Doing Well: The Journey Continues

March 12, 2017
Hi Everyone,
I realize it’s been a long time since I’ve given you all an update. I’m going to try to do my best to fill you in on what’s been happening these last several months. Overall, I’m doing quite well. I’m still in remission and my cancer markers are relatively low. The oncologists use a lab test called the CA 27-29 to check and determine how many circulating tumor cells are in my blood at any given time. Tumor markers are often elevated due to inflammation, systemic infections, and other viruses or bacteria that might be present in the bloodstream. At the present time I’m at an 18, but I’ve been as low as 12 during the summer. The numbers have been as high as 20.2.
I knew from my trip to Mexico that my body seems to have more inflammation than most and this could be the cause of an elevated number, however, doctors look at trends over time and don’t seem to be as concerned with the actual number unless it goes above a 38. This would indicate that something is going on and that the cancer may be growing again. I must admit that reading and watching trends month by month is nerve-wracking as numbers fluctuate. Having stage IV-metastatic cancer causes you to constantly question every ache and pain you feel because you’re not sure if you’re coming down with a cold, bacterial infection, inflammation of sorts from an injury, or if the cancer is back and active again. I’m very happy with where I’m at now and I know the Lord has given me a peace about this process of healing. I additionally feel and sense the numerous prayers that people have said on my behalf and I’m eternally grateful. Kind words and “thank -you“ simply can’t convey the numerous thoughts, feelings, and emotions behind all the support you have all given me over the last two years.

Since I last wrote I have continued on this journey of constant learning and studying. I’m still missing many pieces to this intricate puzzle but I believe wholeheartedly that the Lord has healed my body in many ways. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a daily part to play in the continual healing journey. I know God heals some on the spot, some over a period of time which involves a lengthy process, and yet God is also sovereign, and He choses to heal some when they leave this life. I do speak encouraging and uplifting scripture to myself and try to do the same to others. I’ve watched many programs on the Internet detailing with many descriptions on how people have healed themselves. I know that food is nutrition and has an enormous impact on our overall health and well being. When we began this process, Jamie and I changed many food items in our house and he went to part of this food restructuring package with me. He recently commented to me the other day that he has noticed an incredible difference in his own body and how he feels compared to what he was eating and experiencing two years ago. We rarely eat out anymore, and the positive side about this situation is that Jamie says my cooking has improved substantially. Thanks to my sister- in- law and a book she recommended, I’ve begun “souping” during these past few winter months. They are extremely nourishing and delicious and I’m still getting all the vegetables I need but in a warmer manner. (It’s just so hard to eat cold vegetable salads when the temps are below freezing). I still continue to juice green leafy and root veggies daily and I eat a ton of salads with broccoli and kale sprouts, sauerkraut, pressed garlic, apple cider vinegar, kale, spinach, arugula, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, nuts, chia and hemp seeds, and other raw veggies. The key is keeping 80% of my overall diet raw. I also began drinking Stockton Aloe which is pure aloe plant gel straight from the plant source. It arrives at your home frozen. I also still include many supplements throughout the day which include chlorella, spirulina, holy basil, garlic, nettle, multivitamins with selenium, phosphatydl choline, iodine, turmeric, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Paw Paw, graviola, calcium d-glucarate, vitamin B-12 , colloidal silver, bee propolis, Woebenzym, non-caffeine herbal teas, probiotics, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione, hydrogen peroxide, etc…. The list goes on and I’m learning new supplements that I want to include to improve my health. I’ve learned that with cancer you can’t keep taking the same supplements every day, week by week , and month by month. Cancer adapts and so you have to adapt with it every month by mixing up some of the supplements and changing switching them around. It’s really a guessing game in every sense. I continue to take high dose IV Vitamin C once or twice a month at an integrative doctor’s office along with immunity IVs. I use the infrared lamp and sauna almost daily as well.
I’ve since met other patients with debilitating illnesses and I’ve shared with them what I’ve been doing. One of the highlights was seeing a twenty year old girl who came in for IV treatments every week walk again. This young girl had chronic Lyme’s Disease and she was in a wheelchair, completely bald and lethargic every time I saw her. Her mother came with her to the treatments and she couldn’t use the restroom without assistance. They were on a protocol here in Colorado prescribed by a physician from Long Island, NY. After two years she was not getting any better. I explained the iodine, enzymes, and infrared sauna use to them and her mother decided that if it’s working for stage IV metastatic breast cancer then it might work for Lymes. (You think?) Anyway, she purchased these items for her daughter and started taking 50 mg of Iodine, 10-20 enzymes daily, and infrared sauna use twice a day. I saw them both one month later and the girl looked incredible. She was walking to the restroom unassisted and her hair was growing back. I was shocked. She also began juicing green veggies, got off the processed food, walked outside to get some Vitamin D, and revamped her protocol. Needless to say I was so pleased the Lord had prompted me to share my journey and inquire about hers. Information sharing is so valuable patient to patient. Unless the doctor has been through this himself, he simply can’t empathize.

