Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Oral chemotherapy

Joey has been on oral chemotherapy drug for 3 weeks now. It's a small capsule once a day. The immune system won't be down too much as the conventional chemo, so he can go to school and do things normally as before. 
On Saturday, he had a fever. I freaked out. He has been coughing and has stuffy nose for a couple of days. I dread fever may come. I know a fever could be dangerous during chemo. I called the oncologist right away and we were at the ER 30 minutes later. Because he has a port in his body, they need to find out if it's line infection, blood infection or flu. After blood work, urine test, X-ray and nasal swab test, it turned out to be flu. The oncologist gave us the presciption of 2 Tamiflu pills a day for 5 days.
At ER after a fever

I always bring with me names of drug Joey can't take because he has only one kidney and also names of those might interact with his chemo pill. I checked with the ER doctor and the oncologist and they said Tamiflu is fine and he needs it. Four hours later, we were at the CVS. I double checked with the pharmacist and showed him all the names of drug hard on kidney. He said immediately, "then I would suggest one Tamiflu a day, not two." He paused a second then said," If it's my child, I would not use Tamiflu with him. It doesn't worth the risk." "Why?" I asked. "A flu is a flu. All the studies show Tamiflu only shortens the flu one day." But the ER doctor and oncologist know about Joey's situation and recommended it. I asked the pharmacist to call ER to make sure. He came back saying the doctor recommended at least one capsule a day.
Now what should I do? Take it or not take it? The instinct tells me not to take it and Luke's first reaction is also not to take it. In these two months, the biggest thing I have learned from other parents is that you have to be your child's advocate. If your gut tells you something isn't right, don't stop when a Dr. downplays it. A mom once told me that doctors do not know everything. You know your child far better than they ever can. There is a difference between paranoid worry and instinct. 
But at what point I need to trust my instinct and when I need to trust Dr. I follow mommy instinct to choose an oncologist, a treatment plan, and which drug he needs. What if my instinct is wrong?
I went home googling the interaction of Tamiflu and the chemo pill. I actually found a study about interaction of these two drugs. After reading that study, we decided to not to give him Tamiflu. But I was scared.
The fever was gone the next day, which surprised me since it's a flu. We had a quiet long weekend and Joey went to school on Tuesday.  
I pray everyday that God gives us guidance that we can make right decision for him.

4 comments:

  1. 可以用物理降温法治疗发烧:找一个深及膝盖的桶,加少许热水,把脚泡在里边,慢慢加热水,感觉很烫,但是很舒服的温度,直到膝盖。一般说来,这时候就会出汗,如果没有什么其他疾病,睡一觉发烧就好了,至少我觉得没有副作用。就是没有退烧,烫烫脚也没有什么坏处。

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  2. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by ! not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
    一個有效擊潰癌細胞的方式是:不供給癌細胞繁殖所需之食物,即是餓死癌細胞。
    *CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
    癌細胞以何為食物:
    a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet , Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful .A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
    糖是癌的食物,若不吃糖即刪除癌細胞很重要的一項食物供給。
    b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract.Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
    牛奶會使人體產生黏液,尤其是在胃腸道內,而黏液正是癌細胞之食物。因而阻絕牛奶及採用不甜之豆漿作替代,癌細胞就會在無食物情況下萎縮的。
    c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful! , especially to people with cancer.
    癌細胞是在酸性環境中繁衍的,以肉為基本飲食的體質是酸性的,因而食用魚類及少量雞肉是較食用牛、豬為合適的。 且肉品均含有家畜抗生素、生長賀爾蒙及寄生蟲等,而這些均 是對人體的有害物質,尤其是對癌症病患。
    d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains , seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food in! cluding beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.
    To obtai! n live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice(most vegetables including be an sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
    以80%新鮮蔬菜及青菜汁之飲食;含全穀類、種子、堅果及少量的水果是有益於體質轉變為鹼性的, 剩餘20% 可進食煮熟的豆類。新鮮蔬菜汁可提供活性酵素,活性酵素極易在15分鐘內被細胞組織吸收進而滋養強健康細胞,為取得活性酵素強壯健康細胞應多飲用新鮮果菜汁(多樣蔬菜含豆芽),同時每天進食生青菜(未煮過之)兩至三次,活性酵素在40度C時會被摧毀。
    e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
    飲料必須避免飲用咖啡、茶、巧克力因上述飲料含咖啡因,綠茶是較佳之選擇,因為其有抗癌特性。而平常應飲用淨化水或過濾水,然應避免飲用有毒的或含重金屬的水。 蒸餾水是酸性的不要喝。
    12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes . Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.
    肉類的蛋白質不易消化的,因為肉類的蛋白質需要大量消化酵素消化,未消化的肉類留殘在腸內,易引發有毒物質形成。

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  3. 13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
    癌細胞壁有很硬之蛋白質包裹,節制食用肉類可讓多出之酵素去攻擊癌細胞壁之蛋白質,讓體內的殺手細胞有空間摧毀癌細胞。
    14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death , the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
    部份營養品能增強免疫系統(如抗氧化劑、維他命、礦物質 等等)並驅使自體殺手細胞去摧毀癌細胞,其他營養品如維他命E會清除老化的細胞,漸使細胞更新,而非體內一般處置損壞、無用及不需要細胞之模式。
    15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
    癌症是一種心態、肉體和心靈上之疾病,因而能有前衛及積極的心靈是可造就癌症戰士變為勝利天使,怨尤和苦痛會讓體質變為緊張及酸性,所以必須 學習愛與寬恕,同時學習放鬆及愛惜生命。
    16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environmen! t. Exercising daily, anddeep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer ! ;cells.
    癌細胞是無法在充滿氧氣的環境中繁衍,所以每日必須運動,同時多作深呼吸以利氧進入細胞層,按氧氣療法是另一種擊潰癌細胞之工具。
    1. No plastic containers in micro.不要將塑膠盒放入微波爐加熱
    2. No water bottles in freezer. 不要將塑膠水瓶 放入冷藏室
    3. No plastic wrap in microwave.不要將塑膠袋放入微波爐加熱
    約翰霍普金斯已 將這篇研究報告用新聞稿方式發佈,同時 Walter Reed 陸軍醫學中心亦 將這篇報告傳播. 戴奧辛之化學物 質會導致癌症,尤其是乳癌。按戴奧辛對體內細胞具很高之毒性,因而千萬別將裝有水之塑膠罐放入冰箱,因為它亦會將戴奧辛釋出。前不久Dr. Edward Fujimoto 在電視節目中談 到健康之風險,他就強調戴奧辛對健康是多麼 有害,因而請千萬不要用塑膠容器放入微波爐 加熱食物。這尤其是指含有脂肪之食物,當脂肪與高溫塑膠結合時,塑膠即會釋放出戴奧 辛並進入食物中,最終就進入體內之細胞。因 而他建議使用玻璃器皿作為加熱食物用,因為 它一樣可使食物變熱,然卻少了戴奧辛。紙是 不錯的容器,然你無法瞭解紙裡到底含有什麼 物質,因而較安全之容器是冶煉過的玻璃器皿,如康寧器皿,他提醒為何前不久速食店將泡沫塑料容器改為紙容器,其中戴奧辛就是問題之一. 同時他亦指出塑膠袋;如Saran 耐熱塑膠袋用於包裝食物,在微波爐加熱時亦是非常危險的,因為當食物用微波爐加熱時,高溫會讓毒素由塑膠袋溶解出來進入食物內,所以應用紙包裹食物作替代。

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  4. Kathy
    you can try this: http://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/490729/201306/7873.html

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