The C-Word: The Beauty of Cancer

This may sound all superficial when you are in what feels like a life or death situation, but beauty products are actually crucial. We all know that when you are happier, you heal faster.  But also, when you look better, people treat you differently. We are only human.

Getting chemotherapy and planning my skincare

I felt hideous when everything started falling apart, not least because people would stare (just for a minute and then look away). I looked like a scrawny, hairless alien. I don't know if they thought I had cancer or something else, but people tended to give me a wide berth, as though my disease just might be catching. My daughters gave me a gift certificate to a place called Spa Castle - a gigantic Korean spa with all kinds of relaxing treatments - and I didn't go because I thought everyone would REALLY stare at me in a bathing suit. It didn't help that most massage therapists, nail salons, aestheticians, even dentists would refuse me treatment because they were scared of what the cancer might do - or my compromised immune system.

Friends would say, "You look great!" in a loudish, fakely cheerful voice. Or they'd tell me about someone else who had chemo and looked much worse. I ran errands, worked and was happy that I could, but I felt embarrassed about my looks. I went to see one of my daughters in her school play and, between scenes, I came out into the lobby and sat on the floor and cried because I felt like a leper.

A few weeks' later, I was in a meeting at an ad agency pitching, of all things, a haircare line, and feeling totally awkward. I mentioned to the table that I didn't need shampoo. My boss laughed, "No, you need Miracle-Gro!" Well, that broke the tension.

So.

How you look matters.

If you are reading this for a friend or family member who is sick, keep that in mind.

To start out, let's forget serious beauty treatments and think about discomfort. Your skin feels rough, hot, dry and itchy - or some combination of the three - during chemo and/or radiation. Unfortunately, almost any commercial product you apply will irritate the skin even further. Your eyes are often red, dry and swollen.

To start with, I didn't use any cleansers at all. My skin was just too dry. I rinsed it with water. If I attempted to use anything even slightly exfoliating, it made my cheeks sting. I only wore natural make-up products so I didn't need to remove them.

Some people suggest you splash water on your face and then apply a thin layer of sweet almond oil. This is the most basic level of care but it is best for babies with eczema because their skin is naturally plump and soft. Since oil just helps seal the moisture into your skin, it doesn't give your skin the cooling, soothing, quenching it craves.

During my 25+ years in the beauty industry, I used to joke that all the expensive skin creams worked about as well as Crisco with fragrance and a nice jar. It's not totally true.

Even post-chemo, you should probably keep this list in mind - what you really need for your skin is a three-part solution - 1. an emollient, 2. a humectant and 3. an occlusive. Many skin products incorporate the three, but if you don't find one that works for you, here's what you need.

The emollient is a moisturizer. It hydrates, softens and plumps up the fine lines. It feels good on the skin. The reason you can't rely on it alone is that it evaporates very quickly. Thus it can leave the skin feeling even dryer than it did to begin with.

Next, you need a humectant. Humectants draw the moisture from the air into your skin. Glycerin, coconut oil and hyaluronic acid (sounds scary but it's actually something your body creates to lubricate itself) are humectants. If you use too much of a humectant, it can make you skin look fresh and dewy, but it can also make it feel sticky to the touch, especially as the product dries - because it does dry but not completely into a thick gel.

So to top it all off, you need an occlusive. An occlusive seals in the moisture and protects and fortifies your skin's moisture barrier. The moisture on your skin not only makes the skin softer and more resilient, it creates a barrier to bacteria, environmental irritants and pollutants. Thus dry skin is actually more prone to infection.

For me, the best moisturizer during chemo was a simple Calendula cream. Look for brands designed for first aid, like Boiron or Thompson's, or for babies. Make sure it is unscented. It cooled the skin and soothed the itchy red rash. I still travel with a tube of this as my face is very sensitive to stress and different kinds of water. (Personally, after cleansing, I start with a Vitamin C product to help re-build the collagen, reduce the dark spots and splotches you get from chemotherapy and brighten the skin. Be careful with this though, as the wrong product can irritate the skin and cause MORE redness (and that's hardly what you need). Liquid Gold is the only brand I recommend for people with cancer, since it's natural and designed for sensitive skin.)

Then I used a humectant. A friend of mine was working for Estee Lauder and she sent me the Creme De La Mer serum, a rich gel - I think it was fortified with seaweed or algae - that, unlike most commercially-prepared products, didn't have a heavy scent or color. You can also use a pure hyaluronic acid or a natural rosewater and glycerin combination mist. I also love a product called Liquid Gold cell quench which is made of hyaluronic acid and plant stem cells. I spray on some rosewater and glycerin and then roll on a little cell quench and spread it around with my finger tips.

My favorite beauty products for people having cancer treatments - and my routine today.

For my occlusive, I then used a heavy moisturizer with a sweet almond oil base called Cleopatra's cream. It's made by a friend of natural, non-GMO ingredients - including antibacterial coconut oil and homeopathic suspensions of minerals and seems to be the ONLY thing that really hydrates my post-chemo dryness. It still smells lovely but not fake in anyway.

Last, I used a balm or oil at night. I've seen herbal shops selling calendula balms made of herbal extracts and essential oils. As long as it is not too scented, you could use that instead. I would test it on your arm and see how it feels. The Liquid Gold brand also makes a balm with vitamin E that is great for sealing in the moisture and healing.

Finally, moisture has to come from the inside, too. While you are having chemo, drink water like crazy and make sure you are getting your good fats - avocados, coconut oil, nuts, rice bran oil. I took 4 capsules a day of rice bran oil, two capsule of rosemary oil and four capsules a day of seabuckthorn oil.

Just remember that everything you apply to your skin gets absorbed into your blood stream, so if you wouldn't eat it, you probably shouldn't rub it into your face, especially when you are weak and your immune system is compromised.

One month after I stopped chemotherapy. My face well moisturized - just eyeliner but nothing else!

When you are all greased-up, let it soak in for a little while so that you don't look too slippery. Then it's time for make-up! There is a little-known brand called Illuminare which was actually designed to be super gentle for a breast cancer patient and is made out of natural minerals. It's a make-up artists secret as it blends really well, a teensy bit goes a long way and it is non-irritating, even if you fall asleep with it on. Since it has a high mineral content, it works as a sunscreen as well - very useful since the skin becomes very photosensitive during chemotherapy and radiation - and it actually helps your skin heal.

Illuminare makes eye products that do not irritate the eyes (but irritatingly, require separate brushes - though that forces you to clean them often which is good) and nontoxic lipcolors that last all day. One finds that one's lips not only get dry and cracked, they become pale.

I still wore my kajal every single day, unless my eyes got too stingy. Kajal is a South Asian eyeliner made of charcoal and healing oils. I use a brand called Hashmi Kajal. It's supposedly made out of Ayurvedic ingredients and protects your eyesight. It didn't bother my eyes, it's cheap and the only bad thing about it is that the plastic cap is really cheap and can break off in your bag and smear the waterproof stuff everywhere so keep it in a ziplock bag. I rinsed it in cold water between uses.

Apart from kajal, I am sucky at applying make-up myself but there are a million great tutorials on youtube. Watch them but, be super careful with the products you choose. It is not worth the discomfort of skin and eyes that are even more irritated than before. I tried my daughters' make-up and came home and cried again because of how much they made my eyes sting and my face hurt.

My friend Mary Schook showed me how to safely apply false lashes if I needed to go out. And these days, there are no shortage of brow products (it's amazing how weird people look with no eyebrows).  This was shot by my youngest daughter, Rara, and the voice-over is by Zarina. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LvYyk7FDS8

Brush color on your brows - or where they were - slightly lighter than you think because it can very quickly look mad. When you first start, ask someone else to make sure you haven't turned yourself into Salvador Dali or Lucille Ball in the early 60s.

