My Recovery

As I mark the 10 year anniversary of my lung cancer diagnosis, several people have asked what I did, what I ate and etc. So I am posting a summary of what I did during my treatment that I think may have contributed to my recovery. Some things have changed over the past 10 years, and I've noted that in a few places. There also is a *lot* more known about nutrition for cancer patients now, as has been discussed often on this board. This is what I did at the time, but I probably would incorporate a lot of the recommendations in recent books if I were devising a nutrition program now. So here goes:

Symptoms: pain under left shoulder blade and coughing up blood.

Diagnosis: 7 by 8 cm. adenocarcinoma of the lung, Stage IIIB, inoperable. March 24, 1999.

Treatment:
Treated at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, OK.
"Fractionated" external beam radiation--twice a day, 5 days a week, enhanced by low-dose chemo 1 day a week, for 6 weeks (April 6-May 17, 1999). (I believe more sophisticated types of radiation are available now and are given only once a day.)
"Fractionated" chemo (Taxol and carboplatin)--5-hour session (plus 1 hour of pre-meds), for 5 consecutive days, every fifth week for 5 months (June-October 1999). (Standard interval was every 4th week, but my doctor recommended every 5th because of my low white blood cell counts.) (I believe this chemo is now given as a "bolus", i.e. all in 1 day instead of spread out over 5 days.)

Result: tumor shrank down to 2.5 cm by Oct. 1999 and to an immeasurable scar by April 25, 2000.

Diet:
A lot of protein is recommended during treatment. My diet was:
Mostly organic.
Mostly vegetarian, but I did eat a lot of fish (mostly poached salmon). Now I eat chicken, too, and even beef on very rare occasion.
A lot of eggs, usually poached, for protein and because they are easy to prepare and I like them.
Very little dairy, except for live-culture organic yogurt.
Rice and beans; hummus.
A lot of vegetables, mostly raw and blended in a VitaMix blender.
Nuts (almonds and walnuts), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, and flax), and avocado--because they are good and healthful (good fats) and also to keep my weight up.
Apples and onions, linked to lower rates of lung cancer in a Finnish study.
A lot of garlic. I put minced garlic in a cup with olive oil, put in fridge to solidify, and used it lavishly on whole grain toast. Instant healthful garlic bread.
Low sodium.
Lots of (reverse osmosis) water.

Fats
I tried to use only butter and olive oil. Now I also include coconut oil, for sautéing. Other oils may promote cancer. Partially hydrogenated oils (in margarine and most baked goods) may have trans fats and are especially bad.

Sweets
I tried to avoid refined sugar. It is said that "sugar feeds cancer." For sweets, I ate fruit (fresh and dried), including fruit smoothies I made in the VitaMix, and occasionally, stevia. E.g. limeade: 1 cup water, juice of 1/2 lime, 7 drops stevia, ice. Stevia may have a bitter aftertaste to some people, though. I never use artificial sweeteners.

Smoothies (makes about 16 oz):
Made in VitaMix blender.
Morning: 1 banana, 3 T of mixture of pumpkin, sunflower, and flax seeds, 2 T each oat bran and wheat bran, 2 T hydrolyzed lactalbumin protein (pure whey protein—has anti-cancer properties) powder, 2 prunes (high in antioxidants), and enough soy milk to blend—maybe 3/4 cup. After blending, I mixed in some live culture organic yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit, e.g. blueberries. These days I usually omit the oat and wheat bran and the prunes, and I usually blend the extra fruit into the drink.
Noon: beet, parsley, carrot, maybe fresh ginger, lime juice, almonds, water.
Evening (2 16 oz servings--1 before dinner and 1 with dinner): broccoli, cabbage, carrots, kale, celery, red onion, spinach, apple, maybe tofu, water.
Now I make pretty much the same 16 oz. drink, 1 for lunch and 1 for dinner. It's my liquid salad: 1 carrot, 1/2 apple, and a variety of greens, usually broccoli, parsley, and cilantro; sometimes celery, kale, bok choy, etc., and water. Some veggies like cabbage and onion make the drink quite strong tasting.
Veggies are thought to help in recovery from lung cancer. The VitaMix (a blender, not a juicer) makes it easy to consume lots of raw veggies, including all their fiber. Starting with naturally sweet ingredients, like just apple, carrot, and spinach, makes a pretty tasty drink. Then stronger tasting veggies can be added as tolerated.

