Donna's Story
Colon Cancer . . . A Time Line . . .
Donna’s illness was discovered in July 2005 when she ended up at the Emergency Room of Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer which had metastasized to her liver at the age of 48. There was no family history of colon cancer, so the signs she had were overlooked by physicians who never ordered a colonoscopy. Donna’s journey has not been an easy one. She had to endure an ostomy bag for approximately 7 months after removal of 8 inches of her colon. Chemo was started 2 months after this surgery which left her very tired. The next month Donna was hospitalized with toxic poisoning from the chemo where she stayed for a week.
By January of the following year the chemo had reduced the tumors in her liver enough for surgery. Donna headed for Houston, Texas to be treated at MD Anderson Hospital one of our country’s best. At this time, the cancer was removed with a liver resection and the colon was reconnected, so the ostomy bag was now gone. After this surgery; however, her wound would not heal properly, so Donna wore a wound vac for 4 months to no avail, so she again had surgery in order to repair the incision.
February 2007 via scan at MD Anderson, the spots on her liver had returned. Chemo was once again started. Donna returned to Houston in June to undergo surgery to remove 2 lesions they had found. One of them was cancer. A couple of weeks later, Donna was hospitalized for an infection. Just five months later in November, new spots appeared on her liver and she took chemo until February of 2008. In April another surgery was performed in Houston. 70% of the growth was scar tissue and the other 30% was cancer. At this time, Donna’s liver did not want to function after the surgery and they almost lost her on the operating table. She ended up getting food poisoning and had to go back to the hospital for a week. When she got home from Houston, one of her lungs had filled with fluid and she was once again admitted to the hospital. A drainage tube was placed between her right lung and the liver and the wound was infected.
A check up in August of 2008 at MD Anderson showed 3 lesions on the liver and their thoughts were that it could be in her lymph nodes (it wasn’t). In September, Donna’s decision was to try sir spheres (selective internal radiation therapy) where the radiation is injected directly on the cancer spots. Her other organs had to be tied off, so that they would not become damaged from this treatment. Treatment however was shrinking the tumors.
A scan in Indy in June of 2009 indicated the tumors were growing once again. In October, a trip to Houston confirmed the same info and chemo was recommended. Donna wanted to try sir spheres because it had worked so well before. October 2009 sir spheres treatment was done, but did not work this time. In November of 2009 Donna changed oncologists and saw a new doc at IU Med Center who wanted her to start a clinical trial drug. Donna preferred to investigate other options through diet, nutrition and supplements with Dr. Aukerman from Ohio State University.
December 2009, Donna’s counts were going up. Then in February of this year she was told that all of her options were now depleted. She could no longer do sir spheres/radiation or have surgery. The suggestion once again was the clinical trial drug which would make her lose her hair, make her extremely sick and cause sores in her mouth.
In March 2010 after reading Suzanne Somers book “Knockout”, Donna was determined to seek out some of the physicians mentioned in Suzanne’s book for treatment options. One doctor told her that the cancer was too advanced and she had taken too much chemo for his treatment to be effective. She then sent her records to the Burzynski Clinic in Houston, TX (of all places; this was already her second home by now with all of the trips to MD Anderson). Donna’s oncologist said she would work with this clinic if treatment is described and approved by FDA. Her count now is very high and the IU doc is concerned.
April 2010 Donna leaves for the Burznyski Clinic where she was accepted for treatment in Houston, TX! Her initial treatment is $30,000 and then monthly treatment will be $4,500-$6,500 which the insurance company will not pay for. Everything they use is FDA approved and state-of-the-art. Dr. Burznyski is a doctor ahead of his time using the patented gene targeted therapy along with low doses of chemo when necessary. Donna spoke with many patients presently taking this same treatment with much success even after their cancers had spread. She is very optimistic and feels she has made a good choice.
We have created this web site for friends, family and anyone who would like to donate to her cause which will help the financial burden now placed upon Donna and to keep everyone who is concerned updated with her progress.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers . . .
Updates
June 18, 2010
Hi Everyone,
My itching is much better, but the rash has spread to my entire body. My good friend Pat Flannery helped me find a cream that stopped the itching after a miserable 2 weeks of no sleep. My dermatologist was able to prescribe a steroid cream that has the ingredient that Pat found, so the two ingredients working together has helped the itching and dryness. The rash is getting worse, but will have to run its course. I was not able to get chemo this week due to my oncologist wanting my body to take a rest and maybe help relieve some of the rash. My magnesium levels dropped more this week even with the increased supplement. I found a pharmacy last week that will compound magnesium into a cream that can be absorbed into my skin. Hopefully that will work. I had a 3 hour drip of magnesium last week in place of chemo. Now for the goooood news!!! My CEU count has gone down which is very good! When I left the Clinic in April my count was at an all time high of 58. It is now at an all time low of 2.6!! We are all amazed. The Buzenski treatment is working and worth it! Thanks to my good friend for encouraging me to go! I should be able to continue chemo at a half dose next week if my white blood count stays normal which it was for the first time this week . . . more good news! With all of that being said, I can put up with the rash:)
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 28th, 2010Hi Everyone, Chemo on the 27th was a long one. I had to stay after class because my magnesium was very low, so they had to give me a drip. I take lots of magnesium but one of the chemo drugs I'm taking depletes your body of magnesium. The nurses didnt want me to take chemo at all because of all of the itching I was having. I insisted! Well come to find out they were probably right. I have itched so bad since the Chemo I am drawing blood scratching. They have tried everything they can think of including a cortisone shot that didnt work at all. I have tried every cream known to man. If it worked it is because it burned my skin raw. I have had hardly any sleep . . . up all night itching. It s pretty miserable. Okay.....I'll stop with the pity party! The good new is my white blood count went up one, and my platelet count went up 20. I ate broccoli till it was coming out of my ears, but it worked to get my counts up.
Take care, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 17th, 2010
Hi Everyone, t has been a very busy week. Chemo went pretty well. I'm having problems with my skin being really irritated again. It's my neck this week. If my hair touches it, it feels like needles but Im so happy to have hair, I suck it up! Got great news this week! My insurance is covering the drug that is not approved for colon cancer!!! The doctors office in Indy got it worked out for me. All I have to pay is $35.00 co-pay! I am so excited...Now all I have to come up with is $4800.00 per month!! Debby and I have been working diligently on the web site and would like to get some folks together soon to talk about fund raising ideas to help cover the cost of my treatment not covered by my insurance. If anyone is interested please let me or Debby know. We need all the help we can get! My doctor from Dr Burzyski's office called yesterday. She shared my CEA count is coming down according to my blood work. That is the tumor marker used for colon cancer. The bad news is my platelet count and white blood count is coming down so she is concerned but she just hasn't learned how tough I am yet! Have a great rest of the week. Hopefully the web site will be live next time and you can give me your thoughts. My next treatment will be on May 27th if my counts stay stable. Talk to you later, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~May 10, 2010
Hi Everyone, I started my chemo at the new doctors office last Wed. It went much better. My face did not break out as badly. They gave me a kick butt cream that is working great. I don't feel like a 16 year old with acne anymore:) I do feel pretty tired and was a little nauseous but overall feeling good and have been sleeping much better at night. My next appt for Chemo is on Monday the 17th.
I love those nurses there. I am so happy I waited it out to find the right doctor. He is really into research and everyone in his office is so helpful. The nurses even gave me a hug when I left! I did some research last week to see if I could get the Tycurb cheaper at a pharmacy in Indy. This is one of the drugs my insurance will not cover. I had to pay $2800.00 for a months worth in Houston. I called Walmart and they quoted me $2200.00 which I thought was great. At Dr Smith's office the financial consultant shared she could get it for me for around $1900.00. I was really happy .....almost $1000.00 savings over Houston! She also said there are resources that she can contact that I may be able to get it free or at a discount so keep your fingers crossed and say lots of prayers! I'm excited the website should be up in a couple of days so I will be able to share lots of information to other cancer patients.
Take care and will touch base after Chemo next Monday, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 3rd. 2010
Hi Everyone, Last week was a very stressful week for me. After reviewing my records from the Buryznski Clinic my oncologist in Indy decided she did not want to keep me as a patient. She had shared before I went there as long as everything was FDA approved she would be fine with it. Well….not the case. She was worried about my insurance not covering one of the drugs as well as the drug not being approved for Colon Cancer. I shared I knew that I may have to pay out of pocket for the drug and was aware that it was not approved for Colon Cancer but lots of other drugs are not as well and turn out to be at a later time. That is what happened with Avastin that I was on as well as the Sir Spheres. I shared that MD Anderson said I would be on an Island radioactive by myself if I did the Sir Spheres two years ago. I did it anyway and now the docs love it and think its great!! All week I went to doctor after doctor and faxed my treatment plan to several with the same results. I finally found one that thinks out of the box and has agreed to work with Dr B. I will have my first treatment from him on Wed. He agreed to write the prescription for the drug even though it may not be covered by my insurance. I told him my plan was to call and beg the drug company in Britain to let me try it as a study for Colon Cancer since it is not approved for that. Its worth a shot!
