The Pancreas & DIY Cancer Survival

Carol Morrison-Kelley, M.D believes that cancer is not even addressed by doctors - whom she refers to as 'quacks'. She believes people must be in charge of their own recovery, that it is a process to acquire the disease and a process to rid oneself of it.

There is a link to her article Understanding Cancer.

Kelley believes cancer is caused as a result of the pancreas not working properly. If this be the case, it would explain why so many people with Chronic Pancreatitis die from the failure of other organs such as the liver. She claims her husband healed himself from Pancreatic Cancer and that they have had success helping others live who had been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

Take it for what you will. A lot of her assertions run along the same lines of what is discussed on this site -- dealing with the process as a way to dictate or change the outcome. Diet, lifestyle and herbs. An example is to eat ginger to help decrease the inflammation during a pancreatic flare-up or attack. Another example is changing one's diet to exclude fatty foods to decrease the likelihood of one's diet bringing on an attack while helping to increase the likelihood of one's lifespan. Another example is changing one's lifestyle to decrease the likelihood of stress on one's life because stress weakens the adrenal glands which are part of the endocrine system which the pancreas is also a part of.

Curry Squid with Rice - Pancreatic Diet

Deep sea fish are high in iodine. Iodine is necessary for proper thyroid function. The thyroid is part of the endocrine system. The pancreas is part of the endocrine system. Therefore, my thought is the healthier I can keep my thyroid and endocrine system, as a whole, the easier things will be on my pancreas. As it is, I have problems with my thyroid so I am trying to take special note of things that could help to keep it strong or improve its condition.

Eating is often a difficult proposition for people with pancreatic problems. My pancreas likes to

become inflamed at the thought of food. Therefore, a goal of mine is to keep my pancreas from becoming inflamed while still eating... and preferably while enjoying my diet!

Today, I made Squid (or Calamari, if you prefer) with rice. The spices I used are ground black pepper, iodized salt, curry and turmeric.

Curry and turmeric are anti-inflammatory spices. My experience has been that these spices tend to decrease pancreatic irritability.

I cooked the squid in a pan (Frozen squid which I took out of the freezer yesterday) with iodized salt, freshly ground black pepper, turmeric and curry.

In a separate pan, I cooked the rice to which I added curry and iodized salt.

Note: I am not currently experiencing pancreatic pain. If I were then I would probably not be eating solids. Rather, I would probably be better off with either straight liquids - if I needed to allow my pancreas time to rest and heal - or easier foods to digest such as yogurt, baby cereal, tapioca pudding and perhaps oatmeal and toast with jam or maybe an english muffin.

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Pancreatitis & Chrissy's Tea

I make all my own teas now. I buy the ingredients in bulk and honestly you can either grow or get most tea ingredients if you so desired!

I don't know why but Yogi Teas now tend to hurt my abdomen when I drink them. Before I had chronic pancreatitis, Yogi Teas were always fantastic! Now, the Yogi Teas cause discomfort to my pancreas.

My solution has been to make my own teas.

I've written several other articles on tea. If you go to the 'search' bar on the left of the screen and type in 'tea' it will bring up the other tea articles.

I think my all time favorite tea includes the below 4 ingredients:

1. Artemisia Capillaris
2. Dandelion
3. Lavender
4. Ginger

Let's name it! Let's call it 'Chrissy's Tea'. My favorite grandfather used to call me 'Chrissy' so both the name and the tea have a special meaning to me!

This is probably my favorite tea because it tastes good and seems to flush my system while also decreasing inflammation. It always feels beneficial. I was recently in NYC for 10 days. I didn't bring the tea and noticed such a difference in how the organs in my processed and rid itself of food. Often, when I drink this tea I feel like I'm not really experiencing problems with my pancreas anymore. I think it simply does an excellent job of flushing my system which seems to make life much easier on my pancreas.

The artemisia capillaris seems to flush and protect my system. Note: Especially if you haven't tried this herb in a tea before, you might want to make sure you are home for the night. For my system, it gets things moving. It is also considered to be beneficial for the liver. Many people with pancreatitis end up having liver problems. I think this tea (herb) helps me protect the longevity of my liver! By the way, you can totally smoke this herb but it might give you a headache and it will not get you high. I haven't found that the benefits are the same when smoking it. I prefer it in tea!

Dandelion is high in Vitamins A and B12 (riboflavin), is known considered helpful with hypertension, as a diuretic and is known to prevent the formation of gallstones and possibly helping to dissolve gallstones. Gallstone problems are often prevalent in people who suffer from pancreatitis.

The lavender seeds I put in my shake herbal tea mix smell so good! It brings a smile to my face. Besides, the seeds are a beautiful shade of purple. I don't use many, maybe 5-10 seeds. I suppose some people might use more but that is the quantity that works for me. Lavender is considered an herb that helps with anxiety and nervousness as well as depression and insomnia. It also is known to help with the digestive tract, in relieving persistent flatulence, spells of nausea as well as indigestion. Many of these symptoms are experienced by people who suffer from the disease of pancreatitis.

