brain cancer beating the odds

8/6/2019 Brain Cancer Beating the Odds

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BRAIN CANCER:

BEATING THE ODDS

A Personal Account of a Psychologists

Battle with GlioblastomaBy Dr. Herman LowePsychologist


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FOREWARD

This is a personal account o my battle with Glioblastoma, a terminal and virulent ormo brain cancer. I wrote this book or two reasons. Firstly, to alert people that by usingcell phones they are putting their lives in danger as I am convinced that it was my cellphone use that precipitated my cancer. I want to save some other peoples lives, i notmy own. Secondly, I rmly believe that any cancer patient can take actions to prolongtheir lie through the use o complementary medicine, in addition to conventional treat-ment. One never knows what works, only that with Gods blessing, I am beatingthe odds. At the time o writing, it is 24 months or a disease that on average takespeoples lives ater 14.5 months.

This book is dedicated to my wie, Mercia, and to my children who have supported methrough my journey.

Many thanks to Laurie Campbell and Joanne Buckley or typing this document, andto Mercia who edited the nal version o the book beore publication. Without thesepeople this book could never have been written.

Herman Lowe would like to raise money or the continued research into Glioblastoma.Please send donations to Dana Farber Address:

Herman Lowe Fund at Dana Farber10 Brookline Place WestBrookline MA 02445

Your suggested donation o $100 is greatly appreciated, however,a donation in any amount will help und the important work beingconducted at Dana Farber.


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Table of ContentsIntroduction

My Personal Battle Plan

Lightening Strikes!

The Conventional Treatment

Alternative TherapiesRational Emotive Behavior Therapy:The Role REBT Plays In My Life

Mind/Body Connection

Infrared Sauna Therapy

Diet & Nutrition

Small Victories Along the Way

Small Victories Along the Way - The Photo Album

So Why Did Brain Cancer Attack Me?

Do Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer?

Possible PreventionPostScript: A Spouses Perspective

Bibliography

(Clicking on any o these Table o Contents will take you to that section. This Table o Contents may be accessedrom any page in the book by clicking the top or bottom margins.)


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Introduction

Let me tell you a little bit about who I am and what motivat-ed me to start this book, beore I tell you about my personaljourney or my recommendations to others.

Beore being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, I wasully aware o this deadly disease. In act, I have had severalrelatives die rom cancer, my sister being one o them. I

know that there are many dierent orms o cancer but Inever was really able to conceptualize my brain tumor until Iread an article in Science Daily dated January 17, 2010. Inthis article the author describes cancer as the ollowing:

Cancer stem cells may be viewed as the root o a tree:when you cut the tree i you leave the root, the tree willgrow back. Conventional chemotherapeutic approacheshave been ocused on cutting the tree but orgettingabout the root.

This explains the overall poor success in treatment o manycancers so that the cancer comes back ater a period o

remission. Glioblastoma multiorm, which is my own diag-nosis, is an aggressive type o brain cancer in which thestem cell compartment has been studied more oten than inother types o cancer. New drugs or combination therapiesare desperately needed, because ater decades o research,relatively little progress has been made in treating this condi-tion. I know that there are all sorts o clinical trials going onor new medicines but right now a glioblastoma is terminal.Even with the best o care, patients with glioblastoma stillonly survive an average o 14.5 months. O course, therange o survival goes rom a ew months to several yearsand the interesting question is why do some people live

longer than others? Nobody quite knows.As I started to write this book, I could not decide on whereto ocus other than recount my personal journey. I wasdesperate to nd a cause or my illness and read countlessarticles on the potential links between brain cancer andcell phones. The more I read, the angrier I became as Ibecame convinced about the link between my disease andcell phone use. But as I became involved in ghting o mycancer, I discovered that there were other things that anyonecould do to lessen the chances o cancer rom occurring andalso prolong a brain cancer patients lie.

So which is most useul?You can be the judge.

I also ound that writing a book is a highly complex task,especially or someone like me. I have not written anythingother than clinical notes since I earned my Ph.D. in clinicalpsychology. However, since I was highly motivated, eventhough the atermath o brain surgery made it more dicultto organize my thoughts, I pushed on.

So why even bother to write a book when you have sucha short time to live? That is a good question. I have alwaysenjoyed setting new challenges or mysel, and learning new

skills, but most o all, throughout my entire lie my purposehas been to help others and make their lives better. This iswhat gets me up in the morning. This seemed another but

important way to help patients and their amilies with glio-blastoma. It could be my nal legacy.

Just a little bit about my credentials. Although I have workedin schools, hospitals and clinics, I spent most o my careerworking in private practice as a clinical psychologist. Duringthose years, I worked hard trying to improve my skills as aclinician. I did this by reading and attending continuing edu-cation classes. I spent a ew years earning enough credits tobe an Associate Fellow at The Institute or Advanced Studyin Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (now oten calledCognitive Behavior Therapy). I studied under Dr. Albert Ellis,one o the most creative and knowledgeable psychologistso our era. In my opinion, he ollows in the ootsteps o theounder o psychotherapy or counseling, Dr. Sigmund Freud.Additionally, when the psychopharmacology movementbegan, psychologists decided they should learn to treat thewhole personboth the mind and the body. Adding theright to prescribe medication to our so-called tool box,I became one o the rst ones to volunteer to undergo thetraining. I earned one o the top grades on my board examand an excellent recommendation rom my preceptor; underhis supervision, I wrote 100 prescriptions. In that letter orecommendation, he said I could do as good a job as mostprimary care physicians! You will see as you read this book

that my background and skills as a clinician came into playnumerous times.

Still putting my thoughts on paper was a challenge and Iwas not ully condent that I was up to the task. However,

Jim Manganiello, Ed.D. a Massachusetts-based clinical psy-chologist, and colleague told me I your work is genuinelyo value and you are passionate about it and you have beenable to come across things that are o real value, then youhave a moral obligation to get it into the hands o others.And so with that in mind, I am writing about my journey andsuggestions to others who may be interested and inficted bythis terrible disease.


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I also thought that i I distributed this book or ree via theInternet, it could get into peoples hands more quickly andi people liked it they could send a contribution to DanaFarber in Boston, the hospital which have been monitoringand treating my condition. Instructions on how to make acontribution can be ound at the end o this book.

My Personal Battle Plan

Lightening Strikes!

It was June 2, 2009. I had just won the gol pool at ourlocal gol club, having shot my best round in weeks. Whowould have thought that I was about to enter, what I reer toas, a trip through Hell! I remember walking toward my Cor-vette, pulling up in ront o the clubhouse, and waiting ora parked car to move beore being able to pass around it.I had my gol clubs loaded in the trunk and began my veryshort journey home. This was a distance o only 1.5 milesand one that I had traveled countless times. While I wasdriving, I became disoriented and ound mysel getting lostand conused. I recall pulling into one o the newer sectionso the community where I live, to turn around. I had extremediculty turning the wheel in any direction and thoughtabout asking someone where my street was, but I thought,That is stupid! I live here! I didnt know what was happen-ing and I was too embarrassed to stop and ask someone ordirections. Luckily, I recognized a amiliar building, the PostOce, which is very close to my house. Thank God I sawmy street! I was able to make it home rom there. I pulled thecar into the driveway, thankul that I was home at last.

I dont remember every detail, but I do recall taking ashower and then having great diculty putting on my bath-robe; I could not nd the sleeves! I got up rom my bed andwent to get another robe thinking by chance that the otherone was damaged somehow. Everything had become oggy.I then remembered my wie had hired Marcus, a handyman,to convert a walk-in closet downstairs to a new oce. I wentdownstairs and saw a strange man and asked him, Whereis Marcus? He responded, I am Marcus. I then went backupstairs to my bedroom, puzzledit all seemed so strange.It was like I was watching a movie and I was the main char-acter! The next thing I remember was my wie Mercia walk-ing into the bedroom and me telling her, I think my brain

is not working right. Im conused. and asking her do welive here? She thought I was having a stroke, and since Iwas reusing to go to the hospital, called my daughter andmy son who immediately called 911 and had an ambulancesent over to our house.

The Paramedics arrived, assessed me as seriously ill, andtook me to the nearest hospital emergency room or treat-ment or what was thought to be an acute stroke. Whathappened next, was told to me by others.

During the evaluation, while the ER physician was awaiting

the results o the CT scan o my brain, I suered a seizurebrought on by a gol ball sized tumor in my brain. The localER physician consulted with a physician rom Mass Generaland then subsequently with Brigham & Womens Hospitalater which the decision was made or an urgent transer toBoston or urther evaluation and an MRI o my brain. The lo-cal hospital team made arrangements or the transerorigi-nally via helicopter, however due to the inclement weather, Iwas transerred via ambulance.

Upon arrival to Brigham & Womens ER, I was rushed intothe Radiology Department or an MRI, which gave rise tothe almost certain diagnosis o Glioblastoma Multiorme:a malignant and terminal orm o brain cancer. O coursethe diagnosis would only be conrmed by a brain biopsy.I couldnt believe what I was hearing. It was like I had just

been hit head on by a high-speed train! Was I hearing thisright? Was this just a terrible nightmare and would I wakeup and it was all just a bad dream? Unortunately, what Iheard the physician tell me was all true; every bit o it. Howcould this be? Im a healthy, active man with only a little la-bile hypertension. Suddenly I could eel all o the color drainrom my ace. I was about to embark on the journey o mylie; trying to battle this deadly disease.