One month ago I had to have umbilical hernia surgery to repair the damage that was caused on July 1, 2015 when I had my bilateral mastectomy. When I woke up from that procedure that day in July, my belly button was suddenly an “outie” and I looked eights months pregnant. The hospital staff assured me that it was due to the swelling from the procedure and it would go away over time. The swelling did lesson but it never went back to normal. I never had a belly button look like this and it always looked flat in the morning after sleeping on my stomach but by the end of the day, I looked swollen and my belly button had that “done “ look like what you’d see or equate to a turkey thermometer. We couldn’t figure it out but finally after exercising one day and noticing some pain on my sides, I visited my doctors and they both confirmed it was an umbilical hernia. These often go undetected in women, especially if they are lying down for the physical examination. It was frustrating that all these months it was missed but apparently due to the 8.5 hour mastectomy procedure with surgeons, nurses, fellows, and other OR staff moving, touching, tearing, and pulling on my body, it’s not surprising that a hole developed at the umbilicus.
When I had the surgery just this February, I was nervous about my Cox 2 numbers, which are inflammatory markers, rising and only exacerbating cancer growth again. I took precautions and took high dose cimetidine for one week before the surgery, four times the amount of turmeric, and I went to an acupuncturist/chiropractor, Mike, who also used cold laser therapy on the site and taught me how to do it to myself, and amazingly my cancer markers were much lower than before I started the procedure to begin with. This is almost unheard of after a major surgery. Again, these steps were imparted to me through prayer and study. I began seeking ways to keep the possible sticky situation at bay. This provider also had experience with cancer so he was well equipped and knowledgeable. His son had a rare and terminal form of brain cancer when he was 5, so Mike took him to Germany three times for alternative treatment, and his son is now 18 and doing well. He is cancer free after declining chemo, radiation or surgery because they weren’t useful options, and he used cold laser therapy three days a week after his treatments in Germany.
Another great piece of news arrived recently. I received the results from my current bone scans. Last year at this time I was told I had osteoporosis due to the numerous holes in my bone from the cancer metastasis. After doing weight training/ Cross Fit three times per week, the results one year later showed that I had a normal bone density and was no longer considered in the osteoporosis category. I stopped taking Xgeva, a drug that prohibits cancer cells from sticking to the bone. It works well at preventing the metastasis but it causes low blood calcium levels. My doctor never shared this but when I looked at my labs, I discovered that my calcium levels were low. You need calcium to build new bone. I chose this route and my calcium levels came back up and I was able to rebuild and replace the bone that was lost. The holes caused by the cancer metastasis were filled in.
I want you to realize that as I share stories about myself or other people trying other methods, I’m not stating that chemo, radiation, or surgeries don’t work. They do help many people, yet for some, other methods have to be explored and they amazingly do work. At this point in time, I try to grab my hands on any literature that reinforces what I’m already doing or teaches me something I didn’t know. I ask other long-term survivors at stage III or IV what they are doing to stay healthy. You have to ask those who are in the thick of these situations because they live with it day in and day out. I have a few more products I’d like to try but I told Jamie I would wait until my birthday before we purchase them.