Most people undergoing cancer treatments become very skinny. Like 14 year-old bones sticking out scrawny. If you were never slim before, this is the silver lining. And here is your chance to try layering! While I'd recommend choosing fabrics that are very smooth and soft so as not to irritate your skin further, I used to start with a very thin, soft cotton t-shirt underneath everything because it gave me more options. I also found that a thin pair of cotton leggings under a loose shirt or dress were useful - because there were so many instances during treatment where one had to undress one part of the body or another. With layers like that, you could reveal an arm, a hand, a foot or a leg without leaving the rest of yourself exposed. That way, you feel like you maintain a level of dignity.

Since I live in New York City AND I didn't want to have to buy an entirely new wardrobe before, during and after treatment, I chose most stuff in neutral colors - black, white and gray - with accents in red or blue. I added a bright pop of color near the face - a scarf or hat -  to cheer myself up.

In terms of fragrance, when you really look odd, it's nice to smell sweet. A lot of people find that chemotherapy and/or radiation makes them nauseated and sensitive to smells, especially artificial ones. I found that, at my most nauseated, the scent of natural grapefruit oil was fresh and clean smelling. Lavender and Rosemary - but the natural oils, not the fake stuff - have a green, camphorousness that can cut through the nausea. They are both also calming and antibacterial. Personally, I also found natural rose and jasmine oils very soothing as well as sexy (and not much made me feel sexy at that time).

My suggestion is to go to health food store or natural aromatherapy place and test out some of the oils. Or ask people to bring you a few. Try a tiny bit on your wrist and leave it on for a while. Or put it on a sweater or sweatshirt. See if it smells nice or it makes you feel sick as the day goes on. If you can't handle any scented products at all, don't worry about it. But given the endocrine interruptors and other nasty effects of synthetic fragrance, I'd recommend you avoid them all together.

Also, look at the products in your bathroom. Shampoos, conditioners, bodywash, soaps and lotions can all irritate the skin and eyes - and they also penetrate the skin and enter the bloodstream. I would go as natural as you can manage. I used Dr. Bronner's Lavender soap (I didn't need shampoo), a natural toothpaste with no fluoride (another possible carcinogen) and food grade sweet almond oil or coconut oil on my body after bathing. Then I rubbed on a little natural flower oil. I used a Weleda's natural deodorant made mostly from baking soda and it seemed to work well.

If you are getting radiation, I recommend a 20-30 minute soak in 1 cup of epsom salt, 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of natural sea salt after treatment. Then take a shower afterwards.

I made a big effort to reduce the plastic bottles and artificial cleaning products - all my years of swimming laps made me adore the chlorine smell of Clorox Clean-Up - but you can get much less toxic cleaners made of hydrogen peroxide and they are just as effective at killing germs.

I did not wear a wig because I found them itchy, expensive and ugly. (Plus, I have fond memories of Sinead O'Connor and the model Eve as bad ass b@#ches). Since I underwent chemotherapy from October til February, I was partial to some extremely soft cashmere beanies made by Meg Cohen. These are the nicest, thickest cashmere I have ever felt and they are locally-made by the nicest person. It's a tiny business that behaves with the best ethics.

Think about it this way, if you are going to have something close to your skin (and your crown chakra), make sure it has good energy!

The C-Word: Oil Pulling or Running the Pipes

If you have ANY issues with your teeth, gums or respiratory system, you owe it to yourself to try oil-pulling. Of all the odd health stuff I do - 16 ounces of green juice every morning, body brushing, supplements, quitting sugar and most grains - this is one of the easiest and it's had the most immediate results.

Some say it clears toxins from the respiratory, digestive system and the skin, even reduces TMJ jaw pain and improves sleep.  Apparently, it makes perfect sense to car mechanics who often run oil through the works using the phospholipids to liquify and draw out debris, sediment and other junk. If you have cancer, it is worth it to this process add to your healing arsenal.

It's actually an Ayurvedic technique so they've had years (um, centuries) to test it out. But on a purely anecdotal level, when I started doing it, I am embarrassed to say I hadn't had my teeth cleaned in years. I slunk into my favorite dentist's office (Dr. Idelle Brand, if you live in NYC) for a catch-up.

Coconut oil is great for oil-pulling because it has additional antibacterial properties. Use about this much - a heaping teaspoon if it's solid and a tablespoon if it's liquid.

Amazingly, I had very little plaque on my teeth at all. I also noticed that from one appointment to the next (a few months), my periodontal disease seemed to be gone and my gums were fuller. I had no loose or achy teeth and the tea stains were also greatly reduced.

Traditionally, one uses sesame or even sunflower oil, but I found the best results - for me - with coconut. The oil one chooses depends on the health issues one wants to focus on. I've read listservs where people say pulling with olive oil resolves their gout pain. Anecdotally, people have used oil-pulling to resolve halitosis, sinusitis, arthritis pain and even eczema. I just read that oil-pulling with coconut oil can kill the candida (yeast or thrush) and the streptococcus bacteria in the mouth. By the way, the brand doesn't matter as long as it's reputable - and probably anything you have in your mouth that long should be organic.

Basically, I put a heaping teaspoon full of solid oil (a tablepoon of liquid oil) in my mouth, first thing in the morning. I swoosh it around while I make breakfast for Rara and make the tea and the juice. That takes about 15 to 20 minutes and since I am by myself, I don't have to talk to anyone and I am distracted. For more severe conditions, one can do it twice a day - so just before bed - always on an empty stomach.

DO NOT SWALLOW IT! This is important because it is drawing out toxins and you don't want to put them back into your system.

When I finish, I spit the oil directly into the garbage bag and run and brush my teeth.

DO NOT SPIT IT INTO SINK! Crucial because 1. it's full of toxins and 2. you will clog up the drain (and hate me forever)!!!

It's incredible - my teeth feel supersmooth and clean - polished and slippery as a marble tabletop. It's a great thing for cancer chemotherapy patients because it's a gentle way to reduce bacteria in your mouth without irritating your sensitive tissues.

The C-Word: All Those Pills!

I was watching Family Guy (the Amazons were watching, actually) and Brian (the dog) had fallen in love with an older woman. Stewie is the brilliant baby.

The dialogue went like this:

Brian Griffin: She's 50, Stewie she's not an old woman [His phone rings and he takes it out and answers it] Hello?...Hey Rita...So, uh-what're ya doing this afternoon?
Stewie Griffin: [Imitating an elderly woman's voice] Oh I'm just sorting out my pills for the week, sweetie. 
Brian Griffin: [Still on the phone] Well you do that, and I'll be over a little later [He hangs up the phone] 
Stewie Griffin: [Condescending noise] Did I get it? Was she sorting out her pills for the week? That little plastic thing with the 7 boxes? [Excited noise] 

Me, too. Since I started seeing Integrative Oncologist Mitchell Gaynor, I have had one of those plastic pill boxes, along with an entire tray full of bottles of supplements. The supplements were put together by him and a genius pharmacist called David Restrepo and a very good Drugless Practitioner/Acupuncturist called Galina Semyonova. My friend, Mary Schook, is always searching out the latest and best forms of natural antiaging products, so she tipped me off to some better forms of vitamins. If you have any health issues at all, I suggest talking to someone who knows supplements as there is a lot one can rebalance with vitamins, minerals, oils, herbs and enzymes.

After three years of studying Chinese medicine, Holistic Nutrition and North American Herbology, everyone asks me about supplements - but they rarely take them. Or they buy a few from the drugstore and then forget to take them. Given recent news about the GNC, Target, Walgreen's and Wal-Mart, be conscious about where you get your products. I buy a lot online and others at my local Wholefoods, I know people who work in the Whole Body section and there are a few who really know their stuff.