As I mentioned beore, most o the two hospital visits are ablur and the events were told to me later on during my post-operative recovery period.

Still Golng: a double bogey (2010)


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On June 8, 2009, I underwent brain surgery to removethe tumor. The surgeon, Dr. Anderson, inormed me that hewas able to remove 100% o the visible tumor. He told mywie privately, that with such successul surgery that my lieexpectancy would be closer to 2 years. He conrmed thediagnosis o malignant Glioblastoma. I knew the surgerywent well because the surgeon told us the news with suchgreat enthusiasm that his ace was beaming rom one side tothe other. I was placed on several medications including ananti-seizure medication and a steroid to decrease the swell-ing in my brain caused rom the surgery. The steroids mademe very emotional and I was thinking that this is how it musteel to be a woman with PMS! I had outbursts o crying and

anger and was also eating like a horse! It was like I couldntsatisy my hunger or control any o my emotions. Every-day, the nurses would ask me i I had any pain, includingheadaches, but I dont remember having any. The biggestproblem was the steroids. Every time my wie walked intothe room I burst into tears and wanted to hold her hand. Shetried teasing me lightly saying Goodness, it took a braintumor, or you to show how much you love me! But I hadlost a bit o my usual sense o humor along the way and justclung to her like a small child.

Some days later, I was discharged to Braintree Rehabilita-tion Facility or what would seem like an endless period o

extensive therapy. I had to basically relearn how to walkand care or mysel again. My rehab included PhysicalTherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy. Theyhelped me to get back into my normal daily activity routinewith both individual and group therapy sessions. They allseemed to genuinely want to help me.

I was walking pretty well, still unsteady on my eet, but prettywell nevertheless. I was told that I had a let-sided neglect

which meant I didnt have adequate peripheral vision out omy let eye, causing me to walk into things. I was dubbed asa all risk.

During the entire time I was rehabbing at Braintree Hospi-tal, I was jotting down bits and pieces o memory recall,attempting to understand all o it. I did come to realize thatthis tumor didnt take away all o my sense o humor, as Iwas constantly making jokes to the sta. However, the as-sociation with my Corvette was now becoming a traumaticevent in my lie. I didnt care i I ever saw it again. I thoughtI had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder!

I had been talking to other patients on my ward, askingthem why they were admitted to the rehab acility. I wasamazed at how many people with brain injuries were beingtreated there. I even tried to do some psychotherapy on aew o them! I guess it was part o my own therapy as well;the more I elt things would return to normal and did thethings I normally do, then the better o I was emotionally.Being a therapist to others is part o my DNA. However,when I had had my own rst psychological evaluation inrehab by a neuropsychologist and ell apart during thesession. I had elt as i I was back in grade school and wasstruggling to come up with the simplest o answers. I washopeul that this would improve over time. It had to!

As the days went on, I ound mysel reading any materialthat dealt with cancer survival and even asked Mercia toresearch and read the material as well. I ound some articlesthat were very encouraging and helpul and believed Mer-cia would also benet rom reading them. At that moment, Ivowed that the cancer would not control my lie and hopedthat Mercia would not let it control hers.

Over the next several days, I had appointments and consul-tations with the physicians who would now treat me. I metmy Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Weiss. She appeared veryhelpul explaining all o my options, and the eects that Icould expect o the recommended 7-week course o radia-tion. I also met with my Neuro-Oncologist, Dr. Norden. Heinormed us that he would basically be the one in chargeo my treatment, with Dr. Weiss as the Radiation specialist;they all worked together as a team. We discussed a newdrug called Avastin that had just been approved by the FDAor treatment o Glioblastoma. Dr. Norden explained thatthis drug worked by cutting o the blood supply to the can-cer cells, resulting in death o the cancer cells. I consentedto treatment by Avastin, as well as the more usual treatmentwith the chemotherapy drug called Temodar. Mercia who

Rehabilitation can restore so much to the cancer surviror, making liesimpler when we come home.


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was busy with Internet research on these drugs reassured methat I was making a wise decision.

Every day at the rehab hospital was well planned and or-ganized by the sta. Everyone had a certain job to perormwith me and they made sure I stuck to the schedule. The onlyproblem was that it became very monotonous and boring!I was so used to being much more active and I hated justlying or sitting around going rom one therapy session to

the next. At least I had learned how to move around and igiven the chance was out and about with my wheelchair! Igured out that it was quite simple to operate. All I had todo was take the brakes o and move my eet in a orwardor backward motion. I was o and running! Well, not liter-ally, but you get the idea.

Another constant in my lie was I wore a Red Sox jacketthat my kids gave to me. I literally wore this 24/7; I wore itduring the day and slept with it at night. I dont know why,but I elt this compulsion to have it on my body at all times.I had become more sensitive to the cold ater my opera-tion, so it kept me warm and it just gave me comort. That

was reason enough or me to don my own piece o RedSox memorabilia. In act, just wearing this jacket gave mepleasant thoughts o my children giving me the Fathers Daygit o throwing out the rst pitch at a uture Red Sox game.What more could an avid Red Sox an ask or? That was theultimate git!

In preparation or my discharge rom the rehab acility,Mercia made arrangements or my atercare with Laurie, aRegistered Nurse. She assisted me with my daily activitiesand even though I elt ne, I knew that her presence madeMercia eel better. Laurie told me all about her Nursingbackground, what she specialized in and how long she

had been a Nurse, etc. She told me she used to work at thesame hospital I did at one time. Who would have thought?The doctors told me and my amily that I was at risk or all-ing and seizures due to my surgery, so thats the reason whyMercia hired Laurie to watch over me. Mercia also said shewanted the consistency o one caretaker or me rather thanall dierent people coming and going as she thought thiswould have been more conusing or me during my recoveryperiod. I suppose now she was right.

Laurie had brought a get well card or me rom the 9 &Dine group, a Thursday evening gol league at my localgol course. Apparently, thats where Mercia and I were rstintroduced to Laurie and her husband. Unortunately, I didntremember who she was, but all o the good wishes mademe eel very comorted. At that moment I had realized theimportance o human relationships on eelings; I had neverrealized this beore in other situations; how good it couldmake you eel.

I remember looking at a small pad o paper with numberswritten on it that I had been staring at or several days. Therst set o numbers was the prognosis o my condition andthe average lie span. The average is 14 months; it was allbeginning to sink in. The other set o numbers on the page

consisted o the longest lie span; it was greater than 7years. I remembered the prior reading material concerningmy condition recommended that I didnt concentrate on thestatistics o the average lie span. However, I still believedI was not going to die quickly unless I had really bad luck.I began thinking about my health and the decisions that Iwould be making regarding what happened to me romthat moment orward. I began making a tentative plan thatI would discuss with my doctors the next time I saw them.

At that time, my thoughts were to go with Mercia to pickout two burial plots and undergo the conventional treatmento Radiation and Chemotherapy. I knew one thing, I didntwant a progress report every time I saw the doctors, such asthis scan looks good, or this scan looks bad. Or the treat-ment is working, or the treatment is not working. I preerredthe doctors try everything, even i they didnt know whetheror not the standard treatments would work. I also wantedthem to make the decision to let me die i there was no morethat they could do to help me. The one important thing Iwanted them to do, i it came down to that decision was tojust let me die in my sleep; it seemed like a painless way todie and I wouldnt know what was happening.

All the while, Mercia had been doing lots o research inregards to alternative therapies and the eects they hadon Cancer. It was quite remarkable! We had a discussionabout the wireless telephones in our house and she told meshe purchased some traditional phones or me to use. I hadtold her I wasnt sure i I would ever use another cell phoneagain, as I still thought there was a link between braintumors and cell phones.

Several weeks later, I was discharged home and slowly mybrain unctioning and cognitive response returned to whereI am currently. I am thankul that I have regained almost all

o my prior unctioning; I only have some short-term memoryissues and diculty processing numerical inormation.

From that moment o my devastating diagnosis, I was deter-mined to beat the odds and vowed to nd the cause o mybrain tumor.

The Conventional Treatment

In order to understand the basic level o inormation aboutmy illness, I suggest the reader purchase The MediocusGuidebook on Glioblastoma. There is useul inormation

on what the leading experts in this eld recommend, whichmedical institutions are conducting breakthrough research,and results rom recently completed clinical trials. It also in-cludes inormation about organizations and support groupsthat can help one better cope with this diagnosis.

The Mediocus Alert is published monthly and is written byElliot Jacob, Ph.D. On March 11, 2010, I received an issuethat is titled, Stereotactic Radiosurgery or the Treatment oGlioblastoma. The article describes that Stereotactic Radio-surgery is a novel radiation procedure that uses accurateand precise high doses o radiation to destroy a tumor. It is


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not actual surgery per se but is a orm o high tech radiationtherapy. This treatment enables doctors to destroy a braintumor by accurately administering a targeted single dose ohigh radiation in a one-day treatment session. This precisedelivery o radiation signicantly minimizes the extent odamage to normal brain tissue and in general, is used orinoperable tumors.

