Monday, May 14, 2007

Thyroid Cancer - My protocol

From July's appointment with Dr. B I stayed pretty stable until October. I had the following protocol to follow.

Metagenics LactoViden - 1 before breakfast
Metagenics BifoViden - 1 before breakfast
Pregnenolone 25 mgs - 1 before breakfast
DHEA 2 mgs - 1 before breakfast
Metagenics Multigenics - 3 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics Vit E - 1 with breakfast
Metagenics Calcium - 2 with dinner
Metagenics EPA/DHA - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Biotics Research Cytozyme AD - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics Meta I3C - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Metagenics ActiFolate - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Biotics Research - Bio-D-Mulsion (10,000 iU)
Optimox Iodoral - 25 mgs w/ breakfast & 25 mgs w/ dinner
Rhodiola Forte - 1 w/ Lunch
Ultra Clear Plus - 1 scoop AM / 1 scoop PM
Metagenics Renegan DTX - 2 / day
Biotics Research Sunflax Oil - 2 Tbs
Hanna's Mercurius Viv - 3 pellets AM / 3 pellets PM
Buffered C Powder - 2 sccops AM/ 2 scoops PM
Dragon River Herbals Cilantro - 3 drops AM/ 3 drops PM
Biotics Research Chlorella - 1 w/ breakfast & 1 w/ dinner
Heavy Detox (DMSA & Selenium) - 2 at bedtime
4 grains Armour Thyroid
BHrt Progesterone / Testosterone cream

It was a lot to remember and maintain. I felt like all I did was pop pills and make concoctions all day.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Thyroid Cancer - Beginning Chelation, 3rd Appt w/ Dr. B & DMPS Challenge

Within about 2 weeks post removal I was feeling so tired and felt like I needed to think about chelating. I had been reading and researching what people used and how it was done. It seemed to be such a topic of controversy. So I placed a call to Dr. B and asked him. I explained that my joints ached, my brain was foggy and I just overall felt lousy. He agreed to let me start the chelation process. He told me that he would send me a few items to start taking.

When the box arrived from his office there were quite a few things in it. Included was a bottle of Heavy Detox (combination of DMSA and Selenium). I was to take 2 of these before bed. I also received chlorella. I took 2 of these per day. There was a bottle of liquid cilantro. I had to add these to hot water and drink it once a day. All of these were supposed to facilitate the detoxification of the heavy metals in my body. I continued to do this protocol until I had my next appointment in July with Dr. B.

On July 13th I had my 3rd appointment with Dr. B. I went to this appointment feeling amazingly well! I was on 4 grains of Armour, supporting my adrenals and chelating. Life was good. I had also lost 20 lbs. It was amazing. I had struggled with my weight for so many years and once my amalgams were removed the weight came off without trying. I was able to easily work out for 45 minutes everyday without major fatigue. Dr. B was very pleased with the progress I had made. He recommended that I do a DMPS Challenge test to determine the mercury load on my body. I winced as he spoke. I had read about the horror stories of others that had done this test and suffered neurological damage. When I questioned him on this he stated that they have literally done it on thousands of patients in the practice. After a bit of discussion I hesitantly agreed. I was taken to another room and given the injection of DMPS. I was then given a collection container and told to collect my urine for 6 hours. When completed it I was to put a sample in a smaller cup and ship it to the lab for analysis.

So I began the 2 ½ hour trek home. I didn’t do well after the injection. I left Dr. B’s office and went to Whole Foods Market to do some shopping as I normally do when I visit the east side of the state. When I reached the parking lot, I placed the groceries in the back of the van and slid into the driver’s seat. It was at this point that I was hit with a panic attack. I felt anxious about driving home and wished that I was already there. I didn’t know how I was going to deal with driving alone the entire distance. After a few minutes I was able to collect myself and start on my way again. I had to mentally “talk myself down” through the entire drive home. I stopped a few times with my collection bottle in hand to catch my urine for analysis. Oh the things I do to gather information. It’s a good thing that we don’t always know what our life holds for us.

The following morning and the next as well I woke up experiencing extreme anxiety. I had to mentally talk myself into getting up and out of bed. Once up I struggled with my emotions and would find myself in tears easily. I met my ND at the farmers market on Saturday morning (3 days after the DMPS injection) and told him how I was feeling. He said that it was quite common and that I should take some Metagenics Serenegan and also some Chloroclear to help. I took this for the next few days and it did improve my panic / anxiety symptoms

Thyroid Cancer - Removing My Mercury Amalgams and Root Canal

On June 15, 2006 I began the removal of my 11 mercury amalgam fillings. Prior to this I had a test called the Clifford Reactivity test. It is a blood test designed to test your immune system against approximately 900 dental materials that could be used in the restoration process. When completed it produced a large booklet of information about what dental products I had sensitivities to and which were suitable. This would allow the dentist to place and use things that would not further stress my immune function.