The main obstacles to successful supplementation are as follows:

1. Knowing which brands provide the most bio-available (usable for your body) sources and forms.
2. How much to take and when to take them, for your own body.
3. Whether you take them with or without food and what time of day.
4. Which supplements work better in tandem and which you should never have together.

and

5. Waiting to feel the effects. Patience! Herbs, homeopathic medicines and vitamins work gently.

They are meant to work in conjunction with your body to address the underlying causes of your issues. In the beginning, they might give you an upset stomach or a headache, so you should have your practitioner's number on hand in case you need to have the dose adjusted for you. But generally, you should wait at least 2 weeks before you take a bigger dose and six weeks before you decide they are not working.

It's like exercise. The first day you go for a run, you will not drop an inch from your waist. Maybe even if you run every day for a week, you might feel more energized, but you still won't be much skinnier. Real change takes time. Rushing it can make you sick. Imagine if you immediately started running 5 miles a day after not doing any exercise for years, you'd probably feel pretty bad and more than likely you would injure yourself.

Here's the other argument I hear against supplementation:

"I get all the vitamins and minerals I need from my food and most doctors say that's enough."

There are several reasons why that doesn't work for most people - but especially not people with cancer. The food we eat is of varying quality, depending on how it was transported, how long it hung out in the shop and then your fridge and how you cooked it. Basically, the vitamin and mineral content is dropping since it got pulled off the stalk. And we're not even talking about how much less nutritious conventionally grown food is than organic. Then, depending on what's going on with your body, you don't always ingest all the nutrients in your food. Especially, as you get older, and your body produces less enzymes and acids to break the food down, you don't get the same value.

Last, if you have cancer or another chronic illness, you know it is systemic. Illness makes your body weak, can take away your appetite and, worse, limit your ability to absorb the nutrition from your food. If you are not well, you need more vitamins and minerals than you can possibly get from eating. And if you don't eat well, or if you are getting chemo or radiation, even more reason to supplement to help your good cells stay strong during the onslaught.

Obstacle 5 is the reason I never take multivitamins. First, because the various vitamins might cancel each other out, next because there might be things in there that my body doesn't need.  Also, some substances are best absorbed by your body at night and others in the morning. It's like the shampoo-conditioner-in-one, they never seem to do especially well at either job. Admittedly a multi is better than nothing. So, if that's your starting point -

CHOP YOUR MULTIVITAMIN IN HALF!

If you do take a multivitamin, some advice. Choose one that comes in smaller capsules so that you can divide the dose, take half of the dose - or chop the pill in half - in the morning, with/after breakfast and half mid-afternoon or after lunch. The reason is that your body can use the vitamins most effectively with food - your stomach secretes hydrochloric acid to digest food which breaks down the supplement and allows absorbtion, otherwise, the supplement can go straight out to vitamin-enriched urine - and it can spread out the effects throughout the day.

DROP A TEST PILL IN A GLASS OF WATER

Also, with any supplement you buy, try to choose capsules or liquid forms rather than pills. This is because the glue they use to bind pills is often so strong, even your stomach acids can't break it apart. To test if the pill will break down once you swallow it, drop one in a glass of water and see how long it takes to disintegrate. If it takes more than an hour, the pill is probably going straight through your body undigested.

 Dr. Oz recommends these five supplements.  I'd agree, except for the calcium and magnesium and the folate and the recommended dose of vitamin D3. The amount you need of those vitamins and minerals depends on your body, sometimes you will need those, sometimes in larger amounts than others, sometimes not at all. Personally, I don't take Vitamin A or B, because my body hasn't needed it - and perhaps I get enough from dietary sources. I take more D3 in the winter when I am not exposed to enough sunlight and less in the summer when I am outside a lot.

If you have cancer, there is an oncologist called Nicholas Gonzalez who uses pancreatic enzymes to fight the growth. The idea behind this therapy is that cancer cells have a thick coating that makes them invisible to your immune system, thus your body does not always attack them and otherwise strong immune-boosting supplements, like turmeric and quercetin, can't get through. The pancreatic enzymes digest/melt away the coating on the cancer cells, allowing your body to then destroy them naturally. While most people produce pancreatic enzymes sufficiently, when you have cancer, you REALLY need them, thus supplementation can be key. I did not see Dr. Gonzalez, but I did take 15 capsules of pancreatic enzymes, three or four times daily.

CHECK WHERE THE VITAMIN/MINERAL/HERB COMES FROM

With calcium supplements, one has to be careful about the source of the calcium. Many inexpensive supplements are made from ground up seashells or limestone. These substances are full of calcium but they are not always "bio-available," meaning, your body can't use them properly. Again, off to the kidneys, where they might cause stones. Also, without sufficient amounts of magnesium, vitamin D3 and vitamin K, too much calcium can cause an imbalance in your body, effectively draining calcium from your bones into your blood stream and soft tissues where, again, they can block arteries and cause trouble.

The best way to get calcium that is both soluble (dissolves in stomach acids) and is used by your body (bioavailable) is through plants and sea vegetables and algae. I suggest you look for a supplement that includes magnesium, vitamin K, D3 and strontium. Personally, when I do take calcium, I take New Chapter Bone Health and I break up the dose (six small pills) throughout the day. I take the majority of the pills at bedtime because it makes me calmer and helps me sleep better.

Similarly, many Vitamin E and D3 supplements are made of soybean oil. Soybean oil goes rancid very quickly, which makes it toxic. While soy is a phytoestrogen and has become controversial as a food source, the main reason I don't eat it is that 98% of the soy produced in this country is GMO and I believe anyone who has had cancer should avoid GMOs.

However, I am not a doctor but current recommendations for EVERYONE who is worried about getting cancer or bone loss supplement is at least 5,000 - 10,000 iu everyday.  To figure out what that means, 15 to 20 minutes out in the sun in Cape Cod gives you about 25,000 iu. Xymogen makes a good one that includes K2, which has the added advantage of being good for your teeth.  Personally, I take 6 to 8 drops every day of Micellized Vitamin D3. Along with large doses of vitamin C, it has also been shown to reduce asthma attacks in children.  And taking regular supplements of D3 can reduce your chance of cancer by 70%!

AMEENA'S ANTI-CANCER SUPPLEMENTS PROTOCOL

A disclaimer - I am NOT a doctor. I am telling you this purely from my own experience. Everything I list here, I tested on my body while still under the care of an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. My liver, kidneys, blood pressure, eyes and skin texture all improved greatly while taking them during chemotherapy and afterwards.

I TOOK THIS:

Turmeric 300 mg, twice or three times daily - Curcumin is the active ingredient in Turmeric, so the one you take should have a high active curcumin value - read the label.

I took Meriva-SR by Thorne Encapsulations. I currently take one capsule a day of Sky Curcumin by Revgenetics which is cheaper and seems to work just as well. It also seems to have more of the root, because often, when one isolates the active ingredient in a plant or a herb, it doesn't work as well. Most natural ingredients work better in their natural form.

Turmeric is good for inflammation of any sort so it is also recommended for arthritis and I give to my kids for headaches and cramps.

Alpha Lipoic Acid Sustain, 300 mg, one daily I took Jarrow Brand. This helps reduce the irritation in your stomach.

NAC 600 mg, one daily. I took Pure Encapsulations. This increases your body's production of glutathione, which strengthen your nervous system and helps your body absorb other nutrients.

Rosemaria (rosemary oil) and Calendula, one capsules each, twice daily.  I took Completely Green, but it was quite expensive so I switched to New Chapter's Omega 7, which has a combination of Rosemary and Calendula as well as Sea buckthorn. I currently take 4 capsules a day of New Chapter's Omega 7 which seems to hydrate my skin as well as help with my memory. From a herbalist p.o.v., rosemary is antibacterial but also a nerveine, it helps calm the spirit and reduce headaches.

