Surviving Oesophageal Cancer

Great recipe for a smoothie, wife made them for me after surgery and during chemo.

In the blender. Strawberry or rockmelon as much as you like, three dessert spoons of natural  yoghurt, one dessert spoon of honey (local box (( eucalypt tree)) of course), one dessert spoon of milk powder with colostrum, a sprig of parley or mint or both, top up with milk and Bobs your uncle.

I don't know how that fits into Crystals food synergism but it is healthy anyway. Have orders the book.

Hi Bob

Welcome to the site.  My partner, Kenny, is in much the same boat as yourself.  Diagnosed a year or so ago.  Hoped to operate, then got the news that tumour too close to aorta and also distant lymph node affected which put paid to any chance of operating.  Think the lymph node was the deciding factor, as oncologist believed that he could shrink the tumour away from the aorta.  However, not to be. 

Kenny, like you, had chemo (think it was 4 sessions) over 4 months.  Didn't do too badly on the chemo.  But the chemo did not shrink the tumour enough.  So started radiotherapy and chemo in January for 5 weeks.  The radiotherapy seemed to be fine, but at the end of it Kenny was really really tired, exhausted and really stayed in bed for about 2/3 weeks.  However, the actual treatment did not set him back much.  However, the combined effects of the chemo and RT was quite exhausting.

Kenny is now in the position of having endoscopies to clear obstructions in the gullet, (he has a stent to help him swallow).  And he had a scan which showed no further spread.  Oncologist next month to decide what to do next.  Apart from having terrible trouble eating, Kenny has a fairly normal life.  He gets tired, but is able to return to work.

Don't know what the future holds, but one day at a time!  There are many people on this site who know much much more than me and will give you the advice and support you need.  Their experiences certainly have helped, and continue to help me.

Will keep popping into this forum to check your progress.  Remember you are among friends here.

By the way, love to all of you on this thread.  Hope to pick up a juicer today.  Lisa (daughter) home for the weekend so going to enjoy her company and trivial banter (think this is a Scottish word to describe dialogue!!!) for a few days.  No bank holiday for us up here in Scotland, but hope you all enjoy your long weekend, those of you south of the border.  And Charles, glad to hear that you have settled into Chinese life again.  Hoping to go for a cycle with Lisa tomorrow through the most beautiful scenery ever in the famous Trossachs.  I am determined to keep up this fitness I have set my mind on.  

Love to everyone.  And have a lovely weekend.  Just heading for some retail therapy and lunch with Lisa. 

Sheena xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks for the welcome Charles, I'm already feeling in more control and calmer since signing up less than 24 hours ago. I think the first diagnosis was easier to take as I had been ill for six months and just wanted to know what the blinking hell was wrong with me. The prognosis was very good so accepted that chemo,op,recovery and April next year I would be eating again and on with my life!!!. This setback has hurt me as was just so unexpected. Due to this I felt that now was the time to start to find out what my future may hold. As I said Im pleased I've done it and its good to see in black and white the various numbers,words and cm's which have already got me looking at all my correspondance to understand it all a bit more. Thanks again and I will keep you updated via the posting.

Bob 

Thanks Sheena, Kenny does seem to be somewhat of a mirror image to my current nuisance. I suppose I will get more concrete news at the end of the next regimen of treatment. Infected Lymph nodes have been mentioned to me as well plus the nature of the tumour as increased from a 1 to a 3/4, I'm not oversure what that means other than it is not good news. I'm not sure about this day at a time business as I am a fearful planner, you want to see my 'drop dead' file !!! But I suppose there is no alternative though. I really miss my hill walking,cycling and swimming. Even if I wasnt so plum tuckered out all the time my J tube restricts me terribly. So Im envious of your bike ride around the Trossachs,enjoy the weekend. Im off to see my new grandaughter.

Bob  

Hi Crystal

The juicer arrived yesterday and a friend and I made some juice to surprise him when he returned from Berlin last night.  He loved it. I am about to make  some more...is it ok to make it the night before?  I'm a bit of a sloth in the mornings!

He played tennis this morning and we met friends tonight who thought he looked better than ever.

With love to you and everyone

Sue x

By the way all, I went into the local health food shop today to get cucurium and told the lady there why.  She said the owner of the shop had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly 2 years ago.  She had taken 4000( whatevers) daily of vitamin D ...ie 4 chewable pills daily, recommended dose 1) while she was having chemotherapy and she is now disease free.  Naturally I bought some.  I googled it and it does look promising.  Unfortunately Dieter will only agree to take one a day, but some of you might find it interesting.  I would go for 4 a day.

Only a thought guys...please don't ban me, admin.  Everyone has a free will.

Love

Sue

Hi Sue

It’s great that Dieter is enjoying the juice and it’s fun to experiment with flavours.  I tried leaving juice in the fridge overnight, and although it was ok it just didn’t have that freshness about it and I later learned that any fruit and veg juice should be drunk as soon as possible, otherwise it loses almost all of its health and nutritional benefits.  So, I usually make two small jugs a day, sometimes three.  The vitamin D story is interesting, especially about the shop owner taking it.  There seem to be several vitamins associated with anti cancer properties and I read recently about the synergy between vitamin C and vitamin K which has got scientists pretty excited, but from what I can gather, whilst they recognise the benefits of synergy, they are as yet unsure as to how to harness its full potential. 

Another thing I’d like to tell you about is that I use an Antioxidant Counter to help me decide on food and juices.  It’s a little book that looks like a calorie counter but it counts the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) values of foods.  The ORAC scale was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Health to measure antioxidant capacity of different foods, although its health benefits have not been fully established as yet. For example, whole blueberries are high at 6,552 whilst limes only have 82 on the scale.  The Acai berry has a massive 102,700, artichokes are 6,552 and Broccoli 1,362.  So in this way you can build a high oxidant juice or meal.  The book is pocket sized and also has a few menus and recipe ideas.  It’s called ‘The Antioxidant Counter’ by Dr Mariza Snyder & Dr Lauren Clum (£5.99 at Amazon UK).

Happy Juicing!

Love

Crystal xx

Hi to Everyone here or looking in.  I’d love to write to each of you, but a sunny day beckons, so you’re all in my thoughts.  Sheena, I hope Kenny will benefit from some good homemade soups and juices, you’re in my thoughts often and I always read your kind and lovely posts to everyone.  Like Sue, you are an amazing support to lots of people and I’m sure they draw great strength from your caring words. xx

By the Way.  I’m not receiving any email notifications of any posts on the Mac site, so if I miss your posts, apologies.  I’ve notified Admin and hopefully this problem will be resolved soon.  Has anyone else got this problem?

All my notifications just arrived - 33 of them!! So I don't really have time to reply individually - but thanks for all your comments and Sue I can't get over how amazing Dieter is! Nothing seems to stop him - he is amazing and with all that vitamin D and tumeric he will soon be bungee jumping too!!  Thanks for all the info Crystal on Vitamin D and juices and so on - I will definitely read up on your suggestions.  I did buy some bee pollen - VERY EXPENSIVE - but it's awful - I can't swallow the stuff - so I have given up on that!  But chewable vitamins I'm very keen on!  I jsut don't particularly feel like drinking something green on waking up!  I haven't touched coffee or tea since chemo - I just don't fancy them anymore but I couldn't live without my early morning fresh orange juice.

Love to you all

Judy