In my particular case, I had an operable tumor. In act, I

recall my wie and son telling me that when the surgeon en-tered the waiting room, he had a big smile on his ace andsaid, I got it all! At one o my recent visits to my Oncolo-gist, I asked her how much o the tumor was removed andshe repeated what my wie and son had told meAll o it.

As I mentioned earlier, my purpose or writing this book isto provide the reader with the resources that I believe werethe most helpul. I elt it was important to know as much aspossible about my brain tumor so that I could make educa-tional decisions about my orthcoming treatment. Especiallysince all the doctors kept telling me that I make the naldecisions about my care. This philosophy is very dierent

than the medical care I am accustomed to. Fortunately, Ihave been very healthy up until now and when I did needmedical help I would visit my doctor. She would write a pre-scription, i needed, and tell me what to do. Its sort o likebringing your car in or service. You drop your car o orthe recommended service ater driving it a certain amount omiles, pick it up and drive it until its time or the next checkup. Modern medicine now allows patients to participate inthe decision-making process. My thinking is that the body isa Bio- (body) Social (mind) organ. I attribute my survival be-

yond the average lie expectancy to using both conventionaland alternative methods o treatment.

The conventional treatment is described in Mediocus asollows:

Treatment o newly diagnosed glioblastoma consists osurgical resection o the tumor ollowed by standardractionated radiation therapy. The drug Temodar isadministered concurrently with the radiation therapyand is also given as adjunctive therapy because recentstudies have shown that it can prolong survival. Despiteaggressive treatment, however, glioblastoma tends torecur usually at the site o the original tumor and pre-venting tumor recurrence remains a major challenge inthe management o this highly aggressive and invasivebrain tumor. Standard radiation therapy represents themost eective adjunctive treatment modality ollowingsurgery or the treatment o glioblastoma. Because highdoses o radiation can also damage and destroy normalbrain tissue, the radiation treatments are ractionated, ordivided, into smaller doses o radiation that are admin-istered over a period o 5 to 7 weeks. Although thisapproach reduces the extent o damage to normal braintissue, it does not completely eliminate the risk and somenormal brain tissue destruction is likely to occur.

A ew words about the medication I am being given intra-

venously called Avastin. The purpose o this drug is to stopthe growth o blood vessels that support the tumor by cuttingo the blood supply. Like any medication, there are possibleside eects and/or adverse reactions. These side eectscould be immediate (within minutes-hours) or short-term

(within days-weeks). In rare cases, serious side eects and/or adverse reactions can occur. The reader should educatehimsel with this medication and report any concerns to hisprescribing M.D. I consider mysel ortunate that I have notexperienced any side eects/adverse reactions since start-ing this chemotherapy regime ten months ago.

Another chemotherapy medication which is mentioned in theMediocus article is Temodar. I have also been placed onthis regime or the past ten months. I learned about the ben-ets o taking Temodar rom an article posted on the Internettitled, Chemo + RT (radiation therapy) Gives GlioblastomaPatients More Time.

Administering the chemotherapy drug Temodar to patientswith a common and aggressive orm o primary brain tumorin combination with radiation therapy or RT, increases theirlie expectancy or up to ve years, compared to RT alone.For more than thirty years, post-operative RT was the stan-dard treatment or glioblastoma, but oered only modestsurvival benets to patients. The average lie expectancy opatients with glioblastoma was nine months. In 2004, atermany disappointing attempts with drug therapy, the interna-tional phase III EORTC-NCIC trial showed some promisingresults in this dicult setting where use o combined treat-ment with RT and Temodar reduced the risk o dying romglioblastoma by 37% compared to treatment with RT alone.However, whether this survival benet would persist overtime was unknown, which is why the researchers said theyundertook the study. Roger Stupp, MD and colleagues stud-ied the long-term ve-year outcomes o patients involved inthe original EORTC-NCIC trial. The improvement in survivalwas seen across all clinical subgroups, even in patients con-sidered to have a poor prognosis such as more elderly pa-tients or those whose tumor could not be removed. However,they also noted no dierence in the pattern o recurrencebetween patients treated with RT alone or with Temodarand RT. They caution that upront combined therapy may be


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eective in reducing tumor bulk and aggressiveness, but itdoes not truly modiy the natural behavior o the disease andthus is unlikely to lead to a cure.Another interesting article I ound on the Internet is Land-mark Advance in Brain Cancer Treatment dated April 1,2005. The conclusions were based on at least ten dier-ent research studies. As stated in the article, the researchndings show addition o a medication called Temodar to

standard radiation therapy increases the survival rate oglioblastoma patients. Temodar works by disrupting DNA toprevent cancer cells rom multiplying and prolongs survivalwhen combined with standard radiation. The study was con-ducted in 13 countries and compared the treatment o pa-tients receiving radiation therapy plus Temodar to those thatreceived only the standard radiation therapy. The additiono Temodar beore and during standard radiation therapyincreased the survival rate o glioblastoma patients by 2.5months. In addition, 26% o the patients who received theTemodar and radiation combination were still living atertwo years, compared with only 10% o those who weretreated with radiation therapy alone.

I also ound a reerence regarding Temodar concerning itsside eects and benets on the Yahoo website. In this articlethe author states:

The alkylating agent Temodar is showing long-termsaety and ecacy in the treatment o malignant gliomasin a study that is underway in Chicago (2003). Resultswere presented here during the 128th annual meeting othe American Neurological Association and researchersare saying that long-term treatment o gliomas is now areality. The study involved 16 patients with gliomas: 14with grade 3 or 4 malignancies and 2 patients with low-

grade gliomas. The age range was 26-59 years at base-line, and all patients had received at least 26 months oTemodar at enrollment, with treatment duration rangingrom 18-44 months. Tumor types in the study populationincluded glioblastomas. Ten patients remain in the studyand, in all ten; tumor size is stable or smaller. Tumorsprogressed in 2 patients and the drug was discontin-ued. In another 4 patients, the drug was discontinuedor other reasons; two patients elected to discontinuetreatment, a rash developed in a third patient, and Te-modar therapy was stopped in a ourth patient or otherreasons. However, in all 4 o these patients, tumor sizewas stable or smaller at the time Temodar was stopped.Adverse eects o Temodar were generally mild. Themost commonly reported adverse eects were atigue,nausea, and vomiting. Four patients experienced throm-bocytopenia (low platelet count), and neutropenia (lowwhite blood cell count) occurred in 3 patients. Treatmentwas temporarily discontinued in these 7 patients. Onepatient required a blood transusion, but none o theseside eects were lie-threatening.

Ater reviewing all o the reerence material regarding TheConventional Treatment, it had a very positive eect on mymental attitude. I recall waking up rom surgery and being

told by the surgeon that my lie expectancy with a grade IVGlioblastoma was only 14-1/2 to 15 months! My purposein expressing my eelings regarding sel-education duringthis conventional treatment is to assist in maintaining a posi-tive mental attitude and the important role it plays in onessurvival rate.

The Alternative Therapies

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy:The Role REBT Plays In My Life

Perhaps the most consistent comment I hear rom everyonewho meets me is how great my attitude is in the ace o thisawul disease. My medical team and social acquaintancessee how I mentally deal with the ght. But my colleagues,close riends and amily know it is my training in RationalEmotive Behavior Therapy that gives me the outward ap-pearance o super-human emotional strength!

The same principles that I applied or many years to help my

patients, I now apply to my own situation. Let me explainwhat REBT is all about and how I use it in my daily lie.Albert Ellis Ph.D. was a clinical psychologist who trainedas a psychoanalyst. Early in his career, he became disil-lusioned with the slow progress o his clients. He noticed thathey got better much quicker once they changed their wayso thinking about themselves and their problems. In 1955,he developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).This therapy is now a widely practiced, comprehensive, andhighly eective orm o psychotherapy. In addition to beinga proven therapy, REBT oers an approach to lie that leadsto greater ulllment and

happiness. At the hearto REBT are the conceptso unconditional sel-acceptance, uncondi-tional other-acceptance,and unconditionallie-acceptance. Centralto REBTs teachings isthe ancient psycho-logical insight o Epict-etus, who said, Whatdisturbs mens mindsis not events, but theirjudgments on events.That idea helped REBTbecome both an eec-tive, evidence-basedpsychotherapy and aphilosophy o living.

Albert Ellis and REBT posit that our reaction to having ourgoals blocked or even the possibility o having them blockedis determined by our belies. To illustrate this, Dr. Ellis devel-oped a simple ABC ormat to teach people how their beliescause their emotional and behavioral responses:

Albert Ellis Ph. D. - REBT


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A. Something happens.B. You have a belie about the situation.C. You have an emotional reaction to the belie.

For example:

A. Your employer alsely accuses you o taking moneyrom her purse and threatens to re you.B. You believe , She has no right to accuse me!C. You eel angry.

I you had held a dierent belie, your emotional responsewould have been dierent:

A. Your employer alsely accuses you o taking moneyrom her purse and threatens to re you.B. You believe, I must not lose my job. That would beunbearable!C. You eel anxious.