Rice Bran Oil Tocotrienols, one capsule, twice daily. I took Pure Encapsulations. This is a non-soy vitamin E that hydrates the skin and organs but also fights free radicals, especially in breast cells.

Wheat Embryo, one capsules, twice daily. I took Completely Green, but there are others available. This is a rich oil that hydrates your skin beautifully especially after chemo has ravaged it.

Plant-derived Calcium. I took Coxamin, one capsule, twice daily. Now I take the previously mentioned New Chapter Bone Health.

Vitamin D3, 8,000 iu. I took Micellized Vitamin D3, 1000 iu, eight drops daily in my green juice every morning.

Vitamin C, 1000 mg, three to four times daily. I used Lypospheric Vitamin C, I squeezed two envelopes in my green juice in the morning and one in the afternoon. I chose this brand because I noticed an immediate bounce in my energy levels after taking it. It's also recommended by the http://www.cancertutor.com/ website which is a not-for-profit resource for alternative/complementary cancer therapies. Whether or not you agree with Linus Pauling, vitamin c does seem to make you feel better - and if you take good quality l-ascorbic acid, you do not get an upset stomach or diarrhea when you take large quantities.

Shitake, one capsule twice daily. I used Completely Green brand again. This was the brand recommended by Mitchell Gaynor. These days, I tend to take a multi-mushroom complex. I do however eat LOTS of mushrooms - Shitake, Maitaki, Reishi, Chanterelle - but NO BUTTON MUSHROOMS, NO PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS, NO CREMINI - these basically all one kind of mushroom and so watered-down that they have little to no nutritional value (the nutritionist I went to see, Joel Fuhrman, suggested they have negative value).

Pro-Omega, 1280 mg, one capsule daily.  This is one capsule of concentrated fish oil, manufactured by Nordic Naturals.

Peak Immune, 250 mg, two capsules, twice daily. This is a combination of rice bran and shitake polysaccharides (I think) and is designed for people with compromised immune systems. I did not take it again after the first four months after stopping chemotherapy.

Krill Oil, 500 mg, one capsule twice daily. I don't know if it's redundant to take krill oil and fish oil but soon I didn't feel like I needed them both. I took the Mercola brand as I tend to find them trustworthy and conscious about their ingredients.

Immunotix 3-6, one daily. This is a beta-glucan which is especially useful for people who need more white blood cells and want to strengthen their bone marrow post-chemo. It is expensive and I only took it for three months.

Since I had neuropathy, balance and memory issues from the chemotherapy, I took several nerve formulas.

Alpha GPC, 300 mg, one capsule, twice daily. I took Jarrow brand. This is a phospholipid that crosses the brain barrier and helps learning and memory. I have to say, my short-term is still in the process of coming back.

Co-Q 10, 200 mg, once daily. I buy my co-q 10 in q-gel form from a company called epic4health. I have a friend whose father used to sell supplements and he recommended them as the best supplier of co-Q 10 and fish oil.

Enada, 5 mg, one capsule twice daily. This is meant to improve mental clarity and energy. I took this for three months and then stopped as I wasn't sure what effect it had. Post-chemo, I had trouble with word retrieval, reading comprehension (big handicap for a copywriter) and short-term memory which gave me terrible anxiety.

Rhodiola 60, one capsule daily. I took Thorne Encapsulations brand.  Rhodiola is an excellent anti-stress herb. I'd recommend it any time one is feeling overwhelmed or anxious and not getting enough rest. It helped a lot with the post-chemo hot flashes which were brought on by anxiety - and my constant confusion and memory issues. I found it very hard to understand the meaning of street signs or notices.

Triple-Bee Complex, one capsule twice daily.  This is a combination of bee pollen, royal jelly and propolis which are said to nourish the body and brain and activate killer cells. According to Mitchell Gaynor's Cancer Prevention Program book, out of print now, but a brilliant and useful text, bee pollen may delay or avert breast cancer. It's also great for seasonal allergies.

Bacopa, one capsule, three times daily. This is an ayurvedic brain herb. Apparently, it is very useful to take for people who have alzheimer's and/or parkinson's. I did take it for some time but stopped as it no longer seemed useful. It is an adaptogen, meaning it will naturally adapt itself to your needs so one could take it in the long term.

Pancreatic Enzymes, 15 capsules three times a day. I took the Allergy Research brand because they manufacture the capsules for Gonzalez.

Probiotics, three times daily. At first, I took 1/3 of a sachet of VSL3, the idea was to restore my digestive tract post-chemotherapy. Later, I wanted a larger selection of bacteria (for immune issues), so I started taking Mercola's Probiotic which does not need to be refrigerated and is enteric-coated so it survives the trip through your intestines to your stomach.

PolyMVA, 2 tbsps, four times a day. This incredible weird supplement is especially good for the immune system, leukemia and pancreatic cancer, as well as reducing the incidence of bone metastasis post-chemotherapy. Leukemia was the main side-effect of my chemo-drugs so I thought it wise.
I noticed an immediate difference in my energy levels and sense of well being taking this. I have to say I have only caught one cold in the past four years, even during the worst of my immune system damage post-chemotherapy and I am around lots of schoolchildren who cough, sneeze, share my food  and drinks and wipe their noses on my towels. It's expensive but I recommend it to everyone who has cancer or even bad respiratory infections (at smaller doses).

Exhilarin, one pill twice daily. This is an ayurvedic combination of herbs, including ashwaganda, holy basil, amla and bacopa, which is very good for calm and focus, especially during menopause.

Resveratrol, 200 mg, 1 daily. I actually took Shaklee's Vivix which seemed to make an amazing difference in my skin quality, too. Today, I take two capsules a day of Revgenetics Nitro 250.

Melatonin, 5 mg, two at bedtime. Personally, I found I built up too much of a tolerance to melatonin. I started needing 20 to 25 mg to fall asleep so I stopped and switched to a tea of chamomile, passionflower, valerian, skullcap and hops.

Every afternoon, I drank one smoothie made of

Stem Cell Strong, one scoop. This is a combination of mushrooms and fruits.
Slim blend, one scoop.  
One-half an avocado
One or two stalks of kale, deveined
Half a cup of vanilla hemp milk
A handful of fresh or frozen berries
Half a cup of frozen acai
Coconut water to make it more liquidy

Every morning, I drank a cup of hot water and lemon and then 16-24 oz of "green juice."

I used three or four stalks of kale (deveined)
4 big leaves of romaine or swiss chard
1/4 to 1/2 green apple
1 half cucumber
3-4 stalks of celery
1 lemon
1 small bunch of parsley and/or coriander
1/4-1/2 inch of ginger root

Sometimes, I replaced the apple with carrot but it makes the juice browner.

Juicing is crucial when you have cancer because it floods your body with vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are immediately available to your body. The proponents of juicing include Norman Walker, Max Gerson, Fred Bisci, Alex Junger and a whole series of raw juice purveyors. The best method for juicing is using a cold-press - at home, one can buy a Norwalk Juicer if one has a big kitchen - because it extracts the most nutrients with the least damage to the enzymes. Personally, I use the Omega HRT slow juicer. If I don't have time, I buy my juice, but I make sure it is fresh, not hpp-processed and bottled for a month as that kills a lot of enzymes.

The combination of raw food, juicing, enzymes and colonics have been extremely successful at resolving all kinds of chronic and systemic illnesses at places like Hippocrates in Florida. If I had a little time and money, it would be worth it to go there and reset your body post-chemo or radiation or in the early stages of cancer.

I should add that I had acupuncture and a massage three times a week for two months while on this program. I did not eat wheat, sugar, dairy or other animal products - except maybe at a birthday party, a few bites here and there. I drank three liters of purified water daily. Every two weeks, I went to an energy healer like Penney Leyshon.

I exercised almost every day, swimming laps and/or pilates or yoga.

