Wise Words From the Cancer Survivor

Dear All,

I am very sure we are the loving children of God and He is the one who is testing us so that we come out with flying colors. Please find some of the “dos” and “donts” in the trying period.

After Surgery

What I have observed is during this period “Pranayam” (the Art of Living style) is the most suited specially for BrC. The most effective cure without any medicines and side effects. If possible, do it throughout your treatment period and even after that.

1) try to raise your hands as much as you can, but do not exert yourself.

2) 3 simple exercises prescribed by my doctor –

     (a) take your arms sideways and shake your arms like a bird flying in the sky

     (b) take your hands above your head trying to touch the arms to your ears and                  do the namaste pose. Do this with your back to the wall – start while sitting and             then standing.

     (c) Keep the palms of hands on the wall with your face to the wall and then                         crawl your fingers up the wall – slowly and then as high as you can go. With                  this, the sutured portion in the arm will be loosened. Do the execises                            slowly, starting with 5 times and then increasing after 3 days to 7 times upto 20            times, 3 times a day.

3) Right from day one, increase your intake of liquids – water, buttermilk (2 spoons of curds and remaining water in a 1 litre vessel), soups of various pumpkin fruits (all gourds, orange variety pumpkin, yellow variety pumpkin), etc.

After Chemotherapy

This is the part where you have to have immense faith in god and belief in your strong will power. There would be pain but definitely I will give you the tips how to reverse that pain to pleasure (ofcourse out of my own experience) -

1) Generally the chemotherapy lasts from 5-8 hours (for me it was 13 hours since my vein was thin).

2) Please drink lots of water and liquids before the chemo procedure is started so that the toxic / excess medicines are flushed out by way of urine.

3) A standard chemo is of 6 cycles, every 6 weeks. Sometimes, there is also a cycle every 1 week. It probably depends on the intensity of the ailment, age of the person and other factors.

4) Body temperature shoots up after every chemo due to the medicine which kills the good blood cells as well as bad. I would suggest the following –

(a) Drink lots of liquids.

(b) Keep drinking buttermilk as much as possible with salt and chaas masala.

(c) Use “Dudhi” oil on your feet soles and the “head” to cool the whole system. Use it on your eyelids also. It is available at any normal medical store.

(d) Use “Ice Box” which we get at the medical store. Put the Ice Box in a duppatta and tie the duppatta around your stomach till you find that the ice has become water (it takes about 15 mins).

(e) You may face severe constipation leading to piles many a times. Buttermilk has a very soothing effect on this. Doctors generally advise, to take laxative “Cremaffin” which will work at the beginning but then the body gets used to it.

(f)Similarly, for burning sensation and acidity doctors advice “Gelusil” a replacement for which is the himalaya drug “Himcocid” having no side effects. You can take it throughout your treatment period.

5) One mantra to increase the blood count is to take hot sizzling soup atleast 3 times a day – 3 leaves spinach, ½ piece of tomato, ½ piece of beet, ½ piece of carrot. This you can continue for years together even afterwards.

6) Haldi (Turmeric Powder) has positive effects on this process. Drink a glass of warm milk to lots of haldi at night. Use more haldi in your cooking.

7) As after effects of chemo, the immune system of the body comes down. Weather change or even if your neighbour sneezes, you are prone to get cold. It is advisable to skip all public places viz. market area, malls, movie theatres etc. Further, to strengthen your immune system, himalaya tablets “Septilin” one tablet per day.

8) Use slippers so that you do not catch cold. In case of cold, you can rub “Vicks” on your feet soles and wear socks. Next day itself you will be rid of cold. This can be done for kids as well as older people.

9)  Now for a slightly tough part. I am sure you will be convinced after I tell you my experience. Generally, after the second chemo, hair starts falling off which increases with every chemo. I had shaved off my hair after the 2^nd chemo and again after the 6^th chemo. You will find nausea when you see hair fall in your plate or food or milk etc. So better do away with it with a happier heart, coz, it will all grow back more healthier afterwards. The reason for shaving again after 6^th chemo is that all the toxins are flushed out from urine and the pores of the body by way of sweat etc. When you scratch your scalp, you will find black tar like substance on the scalp. That is the toxins given out by your scalp. The hair will not be healthy if you keep it that way. So shave off your hair again, rub it with oil everyday (you will find cotton turning black), use a mild shampoo (baby shampoo) and then you will get your lovely long black hair again.

