Nov 1, 2008

I realize it has been a little while since I let everyone know what is going on with me. Last i wrote they were thinking about operating on my back to remove the recurrant tumor, but that is not the case anymore. They have decided to do cyberknife radiosurgery:




CyberKnife® is a nonsurgical, painless technology that can reduce or eliminate certain lesions and tumors, many previously considered inoperable anywhere in the body. A sophisticated robotic radiosurgery system, CyberKnife can also offer significantly fewer complications and lower risk than open surgery.



http://www.georgetownuniversityhospital.org/body.cfm?id=451





All of my doctors have agreed on this approach for now, so I am just praying it works. Surgery is always an option, but I hope to not have to go through that again. I will be going in for five days in a row for this treatment, on 11/10-11/14. The great thing about is is there is no pain, and no recovery time from this. My endocrinologist has told me that I will probably have another raidoactive iodine treatment 2-3 months after cyberknife. Hopefully that will clean up any little bits of cancer left, so I don't have to keep fighting this.



Another thing going on with me right now is that I have started seeing a nutritionist. We figured that anything we can do to fight this, we were willing to do. I will spare you of the details, but he basically told me that the cancer can feed off of sugars, and things your body converts to sugar, so my best bet is to cut those things out of my diet, therefore cutting off the cancer's food supply. So right now I am basically eating eggs, meat, and veggies. That is the first 6-8 weeks. After this initial period I will be allowed to add back some fruits and a few other things. I am not supposed to eat any grains (ie rice, bread, pasta, ect) When I first started this I had a TOTAL breakdown. I think I had been botteling all of my feelings about everything, and at some point they just had to overflow. So this on top of sugar withdraw I was a WRECK. Luckly Josh and my family have stood by me and I am adjusting to it. I have the best husband ever, he is doing this diet with me, which is so helpful!! Another cool thing is that I have lost over 20 pounds already. So right now we are just working on getting back to my normal life, even though these day's I am not really sure what normal is.



I hope everyone is doing well, I will be sure to keep you updated on any news or changes.



Take Care,

Hattie