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Welcome to Cancerselfcare.com I hope that you find something that is useful to you here.
I am also relying on you to help it grow and become even more useful by sharing some of your experiences, inspirations and letting me have any hints and tips to add. I hope that you might also want to use the discussion forum.
Who are we? My name is Francesca Hannah and I decided to set this site up after I was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer in July 2004. How I am now October 2008 - I am still feeling well and without symptoms but my CA125 has continued to rise and at last count about a month ago it was 723. A fairly recent CT scan showed that I had 2 small tumours about 2cm each. I have done a lot to maintain my health using diet and nutrition, exercise, reiki, acupuncture and mistletoe treatment. However four weeks ago I decided to step up my “wellness campaign” by embarking on the daunting project of the Gerson diet. This is something I have been considering for a year and has in fact influenced my diet and making of a few organic juices daily. It is a real lifestyle change and entails at least 10 fresh organic juices, 3 coffee enemas and a strict vegan diet with little protein or strong flavours and no salt. I have found it hard but it is getting easier as I get used to the routine and although I have been more tired generally I have felt quite healthy and very cleansed! Luckily I have also managed to speak to a woman who was very ill with recurring ovarian cancer and began the diet 12 years ago and amazingly is now well with a CA125 of 10! Very inspiring. I am going to do it till I get my next blood test and scan results mid november and take it from there. If there is no change then I wil probably opt for more chemo and continue the diet afterwards. If you are interested in finding out more there is a Gerson Support group (see useful contacts) in this country and a clinic in Mexico. I will keep you posted about my progress and all positive thoughts gratefully accepted. April 2008 - I have had a year of good health. When I updated this in April 2007 I had had 8 sessions of radiotherapy which ended that february. Unfortunately my CA125 began to rise again fairly soon after my last entry in april 2007 and has been rising ever since and is currently around 430. A scan in october 2007 showed that I had a small nodule near my colon but as I have been so fit and well my consultant and I have decided to just monitor the situation for now. My last blood test result in april was very encouraging as although it had gone up it was much less that they expected it to have risen. This means that it is slow growing and I like to believe that all I have been doing with vitamins, nutrition, fresh juices, reiki, acupuncture, mistletoe, etc is beginning to take effect. Anyway I am due to have a CT scan in June and then we will be in a better position to know whether to start treatment again with chemo. I am still enjoying life immensely and feeling well. I am running in the 10k Manchester Great Run again in May and am pleased to say I’ve raised over £1000 pounds for Macmillan Cancer Care. (all sponsors welcome - just email me) April 2007 - I am pleased to say that my CA125 blood test results of 10th April showed that the treatment of 8 sessions of radiotherapy which ended in february has been successful and it has gone back to 24 from 835 pre-treatment. So as you can imagine I am delighted and mightily relieved as this shows that it has killed the small tumour that has been growing slowly in a lymphnode at the back of my abdomen since July 2006. Previous to that I was officially in remission for 15 months after finishing my chemotherapy just before Christmas 2004 and gradually recovering my energy and fitness over the year. Just after Easter 2005 I returned to work at a much reduced level and have enjoyed that very much. I have passed my final exams as a TSTA (teaching and supervising transactional analyst) and achieved a long time goal of going to Australia. The other lifetime dream that I am delighted to have achieved is having a horse on permanent loan at a local riding school for a year. So although I wish it could have happened some other way I can thank cancer for giving me a big push towards making my important dreams come true a lot sooner than they might have done.” I had hospital check ups every 3 months (a CA 125 blood test and general discussion about my health) for the first year lengthening to a 6 month gap until my CA 125 began to climb and a scan showed a small swelling in my lymph node. So the news was good for 18 months and although I got anxious before each blood test and still went for counselling sometimes, I really did feel much better and generally very hopeful about the future. Obviously having to have more treatment has been very disappointing and distressing for me but I am comforted by the fact that the cancer seemed to be contained in one spot and not growing very fast. I feel that the hard work I have put into recovery and maintaining a healthy life style with the right balance between work, exercise, relaxation, nutrition, rest, etc. has helped me physically and mentally to stay strong and manage this often terrifying illness. Ironically I am fitter than I have been in years and am proud of my new found ability to run. Last year I ran the Cancer Race for Life 5k in Stockport and this May I intend to complete the 10k Manchester run. I hope to raise funds for Beechwood Cancer Care, a local charity that has helped me and many more cancer patients and their families enormously. So if you fancy sponsoring me I will be most grateful. Anyway enough about me - I will keep updating my health news to let you know how I go on and I am interested to hear from you about your health news.
Why set up a website? After my initial shock and terror I started finding out as much as I could about cancer and various medical and complementary treatments including diets, nutrition, exercise, meditation, and basically everything I could to help myself get well again. I read books, asked questions of medical staff and began looking at websites. There are many wonderful sites around with an enormous amount of information and resources available. So that is what inspired me to set up my own website without any statistics or prognoses or hard information about cancer and drug or radiation treatments. There are plenty of sources to get that kind of information (see other sites). Basically this is part of my recovery project and is something that I have put my heart into as well as my mind! I feel passionate about creating a space for sharing experiences, giving and getting support and information to empower us in the fight against cancer on the road towards health.
What will you find here? What you will find here is information about resources, books, CDs and tapes, diet, nutrition, exercise and complementary therapies. I will include tips for minimising after effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy and I am relying on your contributions as well as mine.
By emphasising positive attitudes, developing optimism, and maintaining hope we stand a better chance of getting well again and enjoying life in the process. So you will find information and tips for developing a healthy lifestyle that could help to boost your immune system, success stories and inspiration, a list of resources and a bookshop, plus a message board for you to post your own experiences and helpful hints. We are all bound to feel vulnerable at times when we get a cancer diagnosis and it can be a real shock to the system, a trauma that affects us physically and emotionally. This site also includes some thoughts on our feelings and the losses that we have to deal with when we get cancer. There is also a message board that has a section available to ask for support.
Support and Mentoring
Your Contributions Please post your messages, information and anything that you consider supportive, useful, inspirational or a bit of fun in the spirit of hope of full recovery and enjoying life to the full. If you want to talk about your feelings and share vulnerabilities that is fine too.
Feedback We really do welcome your comments and suggestions both positive and any constructive criticism about the content, style or organisation of the website. Please contact me.
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My partner Mark Durband helps me with the computer know how and website design skills. We live in Stockport, England with my 13 year old son, Jamie. My eldest son Daniel, who is 24 lives nearby. Mark and I both work as psychotherapists and I also teach and supervise counsellors and therapists. Mark also designs and maintains websites (see links to other sites page).
This website is really about what I hope will help in a holistic way to maximise all our chances of a full recovery to complete health. I do not wish to deny any fears about cancer and the possibility of death. There can never be a guarantee that we can cure ourselves of cancer but we can give it our best shot and enjoy our lives as fully as possible in the process.