Colon Cancer
happy sadness and writer's glue
Hello friends, I have to admit that I am finding it difficult to write this today, but I have found that the principles taught in the book, Overcoming the Blues, can be applied to sadness and sickness-
The avenue of compassionate care and selfless service to others is a largely untapped strategy for depressed persons to engage to facilitate their own healing and growth.
Ryan Noel Fraser | Overcoming the Blues
Insert the word sickness where the word depression appears in the above quote, and you too may find that helping others, who are sick, even though you are also sick, can contribute to your own healing. Helping others can take our minds off of ourselves and our own troubles while giving us a stronger sense of purpose, meaning, and fulfillment. Use wisdom, of course, in discerning what you are able to do and not do for others as times of sickness are primarily seasons of rest, which is something Mother Nature is trying to teach us (if we will let her) i.e. the hours of daylight and darkness were in equal balance as we just passed through the fall equinox. We are in a change of seasons. The energetic, life giving, summer light is fading, and the darkness of winter is setting in. Are you ready for the healing rest that this season is supposed to bring with it?
As many of you know, depression can try to settle in as the daylight begins to fade and depression is also common in times of sickness, but depression is not what I’m feeling today. To be honest, I didn’t really feel like writing this because I feel a bit sad, but instead of letting sadness weigh too heavily on me, I decided to pray and to share the news with you that myself, my husband, and our youngest son all have friends who have recently been diagnosed with colon cancer, but I am also filled with hope for their healing (as well as happiness) as I share today’s colon cancer resources with you.
“If happiness is a skill, then sadness is, too. Perhaps through all those years at school, or perhaps through other terrors, we are taught to ignore sadness, to stuff it down into our satchels and pretend it isn’t there. As adults, we often have to learn to hear the clarity of its call. That is wintering. It is the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can. Wintering is a moment of intuition, our true needs felt keenly as a knife.”
― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
When I was very sick last summer, my favorite acupuncturist recommended sleep because sleep is where healing takes place. This may be easier said than done when sickness is interfering with the sleep we are longing for or worries fill our heads after receiving something like a cancer diagnosis, but rest is an option even if sleep is elusive and per Corrie ten Boom- worrying about tomorrow steals the strength we need for today. Dr. Acupuncture also mentioned something about sleep being good for healing from cancer. And as you may remember, vitamin D is good for sleep, but it’s also good for cancer, so we will start with D and then provide other links for you to explore the rest of the colon cancer research information from, take one small bite at a time, like eating an elephant.
Vitamin D deficiency is linked with numerous illnesses, including osteoporosis and osteomalacia, autoimmune disorders, infectious diseases, muscle weakness and falls, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cancers, and neurological disorders [1].
Vitamin D Supplementation and Cancer Mortality: Narrative Review of Observational Studies and Clinical Trials - PMC (nih.gov)
Higher vitamin D levels are associated with reduced colorectal cancer incidence and deaths. This is likely because vitamin D has immune-supportive functions that can boost the activity of cells that seek and destroy early cancer cells. Vitamin D also reduces the chronic inflammation that can promote colorectal cancer development.12
Which Nutrients Reduce The Risk Of Colorectal Cancer - Life Extension
….a review of nine studies found that for every 10 ng/mL increase in serum vitamin D, the relative risk of colorectal cancer decreases 15%…..as vitamin D blood levels rose, the risk for colorectal cancer declined considerably. Compared with those in the lowest quintile (1/5th) (<10 ng/mL), those in the highest (>40 ng/ml) had a 40% lower risk of developing colorectal cancer.25…..Individuals with colon cancer appear to have lower levels of vitamin D at the time of diagnosis as well. Serum vitamin D levels were insufficient (less than 29 ng/mL) in 82% of patients with stage IV colon cancer at the time of diagnosis.26……..Individuals with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over 32 ng/mL had a 72% reduction in mortality compared to those with blood levels less than 20 ng/mL…….Life Extension encourages the maintenance of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels between 50–80 ng/mL for optimal health. This typically necessitates supplementation with 5,000–8,000 IU of vitamin D daily, but supplemental doses should always be determined by blood test results.
Colorectal Cancer - Life Extension
Colorectal cancer remains the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States, although as much as 70% of cases thought to be preventable through moderate dietary and lifestyle modifications.1,2
The colorectal cancer mortality rate has consistently declined in recent decades…
Colorectal Cancer - Life Extension
Colon Cancer-Fighting Nutrients List: vitamin D, vitamin E (especially in the form of gamma-tocotrienol), Folic acid, Minerals (particularly calcium and selenium), Fish oil, N-acetyl cysteine aka NAC [Studies have shown that people at risk for colorectal cancer who took NAC supplements, 600 mg per day, had a 40% reduction in the recurrence of colonic polyps and biochemical and microscopic studies reveal that NAC augments the function of mitochondria (powerhouse of our cells), and produces microscopically detectable changes in early colon cancer in animals], Cimetidine (commonly known as Tagamet®) […used historically to alleviate heartburn. A growing body of evidence has shown that it also has potent anti-cancer ability. It functions via several mechanisms to inhibit metastasis and improve survival in colon cancer patients. Cimetidine does not reduce colon cancer incidence, so it should not be taken for prevention purposes. It has demonstrated powerful treatment benefits in those who contract colon cancer. Colon cancer patients should consider taking 800 mg per day of cimetidine five days prior to surgical removal of their tumor and for one year after surgery to reduce metastatic risk. Some people take a 2-3 month course of cimetidine once a year to boost natural killer cell activity.], Plant-Based Nutrients: Garlic, Ginger, Milk thistle extracts, Cruciferous vegetable extracts, and plant derived supplements- Modified citrus pectin, Coffee, Resveratrol, Quercetin, Curcumin. Other Drugs: Aspirin, Metformin.