10)     Now for the tips –

(a)    Read lot of books – whatever you like and whatever will make you laugh.

I would recommend – Louise Hay’s “You can heal your Life”

                                    Rhonda Byrne’s “Magic” and “Secret”

                                    Archies and Tinkles

(b)   Play games – specially, Sudoku, Scrabble, Snakes and Ladders – it will make you use your brain much more efficiently then at other times – keep a time schedule of 1 hour everyday for this without fail.

(c)    Hear lots of music – whatever you like – hear loud not on earphones.

(d)   Think of the chemo red liquid being injected into your body, not as the deadly medicine but as “rose water” or “juice of life” which is going to heal and cleanse your body of all ailments.

(e)    Positive thinking helps a lot in bearing the pain

Radiation

After the chemo, one is wary about the treatment, but but don’t lose heart….. Angels are just nearby. Each human has 2 angels, just like we have best friends, only very few know about it. Only they will approach on your calling. They are around you, waiting to be called by you for help, guidance, protection and also for shopping. You can try this anytime when u wait for a bus, want to find out your lovely dress at a shopping mall, etc. Please read the book “Angel Therapy” by Doreen Virtue.

The main reason why I have written this is to tell you, now is the time you must call for help (starting from chemo stage).

1)      If the breast is removed fully, radiation is given for 5 weeks.

2)      But if the breast has been saved, the normal dosage is 6 weeks, generally 1-3 minutes at the site of the CA. With the latest machines and the best radiation doctors, you wont feel any pain. You wouldn’t know when you are on the table and when you are out.

3)      During this time, it is advisable to take a front buttoned maxi (since you have to change during radiation) or a front buttoned blouse if you are wearing a saree. Preferably, always wear cotton clothes only.

4)      During this time, it is advisable to keep on doing the exercises with a slow pace, since the tendon and muscles are burnt (think of the tandoori effect) and need to be flexed slowly so that they do not become tight due to radiation. 

5)      Last but not the least, the tip - be happy, laugh a lot, sometimes take a small piece of cake or flowers for your radiation doctor (my doctor in on my facebook – my sons age) or even some namkeen to distribute among the patients whom you see everyday. The happiness you see on their faces makes you heal faster and lessens the pain.

Post Treatment

A winning horse doesn’t know what is WIN ??

It only runs bcoz of the pain given by the rider….

So, whenever u r in pain

Think GOD your rider wants U to WIN J

1)      Sympathy is the last thing that should be on one’s mind. Deck up (dress, flowers, jewellery, etc – we are lucky to be ladies) as if everyday is a b’day, live n enjoy every moment of life as you live only once and laugh lots. That’s the key to healthy life. Blessings is found to be more healing than sympathy.

2)      Start your day with pranayam. If you have read “magic” start the day with “thank you” and make it a point to say “thank you” at the smallest help / care you get from anybody.

3)      Please intake lots of soup, juices, fresh vegetables everyday. Tomatoes, Broccoli, gourds of various varieties as vegetables and halwas, carrots, kidney beans, beans in other forms, etc. Remember that all yellow & orange colour fruits and vegetables should be given top most priority.

4)      Handful of sprouted moong in the form of soup, vegetable, even boiled as in “pani puri” to be had everyday.

5)      Lemon is supposed to have healing properties – slice a piece of lemon and put in a glass of water for 4-5 hours – drink the water. You can do it as many times you want it.

6)      For nausea, just chew on ginger and little salt. It will give you immediate relief.

7)      Sometimes, you are not able to close the fist of your palms due to chemo, so slowly everyday basis, 10 times do the palm closing exercise (3 times a day).

8)      I have done some reading on alternate therapy and found many sites which are useful – kindly check www.men-tsee-khang.org and this full fledged hospital is at Koparkhairane. You will go thro’ some miraculous alternate therapies on the net. You can visit the hospital too since the doctor, checks only your pulse and suggests medicines made of fruits and barks of trees.

