I stayed at a homeopathic clinic that is run by medical doctors practising homeopathy. They have scientifically (big medcial university in Germany) confirmed studies and treatments where they managed to actually remove metastasing breast cancer in women.

Good thing is, I do feel better now and have more energy. The most amazing thing was that I had an almost immediate reaction to the homeopathic medication. They continue the treatment remotely, me sending them information on certain parameters (weight, blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and other symptoms like headaches, but also fears and nightmares and other more esoteric measurements of my well-being) and they send me the medication.  I’ll probably return for another stay in a couple of weeks.

Since healing depends a lot on trust I will have to decide at some point, whether to forego the “classic medicine” with strong chemotherapy (which was not very successful so far) and to fully embrace the homeopathic treatment. I’m also looking into changing over into another “traditional” hospital.

Cheers,

Tom

Well, you know what they say: three experts, three opinions. In this case, this is easy for me to live with, as the general view of my MRI results (bar one) is that no new growth has occured, my neurosurgeon even thinks it’s gone back a bit!

We are besides ourselves with joy!

I am convinced that he is correct, since he knows the inside of my head like no one else and the guy with the dissenting opinion (radiologist) incorrectly identified blood vessels showing up on the contrast frames as new tumour growth.

The Temozolomide treatment certainly did help, but I am equally certain that Milena’s magic reiki treatments played a major role in stopping the tumour. Just wanted to share this piece of excellent news with all of you before I’m too happy with drink to write a proper post.

Prost and love to all of you,
Tom

Wow, time flies when you’re having fun! I’ve done gone a whole month without posting as they say in Texas.

So, this is what happened in the meantime:

In Cologne, I undertook a couple of alternative (or experimental as my radio-oncologists called it) treatments related to the immune system. Firstly, I was given a treatment called hyperthermia. My head was heated up to 41.5º C using radio waves. Thus, the tumour cells, being less heat-resistant, will develop so called “stress-proteins” which should in turn make them visible to killer cells. I also was infected with the so called “Newcastle Disease Virus”, a so called oncolytic virus, because it only grows inside tumour cells and will again mark the tumour as something “foreign” which will be attacked by the immune system. Lastly, I had the dendritic cells, which had been grown from my white blood cells, injected into my lymphatic system, where they will help with the production of immune cells. This whole thing was done over a period of one week; I stayed at a nice hotel and still had time for a little sightseeing on the side. Not too bad at all, especially since there were no side effects from the treatments.

Back in Zurich I spent some time setting up the radiotherapy, which has now started and will go on until the end of August. I have to go into hospital every weekday and get a 10-minute dose of radiation. I’m sure I’m quite radiant already…

Parallel to that, I have started with a low dosage chemotherapy with Temozolomide and I’m happy to report that there are no ill-effects at all so far from either of the treatments. I still feel a bit tired at times, but that’s about all there’s to it. Oh yes, I still can’t concentrate for longer periods and my eyesight’s still dubious – but that was to be expected.

Since I’ll be spending the summer at home and have plenty of free time on my hands feel free to pop by for a drink or two should you happen to pass through Zurich – I could use the diversion.

Cheerio,
Tom

Went to see the radio-oncologists a few days ago. What a contrast to my neurosurgeon!

The idea was to discuss my therapy and options, as well as (or so I thought) to answer any questions I might have. The doctor (think young urban Porsche driver with an attitude) was late for the appointment then rushed in declaring “… have to do this quickly, must move on …”. He then proceeded to tell me about the therapy: six full weeks of daily radiation, plus chemotherapy (Temozolomide).

This is how the conversation went:

Tom: So, what’s that going to do for me?
Doc: It’s going to add about three to four months to your life expectancy.
Tom: Well, that’s not really a lot, isn’t it?
Doc: You’ve about fourteen months then…
Tom: ???

It all went downhill from there (did I mention he was German?)

On the bright side, I am going to a clinic in Cologne tomorrow to start what is called a virotherapy. This is an alternative cancer treatment, which has shown quite some success and has been recommended to me by doctor friends (thanks Anja!).

In the clinic, doctors will grow something called dendritic cells from my white blood cells. These dendritic cells will then be loaded with a virus and injected into my system. Thus my autoimmune system should be kick-started and able to develop antibodies against the tumour. Sounds great, eh?

I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Cheerio,
Tom

Spent the whole day at the hospital. After some initial confusion as to which floor/room I should be assigned to, I had a conversation with a nice Pakistani doctor who’s assigned as my case manager. He asked me about my medical history, medication, prior operations, etc.

Was then left to my own devices and served a fairly decent lunch in my room. Later it was off to do an ECG (electrocardiogram) and an x-ray of my lungs.

Was interviewed by the anesthetist about my medical history, medication, prior operations, etc. She then explained the pre-operative part (i.e. putting me to sleep) and made me sign a waiver that I understood the risks (heck, have I got a choice?).

Spent the rest of the day waiting for the surgeon. He was unable to make make it and will see me on Monday morning.

All in all a leisurely day and I managed to read a 400 page paperback novel.

Feeling somewhat better now. Just back from talking with the head of the neurosurgery clinic. It appears that the operation itself is no big deal, routine so to speak (see below).

Problem is, they don’t really know what it is.

On the positive side, however, the tumour seems to be well-defined and therefore easier to remove. We’ll have to wait and see.

Tomorrow I’ll go to hospital for some more tests and preparation, but thankfully they let me spend the weekend at home. Operation is scheduled Monday morning and will last 4 hours if all goes well. A circular piece of my skull will be removed with a drill, the tumour surgically removed (it is close to the surface, so it should be easy access (according the the surgeon). Then the piece of skull will be stapled (yes, stapled) back into place with a few titanium staples. If all goes well, my first post-op post should be on-line Tuesday.

Same time, the pathologists will start with the analysis of the tumour. Once we know what it is, a course of action can be taken.

Heck, this is an emotional rollercoaster, I’m really grateful for the support I get from my family and friends!