New Year, New Battle Tactic for Cancer

We started on New Year's Day.

Vida's tumor has returned and grown; now larger than it was the first time around. Dr. Weingardt was not happy about (of course), frustrated by the lack of progress, so we've shifted gears to a homeopathic method developed by a Dr. Ramakrishnan called "plussing." The method uses 200C potencies of alternating remedies, one for the location of the cancer, then Carcinosinum. You start with the organ-specific remedy for a week (we're doing 3 doses 15 min. apart before breakfast), then switch to the other for a week.

There is a terrific veterinary article by Joe Demers that describes it, "A Holistic Approach for the Treatment of Cancer" (super easy to find a PDF online with a topic search like "ramakrishnan homeopathy plussing cancer dogs").

We've only been doing it a few days but there's already been a change. The tumor has gotten more "in the way" - maybe a little bigger, but definitely shifting toward the teeth. The evening before this photo she'd ding'd it on toys so it's a little red, with a blood spot in the center. Nothing like bloody toys to get you to look in your dog's mouth. She didn't seem in pain about it, which is a relief (I did see her in pain once when she did ding the gum edge - the same look a person gets when they bite their cheek).

Some people might be disturbed by this change, but I'm seeing it as a sign of movement because it has happened so quickly. I'm hoping the body is trying to purge it - we'll see. I've emailed Dr. Weingardt for his thoughts.

I also emailed him my "homework" - an accompanying herb formula pairing to alternate:

#1
Astragalus (40%)
Alfalfa (20%)
Marshmallow lf/rt (20%)
Nettle (10%)
Panax (10%)

#2
Dandelion Rt (30%)
Red Clover (30%)
Burdock (20%)
Ginger (10%)
Dill (10%)

#1 one is a building formula, and #2 a cleansing formula. I just happen to be doing a formulating section for my herbal studies, so this will go in for homework for that too, hehe. I think I'm going to alternate these weekly as well, but not switch on the same day as the homeopathics. I'm going to do water extractions, but I may leave some of the plant matter in too.

Other than a little dryness to her coat she's doing great otherwise. She kicked my butt at agility class last night!

Herb Fest = Brain Full

Well we're back in California. We left New Hampshire the day after the New England Women's Herbal Conference, so I had no time to digest all the information that I stuffed in to my brain that weekend. Here are a few of the tidbits:

Medicinal Mushrooms: if you want cancer fighting properties you have to do a water extraction. Eating dry powder will not suffice (stay tuned to the next blog post). Heck, you want to do a water extraction, period. They are wonderful for healing auto-immune problems (which really are inflammation).

Stress: You need to start with nervines (herbs that relax the nervous system), before you apply adaptogens (herbs that help rebuild a depleted adrenal system and help the body respond to stress). Because dogs can't control their life (and thus can't be asked to change their lifestyle) they should continue with nervines when you start with adaptogens. A relaxed nervous system will allow the adaptogens to work.

The liver: amazing organ! working cells regenerate every five months (in humans), milk thistle can increase that regeneration 5x. Everything that comes in to your body gets dealt with by the liver, so take care of it! Parasite, like fleas, love "dirty blood" (and make more dirty blood when they feed) - you want less fleas on your dog, get their liver working better so the blood is clean.

Think about this... simple reasoning, I love it: Plants evolved soooo long ago, back when there was more oxygen in the atmosphere, enough to be damaging, so they developed antioxidents to deal with it. That's why plants are a great source of antioxidents for us and our pets.

When do "invasive" plants become "native"? Examine how many bugs live off the plant. An invasive from England may have 4 bugs living off of it here, and 200 living off of it in England - after 400 years!

Unless you pollute your backyard with poisons there is probably some great medicine out there. Weeds are your friends.

If your dog has trouble changing foods (gets diarrhea), just give some chamomile tea (with or without fennel) to calm the digestion.

If there is a problem with chronic inflammation, treat the nervous system first.

I found a real disconnect among the attendees I spoke to when it came to feeding their pets. Most of the people I spoke to fed dry food. A few fed raw, but in an unbalanced way. Some said they used to feed raw (but now fed dry). Most did not use herbs as part of their pet's diet. There was one session on pets, packed with people, that got bogged down by all the questions - people are very eager to learn, and don't realize how close they are to getting it. They're hungry for knowledge and context. I know I could do a good job teaching there, so I've asked for a chance (waiting to hear back).