We decided to do an aggressive removal process. We would remove one quadrant of my mouth each week for 4 weeks. We would follow the 7 day immune cycle as well. This meant that I would start removal on a Monday and the next week would have work done on Tuesday then the next week Wednesday and finally I would end on Thursday 4 weeks later. It has been determined that the immune system runs in 7 day cycles so it is harder on your body to do major work on the 7th day. As a Christian I found this interesting because so many things in the Bible are tied to the number 7 and it being the number of perfection.

I had 11 fillings to be removed. Two teeth had fillings that were too large so we opted to have them receive porcelain crowns. The rest would be restored with a composite material and on the final week I would have my root canal tooth removed.

My removal, though uncomfortable and sore at times went very well. Each week I had an adjustment from my Chiropractor / ND 2 days after each removal. This would open up the detoxification pathways to allow clearance of the toxins. I also had a lymphatic massage each week. This helped with the detoxification too.

The final week’s work was the roughest. I ended it all on June 8th. The root canal tooth was a bugger to get out. It took my dentist 3 hours to remove it. He also had to cut out an amalgam tattoo that had formed on my gum near this tooth. When the tooth was removed he discovered that there was a black sludge under this tooth. He also saw that there was necrosis of the jaw bone. He ground the bone down to clear out bacteria and any infection and washed it out with iodine. Knowing this now it all makes sense. I had root canal done in this tooth 2 times. It developed an infection shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer. If you read the book “The Root Canal Cover Up” all the pieces come together. I highly recommend this book. It will stop you from ever getting a root canal or encourage you to remove it if you are struggling with chronic medical conditions. For me with ever-present cancer markers I knew that this low grade infection / bacteria was a constant hit on my struggling immune system. Also Dr. B told me under no uncertain terms “Get rid of it”.

When we were done my dentist placed a magnet on my cheek at the removal site to encourage blood flow to the wound. I was pretty woozie when leaving the dentist. My dentist was concerned about me and made me promise that I would call him when I arrived safely. This was the beginning of a good relationship that would soon change my life in more personal areas. After removal I stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up some Vicoden. I really did not want to take drugs. That goes against everything I believe in but my dentist told me that I would need to have it. It was an anti-inflammatory so that would help bring the swelling down. I was also given SSKI (iodine) to flush my wound with.

I spent the next 4 days on the couch at home. I was achy and just felt overall like I had been hit by a truck. I slept quite a bit too. I knew that all of this had played a huge toll on my body but it was done and I could begin to heal from yet another insult on my poor body. But hopefully this would help me in the long run. It was a major expense – total bill was a little over $5,000 out of pocket. My insurance did not cover it after the initial $1,000.

My dentist was leaving for Spain on the following Monday after my removal. He called me at home on Sunday night to make sure that I was doing OK. He told me to contact his office if I had any issues and they would take care of me. He also gave me the name of another dentist that was covering his patients while he was gone if needed. It was so nice to have such a caring dentist. What a comfort to have a good dentist and doctor now in my corner.

During the next week I ended up coming into my dentist’s office. One of my temporary crowns was not working and I was in extreme pain when trying to eat. So I went in and one of his hygienists placed some de-sensitizer on my gum line to help. It did help. They also removed some bone pieces that were starting to come to the surface. I would be so glad when this was all over!

Thyroid Cancer - More Labs!

On April 25, 2006 I had more labs run to check my thyroid numbers. As I continued to have fatigue it was time to see what was going on. I was on 3 ½ grains of Armour at this point. When the labs came back this is what my levels were:

TSH .02
FT3 421 (230-420)
FT4 1.2 (.8 -1.8)
Tg 19

My Tg was starting to come down. It was 23.3 on 3/23/06 so this was a good sign. We decided to increase my Armour to 4 grains to see if I could get over my hypothyroid symptoms. We also got the results of my 24 hour urine test to check my adrenals. Dr. Brownstein recommended that I add Cytozyme AD and Rhodiola Forte to my supplements to support my adrenals.

We discussed having my amalgams removed. I had visited a holistic dentist on 3/29/06 to discuss the safe removal of my 11 amalgam fillings and my root canal tooth.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Thyroid Cancer - My Second Appt with Dr. B

My second appointment with Dr. B was on April 12, 2006. What a day it was. I was up at 5 am and couldn't sleep so I was tired. This had been going on for months. More specifically since I started Armour in January. I had this a year ago but it got better right before RAI and then it would happen off and on. To top my issues of the day off it rained the entire way to Detroit - all 2 1/2 hours. UGH!

