Connect
← Return to My body's immune system after cancer
Discussion
My body's immune system after cancer
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Feb 9 7:56pm | Replies (20)Comment receiving replies
I have had radiation with a targeted therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, after my initial surgery, but no immunosuppressive chemo. I have had 3 surgeries plus a kidney biopsy over 10 years for metastases. I am currently on a checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. After each surgery, it was months before I started to feel human again, and you have had many surgeries over a very short period of time. Your full recovery will most likely be quite prolonged. As soon as I finished radiation, I began an Immune Augmentation Therapy for cancer at a clinic which is located in the Bahamas, and has a track record for prolonging the lives of cancer patients. I have been on the therapy for over 9 years now. While it entails self administered injections of human serum factors and cytokines, I also received information on boosting your immune system naturally. Since I started on this treatment plus supplements, I rarely get a cold or viral infection. I may have incurable stage 4 metastatic SCC, but I am living well with it and not getting sick. I can visit with grandkids and not come away with a cold. Even my Mayo doctors believe that what I am doing has prolonged my life. One supplement I have taken since I began the immune augmentation is some form of 1,3 D beta glucan. This is derived from mushrooms or yeast and also has substantial research evidence in improving immune function. There are many brands available online and in health food stores, but doing your own research shows that Glucan Elite and the Transfer Point product may have the most effective production methods. I am also recommending the book The Rebel's Apothecary by Jenny Sansouci. It is a veritable bible of information on medicinal mushrooms as well as cannabis (which I have not tried). Since reading this book I think I understand more about the supplements I have been on and why they work, and have added a mushroom blend to my daily routine in coffee. These are NOT the hallucinogenic mushrooms, but the safe and edible ones that have been used for hundreds of years in Eastern medicine. She has the education and has done the research into the use of these supplements. So I encourage you to do your own research on improving immune function, because in addition to the suggestions above, which are very important, there is more that you can do. Our oncologists are our primary source of guidance in the medical/surgical pathway, but there is more out there to look into to help yourself. Be careful what you read and try to stick with articles from medical professionals and National Institute of Health where you can find actual research. As for masks, I may never stop wearing one. The past two years have shown us all that proper mask wearing and handling and hand washing will cut your viral exposure way down. It is tough to do at home, but if you are getting so much exposure with the little germ factories, it may be worthwhile. Good luck with boosting your immune system.
Replies to "I have had radiation with a targeted therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, after..."
Hello Sue
We are all the cancer people need to strengthen immune system.
And have to do it through our own research.
I found your comments are very interesting and useful!
And would like to ask you about Bahamas clinic
location ( phone number) etc.
I don’t quite understand the kind of injection the clinic is recommending.
Sound similar to PRP ( platelets reach plasma) or something else?
I wander if you have heard about VISCOSAN (MISTLETOE ) injection that is supposed to improve immunity.
I am doing it based on the holistic’s doctor advice for the cancer patients,
I am a breast cancer patient .
The mash-rooms supplement also has been discussed.
I know about turkey tail mass-room.!
I definitely would look for the book, you have recommended .
And you have mentioned the different mash room supplement that you're taking.
The only I know for sure, that we have to try every possible avenues to help our body’s to recover or survive !!
Thank you
Keep well. 😊
I second anyone looking into research. It can be daunting if one is not a biochemist or medical researcher, but one can read the introductions and conclusions to see which articles might apply to your area of interest. And can lead to questions you might want to ask your medical team. [I found articles on sugar/cancer connection interesting and a tad alarming, given a lifelong sweet tooth to now rein in.] A researcher friend suggested I use Google Scholar to minimize ads and other flotsam Google spews out.
This has given me some much needed HOPE. I have terminal state 4 inflammatory breast cancer and the rest of my life will be chemotherapy etc. My immune system is so low with chemotherapy plus I already had 2 other immune illnesses. Thank you for the information you provided!
Great info thank you
Thank you so much for sharing your valuable experience, Sue!
I just saw this post right now, and realized that it had been posted almost 2 years ago... How have you been, Sue? Could you please let us know more about your situation of squamous cell carcinoma, please? I had SCC on my chest that was identified by my PCP back in December, 2016, during my annual physical exam. Had a surgery done in February of 2017 to remove the cancerous cells by an oncological surgeon, and never had any thoughts about it until my PCP found out I had a lump of tumor in my breast during my last year's physical exam in early November. Even though I was told that my SCC and current Breast cancer are different cancers, but I can't help wondering what have I done to myself to incur these diseases of various cancers at different time in life? How do we do to prevent it from happening again?
Hope your health has been improving greatly and you're proceeding happily, my comrades in fighting this disease!
Connect
Thank you for your reply, @sepdvm This is a question to ponder even asking. . . as people all seem to have their own methods. It's challenging to sort through. But I am at a point where I want to do SOMETHING. Doctors do not give the same advice, as you well know, so we are left thinking, researching, and praying about it. Thank you for your thoughts, I will take a look!