The ABC model shows that A did not cause C. It is B thatcauses C. In the rst example, it is not your employers alseaccusation and threat that make you angry; it is your beliethat she has no right to accuse you. In the second example,it is not her accusation/threat that makes you anxious; it is

the belie that you must not lose your job, and that losing itwould be unbearable.

Although we all express ourselves dierently, according toDr. Ellis and REBT, the belies that upset us are all variationso three common irrational belies. Each o the three com-mon irrational belies contains a demand, either about otherpeople, the world, or us in general. These belies are knownas The Three Basic Musts.

1. I must do well and win the approval o others or myperormances or else I am no good.

2. Other people must treat me considerately, airly andkindly, and in exactly the way I want them to treat me.I they dont, they are no good and they deserve to becondemned and punished.

3. I must get what I want, when I want it; and I must notget what I dont want. Its terrible i I dont get what Iwant, and cant stand it.

The rst belie oten leads to anxiety, depression, shame,and guilt. The second belie oten leads to rage, passive-aggression and acts o violence. The third belie oten leadsto sel-pity and procrastination. It is the demanding nature o

the belies that causes the problem. Less demanding, morefexible belies lead to healthy emotions and helpul behav-iors.The goal o REBT is to help people change their irrationalbelies into rational belies. Changing belies is the real worko therapy and is achieved by the therapist disputing the cli-ents irrational belies.

Clinical experience and a growing supply o experimentalevidence show that REBT is eective and ecient at reduc-ing emotional pain. For over 30 years o practicing psychol-

ogy, I have been helping my patients deal with emotionalproblems brought on by their minds. Now I use it in my ghtagainst cancer!

Mind/Body Connection

Until I started doing research on brain tumors I neverrealized how important it is to understand the connectionbetween the brain, body, mind and ones overall health.Even more important, is to understand how this relationshipcan add years to your lie once you have been diagnosedwith an illness.

Dr. Douglas Bremner provides a summary regarding theinter-relatedness o the mind, brain, and body in respect totraumatic experiences:

Up until now, there has been a alse dichotomy betweenphysical and mental disease. It is articial to separate

mind and brain, physical and mental, and that the e-ects o psychological trauma on the individual needs tobe considered in neurological terms. The same process-es stimulated by stress responses, that may lead to de-pression and behavioral changes are mediated by stressresponsive systems like cortisol and catecholaminesthat also have eects on physical health such as heartdisease and inection.

He continues to explain that these events have eectson cardiovascular, immunological, and metabolic unc-tion. Dr. Bremner states that elevated levels o the stresshormone cortisol can damage the part o the brain thatis involved in learning and memory. Elevated cortisolalso eects mood and leads to depression and eelingso atigue. In addition, prolonged cortisol releases maynegatively impact the immune system.

Although there are no direct studies that show therelationship between stress and the treatment o Glio-blastoma, it is reasonable to assume that a reduction instress can strengthen the immune system with regards tothe battle against cancer.

I did not grow up with animals and have never been an ani-


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mal lover, but I did allow my children to have cats growingup. When I met my second wie Mercia, 15 years ago, sheannounced that Siamese cats were part o the package,and our cats have always been devoted to her.

We adopted Honey Bear 8 years ago and her oster moth-er warned my wie that she was a little firt and liked men.For eight years, this cat tried to beriend me and mostly Iwould ignore her when she would rub up against me. Mer-

cia would always encourage me to pet her and give her alittle stroke, which I did only to please my wie, not the catand grumbling the entire time I do not like cats!

However, things changed ater I became ill. As I lay in bedrecovering rom my brain surgery, Honey Bear seemed toknow I needed comorting and would snuggle up close tome. I would reach out and stroke her and was marveledthat she seemed so happy with the attention. And this wascertainly displayed by her overwhelming purring! Merciajust smiled and said that Honey Bears persistence was nownally rewarded! This bond between this cat and me haslasted well beyond the time that I lay recovering in bed. Shenow ollows me everywhere and I only have to sit down andup she jumps, snuggling and purring away, constantly giv-ing me amiable head butts. I no longer have to be coachedon how to pet her. I know all about ear scratches and when Istroke Honey Bear her tail goes up in delight. I now call hermy cat!

Mercias love is a pure-bred blue-point Siamese, namedTrufes, who is very jealous o me. When Mercia was tak-ing these photos o Honey Bear and me or the book, he justcould not understand why he wasnt included and jumpedinto the picture in more ways than one. (See him in the

Photo Album later in this book.)As a psychologist, I have always read about how comortingthe love o an animal can be to the sick and the elderly, andwhile I appreciated the theory, it never seemed applicable tome. I give credit to Mercia, but especially to a little pint-sized

Siamese cat or persisting to get this old curmudgeon to meltand break down. I actually do love this cat and have beencaught looking or treats or her in the pet store.

As I wrote my book late at night while lying in bed, shewas always by my side purring and ready or a stroking. Ihavent quite gured out why she clearly loves me so much,but I can tell you that I regard her as a wonderul littleaddition to my lie that makes me smile and she gives mecomort. I you do not have an animal in your household youmight be surprised at how healing animals can be.

Friends are also an important part o my lie and a greatsupport system.

Here are photos with a ew riends! (Also in the PhotoAlbum)

Webster denes mind as: memory; opinion; the seat ofconsciousness, in which thinking, feeling, etc. takes place.Personally, I dont like the word mind. I like to replace it with

The Author with Honey Bear

Making new riends in Las Vegas Its important to keep asense o humor! (2010)

Good riends make all the dierence (2010)


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the word thoughts. When you reer to this as such, you nowhave something you can change. Its a lot easier to changethe thought, I have a brain tumor and will die shortlyrather than trying to change part o your mind.

Let me introduce another psychological principle. I eelingsare a product o thoughts, then you eel the way you think.Change the way you think and you will change the way youeel. Feelings such as anxiety, stress and depression cause

changes within the body, both positive and negative. Hereare some interesting stories that play important roles in themind/body connection Im describing.

My chemotherapy nurse and I were discussing the topic omy book when she told me a very interesting experience shehad with a ormer cancer patient. This patient was a physi-cian and being treated or a Glioblastoma. She told me hehad extended his lie or 10 months by just willing himselto live stating, I have things to do! He was able to usethe mind/body connection to extend his lie and this wasapproximately 30 years ago when there was no treatmentor this type o brain tumor! This patient convinced this nurse

that there is a connection.

Another example is the story told by a waitress o a ormercustomer who was diagnosed with cancer and his doctortold him to go home and die, theres nothing more they cando. The man told this waitress, Im going to beat this! Theman is still alive today, 10 years later!

In contrast, my nurses ather was diagnosed with cancer.He had a very negative attitude towards his diagnosis,believing he was going to die rom it because thats whathappens to people when they get cancer. Unortunately, hepassed away less than 5 months rom his initial diagnosis.

I cannot tell you how many people have told me how re-markable my positive mental attitude is. Im not talking aboutjust layman, but proessionals such as nurses and physicians.In my readings I have learned that we are all big, socialcreatures. The mind and the body work together and infu-ence each other. In brie, the way you think infuences theway you eel and the way you eel infuences the immunesystem. I should note that negative eelings such as depres-sion, anger, and guilt can certainly have an aect on theability o your immune system to battle the cancer cells thathave invaded your body. At the same time, positive emotionssuch as joy and happiness can have very positive eects on

your overall health.

This approach is described in detail in the book written byShivani Goodman, Ed.D., titled, 9 Steps For Reversingor Preventing Cancer and Other Diseases. Dr. Goodmanteaches seminars to the public, proessionals, celebrities,and royalty worldwide. A gited psychologist and a sel-heal-ing consultant or more than 27 years, she holds a doctoratein Family and Community Education rom Columbia Uni-versity. She used the 9 Steps to reverse her third bout withbreast cancer.

In act, she divides her alternative methods into 9 steps. Ihave been practicing these or about one year and so ar,so good! Dr. Goodmans methods are as ollows:

1.) Make a decision to be well and decide to live inradiant health. Until that decision is made, the bodyremains in a state o continual breakdown. Once that

decision is made, a new healthy message is sent to thebrain, lling the body with hope and joy, which thenreleases healing chemicals and hormones.

2.) Heal your emotional painrelease bad eelings anddevelop new healthy eelings. Emotional pain is one othe biggest blocks to creating health. Extensive mind/body research has shown that unresolved emotions arethe basis or disease. As you eel and release all the en-ergy in the body that makes you eel bad, major healingoccurs. In the process, the decisions and attitudes thatcaused the emotional pain are identied and can thenbe changed.

3.) Heal your toxic attitudesnd the unhealthy attitudesthat caused the disease and make new healing deci-sions. When we identiy and change toxic decisions tohealing decisions, positive changes take place. As theold, destructive attitudes change into constructive per-ceptions, the bodys diseases diminish and disappear.Feelings o well-being and an optimistic view o lie areenlivened.

4.) Practice the daily healing routinerelax deeply,sel heal, arm healing decisions and consult the wisesel within. It is important to practice the Daily Healing

Routine every day. This is the healing routine that hasworked or clients, my students and me.

