Re: Alternative meds -- why such high emotions?

[Guest guest]

I think the corollary to your comments is that we should never leave any

rock unturned in our quest to be free of cll.

Ellen R.

Ellen Diamond wrote:

Dear Listies, Pro & Con,

When we so passionately discuss alternative meds, I believe the subtext

has to do with fears -- about our disease in general and chemo in specific.

Most of us dread that threshold most of us must cross eventually into chemo-land.

Suddenly we have no choice but to put poisons in our system and for

so many that's so unacceptable! Good doctors, of which mine is one, understand

how helpless and angry we feel about having to do this; they hear one question

over and over: Isn't there any way to do this without poisoning my body?

Why aren't there alternatives that work?

Discussing alternative meds on this list, as I wrote Lynn privately,

appears to be a necessary part of the process of coming to terms with our

disease and with chemo. Does it help? I'm not sure but talking about things

often does.

Perhaps we could also speak more openly about our fears. That might

help too. Having said all that...

years ago, I had serious abdominal surgery, while following a macrobiotic

diet. My surgeon was literally dumbfounded at how fast I healed. She kept

bringing it up and finally asked me about it. I took her at her word, you

know -- and told her the only thing I could think of was that I was on

this macrobiotic diet. As we talked about it -- I explained the main principle

was not to overtax the body with foods that take too long and too much

energy to process -- it came up also that there's no sugar on this way

of eating, no carbs that can turn too fast into sugar either.

Well as every diabetic knows, sugar impedes healing! That's why so many

diabetics have such trouble with sores that don't heal, etc.

The doctor immediately acknowledged that these things must have helped.

But I could see she just wasn't buying it -- not really. It sounded too

.... holistic! I'd be surprised if she went on to advise patients to avoid

sugar before surgery even though it made perfect scientific sense.

It's hard to do two things at once: to explore the world of alternative

meds and see if there's something we can find that may help, while at the

same remaining guarded and skeptical about unsubstantiated claims of miraculous

cures. Not because they aren't true -- who knows? But because they aren't

proven.

Ellen Diamond