stopped treatment on my brother
 

As most of you know, my brother is in the final stages of melanoma. It has taken over his liver, bones and he has lumps popping out all over his body. He has been fighting this with everything he had. He has been going to MD Anderson in Houston where they were doing a last hope test drug on him. He was there yesterday and he called me to tell me that his doctor told him that the drug is not working on him, he was basically told to go home and live whatever days he had left. His doctor told him of a woman who after trying everything, went home..ate lots of dark chocolate and took tons of green tea, who then went into remission. He told my brother he might want to try a naturalistic approach. My brother is an auditor and much too logical to buy that, he told his doctor "what about an African Voodoo doctor, you think that might help"...lol. My brother has this cutting dry sense of humor and it was good to see he hadn't lost it. He so far, has not been in major pain but is so weak, he can't do much of anything. His hip has started hurting him where the cancer has set in. I told him I was going to come and see him when he got home and bring him a huge box of dark chocolate and a plane ticket to Africa..he laughed. I am so sad about this. I appreciate all the prayers that have been sent his and my way, it means so much to have a place to come and vent to people who understand. If God will not grant him a miracle, I just pray his last days are peaceful, with little pain and that he could have a few days where he felt good enough that we could take him bass fishing. That was what he wanted to do when he retired, buy a home on the lake and bass fish...sherryg683

Sherry,

I am so sorry to hear about your brother. I will keep him in my prayers and hope for a miracle.

Hugs, prayers and healing strength being sent to you and your brother.

Karen

I am so sorry to hear this - I hope he will find an alternative approach that will work for him.

Sherry, I'm so sad to hear of your bother's situation. I lost my brother to a massive stroke 12 years ago. I, of course, expected my hero to live forever. Sherry, your love for your brother has been so sweet through these last several months. My heart breaks for you as you deal with "just one more thing"! The champion comes out in you as you give your best to him when he needs you. I can see that line now being thrown out to snag that fish! I hope for a glorious time at the "ol fishin' hole"! God bless you, ma

Sherry, I am soooo sorry to hear about your brother. I hope you're managing ok.

Eric

Sherry...sending HUGE virtual hugs to you, your brother and to your extended family and friends.

Take care,

Dear Sherry,

I am so sad to here about your brother, as always you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Dear Sherry,

I, too, am very sad to hear of your news. I ask that God comfort you all as you walk this road together.

Love & Prayers,

Mary Jo

Sherry,

Keeping you and your brother in my prayers

I am sorry. I remember my sister in law's mom getting to the "popping out" stage of melanoma. But you know, it ain't over til it's over. If he won't eat chocolate, maybe he'll try beer and fishing. I hope you are using Hospice. I also hope he gets to do some fishing. Take care. THis is hard on a loving sister.

Sherry,

I'm praying for you and your family.

Kim

Sherry683, I am sad to hear your news.

You said "He told my brother he might want to try a naturalistic approach. My brother is an auditor and much too logical to buy that,"

I am qualified Accountant too, slowly dessicated by all that dry work, and too logical and persistent for my own good on occasions, and as you may have noticed am convinced Omega 3s and 6s have a big role in health.

Please wish your brother well.

RB


Omega 3 Fatty Acids in Clinical Nutrition - [Heller Stehr Koch] - look at administration of DHA by lipid infusion.

There are Australian trials looking at lipid infusion and melanoma with cox blockers.

Here are some more results of a search below.

I have no expertise I am just posting these as potential lines of enquiry that you may wish to pursue with your medical advisor's.






http://www.oilofpisces.com/cancer.html

Docosahexaenoic acid halts melanoma
We do not usually report on animal or test tube experiments, but found the results of this study so intriguing that we decided to make an exception.

VALHALLA, NEW YORK. The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma is growing rapidly among persons with fair skin. It is estimated that one in 75 Americans will develop melanoma within their lifetime. Melanoma has a pronounced tendency to spread to other organs (metastasis) and the 5-year survival rate for metastatic melanoma is less than 10%. There is growing evidence that diet can influence the risk of developing melanoma. It is now believed that a high intake of omega-6 fatty acids stimulates the growth of melanoma and other cancers whereas omega-3 fatty acids suppress the growth of cancer cells.

Researchers at the New York Medical College and the American Health Foundation have just released the results of a laboratory experiment which clearly shows that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a main component of fish oil, is highly effective in inhibiting the growth of human melanoma cells. The researchers treated 12 different human metastatic melanoma cell cultures (in vitro) with DHA and found that more than 50% of them stopped growing. They urge further testing of their findings in full-scale clinical trials involving patients with melanoma. They conclude that “if DHA is capable of suppressing cell and tumor growth and metastatic potential in in vivo models of melanoma, a clinical trial of DHA would be warranted as an adjuvant to current surgical and chemotherapeutic interventions”.
Albino, Anthony P., et al. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of melanoma cells by docosahexaenoic acid: association with decreased pRb phosphorylation. Cancer Research, Vol. 60, August 1, 2000, pp. 4139- 45


http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...1d30694d3cf073

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retri...60894X06002605

"A conjugate of DHA and doxorubicin (DHA–Dox) was synthesized, and its antitumor activity was evaluated in vitro against L1210 leukemia cells and in experimental animal tumor models including L1210 leukemia and B16 melanoma. DHA–Dox showed a greatly improved antitumor efficacy compared to free doxorubicin."

http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/con...ent=a788043412
Human colon carcinoma COLO 205, carrying wild type p53, grown subcutaneously in athymic mice was inhibited 80% by a high fat menhaden oil diet containing a mixture of omega-3 fatty acids compared to the low fat corn oil diet containing omega-6 fatty acids. Feeding a high fat diet of golden algae oil containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) as the sole long chain omega-3 fatty acid resulted in 93% growth inhibition.

http://grande.nal.usda.gov/ibids/ind...&therow=388847

So sorry to hear your news. Am sending lots of hugs your way!

Sherry,

I am sorry about your brother. Voodoo is something he might find on 24th and vine. Rememer....Love potion number 9? You are obviously sending him lots of love and support. So are the rest of us. Thanks for letting us know about your brother so we can keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

Hugs, Catherine

Thank you all so much. I am always telling him of my friends here on the board and the good advice and encouragement I get from you all. Sherryg683

Sherry, you and your brother and all of your family have been in my thoughts and prayers.

Sherry I'm so sorry for you and your brother and really hope he gets to fish!

Hi Sherryg683,

The latest post on SIMS on the Greek diet thread may be of interest.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...ght=greek+diet

RB

Sherry,

I'm praying for your brother.

Joan

Sherry, you're a good sister, and if you can keep your brother laughing that in itself is so healing. With the dark chocolate and "all", maybe he'll be able to go on that fishing trip with your help. I'll be keeping him in my thoughts and prayers.

<3 Lolly