MRosenthal

Hi Papabutch, I hope the treatment went well! If you haven't checked out the diet section of this site, look here: http://www.foundhealth.com/melanoma/diet. You can see a list of foods and supplements that have some evidence of helping to fight melanoma. If you want to discuss in more detail, I'm happy to connect with you. Mike

Hi Yvonne,

No problem: Melatonin and Vitamin D3 are normal things and you can go with any brand, though I usually like Pure Encapsulations or Standard Process or Integrative Theraputics, which are all high end brands with superior quality, however, they are not easily found.

Maitake D you can find in several brands but my favorite brand is Griffin Pro

Cellular Forte and Immpower are specific brands of their own.

You can find these products at most good health food store, Whole Foods, or integrative pharmacies.

Does that help?

Mike

i'm no expert, but platelets are produced in bone marrow (http://www.ouhsc.edu/platelets/Platelets/platelets%20intro.html) and there are a number of conditions, some temporary, some lasting, that can cause the bone marrow to produce too many platelets (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health//dci/Diseases/thrm/thrm_causes.html). Your doctor is probably trying to rule these things out and search for the root cause of the problem. Hang in there an lets see what comes back from the test. Its better to know if there's a problem and what it is, so you can start to work on fixing it!

Thanks Diana,

I'm so glad to hear your story and the proactive nature of your fight! I have no doubt you will beat this and go on to inspire others. Melanoma can be beat, even in its latest stages, and its important that people facing this challenge know that!

Mike

Hi Jules,

Everyone has their own way of fighting cancer... my wife too had her own way, her own stubbornness (which turned out to be a great ally in the fight!). One important thing you can do is to stay positive and keep flowing positive, inspiring, "I believe in you and your ability to beat this" thoughts to your husband. There is clear research that shows that attitude makes a difference in the outcome of a fight with melanoma. When someone is fighting cancer, no matter how strong they are, they still go through times when they doubt themselves... those are the times when they need someone the most to simply tell them, over and over again, "you can beat this." I'm sure you've read the survival statistics on the web, and maybe heard them from the doctors.... but I don't believe any of them. Not because i'm bad at math (au contraire, I have a degree in physics and engineering and went to the top business school in the US). Rather, its because those statistics are simply averages. And the reality is the most people don't fight very hard, and don't do the research (like looking on the melanoma treatment pages on this site) to make sure they have all of the tools they need in the fight. I guarantee the stats would be much, much better if everyone did that. So forget about the stats. Your husband can beat this!

My wife did interferon twice. The first time was in conjunction with a Melacine trial after she was stage 3 in 1999. And then again initially after she was diagnosed with a recurrence, but before it moved on the stage 4. Interferon, at least at that time (2006) was the only FDA approved "Standard" treatment for Stage 3. Unfortunately, the statistical benefit of high dose interferon by itself is not great (there is some, but not a lot). It also has a lot of side effects. What's also unfortunate is that many of the side effects can be managed very well with non-western techniques (acupuncture, detoxifying the kidneys and liver post-infusions, etc.). But most western doctors don't know about these things (and would frown upon them anyway). I put together a protocol for side effect management for my wife, with the help of some non-western practitioners + my own research, and it really worked well. The hospital staff said they'd never seen anyone go through treatment so healthy. This matters a lot not only for comfort, but also because the success of the western treatments (chemo, interferon, IL2, etc.) is directly related to your ability to complete the treatment. Side effects can sometimes be so bad you have to reduce or stop treatment -- which in turn reduces the chances of success. Proper and thorough side effect management can make a huge difference. If anyone wants to know the protocol, I'm happy to share it.

Also, I wrote an article on my "strategy" to beat melanoma, compiled from all my research. You can read it here: http://www.foundhealth.com/melanoma/mike-rosenthals-strategy-to-beat-melanoma

I actually agree that you have to be careful with herbs and Western treatments at the same time. Sometimes they can actually help the good effects, sometimes they can hurt. My wife and I decided that she would not do any herbs during treatment - only in between treatments and only to help manage side effects. She only started the herbs/supplements to fight the cancer after the Western treatment was over. But she did start them right after, and has been doing them daily for the last 5 years (and is still cancer-free after being stage 4). There are definitely some good natropathic/herbal things that can be done to manage the side effects of chemo's and other western treatments. Acupuncture really works, though sometimes you have to try a few acupuncturists to find one that works for you. My wife tried three before finding "the one." But when she found the right one, she said it was amazing. It really relaxed her, relieved nausea, etc. The other thing that helps is to detox the liver and kidneys in between treatments. Those are the body's detoxification organs, and they get overloaded in chemo and other western treatments, leading to nausea. My wife went through a few days of detox after each round of chemo, where she would take a few supplements that would help clear out the kidneys and liver. This also helped a lot. I hope your brother feels better soon and my fingers are crossed about the treatment.

Great! I agree with your strategy - its overwhelming to process so much information at one time. This is why, IMO, its ideal to have a cancer "team" of both the person fighting the cancer, and their advocate who can do the research and process and digest the information and feed the most pertinent pieces in a manageable way.

BTW, I did find out that the patient I was referring to above did high dose Interlukine II.

Let me know how else I can help.