My Reishi Mushroom Experiment- Myeloma
If you have any type of cancer such as me you have probably been approached by a friend or family member who has said at one time or another, “why don’t you try………….. to help with your cancer.” What some of them don’t understand is that some of the chemotherapy drugs don’t play well with some supplements.
In around April of 2011 I got the okay from my oncologist to stop my chemotherapy treatment to pursue other treatment options for other general health issues non-cancer related. The chemotherapy I was on was Revlimid 15mg and visits to City of Hope for Velcade infusions. Unable to recall dosage of Velcade but I do remember that I insisted on the lowest dose. Kappa Free Light Chain (KFLC) numbers during the month of April 18, 2011 was 16.80 MG/DL, no M-spike. Last journal recorded Velcade infusion was on that day as well. Last Revlimid pill was taken on May 4, 2011.
So the next month I was chemo free. Went in for labs, results for KFLC was 41.8 MG/DL. Kind of high but we decided to wait it out and see what would happen. Since I was off the chemotherapy I felt free to start taking supplements again. Most of the stuff I took was mostly sports supplements like whey protein, pre-workout drinks, L-Glutamine, and BCAA’s. I also got busy optimizing my Hormone Replacement Therapy regimen.
The following month, May 24, 2011 was better, KFLC 13.3 MG/DL. And the trend continued…
- August 29, 2011 KFLC 12.10 MG/DL
- December 12, 2011 KFLC 15.50 MG/DL
If you are still following along you can see that the KFLC was steady for almost a year. Then in February begun the upward trend.
- February 13, 2011 KFLC 39.90
At this point I was thinking that perhaps some stress here and there or maybe poor diet had something to do with this. I spoke with my oncologist and let him know that I wanted to adjust my diet and try to manage my stress better and see if the numbers would go down. The stress part, I can’t really say I did much with that except buy some supplements for relieving stress called, “Calming Thoughts” and “Relora.” They did work, as long as I took them, duh! As for the diet, I pulled out my juicer from storage and called my cousin who juices regularly for a juice recipe. He recommended beets, spinach, kale, broccoli, ginger, carrots, green apples, and oranges. With my KFLC sitting that high, pain level was a little higher and I was really fatigued. I was getting behind on things that needed to get done and I needed to lie down in the early afternoon time. This is not an exaggeration; the very first batch I made gave me so much energy that I cleaned my whole house. After that I leveled out. I try to make enough juice to last me 4 days per week, it truly does help for symptom of fatigue. I really thought I was going to get good results from this, after all… I was feeling alright.
The following is the results from that:
- March 12, 2012 KFLC 55.90
Okay now I am really
stressing! That meant that I had to resort to plan B. What is plan B? Well, allow me to explain. I have a dear friend named Karlina who has myeloma as well as I do. Not only that, she has Amyloidosis as well. A couple years ago after completing some chemotherapy treatments her health care provider recommended that she begin taking Reishi mushrooms and aloe vera. She believes this has kept her going; she had a very poor prognosis and has not had to resort back to chemotherapy. I had tried this in the past but could not tolerate the taste of the mushroom “soup” as she calls it. Hey, it worked for her, why not try it? So I did.
Prior to starting the Reishi mushroom regimen I also asked for prayer at my church. For those interested…, please read the scriptures in James 5:13-16.
Reishi Mushroom Start Date: March 15, 2012
I was supposed to have labs 4 weeks later but had to reschedule for personal reasons, 3 weeks later. So the following lab results were taken only 3 weeks after my first dose of Reishi mushroom soup.
- April 5, 2012 KFLC 56.90, no M-spike.
As you can see, it is a possibility that the stinkin’ Reishi mushrooms stopped the progression of the disease. I say possibility because I really don’t know. But for now I am going to keep taking them and see if they will help me as they have helped my friend Karlina.
Please continue to visit my blog if you are interested in this ongoing experiment. Next lab results in early May.
Click here for Part 2 http://www.myeloma-forums.com/entry….Myeloma-Part-2
Written by Al Rojas
April 22, 2012