“Integrative medicine is a combination of medical treatments for cancer and complementary therapies to cope with the symptoms and side effects.
Hi David, I find your article so refreshing! My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2017. She went through the usual “standard-of-care” regimens- revlimid, velcade, dexamethasone (RVD) and she had tons of side effects!
There were times that she wanted to give up. But the chemo worked for her and she persevered. After a year, being the determined person she is, she asked to stop the treatment, totally. Thanks to God, mom did fine.
Her blood diagnostic was all good until recently – May 2020. Her oncologist said that her MM had relapsed, and is affecting her kidneys. She has refused chemo totally this time and she is looking for natural remedy.
Perhaps vegetables and fruits full of antioxidants and good for her kidneys.
I would like to find out more from you how you survived MM, please share with me your journey. Mary
Hi Mary,
I am sorry to learn of your mom’s struggles with life as a MM survivor. Unfortunately, your mom’s experience sounds identical to many of the MM survivors I’ve worked with over the years.
MM symptoms and side effects differ from patient to patient of course, but after years of experience and study I’ve come to the conclusion that the
“standard-of-care” is simply too much chemo, too much toxicity for the average MM survivor to bear.
A good example of this thinking is your comment “she asked to stop the treatment.. totally, and thanks to God, she did fine.” In my opinion, the patient shouldn’t have to ask to stop treatment. I believe her oncologist should have suggested either stopping treatment or, at the very least, a reduction of your mom’s treatment. Less chemo, less toxicity means a higher quality of life.
Now that your mom has relapsed and is dealing with kidney involvement, she is so tired of life living with chemotherapy that she is refusing any/all treatment.
While I’m happy to share my treatment history with you, let me first suggest possible therapies, both conventional, non-toxic and non-conventional, that I think may interest you and your mom.
I will describe the therapies now and link blog posts below that talk about several of these therapies.
Two ideas are presented in the linked posts below-
- integrative therapies (nutritional supplementation that integrate or enhance chemotherapy) and
- nutritional supplementation that is cytotoxic to MM and is kidney healing..
The bottom line is that your mom should consider either non-toxic therapies that are kidney friendly and/or non-toxic therapies with low-dose chemotherapy (Velcade/bortezomib I think) that should manage her MM while it heals her kidneys.
Let me know if you have any questions Mary.
Thanks.
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Recommended Reading:
“Integrative medicine is a combination of medical treatments for cancer and complementary therapies to cope with the symptoms and side effects. You may sometimes hear integrative medicine called complementary and alternative medicine or CAM. However, there are no true “alternatives” to cancer treatment…”
Chemotherapy in general and particularly the high-dose, aggressive chemotherapy that comes with an autologous stem cell transplant can damage bone marrow temporarily and possibly permanently.
There are two solutions to the general problem of toxic chemotherapy regimens that cause as much damage as not:
- When it comes to conventional MM therapy, less toxicity is more, and
- Nutritional supplementation such as curcumin to heal our bone marrow, bones, kidneys, etc. while it enhances toxic chemotherapy and fights our blood cancer itself..”
“The five studies linked and excerpted below explain how TQ is:
- cytotoxic to multiple myeloma
- overcomes the chemoresistence of MM while enhancing chemotherapy regimens such as Velcade and Revlimid
- protected kidneys from the toxic effect of chemotherapy
- enhanced bone formation
- enhanced heart health
Keep in mind that TQ is a non-conventional therapy meaning the studies below are animal studies. Conventional oncology usually takes a different view of evidence-based non-conventional therapies such as TQ, curcumin, omega-3 fatty acids, etc. than I do…”
“According to the five studies linked and excerpted below, omega-3 fatty acids:
- Induce apoptosis (kill) multiple myeloma cells- while leaving healthy cells alone-
- Enhances/sensitizes your MM cells to Velcade (bortezomib)-
- Builds your bone marrow (promotes hematopoiesis)-
- Heals kidney damage-
- Strengthens the heart muscle-
- Enhances bone mineral density (builds strong bones)
This blog post signals omega-3 fatty acids joining vitamin D3, curcumin and black seed oil as being evidence-based, non-toxic therapies that treat the most common MM symptoms as well as the most common MM side effects…”