Toastmasters experience

Several years ago, in an effort to improve my public speaking ability, I joined a Toastmasters club.

This Toastmasters club had some unique characteristics, one – it was an all male club, and two- even by Silicon Valley standards, many of the club were quite affluent. One of the members, by all account the most affluent of the club, recounted a life experience that he credited for much of his success.

He said he was on a construction site of a multi-story building and opened a door to walk from one room to another, thinking the room behind the door was on the same level as the room he was leaving. Instead he fell eighteen feet to a concrete slab. The fall nearly killed him. But he recovered with a different attitude.

From that day on, if he had two or three different projects that he was interested in doing, but was having a difficult time making a decision as to which project to attempt, he just decided not to make that decision and did them all!

I have found this to be a very liberating and exciting attitude. It is also amazing what one can accomplish once one has this attitude.

Film Results

We have now received the films. The mass was there on previous films. It was there on films taken during the original treatment. But the current radiologist say, due to motion, they cannot tell if it is growing. My doctor pointed out that if it were growing, it was not growing much. However, he suggests we have another CT scan in six months.

This brings up a very interesting point. At my last doctors appointment my doctor told of a case that a woman had a spot on her lung. The radiologist suggested a series of CT scans over a 2 1/2 year period, at the end of the period there was no change in the size of the spot so the radiologist gave her a clean bill of health. Less than six months later the lady was back with inoperable lung cancer. Her son asked if it was possible that the number of tests caused the cancer. My doctor felt that was a possibility.

For this reason, I suggested a PET scan. My current doctor, a very good MD, who does not treat cancer patients, said he did not have a great deal of faith in PET scans. He did not feel they were ready for prime time and only orders them if suggested by the radiologist. As a result he only sees one or two PET scans per year.

 

Which brings up a another interesting point, my second oncologist, a very good oncologist, who treats cancer patients all the time, sees hundreds of PET scans each year, thinks the PET scan is an excellent tool. This is the same oncologist that ordered the PET scan five years ago.

So we now have a situation where a mass, identified over five years ago by an excellent oncologist as being cancer free, is now being questioned by an MD who does not treat cancer patients, who wants to keep performing tests to identify if it is cancerous.

My current doctor says there are no right or wrong answers, it is just a decision that I must make.

 What decision would you make?     

Doctor’s Appointment

I went to the doctor last week. I had a CT scan (first one in three years), blood tests, blood pressure test, etc. My blood pressure was down to 134 over 80, which is a big improvement over the 156 over 90 of a year ago. Something we are doing is helping, it may be my exercise program, or it may be the vitamin D the doctor has prescribed. My doctor feels that the MDR for vitamin D is too low, and has me on 6000 IU’s per day.

Interestingly Mayo Clinic has recently done a survey that indicated lack of vitamin D may contribute to high blood pressure.

My doctor also said he had recently read a report that in 40 percent of the CT scans, the radiologist found something that was unrelated to the reason for the test. My doctor appeared to be a bit skeptical of that figure. He said he did not know if the radiologist was trying to develop another income stream or if they were afraid of the possible liability.

In my case they reported a mass, somewhat thicker than water, and my doctor wanted to check the previous films.

When I asked him what it could be, he said it could be a shadow, or they could be looking through two layers of tissue instead of one, or it could be a layer of fat. He made no mention of cancer.

So we will wait for the review of the previous films.

In the mean time I will be a bit more diligent at eating my cottage cheese mixture, however, since writing my book I have learned that yogurt is an excellent substitute for cottage cheese and it is easier to mix. So I often have my yogurt mixture instead of ice cream. Yes, I know it is a sacrifice, but I like enjoying good health.  

Rituxan; an example

Approximately two years after my book “Cottage Cheese and Cancer; and Other Things Your Doctor Does Not Tell You” was published, a friend of mine, a lady perhaps in her sixties who was active but on oxygen, told me there was a spot on her lung that had been diagnosed as cancer.

Those of you who have read my book know that doctors often give Rituxan as part of the chemo treatment. The doctors generally supply the patient with a pamphlet which explains the dangers of Rituxan. The pamphlet I received explained that many people had a reaction to Rituxan, some even to death. The doctors know this, because the pharmaceutical sales people tell them. Apparently the pharmaceutical sales people do not tell the doctors that the only people who have ever died from Rituxan are elderly women who have a respiratory illness at the time of treatment. I write this because my pamphlet did not go into that detail; I discovered that bit of information due to my contacts and individual research.

When my friend told me of her cancer diagnoses I explained all of the above information. However, she had not even read the information the doctor had given her. I do not know if she even read the information. However, she did have the first chemo treatment the following Monday. She died the following Thursday.

It has been said that no one is going to consider managing your money as important as yourself. I feel you must consider managing your health with even more importance.

 

Medical profession

One of my concerns about the medical profession is that the doctors, once they have completed their internship and are working in the field, are receiving much of their information from pharmaceutical salespeople. I question if the pharmaceutical salespeople have the same standard concerning the patients well being as the doctors do when the doctors graduate. The “Do no harm” rule often does not appear to apply. Instead the rule often appears to be “This drug will generally do more good than harm”.  Unfortunately, for the patients that the drug does harm, the results can be devastating.

Blood Pressure

Interestingly during my checkups I noticed my blood pressure readings were higher than before my cancer experence. Prior to my cancer my blood pressure was quite low, in the 120 over 60 range, now it was as high as 150+ over 90. My oncologist said all his cancer patient’s blood pressure went up. He was not concerned. But once more, we have a doctor that is not concerned about something out of his speciality. No one appears to know if the higher blood pressure is due to the cancer or the treatment. If I must guess, I suspect it is the treatment. Does high blood pressure post cancer mean the same as high blood pressure pre cancer? No one appears to know. Through exercise and proper eating I have managed to lower the blood pressure to 140 over 80, not bad, but not as good as 120 over 60.

Cottage Cheese and Cancer

Excerpt from my book Cottage Cheese and Cancer and other things your doctor does not tell you.

It has now been one year since I started the chemotherapy. The doctors continue to see me every quarter. All tests look good. Perhaps more importantly, I feel good. I told my physical therapist that I did not remember feeling this good, and she told me the mind was the first to go. Never expect a break from your physical therapist. Mine told me that the PT after her name did not stand for physical therapist; it stood for pain and torture.

“Cottage Cheese and Cancer; and Other Things Your Doctor Does Not Tell You”, is available at Publish America www.publishamerica.com  and all fine bookstores.  ISBN 1-4137-7736-8