9)      Milk with haldi (Turmeric) to be had regularly. Prepare food with haldi.

10)  It is observed that tendency to put on weight increases 10-fold. So, brisk walking for 45 minutes is a must (which frankly I am not able to do).

11)  You can have vitamins & calcium two times in a week, if need be.

12)  In case of piles problem, sit in a plate of water, as hot as much you can bear. Buttermilk is the only solution for that. Due to medicines the body temperature will be high and heat automatically generated. Keep the Ice-Box & Oil therapy on.

13)  With all the chemo your hormones go in for a toss and fatigue, restlessness, sometimes lymphodema (swelling in arms), weight gain are the side effects. I visited a naturopathist in Vile Parle – Dr. Mamta Trivedi (who is available at Mumbai Prabhadevi, Opera House and Breach Candy also), who is a obesity and diabetes specialist. She has suggested a juice made out of tulsi, neem, pudina, ginger, amla, honey, bel, etc. which I have been taking for past 5 yrs now. It helps build your immune system and you feel revitalized.

14)  The sugar levels also soar – for that you can have 1/3 of karela (bitter gourd), same quantity of tomato, same quantity of kakdi and some coriander leaves – mix in mixer and drink it (preferably without sieving). Coriander has the properties to flush the toxins from kidney and keeps your liver healthy which deteo

15)  By now your hispathology reports would have come (ER/PR/HER2) which will tell you if you can take the hormone therapy after radiation is over. For me all the three i.e. ERPRHER2 was negative, I was not supposed to take the hormone treatment. If any of the above is +ve then 1 tablet per day (hormone therapy) of a certain medicine is prescribed by the doctor.

16)  I will write some shlokas for healing faster. Do keep faith and chant them (108 times) :

(a)               Dhanvantari Mantra –

"Om Namo Bhagavate,   Maha Sudharshana
Vasudevaya Dhanvantaraye,     Amrutha Kalasa Hasthaaya
Sarva Bhaya Vinasaya,   Sarva Roka Nivaranaya
Thri Lokya Pathaye,       Thri Lokya Nithaye
Sri Maha Vishnu Swarupa,        Sri Dhanvantri Swarupa
Sri Sri Sri, Aoushata Chakra Narayana Swaha"

(b)               Rama (Healing Mantra):

Om Apadamapa Hataram Dataram Sarva Sampadam
Loka Bhi Ramam Sri Rama Bhuyo Bhuyo Namamyaham

"This is a long mantra to put in a chapter for those just starting off, but is placed here because it is the most powerful healing mantra I have ever encountered. The very rough translation is, 'Om, Oh most compassionate Rama please send your healing energy right here to the earth, to the earth (twice for emphasis.)'

(c)                Health Protection Mantra

Om hansam hansaha

(d)               Cancer                            Om Krishnaya Namaha
  a) Tongue Cancer             Om Krishna-Viththalaya Namaha
  b) Lung Cancer                  Om Narayani-Krishnaya Namaha
  c) Throat Cancer               Om Mahesh-Krishnaya Namaha
  d) Chest Cancer                 Om Shankara-Krishnaya Namaha
  e) Liver Cancer                   Om Narayani-Krishnaya Namaha
  f) Blood Cancer                   Om Shrikant-Krishnaya Namaha
  g) Breast Cancer                 Om Narayani-Krishnaya Namaha
  h) Bone Cancer                    Om Krishna-Krishnaya Namaha
  i) Prostate Cancer          Om Shriram-Narayan-Krishnaya Namaha

17)   Mantra for Longevity and getting rid of Ailments
Om Trayambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pusti Vardhanam, Urvarukamiva Bandhanan Mrityormurksheeya Mamritat. (maha mruntunjay mantra)

18)   The mantras need not be chanted tediously. Say whatever you can with a cool heart – under no pressure. Please be calm and happy, this will benefit you all in the long run. God Bless You all and hope and I am sure you  all will get strength to go through everything smilingly.

Lots of blessings from the LORD

Be prepared with a smile and prayers J

Lots of hugs and wishing a speedy recovery, 


Sumegha  (IDBI Bank, Mumbai, India) 


She can be reached at her 
email:  sumegha67@gmail.com

SUMEGHA SHANBHAG