Liver Research
April 14th, 2010 | Published in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
April 14th, 2010 Liver Studies
Kayla went for her monthly chemo infusion yesterday. As a test I had her drink her liver tea that was made for her by our Chinese Doctor. I wanted to see if this tea would prevent the reactions she has had for the last several months, which is severe itching for two days.
Every time I bring this up and describe it to her oncologists they always react with surprise and then tell me to give her Benedryl. The itching is so bad that I would have to give her the Benedryl around the clock, a solution that I do not like. Afterwards I asked about Benedryl cream and was told to not use it because the preservatives have been found to cause other problems. Great. Last night I gave Kayla more liver tea and she said it really helped her.
This morning I looked up Kayla’s blood work. Her ALT is 267. This is a liver enzyme test. Normal is from 5 to 40. Obviously her liver is reacting to the chemo. Her other liver test is AST, was 121, normal is from 7 to 56. Bili total was 1.4 another slightly high reading. The Billirubin has to do with the gall bladder and other digestive organs, it is a reading of the bile production. What this means to me is that Kayla’s liver has been objecting for several months after every infusion. Last month we tried Milk Thistle (an herb specific for the liver) as directed by our oncologist but he did not know an exact dose. We used one 175 milligram capsule as directed by the pharmacist but this caused vomiting a couple of hours later so I stopped using it.
Recently I went and purchased empty gel capsules so that I could break open the Milk Thistle capsules to divide the dose in half. I did this today. What a pain in the
School attire
rear, sitting and separating these little capsules into another small capsule. The final dose works out to about 85 milligrams per capsule. I gave Kayla one capsule. She said that she could feel the difference, how, I wouldn’t know. There were no adverse reactions so we are going to continue this. The itching has stopped! Wow, we figured out the right dose and handled this completely. Woo-hoo! Maybe the last chemo infusion will have no reactions because of this remedy? We shall see.
Something has clicked with Kayla musically, suddenly she is practicing both piano and her guitar. It must be the couple of shows that I have been recording for her which are American Idol and some of Oprah when it is music related. Now Kayla is inspired and has doubled her practice time without any prompting from me. I am so happy about this. Kayla used to sing all the time before cancer. Once she was diagnosed the singing stopped. It has been two and a half years of no singing. We are talking about a kid who would make up a song about cleaning her room when I told her to go clean her room. It used to make the walls of our house feel happy to hear her singing to herself. It is only in the past couple of weeks that she has started singing again. Somehow, her singing again, makes me feel like everything is going to be okay…
May 18th, 2010 at 6:57 am (#)
Hi there,
Your blog brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I know how difficult it must have been for you to handle Kayla and come up with so much research and dedicate to this blog. My son who is 31/2 years old was diagnosed with ALL last year October. Its difficult to talk to my Oncologist about using supplements during chemo. I struggle to find balance between giving the best relief during treatment and adhering to standard treatment. I am glad to know I have your blog as a guide. I know you are doing your best to find balance for Kayla as I am for Ethan. I hope we both see our kids grow into healthy and successful adults. All the best
May 31st, 2010 at 8:21 am (#)
Dear Kula,
The web-pages on my site are designed to help a person get doctor approval. Just print out the page of interest or specific concern and bring it to your doctor. Because of the quoted medical studies your doctor will (or should) feel safer in allowing you to use the supplements on that page. They want to know that what they approve of is safe for the patient while on chemo. Although most supplements are safe there is always the chance of an allergic reaction. If you get approval for anything the safest way to go about it is to give the lowest possible dose then watch if there is a reaction.
Your son is the perfect age to have gotten leukemia. The survival rates are at their highest when they are young. Although this is a tough road for a parent to travel, you will get through this with your son and be stronger for all you have been through. Believe it or not, we were enriched by our cancer experience. I hope the same happens with you and yours. All the best to you. Stay positive, know that your son is going to be perfect and say it everyday. We did the positive thinking chant every day and it helped us a lot!
Debbie
June 16th, 2010 at 10:44 am (#)
Dear Kula,
I am so very sorry that it has taken me so long to reply to your letter.
Thank you for the letter you sent, although it is long and trying you can get through the treatment! Kayla finished May 11th, 2010 and we are relishing life. Use my webpages to get approvals from the doctors. This is why this was set up this way. If you have medical information to support your request they usually give the okay. Without these they will say no.
Cancer can be confusing and overwhelming. Just do the best that you can with good food choices and that would be a major step in the right direction. If you want to address a specific problem look on my site for medical references to help you. If you do not find what you need on the site then email me and I will try to help you.
Sincerely,
Debbie