Project Eliminate Cancer

 Over the years, I have always been somewhat trusting of the products available in the stores. But as I have had to deal with the ugly face of cancer, I am now in question of everything. Detoxing my life is first on my list and it has proven to be much more challenging then one might think. The more I learn, the more complicated it gets. So, I have decided to take baby steps, as I certainly cannot replace my entire environment at once. To start, I am eliminating the 10 most common and proven products that cause cancer in my home. Given poor government regulation on top of my list is cleaning products. Most products available on the market contain “everyday” carcinogens such as formaldehyde, nitrobenzene, methylene chloride, and napthelene, as well as reproductive toxins and hormone disruptors. Not to mention other ingredients that cause liver, kidney and brain damage, allergies and asthma.Take a look at the following list, you'll be surprised:

1. Air fresheners: Often contain napthelene and formaldehyde. Try zeolite or natural fragrances from essential oils.

2. Art supplies: Epoxy and rubber cement glues, acrylic paints and solvents, and permanent markers often contain carcinogens. 

3. Automotive supplies: Most are toxic. Keep them safely away from the house and dispose of at a hazardous waste disposal center.

4. Candles: Avoid artificially scented paraffin candles that produce combustion by-products, including soot. Beeswax only, with cotton wicks. 

5. Carpet and upholstery shampoos: Use only wet-clean, natural ingredients. 

6. Dry-cleaning: Choose clothes that don’t need perchlorethylene to clean them. Ask for the wet-cleaning option at you local cleaners, or seek dry-cleaners that use liquid C02 or citrus juice cleaners. 

7. Flea, tick and lice control: Avoid lindane-based pesticides.

8. Paints and varnishes: Always chose low- or no-VOC finishes. 

9. Household pesticides: Go natural. Make a Sugar Ant Hotel.

10. Microwaves: Never microwave or heat food in a plastic container. This is one that I am targeting and feel adamant about eliminating and replacing with ceramic or glass.

The TEST

Oh, how glorious it is to finally finish the prescribed Chemo treatments and begin tests that will show results. It has been a long road getting to this point, and now finally the follow-up CAT scan and Bone Marrow test. After six months of Chemo treatments it is these tests that will show us where we stand. The CAT scan has to be preformed at least 6 weeks after the last Chemo treatment to assure that the treatments have run their course and no remaining drugs are present in the body.

CAT scan: Computerized axial tomography scan. CAT scanning is a painless X-ray test in which a computer generates cross-section views of a patient's anatomy. It can identify normal and abnormal structures, and it will light up in areas that contain cancer cells. It takes approximately two hours. This test is definitely preferred to the PET scan as I absolutely hate that sugary iodine dye they make you drink before the test that gives you diarrhea for a week. When called back to start the test they inject you with radiation that has to disburse through the body over the course of an hour prior to entering the tube. Laying on your back you are moved in and out of the tube for approximately 45 min to an 1 hour. It is this part that you just sit back and pretend that you are not claustrophobic. You don't want to have more than one or two of these a year due to the radiation exposure.

After a week long wait, full of anxiety, the results came in and we are CLEAN! Great News! no areas of the scan lit up, meaning no sign of cancer!

This is the news we've all been waiting for, how fortunate I am! I do have to address some enlarged lymph-nodes in the abdomen and some remaining fluid on the lungs. At this time we are to believe it is scarring on the lymph-nodes that shouldn't be a problem. The fluid in the lungs are still a concern we have to get to the bottom of. It is very painful to try and remove it and I'd really like to avoid 6" needles.

The Bone Marrow Test: Second of the two definitive tests that determine were we stand. Thankfully this test was negative, Yah!!! This is another test you don't want to have very often, it can create a sore hip for weeks even months. This test is done by coring out a chunk of your hip bone, sucking out the marrow and sending it into the lab. It is done under a local anesthesia that only works so deep in and around the bone. The inner part of the bone that they tap into is usually painful. When a doctor say's that you will fill pressure and then they put their entire body wait on you, it usually means get ready to feel the pain. Fortunately, the Chemo removed what cancer was in the marrow and we are good to go.

Tuesday we will start the first round of maintenance treatments. This involves yet another infusion of a drug called Rituxan, and a few others they give you for side effects. Prior blood draws (always another poke) and about 2 hours in the infusion room at Huntsman Cancer Institute. This prescription is to be given every two months for two years.

Rituxan is a cancer medication. Common side effects include headache, fever, chills, nausea, heartburn, flushing, weakness, or dizziness. Studies have shown that 82% of patients who received rituxan maintenance were in remission compared to 66% of patients who did not receive maintenance therapy. The benefits were observed regardless of the patients' stage of remission, age, or previous treatment regimen. It is for this reason that I am continuing the therapy. 

Even though we are not completely out of the water. I want to Thank You All for your support and love. It is all of you that has given me strength to continue on this course to recovery. It has also made the difference in my ability to stay here and live in this beautiful place, among-st friends and family that I love. That my kids can feel stable and secure in our home in hopes of continuing on with a normal life. The Turkey Trot was a very inspiring moment in my life, and a realization that it is the community, friends, and family that make life worth living. A big THANK YOU to Katie Hafen and the entire Blanch Family, Guilana Willis, Kristin Petersen, Inter-mountain Health Care, numerous donations and countless others who helped with the event and of course those who participated. I have always made the Turkey Trot a family tradition every year and never thought in a million years that I could be the one in need.  Find out more at:

Lynden Legacy Turkey Trot 

Love to you all!