In the past four years, since the cancer and the tumor disappeared and the scars healed themselves, I have slacked off in terms of supplements - and I have to admit, I don't look nearly as good!

I do currently take essiac tea every morning as a prophylactic and have been for the past three months, with no adverse effects.

The above regimen cost me more than $1500 a month, and that doesn't even include the doctors and there was only so long I could afford it.

But this is is what worked for me.

Remember, this is an arsenal. It is a group effort. Diet, acupuncture, supplements, exercise, energy work, prayer or meditation, therapy, getting A LOT of rest.

It's not enough to do one or two things because cancer is a big disease. And it's here to teach you something. So do everything you can to learn the lesson and move on.

The C-Word: Help for Rosemary's Babies

7 am this morning, to the sounds of the drilling two inches outside my window, i was speaking to a friend whose beautiful two year-old daughter has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 

and when i came home from dropping rara at school, i saw the ny times op-ed by michael mudd about the food industry. and it made me think about rosemary's baby, the idea of a man trading his unborn child for his career, for getting ahead in the world. 

isn't that where we are now? leukemia and other cancers skyrocket amongst children under 10 and corporations continue to make and sell products full of carcinogenic and harmful ingredients because "the consumer wants them."

    these are beautiful british twin girls, the one on the left has leukemia and her sister on the right does not. fortunately, they can help in understanding the DNA changes that might lead to leukemia.

we have sold our next generation to pesticide manufacturers, x-ray and microwave machine builders, pharmaceutical and junk food corporations, not to mention, the cosmetic industry.

in the meantime - if your child or any child you know - gets leukemia, here's some advice:

ONE i am sure you know - keep her as quiet and rested as possible. cancer patients needs tons of sleep. the more the better. just let her sleep and sleep and find a place where she can be quiet and undisturbed.

TWO cut out sugar from her diet. http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/sugar_cancer.htm  for now, i would include fruit, or at least limit her fruit intake as much as you can, to just a little bit here and there. if she does want to have fruit, give her mangosteen, pineapple (very good for cleaning the blood, you just have to cut it carefully because it could burn her tongue if the chemo is affecting her mucus membranes), green apples, carrots. no sugar, no honey, no maple syrup and especially NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS! there's been a link between aspartame (nutrasweet) and leukemia, better not to use it. http://www.naturalnews.com/037772_aspartame_leukemia_lymphoma.html

no white rice, no wheat. cut back on carbs as much as you can because they turn into sugar in the body and cancer cells feed on sugar.

THREE increase broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussell sprouts, kale - all cruciferous vegetables in her diet. http://www.naturalnews.com/038363_sulforaphane_cruciferous_vegetables_leukemia.html 
if you can juice them, even better. if the juice feels too strong, you can add more cucumber and green apple. i make a juice every morning with three leaves of kale, two thick stalks of broccoli, one cucumber, three stalks of celery, a small bunch of coriander, half-a-lemon, and half-a green apple.

make sure the fruits and vegetables you juice are organic and washed clean. if you can get her to drink three or four big (16 oz) glasses of this a day, that's great. make it as fresh as you can and if she can't drink it all at one go, let her drink small amounts throughout the day. it means she will continue to get nutrients because sometimes the chemo can make it hard to eat and can give you sores in your mouth and throat. if she has too many sores in her mouth for the lemon, just leave it out and add more cucumber and/or aloe with is good for coating the mouth and stomach.

FOUR while she is having chemo, make sure she drinks a lot of water. i drank three liters a day but i am quite a lot bigger. the idea is to get all the noxious chemicals out of her body as fast as possible.

FIVE make her laugh. laughter strengthens your immune system. funny movies, jokes, toys. the more you can keep her laughing and cheerful (and i've heard she is a little sprite so she will be easy to entertain), the better.

SIX  zhikr - for both you and your baby. tasbih (or a rosary or mala, if one is christian, hindu or buddhist) is a magic charm and for calming and energy. just get a set and keep saying, "la illaha illala" on each bead. give a set to your baby to hold or wear around her neck - and tell her they will keep her safe and strong. when the stress is getting to you - or her - find a quiet place (even if it's just in your mind) to breathe slowly and deeply and keep doing the thusbee and concentrating on LOVE because that is what God is. all-embracing love, all-forgiving love, all-healing love.

breathing deeply for both you and her is very important because getting enough oxygen in your body can kill cancer cells - and for worried mamas, it can keep you from getting sick from the stress.

SEVEN gentle massage. chemo makes your body achy. loving massage can increase her blood circulation and energy. hold her, massage her. if she loses or doesn't have much hair, one's scalp is super-sensitive, it's nice to stroke and massage her head.

EIGHT i used to take a product called polymva. it's combination of b-vitamins and palladium. it is incredible at protecting your healthy cells from the chemo. i would giver 1 tbp in a glass of water four or five times a day. it looks horrid and it tastes like marmite with no salt, but one gets used it and it will give her energy to survive the chemo.  http://www.polymva.com unfortunately, it's quite expensive, but it is miraculous. i used to go through 5 bottles a month. 

NINE omega-3 fish oil is very important -especially for leukemia! make sure she is taking it. maybe very small capsules - sometimes they have it flavored for young kids. http://www.healthy-oil-planet.com/cod-liver-oil-cancer.html

make sure you get a reputable brand because fish oil goes rancid very easily. also, try to feed her fatty fishes, like salmon and mackerel.

i use blue pastures http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/CodLiverOil/index.cfm - apparently, fermented cod liver oil is even more effective than regular and this is better than nordic fish oils.

TEN if you don't live in a sunny place, make sure she is taking vitamin D. i take it in drops but it is nice as a cream which is how vitamin d enters your body in normal times. it's soothing and energizing.

ELEVEN of course, take turmeric and ginger. they help with inflammation, pain and nausea with no side effects.

LAST OF ALL - i recommend everything that you do for your baby, you do for yourself as well. please please look after yourself. it is emotionally draining to go through this. 

be gentle with yourself and  it will be easier to be gentle with your baby.

The C-Word: friends, family and other disasters

one of my most vivid cancer memories is checking my cellphone midway through a chemotherapy session and seeing a text from my friend and upstairs neighbor: "your kids seem to be having a party."

ah. when faced with a parent-free home on the weekend, what would most teenagers do?

when i was first diagnosed with cancer, my teenagers were on the cusp of adolescent fever. sasha was 16, but gentle, sweet and cautious. zarina was just 13 and wearing the array of party dresses she'd accumulated for her year of bar and bat mitzvahs. jahanara was 9 and babied by her older sisters. (fortunately, she was at her father's house that night).

the party went on to be a complete bust. they smuggled in a 6-pack of mike's hard lemonade (a small amount of vodka watered down with sugary lemonade). one young friend knocked back a fifth of vodka and collapsed on the floor.

which had the slightly positive result of adults barging in to get him to a doctor and breaking it all up.

that was just the beginning. all the teenagers spun out of control for a little while. they were so angry and desperately attached to me at the same time.

the point of this story is that when you get cancer, the reactions of the people around you are completely unpredictable.

just when you most need your kids to be dependable, they act out. when you need your parents or aunts and uncles to love you unconditionally, they point out the reasons (they believe) you got cancer in the first place. some friends rise beautifully to the occasion, some acquaintances turn into confidants, some vanish.



now i address two audiences...

one: you are a person currently has cancer or some other debilitating illness or

two: you are a friend or family member of a person (i hope just one at a time) struggling with cancer or other debilitating illness or circumstance.



