Ways to Improve Your Quality of Life During Cancer Treatment

Tomorrow I celebrate the 2nd anniversary of my being diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer, "celebrate" because I am still alive and thriving 2 years after receiving a death sentence. I am alive because the infection that caused my cancer has been and is being treated, but there are methods I've discovered to improve my survival chances and live an essentially normal life and I want to share those with you.

1. First and most importantly, Traditional Chinese Medicine is extremely effective, gentle and a perfect complement to standard Western medicine. My acupuncturist has saved my life just as my oncologist has, on multiple occasions. I'm taking Chinese herbs that keep my blood counts up so I am able to receive chemo every week without interruptions due to low blood cell counts. These same herbs are the most effective antidepressant I've ever encountered, with no side effects! I feel great and I roll like a tank over every setback. I would have curled up and died from despair without it.

I'm also taking an herb formula that combats the deeply invasive fungal infection that caused my breast cancer. I am slowly but steadily improving on it, with decreased pain in my cancerous sternum and breast, increased energy levels and weight gain. (The sicker I am, the more weight I lose. In my situation, fat is good!)

My acupuncturist has been extremely effective in treating the complications I've experienced from chemotherapy. I've broken 2 ribs just by shifting position. They didn't heal until my acupuncturist treated them, and it took only one treatment! He's cleared up the bad swelling in my legs and the lymphedema in my left arm. He cleared up the sciatica in my left leg with one treatment. I could go on! There are no side effects from acupuncture.

Cancer patients need Chinese medicine at the same time as standard Western treatment! Because the treatments are subtle and take time to work, it's best to start before your condition is desperate.

2. "Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life," is a brilliant book by David Servan-Schreiber, MD. He's a physician and medical researcher diagnosed with brain cancer 15 years ago who went out and found the research on diet and other non-medical treatments to help combat cancer and compiled them in this book. It is essential reading. I now take 6 Omega-6 capsules a day and drink green tea instead of coffee. He tells you what foods fight cancer most effectively and what the best combination of foods are to fight and prevent cancer. (I have no connection to Dr Servan-Schreiber or his publisher).

This book lays out for you what normal, everyday foods to eat, what kinds of exercise are most effective and why and why "alternative" medicine works, even something as simple as journaling.

3. Rogaine has allowed my hair to grow back. I started using Rogaine in my 3rd month of chemo when my hair was falling out like mad. My hair immediately stopped falling out (I never had to shave my head) and 6 weeks later I found a 2mm, pale crewcut coming in all over my head. I now have the thickest head of hair I've had in 20 years. No one believes I'm being treated for cancer because of my hair. I hate the sick role, I do not want to appear ill and I can go out in public completely normal in appearance. It's priceless to me. No wigs, turbans or do-rags! I've had no bad effects from it. There's no sign it has affected my cancer or treatment in any way.

4. I use Revita-Lash on my eyebrows and eyelashes. I don't use Rogaine near my eyes because I don't know whether it would injure my eyes. Revita-Lash hasn't been as effective as Rogaine for me but I do have some fine, pale eyebrow hairs and eyelashes. I need to use make-up to avoid looking like a space alien.

A new prescription eyelash treatment, Latisse, is now available. It costs $150 a tube, just like Revita-Lash. I haven't tried it and it isn't being marketed for cancer patients, but I've read that it was invented by a chemist or pharmacist for his wife with breast cancer.

5. I bought a lightbox that is the home version of a light treatment that has been used in Dermatology offices for years. It produces 2 wavelengths of light, one that fights infection and one that boosts collagen production. It's made by Verilux and I believe the product name is Clear Wave. It has been very effective in clearing the acne I've developed since chemo has drastically reduced my white blood cell count. My face and neck have toned up visibly with the increased collagen production. People keep telling me how great I look (thank heaven for make-up and my lightbox).

Please let me know if you've found other techniques to improve quality of life during chemo. Thanks!