I arrived right on time to my appt. Went back behind the door to the exam rooms where the bathroom was and when I came out there was Dr. B. He smiled and said "HI". Wow most docs are just running around not noticing anything. I sat in the waiting area for 2-3 minutes and then they called me back. Dr. B escorted me to the room himself. I had my sheet of questions ready and handed it to him and he said "OK but how are you feeling?" I told him better since I upped my dose and that I had cleaned my house like crazy but today was tired. I also told him that I believed my adrenals were worse. He immediately had me lay down - I got dizzy - He took my blood pressure and had me stand up and it dropped 15 pts. He said "That's NOT normal".

He sat down and said "I am sending you for a 24 hour urine test to look at your adrenals". I was to perform the test the next day so that he would have the results the following week. I think this has been a big issue for quite some time. I had been working on my adrenals for over 1 year now with my ND and it hasn't helped so now I was ready for the "big guns". I was glad that I got some answers as to where I really stood not just symptoms. I was so tired of the vertigo.

I had an appt with my Holistic Dentist to go over the plans to remove all my amalgams and my root canal tooth. I asked Dr. B what I need to do while this was going on. He told me that I was not to do anything with my teeth until I got my adrenal info back and we got them under control. I guessed that he didn't want to stress my system out while trying to heal.

We talked about the thyroid cancer and my persistent Tg number. He is hoping that the Iodine (Iodoral) will take care of it. If it does not he talked of upping my Iodine higher than 50 mg. I forgot to ask him where my iodine levels fell from his saliva and blood tests. I am guessing that it was also very low because of the dosing level I was started on. We will test my thyroid levels once a month. He told me that he will follow up with me each month to find out how I am doing between now and my next appt 7/13.

I love this doctor! As I was walking out the of the exam room he said to me
"Don't worry we will get you feeling well" and then he gave me a hug. *SHOCKER*
He is the nicest Dr. I have had next to my ND. I am so blessed to have him on my team. He listens and lets me tell him what treatment I am comfortable with, adding his experience and knowledge to it. He is well worth all that this is costing so far. There is hope!

Friday, May 11, 2007

Thyroid Cancer - Feeling tired & weird already

I had started taking 50 mgs of Iodoral on March 20th. By the 23rd I was feeling bad. I had headaches and felt achy and tired. I didn't know what to think. Dr. B had given me a few tips to watch for if the iodine was effecting me negatively. I didn't know if that was it so I called him.

I remember feeling frustrated with this call and close to tears. I told him I didn't feel well and he told me to cut my Armour back from 3 grains to 1 1/2. I did not want to do that so I protested. I sensed a bit of frustration but in my gut I felt it was too little Armour that was my issue. These felt like hypo symptoms. So we ended up deciding that I would continue taking the 3 grains of Armour and get more labs run to see where I was. I remember almost bursting into tears through this conversation. I felt worse now on Armour than I had on Synthroid. Riding this wave of feeling good to feeling bad was so wearing. I just wanted it to stop. It felt like it never would. There are days were you just want to give it up and resolve yourself to the fact that you will never be "normal" again.

Thyroid Cancer - My phone consultation with Dr. B

March 20th was my phone consultation with Dr. B. I was so eager to learn what the outcome of the 15 vials of blood would tell us. My appointment was scheduled for 8 am. I was to call into a special number and then would be connect with the doctor.

I had asked for the results prior to our phone call so that I could review them and also let my naturopathic doctor review them and have questions prior to my call. I could tell a few of the areas of concern because he had circled them.

I felt uneasy talking to Dr. B. His responses to my questions were short and kind of cryptic. That is hard for me. I am an outgoing and talkative person so those that are reserved put me on edge and I wonder what I did or said that may have made them upset with me.

I was definitely out of my comfort zone with this doctor. I figured it would take some time for him to get to know me and me him. It is so hard switching to yet another doctor when you feel so sick. I think it also makes you over sensitive about things as well.

We went over each test item and he allowed me to ask questions. He then explained what he was going to give me to take for each issue. I felt like I was pulling teeth at times to understand what was happening. Maybe it was the brain fog too.

The main issues were:

Low Iron
High Fasting Glucose
No Iodine detected
Low hormones
Low Vit D

I was told to take supplemental DHEA, Pregnenolone, Buffered C, Vit D, Iodoral (iodine / iodide combination) and Iron. I was also given a prescription for a progesterone / testosterone cream from a compounding pharmacy.

He ordered another fasting test to check my insulin & glucose levels. Oh joy I get to go drink that orange "goo". For someone that doesn't eat much sugar it is sickeningly sweet.

So there it was. The beginning of my new protocol. Why, I wondered, didn't anyone ever look at me as a whole person before? It seems insane that so many Dr's had seen me and blasted me with RAI over and over never looking and how my body was doing. When I complained of an issue, along came another drug to "fix" it. I believe that your body can heal with God's help when given the right building blocks. It was just a matter of figuring it all out and that is where a good holistic doctor is invaluable!

My Final Post ..... The Ending of a Journey

It is a very strange feeling to be writing this post.  It will be the last update that I post to this blog.  The blog itself will remain up ...