My treatments so far – this is informational for you, NOT MEDICAL ADVICE. These are my choices so far.

Iron IV ($200)
Administered by the Medical Oncologist since she is also a Hematologist. This is a stronger dose than my doctor is allowed to administer.
I’ve had one of her strength so far, was very groggy afterwards, but had more energy the next day
Pain after having dinner
Hoping to be able to stop after surgery

Acupuncture ($200)
Primary care naturopathic MDs office
Controls pain, muscle spasms are less after treatment
Still had pain after dinner

Immune IV ($285)
Primary care naturopathic MDs office
Felt great after this
No pain after dinner!

Until surgery will have Acupuncture and Immune IV once a week. Will resume after surgery to support healing.

All of these are helping with pain and fatigue but not eliminating it. I feel they are strengthening my body to be able to better handle surgery since I am very depleted.

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Mexico Clinic

I was referred to this clinic by a patient that is several years in remission that followed their protocol. Real people, friends, not some random on the internet or someone that wrote a book.

Chinese herbs compounded at a pharmacy ($390 for 6 months worth)
Working well, no side effects
Helping with digestion
Will continue until surgery then take a break until recovered

For inflammation and liver support:
Liver Rescue blend – buy locally
SAM-e – buy locally

Hoxsey Tonic (Included in Clinic visit cost of $1200)
Has very specific dietary restrictions that I will detail in another post since there are dietary restrictions for multiple things.
Waited to start this to be sure which things might cause side effects and this one did so cutting back right now. I need to stop this one week before surgery anyway so might wait a bit or go lighter. This is a detox formula of herbs and anyone that has done a juice detox or other detox knows you can have side effects while you detox. This doesn’t mean it won’t work, it means I need to be more gentle with myself so my body isn’t in trouble before surgery. They recommended that if you have side effects to take 2 days off the protocol and restart at half dose. Since I pretty much have to stop in a little over a week anyway, this might be a wait until after surgery and start over. In the meantime I will stay on the Chinese herbs.

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Off label use

Fenbendazole – recommended by a friend that is now cancer free after having it recur 3 times. Again real person with real results not a random off the internet person. Also combined with dietary changes. Lots of research out there to support the use of this. Mexico clinic has no problem with it, it won’t interfere with their protocol. They have seen (mostly) good and (a few) bad results.

Berberine – control glucose levels. Cancer loves glucose so we don’t want to give it more than we have to. Lots of research to support using this. Won’t interfere with any other treatments and I need it for diabetes control anyway.

Several other supplements to support my system and/or that cancer doesn’t like:
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Curcumin and or Turmeric (I have versions of both)
Magnesium CitraMate
Oil of Oregano capsules
Cinnamon
CBD/CBG blend with Adaptogens: Ashwagandha, Cordyceps and Turkey Tail mushrooms, Vit D and Turmeric
Zinc Quercetin

As a side note: I started the off label use things immediately after diagnosis and before going to Mexico. I had labs drawn the day before starting the off label things and then the same labs drawn in Mexico. The CEA levels, which is a cancer marker measure, dropped by 900 points in one week of my protocol. Is that significant? We don’t know since it was different labs that conducted the tests. I will have the CEA checked one week before surgery to compare with the other labs done in the US and Mexico to see where it is at and to see how it changes after the mass is removed.

I also use a variety of essential oil blends for pain and other issues that vary by day both topically and internally.

I didn’t listen to my doctor. She told me what I needed to do and because I had a bad experience with a colonoscopy 22 years ago I told her flat out no I wouldn’t have one.

In April 2023 she told me my iron was super low and I needed some IV therapy to boost it up but that I should get a colonoscopy. I resisted.

In July 2023 I almost went to the ER after a night in the bathroom with severe muscle spasms, like childbirth without drugs kinda spasms. They eventually stopped that night however I did have them again daily, not as bad as the first night, for about a week.

At some point in July I went to drs for an iron IV and let her know about the spasms. I mostly managed them with magnesium (one my dr recommends). Again she said “colonoscopy”. I said no.

Throughout the summer and fall I had iron IVs which made me feel better and the spasms were still around but manageable as long as I stayed home and near a bathroom. I started having alternating constipation and diarrhea. Yeah I know, no one likes to talk about this stuff but it’s important!

In December I managed to go out to a few events, still not feeling great.

Then the real fun started. In January I got SUPER sick, Covid sick, with intestinal involvement. Coughing up a storm, extreme fatigue. I lost my sense of smell like I did the first time I had Covid so chalked all of the problems up to that. I literally slept through the month of January.

In February I started to go back to drs for more IVs, had new blood tests done. She said Deb you need a colonoscopy, your body is not holding iron at all. You are bleeding internally somewhere. In the fall she gave me a test similar to the cologuard test but I couldn’t do the collection due to inconsistent bowel movements. I had another evening of spasms that actually had me seeing spots but since they stopped after about an hour I didn’t go to the ER.

In March I had more blood work done – iron still way down even with weekly/biweekly iron IVs. Spasms started getting worse as well, but not like the times it almost sent me to the hospital. Just consistent every evening.

April 10th I had her do acupuncture on me and it was like a miracle for the spasms. They stopped. We also had an in person follow up that day and she told me about a blood test that could rule out cancer which is what we would have looked for in a colonoscopy. It was an expensive test but I said let’s do it.

The results from that blood test came back on April 22nd. She called me. She never calls me. She said “Deb it has postive markers for colon cancer, will you please get a colonoscopy.”

Colonoscopy was April 30th. No polyps to be removed (which would have been preferred!) but instead it showed a a 5cm mass that will require surgery. Preliminary biopsy is postive for cancer. Again got a phone call from the gastroenterologist on May 1st. Plus a call from my dr, and a call from an oncologist’s office.

Stage is unknown right now, waiting for full biopsy report plus CT scans and another blood test on Monday May 6th.

I had a consultation on Friday May 3rd with the oncologist and I will cover that in a separate post.

Don’t be like me and wait a year. I ignored my body. Don’t do that.