I had a few problems with the Vectibex. My face broke out in a terrible rash. I didn’t have a doctor to write a prescription since I got dumped by my doc. I finally got a doc and some steroids and I’m doing much better. I can at least go out in public. LOL (not a pretty site)
Have a great week,
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 24th, 2010
Hi Everyone, I was very busy my second week at Dr Burzynski's Clinic. I was released on Thursday ahead of schedule so was able to get back to Indy on Friday morning. I will try to give a quick update from last e-mail on the treatment plan at Dr B's. I have to say I hated the MRI . I have never had one before and it was terrible being in that little closed tube for 35 minutes with all of that noise and a catchers helmet over my face. Run the other way if you ever have to get one! The MRI turned out great so I was able to get my other drugs. I did have a reaction from the Chemo I received (Vechhbex). My face is very broken out and red. It looks like I'm a sixteen year old with a bad sunburn. The good news is it should get better as Im given the drug over time and the more I break out the better it is working...yeah right.....Anyway, I don't have to look at it...only your guys do LOL! I also had a Pet scan that showed my tumor in the upper portion of my liver has grown since my last scan. This will be a good marker for the docs when I return to the Clinic in July. My doctor in Indy will be monitoring me and giving me the Vechbex every other week..hopefully....I dropped my records off to her on Friday for her review to make sure she will still be my doc here and go along with everything Dr B prescribed. The other two drugs that are FDA approved are Tykerb which I will take once a day and the Xeloda that I take twice a day. My insurance should pick up the Chemo drugs. The only one I have to worry about is Dr's B's gene targeted therapy which will run 4500.00 to 7500.00 a month depending on what my body needs. Overall I loved the Clinic and feel I made the right decision going there. They will be calling me once a week. I have to take my Blood pressure, weigh, and monitor my heart rate daily to report to them when they call with any other changes the drugs may be causing. I met Dr B's |PR person last week and gave her a note to give to Suzanne Somers to thank her for her book Knock Out. I will let you know if I hear from her. The dietitian there loves me. She checked out the makeup I told her about and said it was better than what she had found. She also wants me to send some of my recipes to her so they can put them in the book they are writing for the patients at the clinic. She said they would acknowledge me in the book. I will continue sending updates so you know how my body is responding to the treatment. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers,
Take Care,
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 15th, 2010
Hi Everyone, Been having a busy week! I have been doing great with the Chemo drug Xeloda. My Echo Cardiogram (heart imaging) came back great on Wednesday so I started a new intravenous drug today Vectibix. I seemed to do ok with it. My doctor here said I may get a rash from it but it is rare. I will be getting it every two weeks when I come home so I hope my Doc at home is going to be ok with everything Dr B is prescribing for me. Tomorrow I go for a MRI. If those results go well, they will start Avastin on Monday.