5.) Call on the doctor withinuse the wisdom withinyou to heal disease and strengthen the immune sys-tem. For those challenging cancer and other diseases,including mental and emotional pain, increasing yourability to visualize expands your ability to create a newramework so the changes in your body can take place.Research indicates that when you visualize a change inthe body, the body begins to adapt to that change. Thebrain reacts strongly to the images we have inside ourheads. It releases chemicals and hormones according tothe images we seeeven i they are just visualizations.When we have calm, comorting images o eeling saeand protected, o experiencing pleasure, love, and joy,it releases chemicals that convey these messages to therest o the body. When we have images o earo badthings happening, o worrieschemicals are releasedthat place the body in the ght-or-fight response. Themore the body is in that state o stress, the weaker theimmune system becomes. The more you ocus on the im-ages that make you eel joyul, the stronger the immunesystem becomes.


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6.) Use your doubt to create certaintyput doubt inyour doubt to create what you want. Fear and doubtare the most prevalent emotions in challenging cancerand other diseases. Placing doubt in the doubts inorder to create certainty has proven very helpul or meas well as my students. I encouraged them to createcertainty by visualizing the cancer gone, the tumordisappeared, or whatever challenge they were acing

gone. Ignore the diagnosis. Create a new reality, visu-alize it the way you wish it to be and create certainty.Its the eeling o certainty that creates that outcome inthe body.

7.) Use spiritual energy to enhance your healingconnect to your essence and access the love that heals.This is reconnecting with your goodness and the mostpowerul source o all healingyour spiritual core orpure love. Know that the highest part o your beingis goodness, beauty, truth and pure love. Remember,the eeling o love triggers the immune response andreleases the chemicals and hormones that produce

healing. Because the healing energy o love is o para-mount importance in reversing and preventing disease,it is vital that we learn to tap into this precious com-modity. The place to begin is by loving ourselves.

8.) Follow your hearts bliss and live with passionlisten to the voice o your heart and create a healthyullling lie. When you ollow your hearts truebliss, you reconnect with your true selyour good-ness, love, value and joy. These are the eelings thatstrengthen the immune system, which bring you backto health. When you ollow the longing o your heart,

you will eel bliss that will enliven you. You will eelloving kindness and incredible joy. These sensationso joy release chemicals and hormones rom the brainstrengthening the immune system. As these chemicalsfow throughout the blood, all systems o the bodyunction harmoniously. Finding our passion or lie orour deeper lies purpose gives us a reason to live.Focusing on living our passion rather than on dying ocancer or disease brings us back to our true sel, whichrebuilds the immune system and creates health. I weare ocusing on what we are really passionate aboutin lie and truly living lie with passion, we are llingour bodies with the energy that acilitates healing.

Whereas, i we have no passion or lie and ocus onour disease, it is the disease that grows instead o ourpassion. I believe that most people die o cancer anddisease because they had just given up on lie. Theyelt that they had nothing to live or. They had lost theirlies purposetheir passionand had no zest or lie.It is o the utmost importance to nd our passion or liein healing disease.

9.) Create a healing environmentsurround your-sel with a circle o encouragement to support yourrecovery. When we challenge cancer or any disease,

we are more open and vulnerable to what we hear.Sometimes these thoughts stay with you or severaldays. It takes a lot o energy to disregard them andnot be aected i the messages are negative andharmul. I would do great when I was alone withoutinteraction with my amily. But as soon as I elt goodand strong, I would start reconnecting with my amilyand riends. However, their ears and doubts were

so contagious that I would start eeling sick again.It didnt make sense. I loved them and wanted to bewith them. What I didnt realize was that they werenot capable o nurturing my sel-healing decisionsbecause they were caught in their own ears. Allthey knew was the medical route, and they believedthat cancer was death. Thereore, they couldnt helpbeing trapped in thoughts o terror. Others toxicthought patterns aect us too. They dont even haveto say anything; we eel their thoughts inside us in oursubconscious, which aects us. To most people, eventhe very thought o the word cancer creates panic.Most people cannot aord to check into a hotel room

or travel to a healing resort to be in a supportive,upliting environment that empowers us to heal. Thenext best thing is to connect with a truly healing sup-port group on a regular basis that supports us to heal.When you are eeling down, it can boost your spiritsand energy, lit you up, and put you back on trackor healing. Just as negative words can debilitate usand make us sick, on the other hand when we hearwords that support and encourage the notion that wecan heal, we are reminded that we have the ability toheal ourselves. The support that healing groups canprovide is not only lie saving, but also an integralpart o the healing process. With the encouragementand support o others who are developing similarthought patterns, it is much easier to make the neces-sary changes to reverse or prevent disease. Your con-sciousness will be lled with strong, healthy, healingdecisions. Then, notice how they repeat themselves in

your thoughts throughout the week.

Infrared Sauna Therapy

As I am writing this, it has now been eleven months sincemy operation and in my opinion, lie has returned to nor-mal. I sleep soundly or about eight hours a night. I play

tennis 2-3 times per week, 9 holes o gol twice a week,and exercise on the eliptor cycle approximately 40 minutesalmost daily. I also see a ew patients each week in myoce. I have plenty o energy and have no trouble concen-trating. I attribute my success to both the conventionaland alternative treatment or my Glioblastoma. Id like togive you some insight into my alternative methods.


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Infrared Sauna

My wie, whose business is dedicated solely to healthy liv-ing, has been working extremely hard on trying to prolongmy lie. For example, our home has been set up with an airpurication system designed to mimic an operating room ina surgical setting.

Mercia also purchased a Thera Sauna which is an inra-

red sauna that I use or 45 minutes twice a day. My wieound some inormation regarding inrared rays and howthey work rom the Internet.

The following information I found on Infrared SaunaTherapy:

Inrared rays are waves o energy, totally invisible tothe naked eye, capable o penetrating deep into thehuman body, where they gently elevate the bodyssurace temperature and activate major bodily unc-tions. Inrared expands capillaries, which stimulatesincreased blood fow, regeneration, circulation andoxygenation. Scientists in Japan report that in theinrared therapy treatment o clogged capillary vessels,heat expands the capillaries and then initiates the starto a process to dissolve hidden toxins. Inrared therebypromotes elimination o ats, chemicals and toxins romthe blood. Some examples are: poisons, carcinogenicheavy metals, toxic substances rom ood process-ing, lactic acid, ree atty acids, and subcutaneous atassociated with aging and atigue, excess sodium as-sociated with hypertension, and uric acid which causespain. Inrared promotes the killing o many pathogenic(disease causing) bacteria, viruses, ungi and parasites.

Inrared promotes rebuilding o injured tissue by havinga positive eect on the connective tissue cells neces-sary or the repair o injury. Furthermore, it increasesgrowth o cells, DNA syntheses, and protein synthesisall necessary during tissue repair and regeneration. Ex-cellent or healing burns, scar tissue and skin problems.Inrared relieves nervous tension and relaxes autoneuromuscles thereby helping the body make the most oits intended healing abilities. Inrared strengthens theimmune system by stimulating increased production owhite blood cells (leukocytes) by the bone marrow andkiller T-cells by the thymus. Finally, inrared strengthensthe Cardiovascular System by causing heart rate and

cardiac output increase, and diastolic blood pressuredecrease.

Thermal therapy has been in existence or thousands oyears, dating back to ancient civilizations such as the Finns,the Romans, the ancient Chinese and the American Indians.Palm Healing, an ancient tradition in China, has used thehealing properties o inrared rays or 3,000 years. Thesenatural healers emit energy and heat radiating rom theirhands to heal, much the same as Reiki healers do.

Research and development in the 1960s, notably most

extensively in Japan, introduced the inrared ray thermaltechnology. This revolutionized thermal technology to aneective, sae, natural, hygienic, and ecient approach tothermal treatment. Today there are multiple health and medi-cal proessionals internationally who rehabilitate and treat amultitude o physical problems by using heat therapy. Relieo sports injuries via thermal therapy is just one example otreatment. Cancer is the most signicant other.

Over the last 25 years, Japanese and Chinese researchersand clinicians have completed extensive research on inra-red medical treatments and report many amazing discover-ies. In Japan, there is an inrared society composed omedical doctors and physical therapists dedicated to urtherinrared research. Their ndings support the outstandinghealth benets o inrared therapy as a method o healing.

In the US, mainstream thinking on cancer treatment hasundergone great change. Surgery, radiotherapy, andchemotherapy are considered detrimental to health and invasive treatments. Thermal therapy and immune-therapy arenon-invasive. Cancerous cells cannot exist i blood circula-

tion is smooth and continuous. A cancerous cell has to stopmoving to prolierate. The cancerous cells positioning isdirectly related to the capillaries, which are at the end o theblood vessels. The cancer cell tries to position itsel by goingthrough the capillary. I it goes through, there could be nopositioningwhich is what happens i there is good bloodcirculation. The cell will then be killed by the immunocyte. Ithe cancer cell ails to pass through the capillary because osome unctional disorder in the circulation, the cell could easily position itsel.

The cancerous cell has a weakness: heat. It will die i thetemperature goes above 42 degrees C/107.6 degrees F.