ONE, you're in it. you're the cancer sufferer.

yes, it's intense, probably the most overwhelming experience in your life. it's hard not to be cross with your friends when they get to get up and walk out of the hospital room back to real life.

they get to wash their hands, leave and get a coffee at starbucks or get in the car and drive home. their bodies probably don't ache and they can move their arms and legs comfortably and eat everything they want without feeling sick.

what i was most envious of my friends when i was sick was their control over their lives. all those choices and options. when you are really sick, you end up having to hand over control to everyone else. it's like being a baby. most of the time, you are grateful for the help. but sometimes, you just want to get up and make your own dinner just the way you like it. sometimes, you are sick of the way your caretaker makes a stir fry every single night because she can't think of what else to do with all the vegetables you need to eat.
here's what you need to do:

remember that people WANT to help you. be gentle with them.

1. when they ask you if they can help, give them specific tasks.

an errand - "would you mind stopping at wholefoods and getting me more fresh turmeric root or some dark chocolate?"

a meal - ask them to cook or bring you something you are dying to eat. in order to avoid disappointment, be clear. say, "i can't eat dairy or i hate okra or thyme is my least favorite herb" (those are all my issues). or be even more specific, point them in the direction of a recipe or restaurant you like.

babysitting - take your kids shoeshopping or out to lunch or the movies. sometimes, when their parent is sick, the home can feel a little oppressive to them. they need light and air. it's good to get them out and laughing. just tell your friend not to get all heavy with them.

organizing - personally, i LOVE people to come and open my mail and throw away all the junk and file all the bills. or put all the books in the bookshelf properly. or open the cupboards in the kitchen and put the plates and bowls in order. i love it even more if they don't make comments about my sloppiness or financial insolvency at the same time.

phone calls - if a friend can't come visit or is too faraway, you could ask them to make calls for you. maybe ask them to return a bunch of phone messages, or help you research something, or call your dry cleaner or the electric company or anywhere you can't (or you're too tired to) email.

any of these are so much more useful and less expensive than a half-wilted bunch of flowers from the supermarket.

2. don't get irritated when they don't do things the way you want.

everyone is frightened and trying to do the best they can. actually, this is good advice any time anyone who loves you does something for you. if you are a control freak like me or you are feeling anxious while you are sick, this is very hard to do.

sometimes your exhusband is going to buy them shoes that are highly impractical, your boyfriend is going to forget the organic coconut water, your mum is going to cook the broccoli til its soggy, your friend is going to bring you ginger rather than turmeric root and you just have to say, "thank you."

because they all deserve acknowledgement and love for their efforts. and just because they do things differently, doesn't mean that they do things wrong.

in other words, maybe you really NEEDED ginger (very good for nausea) and you didn't realize it.

breathe. be grateful.

3. be loving with the friends and family members who disappear. or behave badly.

one of the amazons said, "i hope you get cancer all over your body and die." some friends dropped off the face of the earth.

it is so scary. so incredibly scary to watch someone you really care about getting very weak or thin or losing their hair. if the sick person is one's parent, imagine how scary it is to lose the person who is meant to look after you, especially when you are not ready for it.

remember that everyone is processing information in their own way. that we are all in different stages of evolution. and that you never know what is happening in your friend's personal life, or what happened in his or her personal history that is activated by your illness.

your illness is a difficult circumstance. the person's reaction now doesn't negate any of your history. and it probably means that he or she still loves you, she just has her own stuff to cope with.

if your friend or family member uses the opportunity of your cancer to "punish" you for some perceived mistakes in your life, remember that he/she is doing that because he's invested in you in some way.

breathe. it's all about love. and fear.

you need to use the former to get over the latter.

that can mean faith - choose whichever one speaks to you - use Love or God or Universal Intelligence to focus on the bigger picture, to put it all into perspective. in my case, it meant Sufi chanting, repeating the name of God endlessly on a string of beads.

try and stay connected to Source. that energy coursing through you will help you be transcendant. don't get pulled down into anyone else's struggle.

day-to-day anxiety and tension is part of the reason you got sick to begin with. so if they start to get to you, fly away. even if it's just in spirit.

keep breathing.

TWO, you are a friend or family member.

1. please come and visit.

especially in the hospital during chemotherapy. chemotherapy, for most people, means sitting for hours or days in a chair or a bed with an i.v. attached to your arm. sometimes it burns terribly as it goes in. sometimes it makes you dizzy or nauseated. if you are near enough to spare an hour or two, please come and tell the person jokes while they are confined. it can get lonely and tedious.

sometimes, the person getting chemo can't see properly, so don't bring anything too complicated, but a silly video on an ipad or a laptop is great. or come and sit beside the person and distract them with funny stories or gossip. if you're really stuck, get some of those stupid celebrity magazines they have in the nail salon. you can laugh about kim kardashian's outfit or speculate on whether jessica chastain is jealous of jennifer lawrence. anything superficial and idiotic is a relief.

in the hospital, one lies there waiting for their insipid meals, so it's wonderful to have someone come to hang out with you. maybe bring something fun from outside, like slipper socks to wear from the bed to the bathroom. or a really nice organic hand lotion or a box of organic blueberries.

2. please be a little flexible.

when one gets home from chemo, one feels horrid. it's exhausting. one just wants to get into one's own bed and lie quietly. no conversation. i liked company on my up days, but i also had lots to do because i only had three days a week when i could walk around outside and not feel awful or drained.

so what i mean is - try to find out which days are better for visiting. maybe email or text your friend or his/her caretaker to get a sense of the rhythm of things.

if you come over and your friend isn't there, drop off your gift or card and don't get your feelings hurt. or if you come over and your friend just doesn't feel like seeing someone, just come another time.

when you come to someone's home, don't stay for too long. your friend gets tired easily. leave before you notice her/him fading.

3. don't telephone.

personally, i found it really difficult to talk on the phone. it made me dizzy and nauseated. i am not sure if all people undergoing chemo have that reaction, but if the electromagnetic rays from cellphones are still being questioned, why add one more thing?

on other hand, if the person has a normal landline, maybe he/she likes talking on the phone. i didn't mind it in hospital at all.

4. come over and help.

ask if you can take the kids out for the afternoon. do a load of laundry. wash the dishes in the sink.

ask, but don't ask too much. it's embarrassing to ask for help, even if you are weak and sick. just look around and see what needs to be done. maybe ask if you could sort out the books in the bookshelf (see above) or fold and organize all the sheets and towels in the linen closet.

you could check if the apartment has all the basics, like cooking foil and plastic wrap (necessary evils), napkins, toilet paper and paper towels, eggs, milk - whatever the regular stuff is - and replenish and put away the stuff that's missing.

maybe you can help with some bookkeeping or cook dinner (just don't leave a gourmet-sized stack of pots and pans and double-boilers).

5.  listen

whatever you do, remember that the person who is sick has lost some control over his/her life. try and help your friend or family member get some back. he/she might be irritable or very picky about how he/she wants things. it's not just general unreasonableness, it's frustration.

so ask what they want and follow the instructions no matter how ridiculous.

let your friend vent. yes, of course, there are people in the world who have it worse. and you might have great ideas for your friend. but unless, he/she expresses an interest in those ideas, don't push it.

6. make them smile

if your friend is now bald and weighs 80 pounds, common wisdom says, don't comment on their appearance. personally, i preferred people being honest. the jokes about being hairless or looking like a space monkey or whatever cheered me up.

i felt like, at least they said what they were REALLY thinking. when someone said, "oh my gosh, you look great!" i never trusted them again. unless, the friend qualified it by telling me how much better i looked since i started juicing or acupuncture or whatever.

laughter is great for your immune system. just like in the hospital, tell your friend some funny stories. bring really silly dvds - though be careful you don't offend their sensibilities. since my brain was working at half-speed, i needed to watch idiotic stuff. i used to love witty humor. after chemo, i liked slapstick.

7. whatever you do, stay in touch.

if all you can do is call, call. if you stop by to visit and he/she's out for a walk, just leave a note. it makes a difference. having people around you helps you heal faster and better.

don't let your friend feel like she's in it alone.

