Sunday, July 18, 2010

Muddy Puppy after playing at the park
Sorry that I have been away...I have been very busy taking care of our little bean and we also had family in town. I don't think I wrote after our last disappointing Oncologist visit.

Irregardless of my affirmations, the ultrasound showed the prostate tumor developing cranial extentions into the bladder and a new mass on either the liver or gall bladder (doc couldn't tell decisively from the ultrasound). After a minor emotional breakdown, we are optimistic and moving forward again.

We are now trying Leonard on a very promising herb called Artemisinin. Remarkably, he showed dramatic & impressive improvement within 24 hours. His urination straining diminished, he was energetic and eating heartily. Unfortunately, the problem with this supplement is bioavailability, after a certain period of time, it's ability to be absorbed diminishes. Because he was on such a huge dose, we hit that mark by Day 5.

So, we have amended his regimen and we are pulsing the Artemsinin with 95% Standardized Curcumin and dosing that with Fish Oil (DHA/EPA) to aid in absorbtion. This regimen is very tricky, the Curcumin appears to be the only Antioxidant that does not interfere with or hinder the Artemsinin's effectivness. Therefore, I had to stop all other antioxidants and avoid any food with antioxidant properties. This is mentally hard to do since the importance of antioxidants for cancer is pounded into us.

On another note, the Artemisinin works directly with the abundant Iron contained in Cancer cells. Because of this, one has to avoid all iron-rich foods near Artemisinin dosing time. It's a very tricky schedule but I think we are getting a system down.

Right now, I think the single most important thing in our fight is exercise and the way this expenditure oxygenates the cells of Leonard's system. We bought him a new basketball and have several play sessions a day - he is like a puppy, I tell you. The exercise has made a tremedous difference in his success.

Breakfast {where else} at The Farm when mom & Dad came to town.
Leonard's FAVORITE toy - a box.Leonard's new basketball! We were so thrilled to have my sister, Adrienne, here for a week in early July. She was here for the 4th of July *and* Jeff's 41st Birthday!

Adi & Leo at Steele Indian School Park.
Leo gets a little crazy over his basketball :)Here is Adi with Trigger at Steel Indian School Park.
Jeff's Birthday pie.Adi and Leo taking a nap on a hot afternoon.
Here's a short poor quality video taken with my camera. He is *so* into this ball, I would love to see him on a soccer field - he is so good at controlling it and volleying it across the field. There was no audio available but if you watch - you can tell he is barking his head off at that ball.