Fighting Cancer in the Philippines

Map of the Philippines
This media file is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share 
Alike 4.0 International license.
Click here for more information.

This morning I received an e-mail from Mark, a colon cancer patient in the Philippines. His colon cancer is not going away, despite aggressive chemotherapy, surgery, and other procedures.  Just look at what this poor man has endured! Heartbreaking! He's worried, and asked for my advice. 

First, Mark's e-mail:

I was diagnosed with cancer last December 2015, Stage III-B. My CEA at that time was 8.7. I had surgery January 9, 2016. I underwent a very aggressive chemotheraphy twice a month intervals of every two weeks. I was given 5FU, Irenotican, Loucoverin, Oxaliplatin and a booster Avastin. I finished my session July 2016.

My CEA went down to 4.2. The result of my PET scan is very good as well. 

Q&A with My Cancer Coach: Chemo Side-Effects: Nausea and Lack of Appetite

Jane M. Guyette, Transformational Nutrition Coach

I had my 3rd round of chemo February 22nd-24th. As chemo side-effects are cumulative (meaning they get worse over time rather than better), it's no wonder this round was more difficult than the first two. I've been concerned about my nausea and lack of appetite, feeling I'm not getting the nutrients I need to detoxify from the chemo and eradicate the tumor that's metastasized to my liver. About a month before the chemo started, I'd already drastically changed my diet, including morning juicing and eating a lot of fruit and vegetables. Since the chemo started, it's been very difficult to keep up with these healthy cancer-fighting habits. So I reached out today to my cancer coach, Jane Guyette, and she gave me some very worthwhile and comforting advise. 

Whether you're going through chemo treatments yourself or caretaking someone who is, you might also benefit from what Jane and I discussed. My questions are in italics and precede Jane's answers, indented for ease in reading.

Not doing so well today . . . lots of side effects from Chemo Round 3.

Keeping bundled up even inside to help
alleviate the side-effects of this week's chemo.

I completed Round 3 of chemo yesterday, and the portable pack was removed at 1:30 p.m. Things weren't too bad yesterday, but today I'm feeling a number of symptoms. I think it's a combination of the weather changing from spring-like in the 50's and 60's for the past several days, to the arrival yesterday of a winter storm that dumped about 6" of snow and plummeted temps into the low 20's. Many of my side-effects are exacerbated by cold weather, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Here's what's plaguing me this round of chemo:

First-bite syndrome: This is the worst side-effect. The pain, lasting something like 15-30 seconds, is excruciating. And if you take your first bite on only one side of your mouth, you get to relive the pain on the other side on the next bite. So the trick is to take food in the middle of your mouth, bite down with the food in the middle of your teeth, and brace yourself for the ensuing waves of pain -- feels something like someone accessing your jaw with an electric drill. I've had root canals, tooth extractions, cavities filled. None of those experiences compare to the pain of first-bite syndrome.