8. it's not over til it's really over.

it can take a long time to recover from cancer. you have to recover physically, emotionally, socially, financially.

be gentle.

your friend can probably use a bit of extra support for some time. if you missed the chemo/radiation treatment part, you still have a couple of years to make up for it.

The C-Word: Laura Kepshire and Brennan Healing Science

if you are facing cancer, you know that it affects so much more than your physical body. (and, if you're coming along with me on this ride, you're realizing that it probably started, like so many other illnesses, in the tensions and anxieties and emotional states you've been through recently).

cancer, as it progresses, shakes your sense of self, uproots your belief system and your character and makes you question the people around you. that's why brennan and other energetic healing methods were so interesting to me, though i only experienced the brennan method personally after my cancer was "cured" or at least in remission.

in my case, i'd spent months focused internally. eating, drinking, thinking my body and spirit well. one good thing about having cancer (there's not a lot) is that you get an all-access pass. as horrid as you feel, you work it (though i can say from experience it does not work when a policeman is writing you a parking ticket).

when the cancer's gone, you have to open your eyes and face the devastation - the piles of unpaid bills and taxes, health insurance, things that are lost and broken including your career and/or your love life, your emotionally-drained kids and family members - and your support group tends to move on.

people who weren't around much when things were all crazy don't get that you are still in shock and wandering around in a daze. so all those people expect you to act like the same old person you were. when you are still so fragile, that can break you.

it was in the midst of this time that the anxiety got so overwhelming, i was scared i would get sick again. that was when a friend mentioned a brennan healer to me. she told me how great it made her feel and suggested i try it.

barbara brennan was a NASA physicist who, along with a UCLA-trained engineer turned healer and psychic, rosalyn bruyere, started exploring the energy fields surrounding the human body.

what brennan found was that it was possible to manipulate those energy fields, using light touch, and another person's own energy. the brennan practitioners use the language of ayurveda and buddhism when speaking about energies - referring to your chakras and auras. they manipulate these energy fields to "unblock" and release old issues that may be keeping your body and spirit from moving forwards.

laura kepshire is an incredible and very beautiful Brennan healer. she has worked wonders on many people i know, amongst them, me.

brennan healing is an especially good CAM, as they refer to it in the memorial sloan kettering literature. because you do it fully dressed, lying on a massage table, and the practitioner barely touches you, it needn't interfere with your chemo or radiation or recovery from surgery.

and because it activates your own immune system, it can help traditional cancer treatments work harder. it can also help mitigate the unpleasant side effects of chemo and radiation.

last of all, because it unblocks "stuck" energy or releases past trauma, there are those who say it can - along with diet, exercise and your arsenal of healers - cure you from illnesses all together.

one brilliant thing that a brennan healing session does is make you think about the message in your cancer. basically, any time you get sick, it's a message from your body and your spirit. for example, if you run yourself ragged, you get a flu. clearly, your body is telling you - stop, take a rest, sleep all day and get some more vitamin C and D. if you lose your temper, your blood pressure goes up. if you lose your temper too often or too easily, the inflammation from the constant surge of blood and heat in your body will cause other issues. the message is, breathe, calm down. focus on the important things.

since cancer is such a major systemic illness, there is probably a big message in there. think about it.

what struck me most about laura is that she walked in drinking a coffee (gasp) with milk (swallow) and most shocking - eating a muffin!

first of all, if you are a hardcore health fanatic like me, you rarely touch coffee - caffeine causes inflammation and can irritate the stomach lining - or dairy products - more inflammation, plus the mucus-causing issues - and, when it comes to wheat or sugar, never!

in laura's case, it was even more shocking as she had suffered from rheumatoid arthritis that was once so debilitating she couldn't walk. here she was breezily sipping her coffee and eating her muffin.

when i asked her about it, she laughed and told me that once she had unblocked the anger in her body, much of the inflammation disappeared, along with the arthritis. she said she no longer had to worry about dealing with the symptoms.

in the brennan healing science approach, the root of the illness is the energy blockage and the illness itself is the symptom.

when i experienced the treatment, i felt brilliant colored waves of energy rushing through my body like water. i came out relaxed and relieved. the tension that hummed through my body had gone quiet.

since i was not in the throes of an illness, i could only afford two treatments - along with my organic vegetables, juices, supplements, acupuncture, massages, nutritionists and other healers - it was all getting expensive. and i still had to feed the amazons!

i wasn't able to experience its effects on a long-term basis. however, i have spoken to people who've had great success with it.

there are brennan healers all over the country. if it seems like an approach that would work for you, call one. they will usually give you a free consultation.

here is laura's information:

For more information on Brennan Healing Science and pricing contact me at: +1.646.283.3265, or by email at lkepshire@gmail.com

just remember, if you really want to get well, you will. you just have to find the best way to get yourself there. 

The C-Word: Energy, Acupuncture & Mona Chopra

here's the point: acupuncture works.

even the national institutes of health, memorial sloan kettering and the american cancer society recognize it in the fight against cancer.

people are always asking me about combining alternative and natural healing with chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and other allopathic (or western) healing methods.

i believe it can - and should be done - but with this caveat:

most other modalities - i.e., more natural healing methods - are about dealing with the bigger picture. they are about looking at each person's personality, habits, character traits, life choices. so when they help you heal, they are less focused on the symptoms of your body's imbalance - it's often called "dis-ease" - and more on helping you return to a state of balance.

i apologize for being simplistic here. please skip over all these explanations if you've read them a thousand times.

in western medicine, one takes a pill or has a treatment, and one sees immediate results. a simple example - you take an advil and within an hour or so, your headache is gone. it is symptomatic problem-solving. the symptom is gone, but often we don't address what the underlying issue, i.e., the stress, lack of sleep, allergies or whatever, that caused the headache in the first place. however, even mainstream (western, allopathic) medicine has begun to realize that with more serious symptoms, one needs to make a commitment to healing them.

this means a lifestyle change - managing your tension or anxiety, changing your diet, re-thinking the way you exercise, taking supplements and making sure you get sufficient sleep and rest to recharge the system.*

alternative healing works by activating your body's own immune system. the goal is to stimulate all your organs and defenses to get your body back to normal. it's based on the idea that your body is designed to heal and regenerate itself.

the self-restoring ability is obvious for minor things - you cut your nails or hair and they grow back, you cut your skin and it forms a scab and then heals itself. you get the flu or a cold or pimples or an upset stomach. more often then not - you rest, wash, hydrate, eat well and give your body the tools it needs to resolve the issues on its own - and you restore yourself.

the reason many alternative healers struggle with traditional chemotherapy and/or radiation is that they work on the opposite principle. they rush in and kill the cancer cells, but they also weaken or suppress your body's innate healing systems. with too much outside force, your body gives up the effort.

the processes in your body that are designed to fight become too weak to do anything. it's sort of like wearing spanx instead of strengthening your core muscles. it's an instant fix, but as soon as you pop yourself out of it, you're even more lumpy than before. if you wear it everyday, your stomach muscles just give up the ghost and flab all over the place. (this is why i do pilates).

there is also some concern that while chemotherapy and radiation may stop the cancer outbreak, it leaves the cancer stem cells which may regenerate and cause a proliferation of new tumors. (they are supposedly working on a vaccine for this, but in the meantime, women need to think of alternatives).

i see this often in people who had chemotherapy and/or radiation for breast cancer. within a few years develop, my friends have developed metastasis in their bones or more virulent cancers in their lymph nodes.

mona chopra is an amazing acupuncturist and intuitive healer. she was one of the first people who thought i might have something more serious than early menopause (which was what my tribeca ob-gyn, austin chen, insisted) and also helped me through meningitis, stress and a rare liver virus. in every case, i recovered almost "miraculously" - fast and completely.

if i had anything at all wrong with me, mona chopra would be one of the first people i would call, not least because she appears to be the calmest person i know. just being around her calm aura has a soothing effect.