Please read more from this list’s source, here- Which Nutrients Reduce The Risk Of Colorectal Cancer - Life Extension
I stumbled across a man named Dr. Barrie Tan. He has done a lot of research on Tocotrienols, a component of vitamin E. Vitamin E is made up of Tocopherols and Tocotrienols and is an important part of what gives the Mediterranean diet it’s antioxidant and cancer preventing/killing mojo boost, especially since getting vitamin E in its natural form (with all of its components) is what is being shown to be best for helping our bodies be well.
Our New Cancer Diagnosis' Stephanie Schaible (substack.com)
Tocotrienols Modulate a Life or Death Decision in Cancers - PMC (nih.gov)
Newly Discovered Benefits of Gamma Tocopherol - Life Extension
Vitamin E Complex - Forefront Health
Sulfur and Cancer (drsircus.com)
Broccoli Trees - by Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) (substack.com)
The Role of the Microbiome on the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Colorectal Cancer - PMC (nih.gov)
Study digs into what's driving early-onset colon cancer | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Integrative Cancer Care - Our approach to treatment options (integrative-cancer-care.org)
The spike protein of COVID illness and vaccines has profoundly altered the inner universe of our bodies. We have good reason to believe that the spike protein is often at work behind the turbo cancers which are emerging…..Understanding how to diagnose and treat the sequelae of spikopathy, including mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), microclotting, dysbiosis, neuropathic, cardiovascular and pulmonary pathologies, makes us more effective at treating cancer in the current contaminated environment, where spikopathy and its impact on the human body is rampant.
As we learned to use layered therapies to treat COVID, PASC and vaccine injury, we are also learning to use layered therapy as adjunctive therapy for cancer. Importantly, the clinical options are safe, gentle, often economical, and can be used together with current conventional approaches. In both cases, it has been necessary to challenge the pre-existing and economically supported assumptions, choosing instead to follow the revelations of existing, if rarely cited, science.
Cancer: adjunctive care - by Scott Marsland, FNP-C (substack.com)
Pray First - by Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) (substack.com)
What if many of our modern illnesses are due to us forgetting how to use our hands in the same way that people were made to use their hands from the beginning- in slow, simple, intentional, attentive, beautiful, creative, purposeful, skillful, artistic, thoughtful, genuine ways using loving movements? Taking the time to feel the materials we are working with creates deep heart hand connections to what we are doing within our souls. Imagining what our creation will be like when we are done and experiencing the joy of what we have created when it is finished is very satisfying. Working with our hands can increase our positive emotions and help our bodies to heal. When we touch what we are creating, with love for what we are doing, our pain will move out of our bodies and into what we are creating. The pain may not entirely go away, but it sure won’t hurt as much when you see it living in your creation, and it brings you joy, and you can feel that joy deep down in your soul.
On his good days dad was able to paint. I think he may have even given away more of his artwork and painted more paintings for others while he was sick and on chemo than he did before cancer interrupted his life. Focusing on others rather than yourself also helps a lot when you are sick, it kind of helps me alleviate feelings of self-pity that can creep in and threaten to take over.
Dad's Healing Hands - by Stephanie Schaible, MT (ASCP) (substack.com)
Dad paints and catches fish out of beautiful mountain streams with his fly rod. I write, and try to color with crayons in pre-printed coloring books, but the new crayons and their books don’t have the same texture I remember as a child, so I write and garden and tend to chickens even when I am too sad or sick to write or garden; and when I am too sick to do anything at all, I sometimes imagine I am dancing waltzes in a Jane Austen novel because movement begins with thought, even if a waltz to my mailbox is as far as I may be moving on a very sick kind of day.
Will I write today? The air is cool, and the sky is cloudy. They say this might be a good day for it, but they make this blanket warmer in such a cozy kind of way that this cup of coffee might not be enough to stir my thoughts into words. Outside, the birds are singing, calling me to come, but I’m not sure I want to go. A peek through the window reveals two cats having a quiet standoff, and they aren’t even mine. The world out there looks inviting, but so does that warm blanket I moved out from under. The sun is starting to peek through the clouds tempting me to open the door, but the C word is buzzing in my head, again. If I plant some seeds today, they will bear fruit in several weeks. Will I go outside today?
Here comes the sunflower…….
“Life meanders like a path through the woods. We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again.”
― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times
Best Wishes,
My name is Stephanie, I can do hard things, and Leaving Death in the Dust was created in sickness with hope for health.
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*Leaving Death in the Dust is a newsletter and is not a replacement for professional, regulated, medical, healthcare. This is informational and educational. Some of us in this community may have worked in the healthcare system, but we are not your medical provider and whatever you find here is not the establishment of a professional medical relationship or medical advice. **That is an MT behind my name not an MD.