Chaga: medicinal mushrooms don't have to be exotic

Medicinal mushrooms are a topic of interest to me as I continue herb studies and keeping Vida's cancer at bay.

We usually think of Asian mushrooms as the medicinal ones, but I think this is just because our culture has become "denatured" and we just don't know what's in our own backyard.

"Backyard" can vary, of course. Chaga mushrooms grow on Birch trees, which definitely aren't part of my Southern California backyard (natural habitat). Birch trees are part of my New Hampshire habitat.

The ground Chaga that I used today was purchased from Woodland Essence, which harvests from their area in New York. (They have a nice little info page on Chaga, which is also the source of the above photo).

I decocted the Chaga for 20 minutes (that means starting with cold water, bringing to a boil, and them simmering covered), using 1 tablespoon Chaga for a cup of water. Decoction is recommended by Christopher Hobbs in his book on Medicinal Mushrooms, as the best way to get the full medicinal effects (based on chemical studies), even though the bag it came in only suggested infusing for 5-10 minutes.

The result looked like coffee (grounds and all) - here's a teaspoonful (strained) on a saucer:
It tastes bitter, like coffee, but it has no lingering aftertaste. While my mom thought it tasted "like biting into a tree," Vida didn't seem to care at all lapping it up.

I'm beginning to suspect that bitter/dirt tastes are inconsequential to dogs. Either that or the trust you when they see you take a sip first.

There isn't really information about how much of this one should consume every day, except to say that overdoing it doesn't seem to come up at all. Dogs certainly don't have the luxury of a dosage guide, so it seems to me that a sensible dose would be a tablespoon for a medium dog.

Most of the studies on Chaga come from Russia and other nearby areas - obviously because of the birch forests of the region where one would find Chaga.

It's got anti-tumor properties, and has shown to be especially helpful for cancers of the digestive system, as well as digestive issues related to cancer treatments. It's of course an immune booster, and helps balance the endocrine system and blood sugar, and has some anti-inflammatory properties as well.

The taste and feel of it to me seems very slightly astringent, not drying the mouth, but cleansing it. I choose to interpret this as Phlegm Resolving, Bitter, and Neutral.

While the polysaccharides are the primary immune boosters, it's thought that the strongest anti-tumor properties are due to the fact that Chaga feeds off Birch trees, absorbing specific chemicals that may be the core chemicals for attacking tumors.

Wouldn't it be something if Vida's little lipoma got littler? That would be a nice visible success to be able to point to.

All-in-all this sounds like a great drink not only for Vida, but for me! Finally, I'm gonna do something for myself too (besides just the liver tonic tea we've been taking together).

I'd love to hear from anyone about their experiences or knowledge about Chaga, or their questions about my opinions here.

Plan of Action

Vida visited her holistic vet, Keith Weingardt, today. We discussed the subtle changes I'd been seeing since her last visit in November, what she's eating, supplements, etc.

He marveled (if I may say so) at her good condition, great pulses, beautiful tongue, and "puppy" eyes. I described how she'd looked at the first of the year - like the pre-C dog I remember - in even better condition.

What I see now is a lack of tone to the abdomen, a subtle stickiness to the coat, reverse sneezing, a little eye crust, the spine a little out (which I've been using the photonic torch on with great success) - all things that most people would overlook as "aging" or even normal. But you see, I've seen it go away, just a couple of months ago, so I know it's symptomatic of something that can be shifted.

Of course I hadn't written notes on my calendar about those good days (or a couple of vomit episodes in the last week one water, one breakfast), so I was a little vague on dates. But the changes flow, so it's not as though there are specific dates for the overall picture. I may have to run her down there and show her off when her "ultrafit" physique returns.

So we've developed a plan of herb action to take for the next months (who knows how many), in this order:

1. One month on Max's Formula (chinese herbs for phlegm resolving)
2. One month on Quantum Herbal's AT/BC formula
3. A "pulse" pattern for Max's Formula: 2 weeks on, 1 week off, repeat (#3).

I'm figuring on doing Quantum Quarterly. The two formulas are not given at the same time.
Diet (raw!) and other supplements will continue, with the usual seasonal adjustments.

I feel like I'm entering uncharted territory because there aren't "directions" for this. But I don't feel trepidation about it. I feel confident that we'll prove that what we're doing will work, and that Vida will be a shining example of the kind of care that is possible.