Treatment Days 11-13
Each day by 5 p.m., the schedule of treatment for the next day is posted. I breathed a sigh of relief last Friday when I didn't have whole body hyperthermia on my Monday a.m. schedule. Rather, I had insulin potentiation therapy (IPT) both Monday and today, Wednesday. So, yesterday was the day that most of us lament having...whole body hyperthermia!
Thankfully, I was in the room with the newer machine AND I was the only one receiving such treatment yesterday a.m. so I had the nurse's full attention. She started the music and we started singing!😆This particular unit has the heat coming from below. I was lying on this net-like hammock and the skin can get pretty toasty so the nurse was kind enough to put towels under my body to prevent burning. Of course, after one hour of "cooking", she was right there putting cold compresses on my head and neck and giving me sips of water. It's a delicate dance to prepare for this treatment. If you drink too much water prior to starting (because you often get a headache from the heat), then you create another problem...and for a woman, there isn't an easy solution!😂I made it through fairly well under the circumstances (my third time) but I did have a headache after. Oh well....
Every Monday we have a group meeting to meet new people who have arrived for treatment. Those that have finished usually leave on Saturday. A woman from Spain arrived with her husband and a Swedish woman who had been at the clinic the Monday prior returned. She had breast cancer and it was agreed that she needed some breast surgery prior to receiving treatment. Poor thing, she had driven from Sweden and then had to drive herself to a hospital 2 hours away (not in Kassel). Unfortunately, no one accompanied her so, although Dr. Saupe and Arcadia had made all the arrangements for the procedure, she was still on her own to navigate to the hospital. This happens frequently...patients typically go to Kassel, the nearest big town, to get MRIs or CT scans or PICC lines (like I did). Evidently there is a great working relationship between the clinic and these hospitals/doctors because people come back pleased with the care they receive. Ingrid, a Swede, and her husband arrived today. Evidently she had been a patient a month or so ago and only lives in Hamburg so she will stay a few days for treatment. She seems to be a fiesty, 80 or so year old, and her husband is so cute. They speak German and broken English so I haven't gotten the full story but I hope to have more time to spend with her in the next few days.
Since all of us are so busy with different treatment schedules, the big social opportunity is meal time. There is an apartment that has been converted into a dining area. Since there are usually only 12 people eating and the meal times are 90 minutes, everyone can fit in. Often I stay the entire 90 minutes because this is the best time to get to know each other. Of course we share cancer stories but so much more besides. Most everyone speaks English besides their native language so that isn't a problem.
The meals are substantial and wholesome. Dr. Saupe has written a 32 page booklet entitled Health Nutrition: the Arcadia Diet that everyone receives. The "bistro," as the "dining area" is called, reflects his philosophy of eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Everything that is prepared is low carbohydrate (low sugar and NOT processed) and gluten free and promotes the consumption of fiber. He describes a healthy diet as a diverse diet, with a wide range of colors, including all types of vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates and fats along with optional meat and fish. It should be organic (if possible), and unprocessed. The goal is to promote detoxification with the foods eaten. Spoiler alert....he encourages us to eat slowly, enjoying the food rather than "inhaling" it as we Americans often do!
Honestly, I have not eaten some of the foods that I have experienced over these past 3 weeks. Cooked leeks or parsnips have really become a favorite. Cooking with ghee will be something that I try when I return home. Juicing oranges, grapefruits and lemons tastes wonderful without the added sugar that packaged juices have in the US. Coconut milk and coconut and almond flours are used frequently and baked goods actually taste really good when they aren't loaded with sugar (use sugar alcohols here like xylitol). I never realized how good papaya tastes and will make this a new "go-to" at home. We have had pumpkin soup and cooked pumpkin and both were very tasty. Although the recommendation for someone with cancer is to stick with strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries because they have less sugar than most fruit, the Arcadia Diet invites a person to experience an array of fruits because every color has different vitamins to support health. This will make food selection easier because now I can be comfortable with shopping the entire produce section!
As Chris Wark, a stage 3 colon cancer survivor says, "eating fruit didn't cause your cancer."😁
Tomorrow I will have testing and some infusions and a group meeting where Dr. Saupe will lecture on some interesting topic. The best part of the day will be my scheduled 60 minute consult with the Doctor about a plan for my future. Who in the US would get 60 minutes of undivided attention with a doctor????
Just as important will be the monthly Skype consults I will have with one of the doctors when I return to the US!
Comments
Post a Comment