At present I am taking 4 drugs by month 4x's a day and will have 2 intravenous. I'm getting confused:) By the way......I met with the dietitian and she said I knew as much about nutrition as she did and that I could take her job! I'm not crazy after all....at least where what I eat is concerned! I will be sure to get everyone a copy. Talk to you later, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 13th, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Everything is going great at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston. I am so happy I came here and feel very confident that they are going to able b help me. Everyone is very professional, caring and knowledgeable. It was very interesting to me that they do not want to be known as an alternative facility but as a medical facility. Everything they use is FDA approved and state of the art. Dr B is a doctor ahead of his time using his patented gene targeted therapy along with low doses of Chemo when necessary and where he thinks will benefit. They monitor you very closely and begin all of the treatment at a very slow pace so they will be able to identify which treatment/drug is not agreeing with you. This differs from other treatments where you are given large doses of as many as 2 to 4 drugs at once, as I have in the past where they didn't know which one was making me the sickest. They also can tell if the drugs are too toxic for your system to save hospital stays from your body becoing to toxic which has also happened to me in the past. If what they try does not work or makes you ill, Dr B adjust the meds right away. He does not believe in the quality of life being sacrificed for your treatment to be successful. Monday when I arrived, I was first given the gene targeted drug in which Dr B has worked on for the last 30 years to get perfected. It is his gene targeted therapy.He knew what to give me by the blood work that was done when I was here 2 weeks ago. I was also given supportive supplements Amino-care and Brain Longevity. While here I have talked to many patients as well as seen statics on the number of people with stage IV cancers that are now or have been for some time with no occurrence of cancer cell growth. I returned on Tuesday with the assumption that if I did well on that treatment they would start the lose dose Chemo. Each day I go to the Clinic to get weighed and vitals taken to make sure daily how my body is reacting. Tuesday I was given the Chemo Drug Xeloda. I will take it by mouth two times a day. This is a drug that is currently being used and approved for colon cancer. This drug goes in your system like 5-FU which I have been given before and wore the fanny pack. After given the drug with a very informative consultation on the side affects I was to wait 40 minutes before leaving the facility to make certain I did not have a reaction to it. I did great. Tomorrow I will go for a heart scan (cant remember the technical term). After the results they will be able to give me the last two Chemo drugs, one of which is Avastin that I have been given before and was sucessful with. There are a couple of more Chemo drugs that they are not sure of which they are going to use but will know after more blood work and monitoring me over the next two weeks. They are picking me up at the hotel at 9:45 and will bring me back after we are finished. Cant ask for more than that! Dr B feels with his gene targeted therapies along with the Chemo drugs I should see results in 8 to 12 weeks. If anyone would like to research Dr Burzynski. You can read about him in Suzanne Sommers book Knockout or Outsmart your Cancer by Tanya Pierce. A movie is also in the works about the life and state of the art discoveries by Dr B. Robin Williams has signed a contract to play him in the movie. I will be recording an informative session on Thursday about Dr B and his treatments. My plan is to e-mail it so everyone will be able to hear more and understand better that I am able to explain. Will keep you updated!
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 18, 2010
Hi Everyone,
My itching is much better, but the rash has spread to my entire body. My good friend Pat Flannery helped me find a cream that stopped the itching after a miserable 2 weeks of no sleep. My dermatologist was able to prescribe a steroid cream that has the ingredient that Pat found, so the two ingredients working together has helped the itching and dryness. The rash is getting worse, but will have to run its course. I was not able to get chemo this week due to my oncologist wanting my body to take a rest and maybe help relieve some of the rash. My magnesium levels dropped more this week even with the increased supplement. I found a pharmacy last week that will compound magnesium into a cream that can be absorbed into my skin. Hopefully that will work. I had a 3 hour drip of magnesium last week in place of chemo. Now for the goooood news!!! My CEU count has gone down which is very good! When I left the Clinic in April my count was at an all time high of 58. It is now at an all time low of 2.6!! We are all amazed. The Buzenski treatment is working and worth it! Thanks to my good friend for encouraging me to go! I should be able to continue chemo at a half dose next week if my white blood count stays normal which it was for the first time this week . . . more good news! With all of that being said, I can put up with the rash:)
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 28th, 2010Hi Everyone, Chemo on the 27th was a long one. I had to stay after class because my magnesium was very low, so they had to give me a drip. I take lots of magnesium but one of the chemo drugs I'm taking depletes your body of magnesium. The nurses didnt want me to take chemo at all because of all of the itching I was having. I insisted! Well come to find out they were probably right. I have itched so bad since the Chemo I am drawing blood scratching. They have tried everything they can think of including a cortisone shot that didnt work at all. I have tried every cream known to man. If it worked it is because it burned my skin raw. I have had hardly any sleep . . . up all night itching. It s pretty miserable. Okay.....I'll stop with the pity party! The good new is my white blood count went up one, and my platelet count went up 20. I ate broccoli till it was coming out of my ears, but it worked to get my counts up.
