[CarolineC]

Karen,

Sorry, unfortunately she doesn't keep track of the numbers, but she feels good. She was rediagnosed last summer after 10 years of "cancer free". She then did chemo and recently did two rounds of TDM1. Now she needs a break so she has decided not to do anymore for awhile. She also has MS so has to consider that as well.

I think about my TMs sometimes, especially with the pain in my body and my CEA is now 37-I was keeping it around 20-25 last fall. I'm wondering (and hoping) that it is just a reflection of high cortisol in my body and definitely pain and inflammation. I have an MRI of my adrenal tomorrow morning and pray it won't show anything bad.

I feel that it is imperative to keep our bodies calm, be it by beta blockers, meditation, COX-2 inhibitors like aspirin, accupuncture, massage, gentle yoga or walking, anti-inflammatory diet, cannabis oil, or maybe even Wobenzyme, like Andi did as part of her healing.

I have been mad at myself for doing everything that is asked of me so as not to be labelled as "difficult", but when I do, I am the one that suffers. On a tangent, I was declared stable in May because my adrenal had stopped growing and my sternum was stable, but then I stupidly went for pain management and the doctor punctured my lung. I felt for three weeks like I'd been punched in the stomach and that was replaced by a very upset stomach and weight loss of almost 20 pounds in two months! I am 5'7" and now about 114 pounds and look nothing like my avatar.

The insurance companies are more accomodating to cover the drugs for us, but put a cap on naturopaths and healing modalities. The conventional doctors are treating what they can see on scans (and are trained to do so) and are treating our illness at the expense of tearing our bodies down instead of building them up, but who is there to help create wellness? We are on our own on this path and we need to collaborate towards our own "cure". The information and doctors (integrative, I believe) are out there, but it is alot of work.

Have you read the book "Radical Remission:Surviving Cancer Against All Odds"? It has been recommended to me and is by a doctor who researched people with cancer who have done well. I'll bet it has information that people on this site who have done well with metastatic cancer have already done.