General
This is my own personal plan, worked out with the help of a number of doctors and natural health practitioners. It is here to provide an idea of what a simple complementary treatment plan might look like. All patients are different, and anyone wanting to adopt a complementary treatment plan for cancer or any other illness should consult a suitably qualified practitioner. Please read our disclaimer.
My personal background to this plan is a good wholefood vegetarian diet, high in vegetables, together with daily exercise, and a largely stress-free lifestyle. I drink decaffeinated green or regular tea throughout the day, sometimes with lemongrass, as my usual drink.
The plan has gone through various modifications, and what follows is the status in April 2012. For a few months after surgery and at the start of chemotherapy, I took 1/2 bottle (8 fl oz) of CellQuest in the mid-afternoon, with added honey to make it more palatable. Ideally, the dose is 1 bottle per day, but I found it too unpalatable to take twice a day. They say that some people like the flavor, so try it for yourself. I stopped taking the CellQuest in January 2006. I found it too distasteful. I don’t know whether it was beneficial or not. For about nine months after surgery, I also took FruitForce and Salvestrol Gold from Nature’s Defence.
Since June 2006, in response to a slight rise above normal of a blood antigen marker (CEA), which may have indicated cancer cell activity despite a negative colonoscopy and negative PET and CT scans, I have eliminated dairy products almost entirely, and have reduced sugar intake – already low, and omitting all refined sugar and carbohydrates – to a minimum. For three months following the increased CEA levels, I took Carctol and PawPaw Cell Reg, followed by two months on ImuPlus.
In case it is of interest to anyone, my CEA level rose from 1.8 the day after surgery (August 2005) to 3.1 at the end of chemotherapy six months later (February 2006). It then rose to 4.2 in May, and 5.6 in June. After that, it oscillated between 4.3 and 5.1 until August, then fell to around 4.0 by October, finally falling to 2.85 in November. A gastroenterologist told me that in his experience, the CEA level often rises after the end of chemotherapy, and there’s nothing to worry about. The half-life clearance period of CEA from the blood is a matter of days, so the highest that the CEA could have been before surgery is around 4.0. Hardly above normal (levels can rise to 100 or more when produced by a tumor). Since not all colon cancers produce CEA, I suspect that mine is one that does not, and that my oncologist is just being ultra-cautious. These days (September 2012), it hovers at around 1.8.
Before Breakfast
5 mls of an extract of a blend of Trametes Versicolor, shiitake, maitake, cordyceps, and reishi mushrooms, in equal proportions. 1 ml of this extract is derived from 1 gm of dried extract. Some research indicates that the useful polysaccharides in the mushrooms are better absorbed when followed about ½ hour later by vitamin C. I, therefore, try to remember to take the extract about ½ hour before a meal (which includes a vitamin C supplement), but usually, forget! Since the mushroom extracts are preserved in organic vodka, I prepare the mushroom extract first thing in the morning by putting the required dose for the day into 175 mls of warm water. I leave this in a warm place for some time, so that the alcohol can evaporate off, and then drink a third of the mix ½ hour before each of my three meals. Having followed this regime for a year, I now alternate between the above five-mushroom mix for one month, followed by a pure maitake mix for a month.
A juice consisting of about ½ liter of organic carrot and apple juice (5:1) with juiced ginger root (about 1½ inches), flaxseed oil (a good dollop), a cold-pressed oil high in omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids (a good dollop), 1 rounded teaspoon of wheatgrass powder, and 1 rounded teaspoon of spirulina. Sometimes, I add a dollop of Aloe vera juice (from Higher Nature). Note that since chemotherapy can cause loose bowels, you may want to omit this.
I also add a heavy sprinkle of ground black pepper (5 to 15 mg) to the juice, to aid absorption of the beta-carotene and other vitamins. I also add the flaxseed and omega oils, the spirulina and the wheatgrass powder. I usually end up with one glass of carrot and apple juice, and another with all the other things added.
Before changing to a concentrated turmeric extract, I also used to juice fresh turmeric root (about 4 inches or 50 gms). I juiced the bitter root first, along with an apple and a carrot, to help extract the curcumin as well as improve the flavor, and kept this separate from the main juice. It is known that black pepper significantly improves curcumin absorption.
With Breakfast
2 x Higher Nature True Food Vitamin C, each containing 250mg vitamin C and 100mg citrus bioflavonoids (part of the vitamin C complex), as well as beta-glucans, glutathione, choline, inositol, B vitamins, amino acids and other phytonutrients found in the food base of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae culture used to biotransform the vitamin C and bioflavonoids, forming natural organic bonds in a true food form. The bioavailability of each 250mg vitamin C tablet is said to be the equivalent of 1000mg of isolated vitamin C as ascorbic acid.
2 x Higher Nature True Food Natural Vitamin E, each containing 133mg vitamin E, biotransformed as above. The bioavailability of vitamin E is said to be equivalent to twice that of isolated vitamin E.
1 x Higher Nature True Food Selenium, each containing 200mg of selenium, biotransformed as above.
1 x Livton, each tablet containing milk thistle seed, artichoke leaf, dandelion root, bupleurum root, and fringe tree stem bark. I currently alternate a month of this with a month of 1 x Cotswold Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum), each capsule containing 530mg milk thistle (70-80% silymarin). For nearly a year after surgery, I took both. You’ll find information on Livton on the Medi-Herb site..
1 x Decaffeinated Green Tea Extract. The ProHealth Green Tea EGCG Extreme seems to be one of the best formulations presently available.
8 x Chlorella Tablets, 250mg each, occasionally, not daily.
1 x Bio-Enhanced R-Lipoic Acid plus Bio-Curcumin. A well absorptive formulation.
2 x Cat’s Claw, 500mg each.
2 x Astragalus, 500mg each
1 x Co-Enzyme Q10, 100mg (1 to be taken once a day with a meal containing oil or fat).
1 x Quercetin, 500mg.
1 x Calcium/Magnesium + Boron, 500mg.
1 x Digestive Enzyme Complex, containing lipase, amylase, protease 4.5, protease 3.0, glucoamylase, cellulase, bromelain, and papain.
1 x Lycopene, 535mg, containing 15mg lycopene.
1 x Acidophilus.
1 x MCP (modified citrus pectin), rounded teaspoon (5 gms), in soya yogurt.
Before Lunch
A third of the mushroom extract is prepared before breakfast.
With Lunch
As a breakfast, without the vitamin E.
Before & With Supper
As breakfast, without the juice.
What Else?
I keep my regime under review. For instance, things I have considered adding to this daily routine include Avemar, CLA, odorless garlic, vitamin D (new research shows that it decreases the likelihood of developing colorectal and other cancers, especially D3), and the medicinal mushroom, Agaricus blaze.
Recently (October 2012), I have changed the regime, replacing vitamins C & E, and co-enzyme 10 with a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement, the mushroom mix with just maitake, and adding in a new (and vegan) Vitamin D3 formulation. I have also dropped the lycopene and the MCP. All these changes have been made in consultation with a specialist in integrated medicine who has a focus on cancer and are specific to my own circumstances. I am happy to say (so far as I know!) that I remain free of colon cancer.
If you want to research any of the things mentioned here or get more information on any of the substances discussed on this site, a good starting point is to try google searches such as “garlic cancer”, and “curcumin piperine cancer”, “Viscum album cancer”, etc. You will normally find far more information than you want to take on board.