7.5 Pounds

Okay, so we're NOT going to try to summit Mt. Whitney this year; we are just going to use our pass to scope things out for next year. Good thing, as dealing with the kids (finals/grades) kept me too busy to decide on which sleeping bag I wanted. A check of nighttime temps on the mountain let me know that the bag I was fairly settled on getting would not be sufficient for the overnight temps...esp. if we go sans tent.

So I just picked up a mummy bag that is rated for 15 deg. It was the last bag available; and of course, IT'S PURPLE. Just it in my backpack is a total of 7.5 pounds on my back.

This should be an interesting adventure...

The Nutrition Stuff, Part 3

Just as important as putting truly nourishing substances into the body is avoiding substances that are bad for the body. The number-one "bad guy" on my list is high-fructose corn syrup. This stuff is killing Americans, making them obese as they suffer disease and even die due to MALNOURISHMENT. I am a meticulous label-reader when it comes to what I put into (or even ON) my body.

You probably know the basics: Avoid white sugar, white flour, artificial sweeteners, high sodium-content products, and products with high-fructose corn syrup. If you aren't familiar with this nutrition plan, I recommend checking out food-combining for better digestion and health. Suzanne Somers has a video called "Somercizing" that explains a lot about how to eat properly for best nutrition. Of course, one benefit of eating that way is that you will be the size your body is SUPPOSED to be -- not morbidly obese from all the crap "food" out there!

The Nutrition Stuff, Part 2

So what's the absolutely essential thing our human bodies need? Yep, water. H2O.

We need to drink at least 64 oz of the stuff EVERY SINGLE DAY. I carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go, and I drink spring water almost exclusively.

I've become quite a water connosseur, and my favorite water is Fiji brand water. But I also like other spring waters, including some Hawaiian ones and, of course, natural running springs anytime I'm blessed to find ones safe to drink.

Here's a little trick I learned from research that my Hawaiian friends also know. My name for this is "Primordial Soup"; I think it's something our bodies like:

Dissolve Hawaiian pink sea salt in spring water until the water is saturated and will hold no more salt in suspension. Cover and keep, adding 1 tsp of the solution to ~32 oz spring water each day.

You can also use Himalayan pink salt & Fiji bottled water, if you don't happen to wake up on the islands!

The Nutrition Stuff, Part 1

I believe nutrition is one of the cornerstones of fighting cancer physically. By learning and maintaining good nutrition, I personally have enjoyed:

• better tolerance of chemotherapies,
• less dramatic hair loss,
• less side effects from the drugs,
• fast recoveries from surgeries,
• fast detoxification of the liver after chemotherapies,
• healthier skin and hair, and so forth.

Do I get tired of living that way in a world of yummy pizza and margaritas? YES!!! It's hard to be perfect, and I am so NOT perfect. But by striving to have perfect nutrition while still allowing myself to feel like I am not permanently cut off from any food, I am able to maintain a diet that is ~80% protein, fruits, and vegetables -- all healthy foods made by God. And that's how we're supposed to live, like it or don't!

Breakfast is green tea or yerba mate' with super-enriched honey; or a fruit smoothie. Fruit smoothies are made with fruit, esp. bananas, raspberries, and strawberries; and organic (probiotic) kefir. Fresh wheatgrass and powdered barley grass along with fresh-ground flax seed gets thrown in. So that's an example what I mean by "nutrition." Try to use food as close to how God made it (Jack Lalane lives by that), and try to pack as many superfoods as you can into your snacks and meals.

Here are some of the nutritional supplements I have already discussed in previous (voodoo stuff) posts:

fucoidan derived from brown seaweed
oxygen drops
nanized green tea
Sovereign Silver colloidal silver

The Three Battlegrounds

Battling cancer is a three-pronged approach. This is a battle that must be fought physically, mentally/emotionally, and spiritually.

Physically, the most important things to do to complement the surgery, chemotherapies, and radiation now necessary are to properly nourish, exercise, and detoxify the body.

Living in SoCal, I am very aware of all the cancer clinics down in Mexico. They are very expensive -- usually more than 25k for "treatment" that is mostly things you can do yourself right here in the US. No matter whether their gimmick is US-banned laetrile or whatever, ALL of the clinics have three things in common: nutrition, supplements, and colonics/high enemas. Want to guess why? To nourish and detox the body. You don't have to go to Mexico and spend thousands of dollars to do that!!!

The Voodoo Stuff, Part 6

There was a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who made an important discovery back in the 1930s or so. It seems that one of the most important weapons you can use against cancer is:

Oxygen.

Yep, oxygen.

Virtually all (but NOT all) cancers cannot survive oxygen.

So how the heck do you get more oxygen INTO YOUR CELLS? It's not as easy as you'd think it would be. Especially when one is fighting metastasis to the lungs!

PHYSICALLY:

One way that I try to get more oxygen into my cells is by HIKING AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 7k ft.

Another way is by SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN or WALKING/HIKING ALONG THE SEA.

Those, not surprisingly, are my favorite ways!

HORSEBACK RIDING, JUMPING ON A TRAMPOLINE OR REBOUNDER, or using TURBOSONIC are other ways you can try to get more oxygen into your cells, if your bones can take those activities.

NUTRITIONALLY:

I put "oxygen drops" in my water. These drops are a dietary health food supplement of oxygen-bearing salts and chlorophyll, and it turns out they are also recommended to be used with the fucoidan.

