Alternative Treatments

It has been a busy week. I have had a few very important appointments, once with a Naturopath and my new Radiation Oncologist. I will talk about what happened with the Radiation Oncologist tomorrow in my blog, as I also see my Medical Oncologist tomorrow and have a few things to discuss with her and then might have some decisions to make. I will fill everyone in tomorrow once I have a clearer picture of things. For today I thought I would talk about my appointment with the Naturopath. I find that I am often very skeptical of these types of things so I tried to go to my appointment with an open mind. This doctor was recommended to me by a new friend who started seeing him after her own diagnosis. When I met with Dr. Matt I had already done some research on some of the alternative treatments that my friend had mentioned and went not really knowing what to expect. What I came out of the appointment with was a bit more optimism and lots of information. Dr. Matt sat down with me for over an hour and a half (my appointment was only for an hour). He explained to me what was happening in my body and what was happening with my healthy and cancerous cells. He went through each of the chemo drugs I am taking and discussed them in detail, what they are doing, how long they stay in my body and things that I should avoid when I am on each drug. He also discussed the different treatments they do and what these treatments should do to my cells and my immune system. He was very "real" and didn't seem to be trying to sell me anything. We also discussed the health care system and cancer treatment in Alberta and just talked about some of the positives and negatives. He also told me about some of the cancer treatments that are being done in other countries, often very different from what is done here in Canada. He listened to my concerns and answered all my questions. After leaving his office I felt quite positive. I have done some research on some of the things he suggested and also discussed them with my new oncologist. The doctor was not against any of these therapies and I have decided that I think I will go ahead with some of the things he suggested. I guess I feel like if it isn't going to interfere with my conventional treatment it can't hurt. Some of these treatments are quite expensive, but even if they help a little bit then it will be worth it, and who knows what could happen. Some of the treatments we discussed are mistletoe injections, receiving high doses of vitamin C intravenously, and changing diet. The best thing I got out of this appointment was a bit of control. cancer leaves you feeling helpless like things are completely out of your hands, so it is very uplifting to be told that there are things that I can do that can help fight this disease... I am not helpless with my life in others hands.