08 May 2015

A very hard pill to swallow

I'm struggling at the moment... a bit of a dilemma (an internal battle) that's keeping me awake at night but one I know I can't truly engage in. This feeds into some of the anger and frustration I mentioned yesterday.

OK, bottom line - I have to accept that this is NOT my battle. What my darling friend is going through is fundamentally her business and she has to walk the path so she gets to choose which path to follow.

This is written with love, but I'm really, really struggling not only with what's haapening to her, but also to have done some of my own background research, partly at her behest, and come across something (and told her about it)  which makes SO much sense to me in beefing up the fight against this bloody cancer, but for her to dismiss the prospect. Oh Lord, this is hard.
[reminder to self: ALWAYS keep in mind these are her decisions to make, fat lass - not yours]

What I'm talking about is Dr. Dominic D'Agostino's research into metabolic disease. One thread of his work (in a fascinating area) seems to indicate that switching to a strict ketogenic diet can dramatically increase cancer survival rates.

Huh, you might say - why the heck does this seem a likely option? Well, setting any reaction to peer-reviewed papers aside, in an article for CBN News he explains the basics - in that:

All cells, including cancer cells, are fueled by glucose. But if you deprive them of glucose, they switch to the alternate fuel, ketone bodies.

Except cancer cells. A defect prevents them from making the switch to using ketone bodies as fuel and therefore, cancer cells can ONLY [my emphasis] survive on glucose. All other cells can use either glucose or ketone bodies.

One of the most challenging parts to me is that D'Agostino also firmly advocates hyperbaric therapy (a.k.a. use of a diving decompression chamber) in the fight against cancers, and that's something we've also discussed and she would accept... it just isn't bloody well available here. The F word is about to emerge again!

But...
Hell, fat lass, even though you think you are right and you think it would help her and it's a relatively simple and straightforward change she could make to give herself a stronger fighting chance... this is not, repeat NOT, your call to make.

So shut your yap.

6 comments:

Chrissie said...

I'm so sorry you're having a tough time... and so is your friend obviously. I think you're doing the right thing in providing the info but not the pressure even if it is driving you mad - and who knows, maybe she'll give it some more thought with time.
Wish I could help
Hugs
Chrissie

Lori said...

That is got to be horrible for both of you. I'm sure she is bombarded with information from all sides and is struggling to make sense of it all. I'm sure she appreciates your research.

BTW, I've seen similar studies.
Lori

Deniz said...

Bless you ladies - your support means a lot to me. I'm finding this so, so hard but can't ever forget that it's a thousand times harder for my dear friend.

Lyn said...

I'm so sorry for you and your friend going through this. I know how it is to love someone and want to 'fix' it and be unable to. You're right, it's her path, her battle, and all you can do is walk it with her. Hold her hand and love her. Prayers for her healing and for your peace.

Chrissie said...

Hi Deniz, just wanted to say hello and check you're OK. I realise that probably sounds ridiculous with everything you're going through... I guess really I mean I wanted to say I'm thinking of you...

Chrissie said...

Still thinking of you.... Hope that doesn't sound stalkerish...
Hugs

 
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