Inrared treatment raises the body temperature to 42 de-grees C. Inrared heat penetrates through the body and killsexisting cancerous cells. Inrared heat enables capillaries toexpand, thus enabling good circulation and combating thepotential existence o cancer cells. Also, inrared thermaltherapy can alleviate pain and prolong lie when conven-tional cancer treatment ails.

The following is literature taken directly from the TheraSauna manual:

The dierence between a traditional steam sauna and inra-

red sauna is: the steam sauna works primarily on the skinssurace and the inrared saunas heat penetrates the suraceup to two inches. Because it reaches the muscles and bones,it is more therapeutic, and your body sweats and releasesmore toxins than with a traditional sauna. With traditionalsaunas, which may reach over twice the bodys averagetemperature (up to 200 degrees), the heat can disturb thebrains temperature-regulating region, the hypothalamicregion. When the head is unprotected, heat stroke can oc-cur. However, inrared saunas operate eectively at muchlower temperatures, so heat stroke is not likely to occur.Also, since the temperature is more comortable, people can
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use inrared saunas or longer, maximizing the benets. Ourbodies contain all types o toxins such as sulphur dioxide,carbon dioxide, lead, mercury, and chlorine. These are con-tained in water molecules, which are disintegrated by theheat o the sauna, and then leave the body through reshlyopened pores and capillaries. Much like sauna treatmentshave shown to ght other diseases, cancer is one, which ap-pears to have decreased risk in sauna users. The stimulationo blood cell production helps destroy bad cells. Also, the

extreme heat protects healthy cells, while tumor cells becomemore susceptible to radiation and chemotherapy, so while itmay reduce the risk o ever getting cancer, it also works as acompliment to cancer treatments.

Since there is no standard protocol or inrared saunausage, I have provided some dierent protocols used bydierent physicians that utilize inrared saunas in treatingtheir patients. You and your physician must ultimately decidewhats best or you.

Dr. Sherry Rogers is a Fellow o American College o Allergy& Immunology and Diplomate o American Academy o

Environmental Medicine. She is a member o the outstand-ing Healthy, Wealthy & Wise Health Sta and lectures onher original scientic material worldwide, as well as givingadvanced courses or physicians. In addition, she has pub-lished multiple scientic articles, authored 13 books and hasbeen the environmental editor or Internal Medicine WorldReport. Dr. Rogers states:

Even though the body has one proven mechanismor dumping environmental toxins, many olks cantsweat. Environmental chemicals have so damagedthe autonomic nervous system that its like having abroken thermostat. For others, they eel dreadully

ill i they try to sweat. For those who do sweat, highheat causes the mobilization into the bloodstream onasty chemicals rom sae storage in at, heighten-ing symptoms. As well, loss o precious nutrients alongwith the chemicals can precipitate serious medicalproblems. A specic detoxication program is neededto circumvent these problems, while rst making surethe detoxication pathways are strong enough tohandle the extra burden o mobilized chemicals.

Start using the sauna at 100 degrees F, in short 10-20minute increments at rst, building up a eel or yourbodys tolerance. Use less heat i you eel discomortinitially. Older, sicker people, or anyone that eelsinitial discomort should proceed at a much slowerpace and even lower temperatures. The inraredsauna wavelength penetrates 1 1/2 inches into thebody, generally enabling chemicals to come directlyout o subcutaneous at storage sites into sweat. Thisavoids a worsening o symptoms seen when high heatsaunas pull chemicals out o sae storage, then directlyinto the bloodstream on their way to the sweat. I yoususpect youve had severe poisonings that may createserious withdrawal symptoms as you mobilize chemi-

cals, go at a slower pace. Even though the inraredmethod is much saer and does not generally precipi-tate symptoms, Ive learned ater 32 years in medicinethat there are always exceptions to any rule.

It is a good idea to get a complete physical rom yourdoctor when you discuss your sauna plans. I you are

on any medications, sauna may help you detoxiyand get rid o important drugs too quickly, therebychanging your blood levels. For some drugs this isnot desirable, or you may need to have blood levelso the drug drawn, or have other parameters that areaected by the drug monitored.

Take your blood pressure, temperature, respiratoryrate, weight and pulse, assessing its regularity beoreand ater the rst ew saunas. I you are ragile, checkthem every 10-15 minutes while in the sauna. I yourblood pressure, pulse or respiratory rate increases 10points, get out o the sauna or the day. Youve had

enough or a beginner until your next days session.Next session use a shorter time and lower tempera-ture along with increasing your minerals and water. I

your oral temperature goes over 100 degrees F, stopor the day. I you weigh less ater a sauna, you didnot drink enough water to compensate or the loss. Agood rule o thumb is to weigh your towels beore andater the sauna and drink the dierence in weight inspring water. That is, i your towels gained 3 poundso water, drink 3 pounds o water. Also, keep a littlediary and document any symptoms.

Thera Sauna and the use o inrared rays (No - thats not me orMercia in the sauna!)
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I you are very apprehensive, start with 10 minutesdaily at 100-110 degrees F, then slowly advance to anhour over the weeks. Ater you tolerate this, you maywish to slowly advance to 130 degrees F. However,many people stay below 120 degrees F indenitely.There is no need to go higher. There is no prize orgetting to a high temperature or being able to toleratehours in the sauna. Be gentle with your body and assoon as you eel any discomort, discontinue use or the

day.

I you cannot attain any o this in one session, no prob-lem. You may leave it at what you tolerate or get out,shower o the toxins, and sauna again in the same ornext day. Remember to keep drying o the sweat witha towel. While in the sauna, sometimes just openingthe door or a bit or turning down the temperature isenough to allow longer exposure. You must stop at anytime that you experience headache, nausea, ast or ir-regular heart rate (i this is not a symptom you normallyhave), weakness, shortness o breath, dizziness, disori-entation, muscle cramps, muscle spasms or twitching,

or any adverse symptom.

Dr. Larry Wilson has worked as a nutrition consultant or thepast 29 years in the state o Arizona. He has also workedclosely with Dr. Paul Eck, a brilliant Biochemist and oundero Analytical Research Laboratories. Dr. Wilson spends mosto his time teaching physicians and nutrition consultants thener points o nutritional balancing science. Dr. Larry Wil-sons sauna detoxication protocol reads:

One may use a sauna twice a week to twice a day. I oneis debilitated, begin with once a week. Work up to dailyuse, as one is able. When beginning, many people do not

easily sweat. Instead, their bodies overheat and tolerate lesstime in the sauna. In a ew weeks to a ew months, as thebody acclimates and is more able to regulate its tempera-ture, sweating becomes easier. Also, the more one relaxes,the more one will sweat.

Avoid heavy meals two hours beore a sauna session. Avoidalcohol or other intoxicating substances. Drink 8 ounceso water beore entering the sauna. Add sea salt and 2tablespoons daily o kelp to ones diet, especially i thewater is mineral-ree. Remove metal jewelry beore enter-ing the sauna as it may become very hot. With an inraredsauna, enter as soon as you turn it on or just preheat to 100degrees F. Warm up with the sauna and when it reaches115-120 degrees F open the door approximately so theelements or bulbs remain operational but the sauna stays atthis temperature (or set the thermostat accordingly).Use a small towel to wipe o the sweat, sit on another towel,and have a third towel on the foor to avoid slipping. Talk-ing, watching TV or working is not recommended while inthe sauna.

How long one remains in the sauna depends on ones condi-tion. Body temperature should not increase more than our

degrees. The pulse should not increase more than 50% othe resting pulse. Begin with 15 minutes i one is ill. I theheart begins to race, sweating stops or one eels aint, endthe session immediately. Sixty minutes is a maximum time.

When nished, take a shower, warm or cool but not hot.Avoid soap i possible as you should be very clean. Soapleaves a lm and clogs the pores. Wipe o sweat with askin brush or looa. Brush all over, even ace and hair. This

enhances the cleansing eect. Use shampoo and conditioneronly i needed because most contain chemicals toxic to thebody. Also skip most oils, lotions and creams. These alsocontain chemicals that may clog the pores. Rinse o thetowels used to wipe o sweat in the sauna and hang to dry.Ater a sauna session drink 8 ounces o water and sit or atleast 10 minutes. These simple steps allow the body to reapthe ull benet o the sauna experience.

Healing reactions are temporary symptoms that occur astoxic substances are eliminated and chronic inections heal.Symptoms vary rom mild odors, tastes, or rashes to periodso atigue, bowel changes, aches, pains or headaches. Mos

healing symptoms are benign but consult your practitioner iany cause or concern.

Emotional healing also takes place. Temporary anxiety orother emotional states may occur and usually pass quickly.Some are directly related to elimination o toxic substancesand others are associated with emotional clearing.

Saunas are sae or most people but supervision is alwaysbest, especially i they have a health condition. I debilitatedor very heat-sensitive, begin with less time in a sauna. Thepresence o an attendant or riend is also most helpul.