Take care, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 17th, 2010
Hi Everyone, t has been a very busy week. Chemo went pretty well. I'm having problems with my skin being really irritated again. It's my neck this week. If my hair touches it, it feels like needles but Im so happy to have hair, I suck it up! Got great news this week! My insurance is covering the drug that is not approved for colon cancer!!! The doctors office in Indy got it worked out for me. All I have to pay is $35.00 co-pay! I am so excited...Now all I have to come up with is $4800.00 per month!! Debby and I have been working diligently on the web site and would like to get some folks together soon to talk about fund raising ideas to help cover the cost of my treatment not covered by my insurance. If anyone is interested please let me or Debby know. We need all the help we can get! My doctor from Dr Burzyski's office called yesterday. She shared my CEA count is coming down according to my blood work. That is the tumor marker used for colon cancer. The bad news is my platelet count and white blood count is coming down so she is concerned but she just hasn't learned how tough I am yet! Have a great rest of the week. Hopefully the web site will be live next time and you can give me your thoughts. My next treatment will be on May 27th if my counts stay stable. Talk to you later, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~May 10, 2010
Hi Everyone, I started my chemo at the new doctors office last Wed. It went much better. My face did not break out as badly. They gave me a kick butt cream that is working great. I don't feel like a 16 year old with acne anymore:) I do feel pretty tired and was a little nauseous but overall feeling good and have been sleeping much better at night. My next appt for Chemo is on Monday the 17th.
I love those nurses there. I am so happy I waited it out to find the right doctor. He is really into research and everyone in his office is so helpful. The nurses even gave me a hug when I left! I did some research last week to see if I could get the Tycurb cheaper at a pharmacy in Indy. This is one of the drugs my insurance will not cover. I had to pay $2800.00 for a months worth in Houston. I called Walmart and they quoted me $2200.00 which I thought was great. At Dr Smith's office the financial consultant shared she could get it for me for around $1900.00. I was really happy .....almost $1000.00 savings over Houston! She also said there are resources that she can contact that I may be able to get it free or at a discount so keep your fingers crossed and say lots of prayers! I'm excited the website should be up in a couple of days so I will be able to share lots of information to other cancer patients.
Take care and will touch base after Chemo next Monday, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 3rd. 2010
Hi Everyone, Last week was a very stressful week for me. After reviewing my records from the Buryznski Clinic my oncologist in Indy decided she did not want to keep me as a patient. She had shared before I went there as long as everything was FDA approved she would be fine with it. Well….not the case. She was worried about my insurance not covering one of the drugs as well as the drug not being approved for Colon Cancer. I shared I knew that I may have to pay out of pocket for the drug and was aware that it was not approved for Colon Cancer but lots of other drugs are not as well and turn out to be at a later time. That is what happened with Avastin that I was on as well as the Sir Spheres. I shared that MD Anderson said I would be on an Island radioactive by myself if I did the Sir Spheres two years ago. I did it anyway and now the docs love it and think its great!! All week I went to doctor after doctor and faxed my treatment plan to several with the same results. I finally found one that thinks out of the box and has agreed to work with Dr B. I will have my first treatment from him on Wed. He agreed to write the prescription for the drug even though it may not be covered by my insurance. I told him my plan was to call and beg the drug company in Britain to let me try it as a study for Colon Cancer since it is not approved for that. Its worth a shot!
I had a few problems with the Vectibex. My face broke out in a terrible rash. I didn’t have a doctor to write a prescription since I got dumped by my doc. I finally got a doc and some steroids and I’m doing much better. I can at least go out in public. LOL (not a pretty site)
Have a great week,
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 24th, 2010
Hi Everyone, I was very busy my second week at Dr Burzynski's Clinic. I was released on Thursday ahead of schedule so was able to get back to Indy on Friday morning. I will try to give a quick update from last e-mail on the treatment plan at Dr B's. I have to say I hated the MRI . I have never had one before and it was terrible being in that little closed tube for 35 minutes with all of that noise and a catchers helmet over my face. Run the other way if you ever have to get one! The MRI turned out great so I was able to get my other drugs. I did have a reaction from the Chemo I received (Vechhbex). My face is very broken out and red. It looks like I'm a sixteen year old with a bad sunburn. The good news is it should get better as Im given the drug over time and the more I break out the better it is working...yeah right.....Anyway, I don't have to look at it...only your guys do LOL! I also had a Pet scan that showed my tumor in the upper portion of my liver has grown since my last scan. This will be a good marker for the docs when I return to the Clinic in July. My doctor in Indy will be monitoring me and giving me the Vechbex every other week..hopefully....I dropped my records off to her on Friday for her review to make sure she will still be my doc here and go along with everything Dr B prescribed. The other two drugs that are FDA approved are Tykerb which I will take once a day and the Xeloda that I take twice a day. My insurance should pick up the Chemo drugs. The only one I have to worry about is Dr's B's gene targeted therapy which will run 4500.00 to 7500.00 a month depending on what my body needs. Overall I loved the Clinic and feel I made the right decision going there. They will be calling me once a week. I have to take my Blood pressure, weigh, and monitor my heart rate daily to report to them when they call with any other changes the drugs may be causing. I met Dr B's |PR person last week and gave her a note to give to Suzanne Somers to thank her for her book Knock Out. I will let you know if I hear from her. The dietitian there loves me. She checked out the makeup I told her about and said it was better than what she had found. She also wants me to send some of my recipes to her so they can put them in the book they are writing for the patients at the clinic. She said they would acknowledge me in the book. I will continue sending updates so you know how my body is responding to the treatment. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers,
Take Care,
Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 15th, 2010
Hi Everyone, Been having a busy week! I have been doing great with the Chemo drug Xeloda. My Echo Cardiogram (heart imaging) came back great on Wednesday so I started a new intravenous drug today Vectibix. I seemed to do ok with it. My doctor here said I may get a rash from it but it is rare. I will be getting it every two weeks when I come home so I hope my Doc at home is going to be ok with everything Dr B is prescribing for me. Tomorrow I go for a MRI. If those results go well, they will start Avastin on Monday.
