Gina

Hi, Tom,

I feel your pain...back in June, I prepared an entire presentation on the potential synergies of combining oleic acid with herceptin for an onc (who shall remain nameless) but is billed the "most knowledge oncologist for her-2 in this county" with creditials from here and there and abroad and everywhere... It was back, several months after the January articles on oleic acid started coming out...

I made an appointment with him (a PAID appointment) and requested a 30-minute consult. I waited 6 weeks to get in to see him...he is not my regular onc...thank god...

I rehearsed the presentation until I had it down to 20 minutes...had all the data there...even the actual articles..not just the abstracts..plus, all the connections...a listing of every single cancer helping food I could find containing oleic acid along with levels, the safety sheets, all the bells and whistles..color graphics...line graphs, you name it...simple...clear..to the point. He walked in looked at me suspiciously over his spectacles and said, "I was told you do not take Herceptin according to directions." He had not even read one sheet of my medical records that I had had sent over to him...he did not even know I was one of the longer users of Herceptin...and he did not care...but any way..undaunted as ONLY I can be...smile...I began the presentation...and after about 6 minutes...grabbed his attention with the line graph and then moved on to the January discussion of the oleic acid and had to stop my presentation and educate him on Menendez, the research, the paper... I could not get any further in the presentation because since he knew NOTHING of oleic acid research, it would have been a total waste, plus after giving me 10 minutes of his precious time that I was paying out of pocket for...he had "to move on to the next victim"..oops uh..I meant to type ... "patient" smile...sighhh. Anyway, I left him with a copy of the published article. Nothing whatsoever came out of it. The reason cancer is never cured or at least "resolved" is because nearly everything we have been taught to believe about cancer are merely assumptions that, when empirically tested, nine times out of ten, just aren't true. I know. I have tested hundreds of said assumptions that are supposedly based on science but in clinical practice...simply are not true and do not lead to repeatable and predictable real solutions. If the patient does somehow manage to get better...it is certain...that fortune shone upon them and they "fell through the cracks." I know this seems harsh, and it is not the oncs' fault..it is such a bigger problem.. As you seem to be an avid reader, look up Helen Longino's book "Science as Social Knowledge." Sad to say, but if we on this site really want a better QOL, we will be the ones to find it for ourselves and share it with our friends here. I have a strong feeling the serious help is on the way for us all and together, we will find it. Godspeed to us all, Gina
P.S. Tom, in your OWN assessment, what do you think the green tea does to help your mom clinically and have you ACTUALLY been able to empirically confirm any benefit from oleic acid synergizing with the Herceptin. I have one small, but interesting, empirical data graph. For many years, I was taking Olive Leaf while on Herceptin not so much for the her-2, as I was unaware of any synergy at that time, but since it is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal all in one tab and as I was very busy raising my son alone and working as much as my health would permit, I did not have time to take so many supplements, or the money to buy them, so I would pop 2 olive leaf tabs in the morning and maybe 2 later in the day, if I thought about them...along with my basic stand -by regimen of many years.. magnesium, Vitamin A& D in fish oil, evening primrose oil, zinc, a good multi, etc). One particularly bleak January, 2004, I was very low on money and as some of the really effective supplements are not cheap, as we all know, I ran out of olive leaf and just didn't buy any more for weeks, maybe as much as two months...but I continued to take my base regimen as I had since July of 1999 (I have had mets since April of 1999). I also continued taking my herceptin, which I believe I was taking every 3-weeks at that time..yes..and of course, charting all my markers, per usual (have charted CA 27/29 since '98 and serum Her-2 since about 2003). Anyhow, when my blood work came back from the late February draw, my serum her-2 had gone from normal range to 125 in just a few weeks. I knew it was acting up again because my friend had invited me to Hershey spa as a treat for my 40th birthday which was feb. 21 and I remember not being able to enjoy the trip as much as I had hoped due to the popping up of the ol' too familar bone pain around the collar bone (I have one sternum mets that is difficult for the herceptin to get to due to scarring from surgery and adhesions under the chest wall, and it continues to light up on the bone scan..) Anyway, the herceptin dosing or schedule had not changed, the only thing different was the lack of olive leaf. So, I was scared, of course, and spared NOT time or MONEY, buying up the olive leaf I like best...purple top Nature's way because it has 250mg of REAL olive leaf mixed with 250mg of olive leaf extract. I started taking about 4 a day as I was REALLY nervous and feeling the burning bone pain and having trouble driving. On the blood draw taken three weeks later, the serum her-2 and dropped back down nearly to the normal range. and my pain eventually dissappated as it has done so many times in the past. ..that is all just anecdotal and my onc said the 125 was just an anamoly, a mistake...but she could not explain the bone pain or its "mysterious" regression. I started feeling really well again , so well, in-fact , that I moved to the 6-week Herceptin dosing strategy to accomodate my trip to Scotland and have stayed on it ever since. This January, 2005, when I saw all the articles coming out about Dr. Menedez work...my mind immediately went back to that dismal scene a year before, and my gut told me, that he just might be on to something...so then, I started doing what you did with the green tea...I started researching and investigating everything I could get my hands on regarding foods rich in oleic acid...by chance, I found that many of the foods I naturally gravitated towards were on this list and that many of the supplements I was taking had significant quantities of oleic acid in them, all unbeknowst to me prior to the research.and many other facts, with my MOST favorite being the factoid that all species of SHARK LIVERS produce oleic acid and as "SHARKS don't get Cancer" (another good book worth the read) and I started wondering how much oleic acid shark cartlidge contained and other such trivial questions of an unyielding and wondering mind..smile. Also, I personally do not drink the green tea because caffeine seems to aggrevate a small fibroid I have, but I do drink echinachea, on occasion, which is green in color, and has very little if any caffeine and find it to be VERY useful in the reduction of inflamation associated with her-2 cancer and in fighting off colds and flu viruses. It also seems to stimulate the liver to make the bile flow easier which has to be a good thing and it seems to give good energy upon waking if taken at night with just about a half teaspoon of honey. I have also measured increases in certain Eosinophils, cells that are known for eating big junk like parasites and stuff. Have you tried the Desitin with 40 per cent zinc oxide on the feet remedy for your mom to boost her Lymphs. Really helps. Good luck to you both, Gina