I try to eat as much Beta Carotene as I can, for the Vitamin A derived from it is helpful to the lungs. I also believe the Vitamin E is helpful for the lungs, as well.

VOO-DOO:

I use Himalayan salt crystal lamps. They're pretty, if nothing else. But it's one of the voodoo-ways used to treat asthma; check out the history.

I use an ozone machine called Prozone. It cleans the air AND makes the house smell like it just rained.

The Voodoo Stuff, Part 5

I've mentioned before "EB Cellular Cleanse"; it has been an important tool in my arsenal. So after getting an armful of contrast this week, you can bet I booked an EB cleanse for today!

EB Cellular Cleanse smacks of "voodoo" rather than science -- I have read the science part of it, seen it with my own eyes, and I still don't believe it! This is too weird!

What is it? It's simply an ionic footbath that pulls cellular debris out of the body via the feet. My feet start off in a tub of clean water with a tsp of sea salt and a little ion device that is plugged in. Twenty-three minutes later, my feet are in a tub of the strangest, nastiest looking water. How does this darn thing work? Are those really particulates of heavy metals and other cellular debris? All I know is I'm darn glad to have that junk OUT of me!

I do know of a woman doctor who is fairly famous for having beaten cancer -- and the ionic footbath is one of the tools she used.

Tests/studies done of the water after EB cleansing do show the presence of heavy metal particles, etc.; so science seems to agree there is something to this "voodoo" machine. The color chart that purports what you're seeing (black specks=heavy metals; orange=liver, etc.) was not found to be scientific. My personal experience? The color chart has some relevance. After all the congestion, I saw more of the white floaties associated with mucous. After doing nuclear medicine, I see more of the black spots associated with heavy metals.

I do recommend the ionic footbath, although I gotta warn you---it is a bit on the (mildly) gross side, in addition to just being STRANGE!

Good Results

I am very thankful to report that the MRIs show the spinal cord is okay and is not currently being compressed!

The doctors and I are staying focused on the fact that the results don't show anything I haven't already been LIVING with. Unfortunately, that does include a compression fracture in a vertebra in the lumbar spine, and one in a vertebra in the thoracic spine. These fractures were caused by the degenerative aspects of bony metastasis; it's not anything I did or could have prevented. It's just where cancer cells have eaten the bone.

Looking at the MRIs and the compression fractures, and performing a "real-world" risk assessment, the neurologist thought I could definitely carry 5-10 pounds but should NOT go beyond that (and be very very careful).

So that's the bottom line...I keep it to 10 pounds and under. The sleeping bag I'm looking at weighs less than 2 pounds, and my pack (see ultralight post) is also ultralight.

I celebrated the good news with a TurboSonic workout to keep building up my bones/spine!

See you in the back country!

Spinal MRIs

I did the MRIs of the thoracic and lumbar sections of my spine yesterday. Unfortunately, I'm paying a price for that knowledge --- a fair amount of the contrast went into my arm tissue instead of the vein. I am just numb enough from neuropathy that it was hard to tell until it started REALLY burning!

So today I am really struggling to deal with the residual effects of having that BURNING contrast in me, both in the body tissue and the bloodstream. Yes, sometimes I get REALLY TIRED of all this!

I will see the neurologist tomorrow to hopefully get the results and figure out what's going on with my spinal cord and the cancer lesions that are showing in those sections of my spine. Then we will better be able to do risk assessment for the "real life" part of the "living with cancer."

Finally Bagged Another Summit!

Okay, everybody has asked me to tone it down a little, which I have been doing. I've been behaving myself quite nicely...but that doesn't mean I'm not going to go hike in the wilderness!

Okay, okay--I won't try to summit Whitney this year. But I'm still going to go hike around in the Whitney Zone and scope it out for next year!

So while I'm waiting to do my spinal MRIs this week, I picked a nice, simple little hike to do (and I'm not being facetious). The DRIVE to it, however, was a good jostle for the spine.

I picked Wright Mountain (again), and Hallelujah!!! This time the Blue Ridge gate was OPEN. The Blue Ridge is what "links" Mt. San Antonio (Baldy) to Mt. Baden-Powell. The Pacific Crest Trail meanders along this ridge.
We simply followed the Blue Ridge forest road east. The drive alone is wonderful for vistas of both the inland empire and the desert sides of these awesome mountains. We drove back, past Guffy Campground, for a bit more than 7 miles; to a wide spot in the road referred to in descriptions as a "parking area." (Obviously, they were being facetious.)

From there, it's a march straight up a hill to the top, where the traces of a "jeep road" can be found. A brief hike down the jeep road, and we were at the "nondistinct" summit of Wright Mountain.
A yellow triangular sign on the jeep road marks the summit's location; from there it's a few yards north to the summit cairn.
We found and signed the summit log at the cairn, then settled in on the north mountainside for a picnic and THAT VIEW. (El Mirage dry lake is visible at the horizon.)
The pines smelled wonderful, and we could pick up the vanilla scent of the Jeffery pine bark. Mountain lilac was in fragrant abundance, and many wildflowers were still out at this high altitude.

The hike began at the "parking area" at above 7000 feet elevation, so I really felt the workout in my lungs as I headed up the hill to the jeep road. The summit is billed as 8505'; haven't checked what our GPS said. Once at the summit, it was wonderful just to take deep breaths of clean (real pine-scented) air. All told, it was less than a mile's hike ROUND-TRIP (albeit some significant elevation gain in relatively little distance).

And it was fun!