Another physician, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, had a particu-lar protocol that involved electric inrared sauna. He ran asanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular ocus onnutrition, enemas, and exercise. Dr. Kellogg was an advo-cate o vegetarianism and best known or the invention ocorn fakes breakast cereal with his brother Will Keith Kel-logg. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, not only invented Kelloggscorn fakes, he was also the inventor o the worlds rstelectric inrared sauna (powered by 50 light bulbs). Thesesaunas became amous as one o the most eective medi-cal therapies known. Dr. Kellogg successully treated manydiseases on many thousands o patients with this electriclight bath cabinet. Todays inrared saunas are simply themodern version o his light bath cabinets.

The ollowing is taken rom Dr. Kelloggs book Light Thera-peutics.

When the incandescent light bath was rst constructed andintroduced into therapeutics, no adequate conception couldbe ormed o the large place, which this curative agent wasdestined to ll in the modern treatment o disease. Since thattime the electric-light bath in various orms has ound its wayinto almost all o the leading hospitals o the world. Hun-


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dreds o establishments and hundreds o physicians have be-come acquainted with the remarkable healing properties othis agent. Phototherapy or light-therapy has come to occupya large eld in therapeutics. The list o maladies which yieldto the infuence o light is daily increasing, although includ-ing already quite a large proportion o the chronic ailmentsencountered in clinical practice.

During the time since its rst employment (1891), this bath

has been used under Dr. Kelloggs general supervision inmore than ty thousand cases. At rst its chie value wasattributed to its eliminative eects, but deeper study o thesubject convinced Dr. Kellogg that its chie value rests in itsinfuence upon the circulation. Under the infuence o thegeneral electric-light bath, the skin is lled with blood. Thestimulation o the sweat glands is incidental. The perspirationhas some value through metabolism, but the amount o toxicmatters carried out through the skin is small. The completelling o the skin with blood removes the disabling conges-tion o the liver, stomach, spleen and other internal parts.This relie is rendered more or less permanent by the xationo the blood in the skin aected by the cold application that

always ollows the electric-light bath as well as other generalheating measures. The active vascular dilatation ollowingthis cold application is o much longer duration than thatresulting rom the application o heat alone; thus a more orless durable eect is produced. By a daily repetition o thisprocedure, normal conditions are gradually restored. Thecirculation o the skin becomes more and more active, andthe amount o blood in the over-distended internal organsis diminished. The enlarged liver and spleen contract, thecongested sympathetic nerve centers return to the normalstate, and the vital resistance o the tissues is increased. Thevarious symptoms o autointoxication disappear; the skinreacquires its natural elasticity and color, and the patient

gradually returns to a normal state.

The body temperature is raised much more rapidly in theelectric-light bath than in any other orm o hot bath becausethe rays o radiant energy pass through the skin and reachthe interior o the body at once. In the ordinary hot bath theheat penetrates the tissues very slowly and only reaches asmall distance beneath the surace.

Physiological experiments have shown that the elevated tem-perature in ebrile conditions is one o the methods by whichnature combats the causes o disease, or neutralizes some othe morbid conditions resulting rom disease. The physiologi-cal eects o the electric-light bath may exercise a stronglycurative infuence by the elevation o the body temperature,thereby enabling it to produce antitoxins. As a prophylactic,this bath also possesses a high value, especially or personswho live a sedentary lie, as it is the best substitute or mus-cular activity.

In the use o the incandescent light bath the ollowing pointsshould be borne in mind:

1. The application is thermic in character, the amount o

ultra-violet rays present being quite insignicant.

2. The purpose o the application is to heat not only theskin, but also the sub-dermic tissues.

3. The intensity o the application is limited by the toler-ance o heat by the skin.

4. A glass o water should be taken just beore and ater

the bath.5. Care should be taken to see that the eet are warm.

6. Care should be taken to avoid overheating.

7. In general, prolonged sweating should be avoidedexcept in certain cases o rheumatism and obesity. Insuch cases, the bath should be suciently prolonged toproduce a rise o temperature o one or two degrees.

8. Applications o radiant heat should always be ol-lowed by a cooling procedure adapted to the case.

Cabinet baths require a cool or tepid shower, a neutralbath, or cool towel rub.

I am most ortunate as Mercia purchased a sauna or ourhome, as well as a portable sauna or travel rom Dr. Wil-sons web site. My son also has a sauna in his home. Sowhen Mercia and I went to Sedona, Arizona on vacation, orwhen I visit my kids, I still can stay on my sauna routine!

Nutrition and Dietary Supplements

I am not a nutritionist and there are many good books onnutrition readily available. Many o these books promoteanti-Cancer diets. I cannot do a better job than these pro-essionals, but I can tell you about my experience and how Iused nutrition in my ght to survive.

When diagnosed with cancer, youre engaged in a battle:good guys in the orm o your immune system and whiteblood cells vs. bad guys or cancer cells. Just like taking careo a car is very important, you have to keep your body inexcellent condition so you can win the battle! Nutrition anddietary supplements could help strengthen your immunesystem and help win this battle. Because I had expressedinterest in nding alternative ways to ght my cancer, my

treating Oncologist, Dr. Norden, recommended I see Dr.David S. Rosenthal. Dr. Rosenthal is the medical directoro the Leonard P. Zakim Center or Integrated Therapies atDana Farber Cancer Institute. He is also the president othe Society o Integrative Oncology. Over the course o 40minutes, I asked Dr. Rosenthal many questions regarding mycurrent nutrition, exercise program and current alternativemethods being practiced. I was concerned with whether Iwas getting the proper nutrition and whether or not I shouldbe adding any type o dietary supplements. The ollowing istaken directly rom the dictated consultation note written byDr. Rosenthal himsel:


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In reviewing his nutrition, it is clear that he is on a phyto-nutrient-rich diet. I gave him a handout o ruits and veg-etables. He does not like the green vegetables but is tryingto compensate by having more and more servings o ruitsa day. There are some vegetables he does like and he doeslike nuts as well. Beans are also a good supplement or him.It appears that he is approaching 5-10 servings o ruits andvegetables and I encouraged him to continue to do so. Inaddition, he does like sh and I old him that i he cannot eat

sh every day he should supplement with the Omega-3 shoil capsules at 1 gram a day. He does, in addition to sh orprotein, consume chicken and turkey, which is low at. Hedoes not eat any more meat.

He is eating dairy products and rened sugars sparingly. Ialso recommended that he take Vitamin D at 1-2,000IU aday. I described the new ood pyramid to him and alongside a good phytonutrient-rich diet that we had discussedwas exercise. He comments You need not worry aboutthat as he is doing a number o activities and keeps busywith gol. I did, however, reinorce the act that he shouldbe spending 30-60 minutes a day, at least 6 days a week,

in some orm o exercise. I told him that it need not be allcardiac in nature but could consist o using the universalgym and calisthenics. He has been detoxing by using inra-red sauna daily at 135 degrees F or an average o 30-40minutes divided into two sessions.

Finally, we did talk about the complementary therapies andhis stress reduction. He seems to be handling that very wellalthough there were times when he seemed to be at all oddswhen discussing over-the-counter supplements with his wie.The stress activity seems to have been reduced with thedecrease in the load o his clients in psychotherapy. I did de-scribe to him the therapies that involve mind, body, as well

as physical activities such as chi gong, tai chi, Pilates, andyoga. He does like to walk and does like to play gol on aregular basis. He also seems to achieve stress reduction bywalks with his nurse along the shores o the ocean in Plym-outh during aternoon breaks. As ar as the supplements areconcerned, I told him that I did not see the need or manyantioxidants that he is currently considering, as he seemsto be getting enough Vitamin C in his diet. I told him therewere studies being perormed on IV Vitamin C but thoseresults are not yet in. I also told him that mistletoe injectionsare not a cure-all and that the leaves are poisonous. As aras the other supplements he talked about are concerned, Itold him that he really need not do these i he continues withhis phytonutrient-rich diet. I told him that green tea was nebut I am sure that he was told that during radiation therapyhe should not be taking any antioxidants.

It seems to make common sense that you have everythingto gain and nothing to lose by eating a healthy diet andmaintaining a healthy body. Although I could not nd anyspecic research or reerences pertaining to a special dietor glioblastoma, there is plenty o material on the propernutrition or the general cancer patient. One o the bestreerences I ound was Beating Cancer with Nutrition byPatrick Quillin, Ph.D., RD, CNS.

For 10 years, Dr. Quillin served as the VP o Nutrition ora major nationwide cancer hospital chain, ollowed by 5

years o clinical practice with cancer patients in San Diego.He earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate degreesin nutrition and is a registered and licensed dietician andcertied nutrition specialist with the American College oNutrition. On the cover o his book it is written: Bestsellerin its Category! Amazon.com 1999. I always check thebackground and training o the authors. For those o you

who dont want to read the entire book, like me, there isa condensed version on page 7 titled, Shortcut: ExecutiveSummaryI you are too sick to read much, then read thissection21 days to a healthier cancer patient. This I highlyrecommend that you read!

Dr. Quillin not only touches on the nutritional as-pect but also on all the other actors which can impact youroutcome. I also ound the chart Rating Your Foods very inter-esting. Dr. Quillin recommends that the cancer patient reerto the oods ound in six dierent categories: best, good,air, poor, bad, and worst and eat the oods that are highon the chart. I circled the oods I liked in the best category

and handed the list to my wie so she could purchase theseitems or me. This way, Im not only eating healthier, but Imalso eating the oods I like!

