feralheron44 said:Greetings to everyone here.
I have a rather difficult question to pose—my colleague’s father (a 75-year-old gentleman from San Francisco) has been diagnosed with small cell lung carcinoma. To be blunt, the doctors aren't offering much hope regarding his prognosis, though they have prescribed chemotherapy. Interestingly, they mentioned there aren't any metastases present at this stage.
I was wondering if anyone here has dealt with a similar situation within their own family? Furthermore, does anyone have advice on how one might provide even a modicum of support during such a grim time?
Thank you!
There is actually a slightly lower-level thread titled "Support for families dealing with long and serious illnesses"—I've popped in there a few times myself; usually, people are a bit shy about it, which makes it a little draining to navigate, but you can find quite a lot of good advice. There is this one man—I believe he is a priest, goes by the nickname Lepina, and has his own blog—you can find him here on the forum too. He supposedly beat lung cancer using the Breuss diet. Perhaps you could ask him if you are interested in specific details or reading material? It involves a very strict regimen (42 days) which, of course, wouldn't be recommended to follow during active chemotherapy, consisting primarily of a blend of vegetable juices and teas. Another option is the Budwig diet, which I personally find a bit less taxing on the system; it uses a base of protein (like low-fat cottage cheese) and oil (flaxseed), while still incorporating plenty of vegetables and other things. Most commonly used are beets, radishes, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, celery, and bell peppers... You can find books on both the Breuss and Budwig methods.
As for what the colleague's father should avoid, the main thing would be animal fats, refined carbohydrates, fried or roasted foods, additives, and, well, obviously smoking.
My own dad was diagnosed with small cell anaplastic (lung) cancer just ten weeks ago. Honestly, I don't know what to tell you—the prognoses for that specific type of carcinoma are the worst, the statistics are quite terrifying, though apparently, it responds better to chemo than other types. I am currently a total wreck, so I can't offer any particularly profound advice, but—even though I don't know his exact stage and I really shouldn't be speaking on this—considering the age of your colleague's father, it might not be wise to overwhelm him with strict diets; who knows how he will feel? Let him enjoy his family and the things he loves as much as possible while he still can. Regarding the chemotherapy, to help boost his red blood cell count, we give him beet juice and plantain tea, and for his appetite, Vitamin B and red onions. Some people also suggest that baby syrup for appetite. And then, of course, the classics: shark cartilage, Noni, Aloe Vera, beta-glucan, propolis... you have a whole spectrum of products. One must be very careful with nutrition, and he will certainly need certain supplements since eating becomes so difficult during chemo, but please, don't overdo it with a mountain of supplements because that will be too much for the body to handle. Personally (if I am even allowed to use the word "personally" in this context), I don't really have faith in chemotherapy, especially if the lifestyle or general outlook on life doesn't change, but my dad has been going through it for two months now, and he also has no metastases. It just makes me so angry and leaves me feeling incredibly ambivalent because he rejects everything; I can barely force a bite of broccoli on him. He just won't eat vegetables, even when his appetite returns between chemo sessions. I have to repeat myself a hundred times a day just to get him to drink more fluids, etc. He is terribly stubborn and irritable—likely due to hormones, and he is also very scared. It requires a tremendous amount of patience.
What the colleague's father will need most—that is, the thing without which all the therapies will fail to achieve the desired effect—is the support and warmth of friends and family (though, please, don't all crowd him with those looks as if he were already on his deathbed). Check out that thread I mentioned earlier; perhaps the moderators could move this post there?
