How do you decide what might be helpful and what might not and how do you say no to caring people who often haven’t researched the product or treatment but just heard about it? Let me know your experiences.

It's just really tough to get enough information to make informed decisions sometimes, it seems to me. My vitamin D research was typical. When I was researching ways of reducing the chance of a cancer recurrence, I was surprised to find a study that showed that vitamin D levels had even more impact on whether or not lung cancer would recur than even adjuvant chemotherapy!

Living in Texas and being outdoors quite a bit, cycling and fishing, I figured I got lots of vitamin D from the sun much of the year. But I went ahead and added a vitamin D supplement during the cooler months when I get less sun.

Now, more detailed results of that study have been made public, showing the main vitamin D improvement happened in women and young people, and there was pretty much no improvement among older men. DOH!!!! I wish they had told me that in the beginning...

_________________
Bud

Long distance cyclist and lung cancer survivor
56 years old at time of diagnosis in 2007, now live in Crowley, Tx
Nov 2007 - Tentatively diagnosed as NSCLC stage I from CT scan
Dec 2007 - Upper left lobectomy, biopsy showed one cancerous lymph node, changing the diagnosis to stage II (squamous cell)
Feb to Apr 2008 - Three rounds of cisplatin and gemcitabine
Apr 2008 - chest x-ray, NED
May 2008 - brain mri, clear
Jul 2008 - CT scan, NED
Dec 2008 - CT scan, NED
June 2009 - CT scan, NED
Jan 2010 - CT scan, NED
July 2010 - CT scan, NED
June 2011 - CT scan, NED
May 2012 - CT scan, NED
December 2012 - CT scan, NED. I am now a 5 year survivor!

June 2009 - Wife Rose diagnosed with breast cancer
Stage III IDC
Sept 2009 - Finished 4 rounds of chemo (AC)
Nov 2009 - Surgery
March 2010 - Finished 12 weeks of weekly Taxol
August 2010 - CT scan, NED
August 2011 - Checkup, NED
August 2012 - Checkup, NED
The rest of my story is at:

http://www.lungevity.org/l_community/vi ... hp?t=38841

My blog - uneasy-rider.com

I think the MOST important thing to remember about supplements/vitamins/herbs of any kind is to be sure and discuss ANYTHING thing you plan to start taking with your doctors. The risk of an adverse reaction is always a concern and some supplements can even interfere with some chemo.

It's so tempting to just start taking supplements because they are "natural" but so many times that's not enough to make them safe.

It's best to err on the side of caution and discuss things with your doctor than run into potentially serious consequences ....


Warmly,
Christine

Here's an excellent item on the subject of supplements/antioxidants by Dr. Bufi, a naturopathic physician highly regarded by Dr. West:

http://cancergrace.org/forums/index.php ... 01#msg5501

Ned

_________________
Ned is just my nickname, though it would be nice to merge it with the other meaning eventually...

Aloha means "Hello, goodbye, love, compassion, welcome, good wishes." It means belonging to others with a common humanity. It's defined better as a feeling in the heart than by words.

Dx NSCLC adenocarcinoma IIIb Sep 2006, now stage IV. Taxol+Carboplatin+Avastin 4 mo., Avastin 8 mo., Tarceva 16 mo., Alimta 12 mo. (sometimes combined with Cisplatin or Carboplatin), Navelbine since Feb 2010, 10 sessions of WBR in March 2011. See My Cancer Journey: viewtopic.php?p=351369#p351369 — UPDATED 03/05/2011.

Above left: Our golden retriever Rosie, who joined the family on 3/5/08 at the playful age of 2.

Below: Hannah, our golden companion 1994-2007.

Thank you Ned, that is an excellent post and valuable information regarding safe use of supplements

Christine