremor Therapy
My sister in law Helen is a Cranio Sacral and Tremor Therapist and started me on tremor work. This involves putting the body into a gentle state to start an involuntary shaking or tremoring in the legs which releases stored up stress in the muscles. It’s the weirdest feeling when you body takes control and does its own thing without you! I love this treatment so much and do it at home over FaceTime.
Redox ASEA water
Also taking about half a litre in total of this cell signalling supplement called Asea, (120ml 4 x a day) that works very specifically on your immunity. It tastes like salty swimming pool water. A bit vile tasting in the beginning but each week it’s easier to swallow. It comes with a redox gel which works brilliantly on my rashes too. I had another attack of abdominal pain after may injection but the Redox really seemed to help when I couldn’t get relief before – holding thumbs it’s doing something good inside.
You may also enjoy reading how it all started
Next update will be about my nutrition regime with Ryre Cornish – a big journey in itself.
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