CLL Alternative Healing
Posted by: Denise on: November 20, 2015
This is a guest post by Eric Clark, a Canadian who was diagnosed in 2012.Â
CLL Came to Visit
Although I am not a shy person, I have been reluctant to post any good news on the two CLL Facebook groups because they only talk about the medical aspects around late stage treatment. The guy who started the one in Canada warned me not to be fooled by any stories about green tea and the like.
The ‘anomaly’ showed up in routine blood work in August, 2012. My GP is friendly but not very helpful. When I met the specialist that Fall – this hematologist is young, female, overweight – I found her much more open to discuss health – but I only see her once a year. (She has since lost weight and clearly cares about her health). She did accept my suggestion of blood work every quarter since I want to monitor this more closely to assess the effects of my own efforts. The official stance of ‘watch and wait’ for early stage Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia tries to have you ignore the threat and come back in a few years when there is something to medicate. I have been proactive about my health for many years so I can detach from this attitude and get on with improving life.
For the first year – summer to summer – I took stock of my life and expressed gratitude more often for all the good things I enjoy in life. I began to tighten up a number of routines and clean up some issues that needed attention. My wonderful wife, Lia, really rose to the challenge. We shared more guided meditations, personal treatments and she prepared the best healthy food for me. I love our home in the country where we have real darkness at night as nature intended, true quiet broken only by the sounds of birds, animals and insects, as well as fresh air and water. I have failed to identify with this diagnosis but accepted the challenge to rise to a higher level of health.
In the second year, I focused on getting toxic people out of my life. This was a tougher realization than expected because I had attracted them or engaged them. It was all about me. They are mostly unaware of, or indifferent to, this change.
In the third year, I added an intense focus on supplements to give my body the best chance to improve its defenses and support more exercise. At this point, I had still not met another person with the same diagnosis except the online crowd discussing research, variations of chemo for later stages of CLL and the inevitable nasty side effects. I have avoided bringing my story or ideas for health to those Facebook groups. (More to come in a following post.)
Eric Clark – Oct. 2015 – strategy9@icloud.com
August 23, 2017 at 9:29 am
I was diagnosed with CLL two years ago and I am in stage 0. That still does not help the mental part of this journey of feeling helpless.
I was wondering if anyone knows of any Cancer Hospitals either in PA or New York or New Jersey or Baltimore, that would be open to treating you with other medication other then chemo and also treating you with supplements and exercise etc. if you are told that you have to start treatment because of your numbers or markets?
Right now I am trying to be aggressive with my own ideas of being smart as to being around people with colds or flu and being in crowded places, washing my hands all the time and using hand sanitizers when in stores etc. I am also taking Vitamin D3 but only at 1,000 IU a day and Vitamin C at 1,000 mg. a day. The drs. do not seem to think that the vitamins work well. They just want to sit around and “wait”. I find this so depressing and scary that a dr. would not try to teach you how to take care of your immune system while on “wait and watch”.
Any suggestions from anyone would help me mentally. I find this is a everyday battle with myself to pretend I am happy so as not to upset my family around me.
Martha Hurlock
August 23, 2017 at 11:45 am
Hi Martha,
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. You really have to work on yourself and get to the point that you’re confident that you are going to LIVE! I was 46 when I was diagnosed, and I cried endlessly, certain I would never get to see our sons marry (they both did) and have children (we have four grandkids — wonderful!). I did see a good shrink, and that helped. So I recommend this to you. but that is not all I recommend! You have to start doing things that help you get well. I feel I am well, even though my blood tests still show a CLL diagnosis. However, my highest WBC was in the high 40s in 2012, and now, for the past year, it has been stable in the teens. This is with no conventional intervention! All DIY. And it is do-able. It wasn’t until I discovered that my digestion was the problem that i started to heal. And given your IBS, I think you might have the same problem.
Irritable bowel syndrome is just a name given for stomach/digestive issues/pain for which they have no clear cause. The word in medicine is “idiopathic.” (which means of unknown origin.) I used to have diverticulosis, meaning that I couldn’t eat nuts or seeds without grinding them first as otherwise I’d have a horrible stomachache that would last for DAYS! It woudl make it hard to sleep.I was able to heal this, after decades of pain. I did this by eating bone broth soup, taking aloe at night before bed, and lots and lots of home made saurkraut (or any fermented veggies). you can also buy refrigerated saurkraut at Whole Foods and Trader Joes (and other natural food markets). There is so much I can share with you. Maybe we can talk in the evening, if you like. I’ve emailed this response to you, along with my home phone.
If talking is not going to work, we can continue to write. But I think you need to alter your diet. Why don’t you tell what your limited diet is like, and maybe I can make some suggestions. The key to your health is your gut! If you can clear up your IBS naturally (not with meds) you will likely start to see your WBC drop. Once that happens, you will have the control you need to enjoy your life!!! Dont’ waste your time. Since my years of crying (which stopped in 2005) I’ve lost both parents, one friend, and another friend is nearly gone from early onset Alzheimers. None of us are guaranteed time on earth. Also…I used to do the same thing. Didn’t want to buy a winter coat, because I usually wear them for a few years, and I thought I was wasting my money. Silly! Here I am in 2017 doing better than I was in 2004. So see if you can stop doing this to yourself. I think you just need the tools to wrest some control. Maybe your husband can help. (Mine does; he makes the bone broth soup and the saurkraut, and he still works full time!)
I really feel for you, I do. I hope to hear from you soon.
Wishing you good health and happiness! – Denise