My immune system goes to college

All sorts of IV therapies today.  I'll likely do the IV laser treatment daily, or nearly daily, as it doesn't create a huge inflammatory response.  Unlike yesterday's interstitial treatment, which creates a significant inflammatory and immune response.  It's all a balancing act and a guessing game, albeit a well educated guessing game.  What this whole thing comes down to is my immune system is currently in college after a "gap decade" and it's here to get some education.

PDT's job is to destabilize the cancer cells.  I'm not really sure what the right word would be to describe what happens to the cells, but maybe rupture?  It might not be that exciting.  Melt into a puddle of goo? The localized heat is incredibly impressive, too, which cancer cells have a hard time living in.  This is also the theory behind mistletoe therapy, but I'll make a different post for that.  Immunopeptide therapy helps to enhance and educate my immune system to recognizing the cancer cells as foe, not friend.  The pesky part is that the tumors are heterogeneous--made up of multiple types of cells--so recognizing part of the cancer is good, but recognizing all of it is what we're after.  Multiple languages here...  The other immune therapies I'm receiving support detox pathways--the cleaning crew.  

More isn't more.  If the tumor dies too quickly, my clean up crew will be overwhelmed and there will be fines for littering.  If it dies too slowly, or not at all, then well, that's not working well either.  Goldilocks.   

The first thing that happens is everything looks "worse."  My bloodwork that was ideal this Monday is expected to look kinda wonky next Monday, and that's OK.  If we redo the ultrasound, the tumors might actually look bigger because of the inflammation, and that's also OK and expected.  It's still necessary to track, as the inflammatory markers, electrolytes, and generally how I feel can either allow us to hit the gas, brakes, or keep cruising as we are.  

How about food?  We're getting very, very spoiled.  Normally, I don't mind being asked to fast, but now it means that I miss out on snacks, and it's very sad.  Luckily, it's not too often though.  The clinic feeds us incredibly well--two "snacks" in the morning, a late lunch around 2-3ish, and then we get sent home with dinner. We did stop at the grocery store on the way down to Tijuana, but honestly, could've gotten away with just eating what the clinic provides.  There's also a Calimax across the street that is the most organized grocery store I've ever been in and is honestly just very satisfying to walk around in.  

Generally speaking, I don't have any hard restrictions or allergies.  Though low-carb creeping to moderate carb for the sake of veggies and certain grains (and exceptionally yummy sourdough) is my usual.  I eat things that make my soul feel good, and don't eat things that make me feel cruddy.  Not wildly complicated.  Nutrient dense, a lot of green things, locally sourced, grass fed/finished, organic, no refined sugar (ok, dark chocolate, fine) you get the idea.  

Samples from the clinic?  Samples: 

Mango, watermelon, dragonfruit, and mint

Cantaloupe, orange, blackberries, green apple, and warm almonds/walnuts

Zucchini/summer squash noodles,
sprouted pinto beans,
hard boiled egg, and hemp seeds

Cod, rice, asparagus, and broccoli 

Because they've found it works best with the therapies and most patients, the clinic doesn't do gluten and rarely adds dairy.  We're learning that way more things can be sprouted before cooking than we thought.  Rice?  Yep.  It's an extra step and requires a little planning, but definitely worth the trouble.  The theme seems to be nutritious, organic, and easy to digest.  Energy should be going to feeding healing, not using a ton of energy to digest.

Also, bad karaoke continues nightly.  Except now there's an accordion?  

*slowly closes windows*