Supplements:
I took, and still take, a *lot* of supplements: vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc..
I avoided taking a separate beta carotene supplement, since a Finnish study showed a higher rate of lung cancer in smokers who took beta carotene.
Especially recommended for cancer patients are multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, and fish oil.
Said to be especially beneficial for recovery from lung cancer are "green superfoods" (I take ProGreens by Nutricology, mixed with water) and quercetin.

Celebrex:
I was given Celebrex for joint pain (200 mg., twice a day), and it came to light later that Celebrex has anti-cancer properties by virtue of being a COX-2 inhibitor. It may have been a factor in my recovery.

Exercise:
I walked, usually twice a day, for at least 15 or 20 minutes each time, every day, including during chemo, but not for several days immediately after chemo, when I had no stamina and just took it easy.

Contact with Loved Ones:
I was keeping friends and family updated on my situation via email. My mailing list snowballed, and I was in close contact with virtually all of my loved ones, who sent me a lot of love, prayers, support, and encouragement.

Meditation and Visualization:
I tried meditation but wasn't very successful. I did start praying, though. I also did daily visualization of all my loved ones lined up behind me, doing a Tug of War with the cancer, and winning.

Positive Attitude:
I was able to regain my usual positive attitude. I actually had fun a lot of the time, especially from being in close touch with friends and family, and even visiting and being visited by some.

That's my summary. Hope it's of interest to some.

God bless,
Kathy

By Wennot
Posted March 26, 2009 at 6:29 pm
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Kathy,

Thanks so much for sharing those tips. The diet and lifestyle you followed is easily accessible to almost anyone. It is not complicated, nor is it prohibitively expensive. It is a well grounded, and well rounded, approach to maintaining optimum health.

I am so very happy for you as you celebrate this incredible victory. Wow!

I am curious - how long did you take the Celebrex?

Kathy

By patriciad
Posted March 26, 2009 at 6:32 pm
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Thank you for taking the time to write that. My husband is at the beginning of what I hope to be a very long journey. I do some of the things you suggest and will add some of your suggestions to our repertoire. I truly believe that what you put into your body has an effect on your health(good and bad).
Thanks again for sharing
Pat

By KatInNM
Posted March 26, 2009 at 7:45 pm
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Hi Kathy,

I took the Celebrex from the end of March until, as I recall, sometime mid summer, when the joint pain subsided.

Good luck and God bless,
Kathy

By Munker
Posted March 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm
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Thanks for the info but one item really sticks out in your post and that is Celebrex! I know a doctor who was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer 7 years ago and basically was told he would be lucky if he lived a year. Well, he is still here and I think it is due to the fact that he takes celebrex. He has explained how it all works - something to do with the anti-inflammatory properties but for some stupid reason I have not gotten a script yet.I think there are studies currently being conducted on this drug and cancer prevention. I am calling my doctor tomorrow for a script.

By jazzbo
Posted March 26, 2009 at 9:07 pm
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Congratulations on reaching the 10 yr milestone! It's not often that i get to say that to another long term survivor. I hope we can say this to a heck of a lot more people sooner than later. Great diet ideas. I'm a mess on that. Just to much love for the junk food But I figured I worked for it. Soon on to a better diet and your seems to have a lot that I wouldn't mind doing.
Congrats again, John

By jdmo
Posted March 26, 2009 at 9:16 pm
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thanks Katie, it is so great to hear stories like yours. My husband is about to start chemo......stage 3a .....we are in the throws of trying to finalize treatment plans......too much information sometimes is hard....we are awaiting ERCC1 test results.

