After drinking the Aloe Vera juice for 10-12 days it did not appear to be making a difference. But it had only been 10-12 days, I had been taking the Beta Carotene for five months, perhaps it just took some time to get the right stuff into my system. I realized that the Leukoplakia looked very similar to the white sores that I got in my mouth during my chemo treatment. Those sores reacted very positive to my concoction of cottage cheese and flaxseed oil.
I had also noticed that anytime I was on a trip the Leukoplakia appeared to get worse. I knew something I was doing differently while on the road was contributing to the sore. Now I suspected it was the fact that when I was home, I sprinkled ground flaxseed on my cereal.
With this in mind, I mixed Dr. Budwig’s formula of cottage cheese, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, and cayenne pepper. (It tastes much better than my concoction.) I started eating the Dr. Budwig formula several times each day. Just four or five bites each time.
Within a day I could tell a difference. My tongue no longer felt uncomfortable, it just felt like my tongue. The bright white spots, which had been slightly larger than 1/8 inch in diameter, were smaller and sometimes disappeared completely, the rest of the sore, which had been as large as 3/8 by ½ inches and a faint white in color, appeared to be getting smaller and paler. However, after about a week I noticed there appeared to be a limit to the improvement. Perhaps I was just being impatient; it also appeared to me that the spot was whiter first thing in the morning, before I had put any liquid in my mouth. While the cottage cheese mixture appeared to be helping, I did not feel it was going to be a total cure.
About a week after I began eating the Dr. Budwig formula I began eating an asparagus diet. This diet had been sent to me a few days earlier by a friend in New Mexico. It appears this diet was first discovered in 1976. It is just a matter of pureeing cooked asparagus and eating 4 or more tablespoons night and morning. It is supposed to cure cancer.
Following my principle, if it does no harm, try it. I tried them all.
So for a few days I was drinking 4-6 ounces of Aloe Vera juice each day, eating several bites of Dr. Budwig’s formula several times each day, and then eating 4 tablespoons of pureed asparagus night and morning. I was also taking 35-50,000 IU beta carotene, indeed since seeing the oral surgeon I was taking 50,000 IU daily.
There was also an issue of me having a cold, so I was taking different cold medicines. After two days of eating the asparagus I ran out of my Aloe Vera juice. But something was making a huge difference. The larger spot was very near the same color as the rest of my tongue after eating the asparagus for only 48 hours. It was still a whiter area, but there was no longer any bright white area.
On Thursday, March 25th, I was studying Xocai information, something I do several hours each week in my efforts to learn more about the product. I saw a testimonial titled, “Chocolate antioxidant drink reduces pain associated with gum inflammation.” The testimonial was written by a man whose wife had suffered sores in her mouth for several years. Based on the description, her mouth was much worst than mine, pain, many white sores, swelling, etc. She drank 1 ounce of the Activ drink, allowing it to rest in her mouth in areas of the sores. Within five minutes the pain had stopped. Within 72 hours, all the sores had disappeared.
As I had a bottle of Activ in my inventory I thought perhaps I should give it a try. I suspected it would not have the dramatic results the lady had, because I had been eating a Xocai chocolate product three or more times each day for several months.
When I got up Friday morning, there was a bright white spot in my mouth, this was the first time in five days, and for the first time there was also a red spot. This was scary. From everything I have read and been told, a bright white spot is bad; a red spot is really bad! The only thing I had changed in the last five days was stop drinking the Aloe Vera juice. Perhaps it was doing some good after all. I also ate the last of my asparagus Friday morning. I decided I would purchase some asparagus and Aloe Vera juice when we went to town. But I mixed the Activ chocolate drink so I could begin using it as soon as it cooled. I checked the red and bright white spot several times Friday morning, there did not appear to be any change. After lunch I drank my first 2 ounces of Activ drink, one ounce at a time, letting each ounce rest in my mouth in the area of the sore. After about ten minutes I checked my mouth. Much to my surprise, both the white and red spot were gone! The paler white area was also reduced in size. Perhaps about 2/3 the size it had been at 8:00 AM. I decided, because of the dramatic improvement I would not purchase the asparagus or Aloe Vera juice.
Seventy-two hours after my first chocolate drink there had been no return of bright white spots or red spots. The overall pale white spot was also reduced, now no more than ½ the original size. Something appeared to be causing the leukoplakia to heal, but what? I continued to take the beta carotene, eat the cottage cheese mixture and drink the chocolate.
I had been taking beta carotene for over five months, it had helped, but after the first few days did not appear to continue the improvement. However there are many studies that indicate beta carotene will occasionally cure leukoplakia.
The leukoplakia had shown no improvement from the Aloe Vera juice until two days after I had stopped drinking the Aloe Vera juice. This did not mean that the Aloe Vera juice was not helping; it was possible that it just took a few days to get the correct amount into my system.
However, improvement had come in a few days or a few hours from the cottage cheese mixture and the puréed asparagus and in the case of the chocolate, a few minutes. There are several testimonials that the chocolate has helped in similar cases. Most indicate as much as 3-6 months before there is dramatic improvement. I also know that the cottage cheese mixture has helped during my chemo treatment. It appears that of all the treatments the beta carotene, cottage cheese mixture, and chocolate show the best promise. However, as the email on the asparagus indicates a 3-6 weeks before most see improvement I am going to purchase more asparagus and add it to my diet.