mona explains what happens in an acupuncture treatment.

ideally, you come into the acupuncturist's office, after you've had something to eat or drink because it is key that you are hydrated. mona looks at your tongue. she writes down what she notices about the surface of your tongue. apparently, your tongue has a lot of information about the way your body is processing things.

next, she takes your pulse. in chinese medicine, they take one's pulse from several different places. again, these pulse rates give her information on the strength of the energy meridiens.

as in the intake process of many natural health practitioners, while you wait, you fill out a long, detailed questionnaire.  the answers show, amongst other things, how you deal with stress. not surprisingly, stress and tension cause a lot of imbalance. you are also asked about your diet, your exercise routine, your sleep patterns, allergies, your temper and a lot of other things that could affect your health.

then you lie down on a massage table-type of thing. if the energy points to be stimulated are on your torso or higher up your arms and legs, you might undress - the same way you would for a massage.

if your points are only on your hands and feet, you might just roll up your cuffs and sleeves. personally, since one lies on the table for 40 minutes, i find it is more comfortable to undress and lie under a blanket. i always get so relaxed i fall asleep during acupuncture.

next, come the much-dreaded needles. as gigantic and scary as the acupuncture needles appear on the tray, they are so incredibly thin that most people can't even feel them as they are inserted.

my own experience has been one of a minute electrical shock as my nerves register the needle. then i feel sensation of tingling warmth as the needle stimulates my energy and circulation. in my case, i have never felt any pain from an acupuncture needle.

once the needles are in place, mona covers the patient with a weightless space blanket or a sheet. then the patient lies quietly on the table for 30 to 40 minutes while the needles do their work.

another acupuncturist i went to see, ming jin, is also extremely talented and subtle and has helped a number of my friends successfully. she has her patients given a 30-minute massage before the acupuncture. in that way, one is melted into pliable bliss even before the treatment.

gynecological cancers, especially in their early stages, seem to be effectively helped by acupuncture and chinese medicine. even if you have not been diagnosed with cancer, acupuncture - along with lifestyle and diet changes - can prevent the energy blocks that lower your resistence. releasing these blocks can help your body stay balanced even in times of crisis or stress.

the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, including nausea, fatigue and neuropathy can often be alleviated with regular acupuncture. an acupuncturist might also prescribe chinese herbs or supplements to energize and protect the immune system or "good" cells. the acupuncture can also help strengthen the immune system so that it is not as depleted by the chemotherapy or radiation. in my case, regular acupuncture post-chemotherapy was extremely effective in ending the chemo hot flashes, as well as returning sensation to my hands and feet.

if you can find the funds, and a good referral, acupuncture is a solid investment in your ongoing health and recovery. many acupuncture schools offer low-cost treatment options. if you and your acupuncturist decide you should see each once a week or more, quite often he or she may help you come to a more affordable rate.

as you put together your team of healers, an acupuncturist is powerful presence.



*my mother is always arguing that we have been eating and living the same way for centuries and that's what her mother did so why flit around with every new trend?

my answer is multifold. one, our lives are so more stressful and we all know what stress does to one's body so we need to be gentler.

two, the world has changed. we grow and process food differently and that has affected the chemicals in the food which affects our bodies differently. (we've all seen what happened to the rats fed GMO corn for two years).

three, we are now subjected to magnetic fields as never before: cell phones, wireless devices, computer screens all give off rays that we have yet to understand, but we do know they are speeding up the ageing process.

and four, as we get older, our machinery becomes less efficient. what we could process easily at the age of 8, we can't always at 16 and by the time we get to be 35 or 45, we need to work harder to operate at optimum levels. it's like a great vintage car. it might look and run like new, but we need to put the work in to keep it like that.

The C-Word: What You Deserve

do you remember that games "chutes and ladders"? it originated in india as "snakes and ladders." a metaphysical exercise. with each toss of the dice, you either climbed upward to nirvana or slid downward to constant rebirth.

the british turned into an educational tool for self-improvement. in america, it was a 50s puritan morality play. you plant seeds and you get a fruit tree. you break a window and you empty out your savings.

the real thing one learns in all the games, one doesn't actually have a choice.

you throw dice. you land somewhere randomly. maybe on the square that says that you eat way too many apples. or worst of all on the square where you are sitting on someone's shoulders to reach the cookie jar (indulgence, greed, gluttony all at once). then you slide all the way down the longest chute to an impending trip to the emergency room.

there's a new anti-cancer campaign out that uses the shock effect to draw attention to lung cancer.

the headline is "cat owners deserve to die" or "hipsters deserve to die" or any other group. the tagline is "no one deserves to die."

with lung cancer, people assume that the person who got the cancer was a smoker and, therefore, cancer was the inevitable end. the punishment for their vice.

grandmothers can pull the children close and whisper, "you SEE! that's what happens if you smoke."

interestingly, i know several people who've had lung cancer and have never smoked.

i've also known people who are long-term smokers who never developed cancer or any other lung-related disease. does it "serve them right"? are they better people?

on that same chute, cervical cancer is the punishment for promiscuous women, ovarian cancer for women who've tried to have babies when their bodies said no. breast cancer, according to some right-to-lifers, is the result of abortions or not breast-feeding. they slid down into treatment. or death. the red letter C attached to their hospital gowns.

there is an increasing sense of protestant morality in the world today. poor people are poor because they are lazy. people who can't get jobs don't deserve them. people who are financially successful are treated better than people who are struggling. 

i hired a freelancer recently. someone i've known for 3 years who has done beautiful work in the past. has a great eye, creates simple, elegant presentations and usually available on a moment's notice.

unfortunately, she was travelling this time. despite intentions, work suffers when one does it on holiday. of course. sometimes, we need to shift our focus to real life and the people we love. needless to say, we had to hire someone else to fix the project. and then someone else again to make revisions. we lost the project.

when i tried to address my issues with her, she simply said she disagreed and sent her invoice. i sent her a check with a 20% reduction and a letter explaining that i was splitting the cost difference with her but that, if the project resurfaced, we could revisit it.

in answer, i got a vitriolic email that i was a liar and a cheat and a fraud thus all my "bad karma" (her reference to the cancer) was likely to get worse.

from what i understand about the buddhist laws of karma, there is no "good" and "bad" - those are purely our human perception. there is action and reaction. i do believe that i developed cancer (partly) in response to a particularly difficult moment in my life.

i am responsible for my life and my choices. rather, i am responsible for how i perceive it.

i don't believe that i or anyone "deserves" to get cancer or any other disease. i do believe we can choose how we deal with it, if we have the time and the peace to think. i believe we can think about changes in our lives that can make us healthier.

there is a new genetic test for an ocular cancer that allows a patient to see if he/she is likely to go into remission after surgery or likely to have the cancer become fatal. personally, i would take the test. it would allow me to seek alternative methods to heal myself. or to decide if i wouldn't want to just spend the next five years enjoying my life to the fullest, rather than letting chemo take me away from my family and friends.

though the truth is, i could learn why i should do that and still not do it.

we need to step away from our "chutes-and-ladders" thinking.

reactions are that. plain and simple. and there is good and bad in every experience. you gain pleasure or new skills or greater compassion for others. you learn to be more self-reliant or less so. more loving towards others or less self-sacrificing. even in fatal illness, you discover your inner self as your outer one fades. (please, no intention to be pollyanna here, i know cancer treatments are horrid and drawn-out and painful).

the choices one makes in life are so much a part of one's past, one's immediate situation, the way one deals with stress and fear. it takes a serious level of self-knowledge and evolution to rise above our conditioning and our triggers. and sometimes, even with that, we lose our footing on the path.

transcendence can feel impossible sometimes.

but let me tell you this. cancer is not Divine retribution. you are loved.

in the meantime, we roll the dice.