continued...
At this stage, mum was in terrible
pain due to the Osteoporosis. The cancer itself
was causing no problems - all the suffering
she was going through stemmed from the chemotherapy
and the osteoporosis. My concern was that the
pain killers she was being prescribed to counteract
the osteoporosis pain (that was most probably
caused by chemotherapy) hindered any chances
to overcome the liver tumors. This was now becoming
a vicious circle.
Due to her current condition,
her McMillan Nurse suggested that it would be
a good idea to take a couple of weeks respite
at the local Hospice. My mum was at first reluctant,
she said “I don’t want to go in
there, I might not come out”. The Mcmillan
nurse explained that it will purely be to sort
out your medication, get you more comfortable
and generally monitor your condition, plus you
will be waited on hand and foot with some great
meals! This immediately brought a smile to mums
face, as she had been adhering to the strict
diet rules.
Mum actually had a great time
in there; she loved being pampered. However,
I was extremely concerned to find out she was
on so many new drugs - how could we aid her
liver to heal and repair if there were now an
addition 6 drugs to contend with? She was now
taking a morphine substitute (Oxycontin and
Oxynorm), anti-inflammatories, steroids, relaxer
(Lorazepam), laxatives (dethrustanate) to counteract
the side effects of all these drugs.
Mum came home before Christmas
2005, and we were all so happy that although
her condition was the same, she was not in as
much pain, due to all the pain killers she was
on. However, my concern was that the problem
was simply being masked by all these drugs,
which each cause their own side effects.
January 2006 - Decision time
had come again, and we all agreed, mum could
no longer go through further risk and damage
of chemotherapy, as there was no improvement
being shown, just constant problem after problem.
We then decided to give the alternative treatment
a go, much to the objection of Christies Hospital.
I immediately contacted Dr Hembry in Bristol,
and updated her on our situation. She then asked
“what treatment have they give put her
on for the osteoporosis”, I said nothing,
she was given one shot of a bisphosphonate IV
treatment, then nothing. I explained how they
have simply given her pain killers. She said,
it is normal for people with osteoporosis to
be prescribed daily oral bisphosphonates. I
expressed our concern for the damage being caused
by the treatment mum was on, and how we would
like to give the B17/Vit C IV treatment a go
(as this was the most effective combination,
according to the Chemo sensitivity test we had
undergone, back in August).
The treatment was booked and
paid for, and we started on 31st January, 2006
and ran for the duration of 5 weeks, 3 times
per week Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As Bristol
was just too far for us to travel, Dr Hembry
worked with a nurse who was based in Nottingham
(Cancer Options ltd), where we decided to travel
for the treatment to be administered.
The first day of treatment,
mum was tired as usual, and had a bit of a struggle
getting up some small steps to the nurses residence.
We were told that high doses of vitamin C can
cause some side effects that were harmless,
ie feeling cold due to the high volume of liquid,
shaking if high levels were achieved, and headaches.
At first mum took the full dose of 75grams (that’s
75,000 mg’s). She also had 9grams of amygydalin
(or laetrile).