Weather
During the 1970’s some “experts” and environmentalists proclaimed that the earth was headed for another ice age. Books were written warning of the oncoming doom; some even suggested we scatter ashes on the polar ice caps so they would melt at a faster rate.
Then during the 1990’s the earth went through a warming trend; many “experts” and environmentalists proclaimed that the earth was warming. These “experts” even decided that man was the cause of this global warming as they pointed to the increase of CO2 gas. Somehow these “experts” failed to notice that the plotted graph of CO2 gas followed the graph of temperature increase, not the reverse as would be necessary for their theory to be correct. These “experts” also failed to notice that the temperature on the surface of Mars was also increasing at a similar rate.
Now we are in the year 2009 and these “experts” are still proclaiming global warming, specifically pointing to the Greenland ice cap as they allege it is melting at an alarming rate. Somehow they failed to notice that the recorded Greenland temperatures have been colder during the last two decades than they have since 1910.
At some point we the people must declare these “experts” as nothing more than a bunch of uninformed individuals who refuse to look at the all the available data. For if they would, all would see that the sun is such a large source of energy that it controls the Earths temperature just as it controls the temperature on Mars.

Leukoplakia

About April-May of 2008 I had just finished eating a chewable vitamin C when my tongue started to burn. Thinking I had a piece of vitamin C stuck under my tongue I drank some water and the burning stopped. However, for the next several weeks my tongue was very sensitive to rough textured food, or spicy food. I also noticed that there was a white area on the under side of my tongue.
By October of 2008, when I went to my oncologist for my regular check up, I had forgotten about the white spot until he asked if there was anything unusual going on. I told him about the white spot, he looked at it, said it was not precancerous, but we should watch it. He said about the only thing I could do was eat 35,000 to 50,000 IU of Beta Carotene per day, sometimes that would help. He also said it was possible that it was a vitamin C burn, not likely, but possible, and that it did look like a burn.
Knowing that heavy doses of beta carotene in supplement form, was not real good, I ate one 25,000 IU every other day and 50,000 IU every other day. I also ate a great deal of pumpkin, cantaloupe, etc.
In February 2009, I went back to my oncologist for another regular check up; the white spot was still on my tongue. My oncologist told me it was a leukoplakia, and said it was unusual for them to stay on the tongue for as long as it had been on my tongue. (At this time let me say that I have a great deal of respect for my oncologist. I think he is very good and very capable.)
However, I felt I should learn a little more about leukoplakia. Searching WebMD and the Mayo Clinic web site I learned that one should see their dentist with leukoplakia because any rough spot, tooth, filling, etc, could cause a leukoplakia. Removal of the cause would generally cause the leukoplakia to go away in 8-10 weeks. I also learned that depending on what study one was reading, about 3 to 25 percent became cancerous.
I went to my dentist who suggested I see an Oral Surgeon. From my reading on different web sites I knew an Oral Surgeon could remove the leukoplakia with a brush or laser, or he could remove some for a biopsy.
When the Oral Surgeon looked at the leukoplakia the conversation went something like this;
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I think we should get a biopsy.” He answered.
“What does that entail?”
“We cut a small sliver out of your tongue and send it off to get chopped up and see if it is cancerous.”
“But my oncologist has said it is not precancerous.”
“I am not sure of that diagnoses’.” He answered.
“It appears to me that the white spot is not as large or as bright as it was before.” I said.
“It could appear that way, but still not really be the case.” He answered.
“How much will you cut out?”
“About half. It is a painful operation with a long and painful recovery, because it is a muscle that is used all the time.”
I assumed he meant half the spot, not half my tongue. But even this did not make a lot of sense, why take out only half?
“What are the chances of cure, if it is cancer?” I asked.
“Not real good. We have about a 50-60 percent recovery rate.”
It has been decades since I played poker. But the first thought the popped into my head was, ‘If I were playing poker that would be a losing hand.’
He wanted to cut my tongue and he gave himself a little better than 50-50 change of total cure, and this is after a very good oncologist has said, it is not precancerous, eat 35,000 to 50,000 IU of beta carotene per day, maybe it will go away. Further more, statistically, worse case, there was a 75 percent chance that it was not cancer, and would never become cancer! As I have said before, any time a doctor says there is no known cure; he is only expressing the limit of his knowledge. This surgeon apparently only knew how to use a knife; he only had one tool in his arsenal.
I said, “I think I will pass.” I did not say it, but did think, ‘What ever happened to the, do no harm?’
He said, “Well if you do not feel comfortable, that’s OK. But you best move quickly, it could be real bad in six weeks.”
I said, “I have done a lot of research on this, I do not believe you can cure cancer with a knife. All you doctors are the same, if you are a surgeon, you want to cut, if you are a radiologist, you want to burn it out, and it is always, another six weeks you could be in real trouble.”

I wonder how many others have been rushed into surgery.

When I got home my Seven-Day Adventist neighbor asked, “How did it go?”
I told her, and she said, “You know, I was just reading today, that if you have a sore in your mouth, drink Aloe Vera juice.”

Sure beats having some cut happy doctor cutting out my tongue.

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.

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?     

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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