I hope many of us can share your good fortune. Thanks for taking the time to "publish" your information.

best,
janet

By carolhg
Posted March 26, 2009 at 9:57 pm
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Thank you very much. It is great to be able to read what has worked for someone and it certainly gives me hope. Thank you again.
Carol

By mariahaimee
Posted March 27, 2009 at 1:56 pm
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Kathy,

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this post, it is very helpful and i will share it with my mom who is fighting lung cancer... and congratulations on your 10 year anniversary that is just wonderful!!!!

Love,
Mariah

By drawing3d
Posted March 27, 2009 at 2:10 pm
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Wow, thanks for that Mach1. How kind.

Kathy, I would like to make a "whole food plug" here if I may.

Cox-2 levels are usually high in every type of cancer there is, including lung. Celebrex is a powerful synthetic inhibitor of the Cox-2 enzyme...but it is also found naturally in foods, for those of you who want to fight it on a "natural" level:
Turmeric Root from which the extract Curry is obtained is very high in Cox-2 inhibitors. I don't take any chances here: I consume organic turmeric spice blended with black pepper and mix in one capsule of curcumin (curry extract) each day with my fish oils. I want to make sure my bases are covered here.
Also Resveratrol, Rosemary & Green Tea also are high in Cox-2 inhibitors...
Just my 2 cents worth -
God bless,
Ellen

By brooklynda
Posted March 27, 2009 at 10:12 pm
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Kathy: Many thanks for detailing your recovery. It is much appreciated! I am so excited for you! It really gives me continued hope! I am celebrating 3-1/2 years this last scan! Blessings! Brooklynda

By Bette_Tx
Posted March 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm
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Thanks for posting this, Kathy. I'm going to print it off so I can remember the foods you ate. I tried celebrex years ago for my joint pains caused by lupus but had a reaction - gastric problems. It has sulfa in it and I'm allergic to sulpha meds (: .

Congrats on being a 10 yr survivor especially with Stage IIIB. You are a living miracle :).

I don't have to tell you to keep on doing what you're doing.

Bette

By cuddles53
Posted March 27, 2009 at 10:55 pm
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I wanted to also thank Ellen for the natural remedies other than celebrex because I don't think I can take it I am on coumadin therapy the blood thinner and think it may interact so it is nice to know I can use the natural remedy. I had heard that before about Celebrex being helpful, also blueberries are supposed to be one of the best antioxidant foods to eat, carrots and also dark chocolate just one piece daily. I do believe the foods play a bigf part, I also was told oxygen helps and I am on oxygen anyway so maybe that is why I survived this long too, it is 3 years and 3 months so far for me, they told me I had only 12 to 15 months. More and more people are surviving lung cancer, there has got to be something with these newest chemo drugs out there, I had Gemzar after my first round of the cisplatin I was allergic too.

By Judiepru
Posted April 3, 2009 at 1:11 pm
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Kat,
You continue to be an idol! I printed your ten year survival and took it to my oncologist and his PA who has offered to go with me to Australia/New Zealand next year...my dream trip!! I like your healthy attitude both in the realm of food and mentality while still remaining reasonable and enjoying occasional treats!!
Judie

By bagaberde
Posted May 9, 2009 at 11:37 pm
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your nutrition guidelines is a winner!just looking at the engredients makes me feel healthier already.i'm going to try them using my magic bullet(i think it's the same as your vitamix blender) maybe i'll use more apple at first so as not to taste too much of the veggies(can you tell i'm not a veggie lover) and reading about your 10 yr survival is giving me a lot of hope,my husband and i said "wow,10 yrs!" at the same time when we read about it,guess anything is possible with the help of god and change of lifestyle ,thanks a lot kathy!!

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