Mercia also turned me on to the breakthrough supplementProtandim. Each anti-aging Protandim caplet contains aunique combination o phytonutrients that signal the bodysgenes to produce its own antioxidant enzymes, which pro-vides many more times antioxidant power than any ood orconventional antioxidant supplement.

Making healthy changes to your diet and getting exercise willmake everything eel better.
http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/protandim-nutrition-supplements.htmlhttp://www.allergybuyersclub.com/protandim-nutrition-supplements.html


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The Bibliography at the end of this book is a good resource foradditional reading but you can also search for nutrition booksonline.

Small Victories Along the WayIm A Lucky Camper!

However dire ones own predicaments or when lie hits youwith a two-by-our, I always say that you can think o peoplewho are worse o than yoursel and look at the glass as halull instead o hal empty. So although, I have a terminal dis-ease, I have many blessings and I can think o many cancerpatients who are ar less ortunate than me.

With the help o an excellent surgeon, Dr Anderson, atBrigham and Womens hospital, all my visible brain tu-mor was removed, and while my recovery was slow, I amortunate to have recovered 90% o my brain unctioning.This has allowed me to resume a airly normal lie; I ski, playgol, tennis, attend community college and do some part-timework. And though I do not do them perhaps with the same

intensity or skill as I did beore my operation, I am grateulthat I am not sitting at home waiting to die!

I am married to a wonderul woman, Mercia, my partnerand wie or the last 15 years, who put in hundreds ohours on the Internet researching additional complementarymedicine strategies, in addition to my radiation and chemo-therapy. I am lucky that she is in the health products industryas an Internet retailer as it was she who came up with myinared sauna, alkaline water, central air purication anddietary supplement regimen including the breakthroughsupplement Protandim. She has also cooked me an anti-cancer diet rom my avorite oods over the last 18 months,

and managed to actually introduce this old dog to a ewnew oods! I believe that these additions to my conventionalregimen have been signicant in prolonging my lie. Merciareduced her hours dramatically at work despite being theCEO o a 25-person company and works at home one daya week. She also unded a personal assistant and Regis-tered Nurse, Laurie Campbell, or 18 months until I waswell enough to only need buddies to drive me around whenshe is at work. Throughout the summer o 2010, Mercia letwork early to take me out or late aternoon gol where shepatiently caddied or me. We enjoyed each others compan-ionship while the wildlie came out to play at sunset on thebeautiul gol course, which is right outside our back door.

I have reduced my private practice oce hours as a clini-cal psychologist and ocus mostly on telephone counselingpatients through a website which was also set up 10 yearsago by my wie. She predicted that one day I would want toconcentrate on helping patients by phone and not commuteto an outside oce. The point is, I still wish to assist otherpeople and to be able to do this now is a blessing in my lie.It remains a constant reminder to me as to how ortunate Iam despite my illness.

As I have mentioned beore, my wie and I live in a plannedcommunity called The Pinehills, in Plymouth, MA. It is themost beautiul place! Mercia has maintained a wonderulperennials garden on our property. It is an absolute joy tolook out to each day in summer. I still do not know all thenames o the fowers, but she picks a bunch or me eachweek to have on the table next to my avorite chair in theden. The best thing o all about The Pinehills is the senseo community and the riends we have made during the six

years we have lived there. I have never had so many malebuddies as I have now and our riends cannot do enoughor me. I get invited out or gol, tennis and wonderul hikesalong the lakes and woods o Southeastern Massachusetts.We have never elt that we were going through this diseasealone. So much so, Mercia sometimes complains that it takesher a long time to do the grocery shopping because somany people stop her to inquire about my health!

My children have also been tremendously supportive. I amlucky that they live within an hours drive o my home. I seethem at least once a week, which gives Mercia a much-needed girls night out. We talk on the phone every day.

While I love the special treats they give me, such as primeseats to baseball, ootball and basketball games, its the timetogether that gives me the most joy. In this picture were on awinter sleigh ride! Whether it is tennis or ski lessons, or justa relaxing weekend in the mountains, my children cannot doenough or me and I am truly grateul or each o them.

I consider mysel very lucky to live in an area, which hasaccess to the nest hospitals in the world, and I cannot sayenough good things about the Oncology team at DanaFarber Cancer Institute. I know that i not or them, I wouldnhave been able to complete this book. I have decided topublish this book via the Internet with the hopes o raising

unds or their ongoing brain tumor research. They havealways answered my questions patiently and honestly, andhelped me make sensible decisions about my health. Theyhave helped prolong my lie and have given me such pre-cious time with my wie and amily. I I can repay them byund-raising, then so be it! I eel that it is such a small recom-pense or what they have given me.


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Small Victories Along the Way - The Photo Album

My wie Mercia and I at Palm Beach (2011)

I love the fowers in our garden (2009)

Just walking in sunshine (Arizona 2010)

I love outdoor sculptures. (Arizona 2010)


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Honeybear is good company Daodil Weekend in Nantucket (2010)

The rain orest in St. Kitts (2010)My wie Mercia in the rain orest (2010)


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Still golng in 2011 and love it! Into the hole! (2011)

Blowing candles out at my 74th Birthday Party(2011)

Our cat Trufes. Isnt he handsome! Since I gotsick, I now love our cats.

I love shopping! Like my new tie? (St. Kitts 2010)


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Walking by Plymouth Harbor (2010)

Relaxing by our ront door (2011)

I love to walk, taking a break. (Japanese Garden 2011)

Mercias tulips this Spring. (2011)


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The Lion King on our Vegas Trip (2011) Walking in Sedona (2011)

Is this a good way to protect the rain orest? (2011)On a amily sleigh ride in New Hampshire (2011)


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So Why Did Brain Cancer Attack Me?

Do Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer?

This is a question that is not easily answered.

Day ater day, I ound mysel researching and reading anymaterial I could nd that dealt with cancer and the possiblelink between cell phones. I had had a very interesting talk

with my wies riend, Cathy, who is a physician. I told herthat I thought there were three possible reasons why I devel-oped a brain tumor.

Reason #1: It was caused by my prolonged cell phoneuse. I told her that I had perormed telephone counsel-ing with people all over the world and my website hadreally expanded so I had been spending several hourswith my cell phone pressed against the right side o myhead.

Reason #2: My cancer had been caused by the radia-tion therapy I had received ollowing my prostate op-

eration ve years ago. Although, i I were right, therewould be so many more cases o brain tumors and theywould have discovered this cause by now.

Reason #3: The cause could have been rom the buzz-ing razor used on my head in the past when I had adierent hairstyle.

Cathy told me that the rst reason I had given was the oneshe could agree with. She said there was a signicantincrease in the number o Glioblastomas recently and shethinks that the prolonged cell phone use could be the cause.Unortunately, there is the suggestion that the research resultsare being suppressed and it will be twenty years rom nowbeore we actually know i cell phones are the major cause.Cathy also suggested I use a wired headset i I were to usemy cell phone in the uture. I knew I was never using thatthing again!

What I decided to do was to present all the inormation Ihad researched and let the reader come to their own conclu-sion.

David Barnaby, the VP o Merchandising at my wiescompany, sent the rst reerence I picked up to me via

email. It was an article written by Christopher Ketchamentitled Warning: Your Cell Phone May Be Hazardous toYour Health. In his article, Mr. Ketcham tells the story o aninvestment broker working at a top Wall Street rm whom hemet recently and who was diagnosed with a brain tumor ve

years earlier. He explains that the tumor was located behindJims right ear and was not immediately atalthe ve-

year survival rate is approximately 70 percent.

He goes on to say that Jim was 35 years old at the time ohis diagnosis and immediately suspected it was the resulto his intense cell phone usage. As an investment banker,Jim had been using cell phones since 1992. When Jim

asked his Neurosurgeon about the possibility o a cell-phone-induced tumor, the doctor responded that he wasseeing more and more o such casesyoung, relativelyhealthy businessmen who had long used their cell phonesobsessively. He also stated that he believed the industryhad discredited studies showing there is a risk rom cellphones. The article goes on to say that a handul o Jimscolleagues had already died rom brain Cancer and he eltthat the more reports he encountered o young nance guys

developing tumors, the more certain he elt that it wasnt acoincidence.

Mr. Ketcham also wrote that its dicult to talk about thedangers o cell phone radiation, especially in the UnitedStates. He goes on stating that non-industry-unded studiesare rare, where legislation protecting the wireless industryrom legal challenges has long been in place, and whereour lives have been so thoroughly integrated with wirelesstechnology that to suggest it might be a problem is likesaying our shoes might be killing us. Except our shoes dontsend microwaves directly into our brains and our cell phonedo.

Mr. Ketcham continues by saying that though the scienticdebate is heated and ar rom resolved, there are multiple reports, mostly out o Europes premier research institutions, ocell phone and PDA use being linked to brain aging, braindamage, early-onset Alzheimers, senility, DNA damage,and even sperm die-os. He also reers to the preliminaryresults o the multinational Interphone study sponsored by

brain cancer beating the odds

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