At present I am taking 4 drugs by month 4x's a day and will have 2 intravenous. I'm getting confused:) By the way......I met with the dietitian and she said I knew as much about nutrition as she did and that I could take her job! I'm not crazy after all....at least where what I eat is concerned! I will be sure to get everyone a copy. Talk to you later, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
April 13th, 2010
Hi Everyone,
Everything is going great at the Burzynski Clinic in Houston. I am so happy I came here and feel very confident that they are going to able b help me. Everyone is very professional, caring and knowledgeable. It was very interesting to me that they do not want to be known as an alternative facility but as a medical facility. Everything they use is FDA approved and state of the art. Dr B is a doctor ahead of his time using his patented gene targeted therapy along with low doses of Chemo when necessary and where he thinks will benefit. They monitor you very closely and begin all of the treatment at a very slow pace so they will be able to identify which treatment/drug is not agreeing with you. This differs from other treatments where you are given large doses of as many as 2 to 4 drugs at once, as I have in the past where they didn't know which one was making me the sickest. They also can tell if the drugs are too toxic for your system to save hospital stays from your body becoing to toxic which has also happened to me in the past. If what they try does not work or makes you ill, Dr B adjust the meds right away. He does not believe in the quality of life being sacrificed for your treatment to be successful. Monday when I arrived, I was first given the gene targeted drug in which Dr B has worked on for the last 30 years to get perfected. It is his gene targeted therapy.He knew what to give me by the blood work that was done when I was here 2 weeks ago. I was also given supportive supplements Amino-care and Brain Longevity. While here I have talked to many patients as well as seen statics on the number of people with stage IV cancers that are now or have been for some time with no occurrence of cancer cell growth. I returned on Tuesday with the assumption that if I did well on that treatment they would start the lose dose Chemo. Each day I go to the Clinic to get weighed and vitals taken to make sure daily how my body is reacting. Tuesday I was given the Chemo Drug Xeloda. I will take it by mouth two times a day. This is a drug that is currently being used and approved for colon cancer. This drug goes in your system like 5-FU which I have been given before and wore the fanny pack. After given the drug with a very informative consultation on the side affects I was to wait 40 minutes before leaving the facility to make certain I did not have a reaction to it. I did great. Tomorrow I will go for a heart scan (cant remember the technical term). After the results they will be able to give me the last two Chemo drugs, one of which is Avastin that I have been given before and was sucessful with. There are a couple of more Chemo drugs that they are not sure of which they are going to use but will know after more blood work and monitoring me over the next two weeks. They are picking me up at the hotel at 9:45 and will bring me back after we are finished. Cant ask for more than that! Dr B feels with his gene targeted therapies along with the Chemo drugs I should see results in 8 to 12 weeks. If anyone would like to research Dr Burzynski. You can read about him in Suzanne Sommers book Knockout or Outsmart your Cancer by Tanya Pierce. A movie is also in the works about the life and state of the art discoveries by Dr B. Robin Williams has signed a contract to play him in the movie. I will be recording an informative session on Thursday about Dr B and his treatments. My plan is to e-mail it so everyone will be able to hear more and understand better that I am able to explain. Will keep you updated!
Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, Donna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~