I don’t think my oncologist likes me to much because he has on occasion made reference to the fact that what I’m doing won’t last. (After all, he has been in the business for 25 years and he’s “seen it all”). I know he has an opinion, but that’s all it is and he isn’t the Great Physician by any stretch. I’ve met and spoken to many who have bypassed the odds. I believe God directs me to those who are positive and life- giving, not draining, and I made a choice to do everything I know to do to keep going forward. In a few months, the oncologist’s opinions really won’t matter since we’ll be moving to Colorado Springs this summer. Jamie has his next assignment at Peterson AFB for at least one year.
If you have any questions or what know more about what I’m doing I’d be happy to answer them. I have had to switch several products because they simply weren’t working well. For example, I was always low in Vitamin D which is a hallmark for breast cancer patients. I was able to switch from one brand of 50 IU to another and now I’ve gone from 28 to 35 to 68 to 98 to 102. It’s very hard for cancer to grow and metastatize with a level this high. Some would say it’s dangerously high but according to my primary care physician, she has never seen cancer grow and spread with vitamin D at this level. I am now keeping it stable.
I also figured out that when I was losing massive quantities of hair last year from December-February, the dermatologist told me it was stress related. I’m sorry but I didn’t buy that and I still don’t. Anyone in the military knows what stress, moves, and deployments, etc.. are like and I had no known stressors. I’ve recently figured out it was a thyroid issue all along even though my TSH was within normal range. I had all the classic signs of thyroid dysfunction yet it never showed up on a lab test result. I bring this up because several of you have written about lumps in your breast tissue. IF you have a lump, you have something going on with your thyroid. DO NOT accept your endocrinologist’s statement that you are fine. I’ve had lumps on and off for years and they would never get to the bottom of it. I wish looking back that I had pursued this but I didn’t know any better. I just took what the doctor told me and left it at that. Iodine has been amazing for me, but it’s also helped my kids and my friends who are on now on it. It works wonders for other illnesses as well. Several friends have been applying the iodine to their breast tissue and the lumps are going away. Dr. David Brownstein wrote an excellent book titled, Iodine : Why You Need It , Why You Can’t Live Without It. This book explained how to use and take it properly. I have told so many people about this book that I decided to change the font to bold so it stands out and you can write it down. I know many of you have more severe cases of thyroid disorder and dysfunction, and you have to see an endocrinologist before you can safely begin taking it, but most conventionally trained endocrinologists are not tracking this. You really need to find someone who knows the intricacies of iodine. By the way, every cell in your body has a receptor for iodine. If you are allergic to iodine by way of seafood, you’re probably mistaking your iodine allergy for radioactive iodine or something similar. Every cell has to have iodine to function properly.

Recently I was part of a cancer support group at my church where we share about our cancer journeys. It’s health-based with lots of education and prayer as the focus. We asked the pastor and the elders of the church to lay hands on us and anoint us with oils. In James 5:13-15 the scriptures say to do this for those suffering with illness. The process certainly helped solidify the group by connecting us at an emotional level. We began as strangers but left as friends. I was again reminded that I was the youngest one there, and I’m finding that I’m now part of group I never asked to join, but the relationships and connects are so much deeper and valuable and greater than what I could even ask for. We’re an eclectic bunch yet we are all sharing in this recovery process together. It was an emotional event and one I will remember for a very long time. I was also prayer over by another friend and others for a long time. It was as if in the form of tears all illness and sickness was able to be shed from within. Again, without having gone through this, I don’t think I’d be as close to the Lord as I’ve been now. Anything I can do to connect with and to others helps them and me grow closer together and in our case, to the Lord.
I want to close this update with a commentary I recently read by a Christian author, Kelly Minter. Her thoughts mirror my own and for a long time I felt the way she did.
“I once held the idea that if I followed the principles laid out for me in Scripture, if I loved God and made solid Biblical choices, I would be blessed with some version of a really good life, void of heartbreak or catastrophe or sickness. As I grew older, I gradually realized that following God didn’t guarantee this premium package, this safeness. I’d seen really godly people suffer and read about such believers in the Bible. Still, I somehow felt that if I did my part then god would be obligated to do His: build me the kid of live we covet here in America and protect me from pain. This seemed like a reasonable expectation. However my understanding of suffering and how it fit in life was limited. The Bible reveals that suffering has a place in our lives. Jesus was made perfect through suffering. What I’d miss all those years of pining for what made me feel good and quite simply: suffering is part of the blessing. This should bring relief more than alarm because God is especially present in our suffering. As Charles Spurgeon said, “When the scale of trials is full, you will find the scale of consolation just as heavy.””
God is never more present and with us when we are in a scary, life-threatening set of circumstances. I daily chose to keep my focus and peace on Him.
1 Peter 5:10 “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.”
Love,
Allison