2009 - It Starts!

Like most diseases there are a lot of unknowns surrounding the big 'C' especially for those who have never been directly or personally affected by it. This is fast changing as studies show the rise in CanSer now touches more lives then ever. Based on current incidence rates, 40% of Canadian women and 45% of men will develop cancer during their lifetimes. An estimated 1 out of every 4 Canadians are expected to die from cancer. Those are some pretty high, startling statistics that if we allow could scare the bajeeba's out of us. (especially those of us already apart of the 'stats')! But we can't allow fear or ignorance to keep us from knowledge as knowledge is power. The more we understand, the more educated we become and the more we let go of fear, the better equipped we are to win over something like CanSer. (we can apply these rules to pretty much anything in life really but the topic today is the big 'C').

It was late last year I noticed a tickling in my throat that was somewhat annoying but easily ignored. I couldn't really tell you for sure how long this went on for but perhaps a month or so before I finally took a look in the mirror. My stomach instantly sank as I saw the growth on the right side of my throat. After confirming with my roomie that it didn't look good, I knew I had to take myself to the doctor asap. Work was crazy at the time and I was in the process of getting ready for a meeting in New York so this was not an appropriate time to get sick. (like the sick gods ever take into account when is or isn't a good time!) I immediately went to the walk-in clinic and they prescribed me antibiotic (of course) which after 7 days did nothing. I went back and she prescribed me a stronger one that you only take for 4 days and made me really sick to my stomach. Oh well I thought 'suck it up', I needed something as I was boarding the plane the next day for NYC for work. That next four days in the big apple (I might mention my first trip there) were a mixture of excitement and total exhaustion. My body did not like me at all - it felt beat up like the Central Park sign in this post :-(! Here I am in NYC and on antibiotics, so no sipping cosmopolitans like a true Sex and The City gal ;-p .. (Zoey and I did manage however to do a whirlwind shopping tour and pick up some hot deals - yipee). If you can't drink - shop! haha

When I got home I made another appointment to see a medical doctor at my naturopath clinic. She did some blood work which came back normal and prescribed me the strongest antibiotic for 7 day course. It actually took down the tonsil quite a bit but not enough. I needed to get back to see her but couldn't so I ended up back at my old clinic with the doctor on-site that day. He was training a new doctor that day so I went through my entire speech twice and his conclusion was that I had an abscessed tonsil. Awesome - Not! He put a request in for me to see an ENT at St. Mikes. There was a few back and forth in the next month and a half including seeing a scary old doctor up in Brampton. Looking back he did know his stuff but at the time he scared the crap out of me, so I got a second opinion. Second opinion day happened on Jan. 22 at St. Mike's. I wasn't really expecting what came that day. After Dr. Lee looked in my throat he immediately asked if he could run some additional tests. I saw the worry on his face and my stomach did a little flip - I think I knew at that moment something was wrong. I had the lovely test of having a tiny camera put up my nose and down into my throat. AWkWARD....and yuck. Then he immediately sent me for a CT Scan - I had one an hour later. That totally freaked me out because I know how long it can take to get in to have one. Next thing I know I'm back in his office and he's got me signed up for surgery to have a biopsy of my tonsil, potentially the entire right tonsil out. He told me the concern for him was it could be lymphoma because it didn't look like a normal infected tonsil but he still had hopes it was just a weird infection. I truly never allowed my mind to go to the CanSer field - In my head the entire time I was thinking 'not likely, as if, no way - I'm young.

Before the surgery I flew home to E-town for my friend Taryn's wedding and to go see a master herbalist guru dude in Calgary at his clinic - link attached for those who are interested. http://www.wrc.net/. I've been to him many times over the years but not since I'd moved to Toronto. He's known out west as the godfather of herbal healing. ("I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse' Don Corleone..haha). Anyways, he is quite amazing I must say and has studied herbs extensively from all around the world. He put me on a few different things and told me to start them immediately. I was also to cut out all white sugar, white flour products, alcohol etc immediately. I flew home the next day and within a few days I was already feeling way better then I had in the previous 3 months. I could breath again through my nose. I also had a couple of treatments with essential oils to help detoxify my body . Essential oils also have very potent healing properties and they have been a regular part of my household regimen for years. I'll talk about all my herbal, holistic stuff in upcoming posts. ;-) Anyone who truly knows me, knows I'm a firm believer in East meets West healing. I think that is where we go wrong when we are trying to 'cure' a disease. There are so many different components and levels to healing that aren't just about 'curing' the disease. More thought and study needs to be given to prevention in the first place, with a multi-faceted approach to attacking it that includes holistic, medical and spiritual/emotional aspects.

Next up on the CanSer train - My tonsil surgery .... stay tuned!!