I love ginger! It is an anti-inflammatory. I buy jars of the pink ginger that accompany sushi in restaurants and eat it straight up! I love the way ginger tastes in tea. It has a zing to it! It is said that ginger can help with abdominal cramping and the treatment of kidney stones, as well as having an antiseptic quality that is extremely beneficial in dealing with all manners of gastrointestinal infections. Ginger is also known to help with flatulence (gas)!

Pancreatitis and Lavender Tea

Lavender is something I love to add to my tea mixes.

A pinch is enough. Lavender is strong and a little goes a long way.

Like with peppermint, lavender adds a lovely aroma and taste to the teas I make for the benefit of my pancreas.

Some of the herbs I use taste dreadful but are beneficial so adding a pinch of lavender can really enhance my tea drinking experience.

Benefits of Lavender
- Lavender may help with insomnia
- Lavender may be calming, help with nervousness and alleviating stress. (I have found that, for me, stress is a trigger point for pancreatic flare-ups.)
- Lavender may help to uplift wilting spirits!
- Lavender may help with flatulence, an upset stomach and bowel infections
- Lavender may help to headaches

As with anything I put into my system, I take it slow and see how my body reacts. Again, lavender is very strong and something I use only as a supplement to the other herbs I make tea from. The reason is because the other herbs are more directed toward reducing tumors, decreasing inflammation, detoxing, etc. Those are more prominent concerns when I'm trying to maintain a healthier pancreas. It seems to work, so I stick with it!

Pancreatitis and Peppermint Tea

Since most of what I do for my chronic pancreatitis is holistic, tea is a natural go-to because it is a liquid with each herb potentially offering healing benefits.

I've found several different herbs from which I make teas which I feel might have beneficial effects on my pancreas or parts of my system or health that I feel work in unison with my pancreas.

I love Peppermint Tea!

It tastes good. Some herbs taste really bad so it can be nice to add peppermint leaf to them to improve the overall taste of the tea.

Peppermint is considered to have many health benefits. Below is a list of some of the benefits peppermint is purported to offer.

Health Benefits of Peppermint
-Relieving Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
-Decreasing abdominal cramping and pain
-Reduction in bloating
-Helps relieve intestinal gas
-Helps with constipation and diarrhea
-Excellent source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A
-Good source of magnesium, folate, dietary fiber, calcium, iron and Vitamin B2
-considered to nausea (my personal experience is that peppermint is very helpful in this area)
-Vomiting (my personal experience is that peppermint is very helpful in this area)
-Headaches

Peppermint is also considered to be helpful in managing mild asthma, stress and warding off the common cold.

Peppermint is one of my favorite additives when I'm making tea because of its great taste and benefits. Plus, I personally have felt no ill effects from using it in my teas! I like mixing it with Artemisia Capillaris Tea. The peppermint greatly improves the overall taste of the tea. I find that these teas help my pancreas feel better on a daily basis.



Sources:
Harvard Medical School
The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, Joseph Pizzorno, and Lara Pizzorno
Benders’ Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
Wikipedia

Pancreatitis: Marijuana, The Anti-Inflammatory

A few years back, I went to Amsterdam where I not only found myself eating a pot brownie but also found my pancreas feeling better than it had in sometime. As a result, I realized that marijuana made my pancreas feel better.

In the States, pot is still illegal. I'm against marijuana being illegal simply because I think it is better to treat drug addicts than to put them in jail. Drug addicts can be rehabilitated. Jail should be for those offenders that cannot

be rehabilitated. It is better both for the individual who may have a problem with drugs and the overall population that must pay for the prison system.

Nonetheless, I don't like

what pot does to the body and mind. It takes away ambition and inhibits creativity. It decrease sperm count and makes pregnancy more difficult.

Still, there is a time and a place for everything. Basically, if marijuana is used as a form of escape, then I don't approve of it. It is better to face your demons, work through it and move forward with your life.

That being said, I don't believe drugs and painkillers are a suitable answer for treating pancreatitis (as well as many other illnesses) and feel that if marijuana can counteract the inflammation of the pancr

eas then perhaps in reasonable amounts used in addition to other anti-inflammatories - such as ginger, Turmeric, blueberries, broccoli and sweet potatoes - marijuana would benefit the body and help ease the discomfort suffered by those with chronic pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis: Calcification & Rhubarb

A few days ago, I read a depressing study (all chronic pancreatitis studies are depressing) about the calcification of the pancreas which inevitably leads to the demise of the person due to the pancreas inability to continue to function at the point.

I had never heard of calcification. What did it mean? I envision it to be similar to the petrification of wood. Yikes! That doesn't sound good.

So immediately I wanted to know how I could prevent the calcification of my pancreas. The study seemed to indicate that over time calcification was inevitable in chronic pancreatic patients (I believe the study came out of a Scandinavian country - Norway?). The hope is to live longer (obviously). So, the idea is to find out if there is a way to slow down or stop the calcification of my sweet, little overused pancreas.

Today, while finding a pancreas diagram to add to my Hot Flashes: Chronic Pancreatitis or Menopause post I came across GrannyHerb's website which stated that Rubaherb (Rhubarb Root/Rhizome) could help with the effects of pancreatitis. I don't know about you but I'm fairly cynical about hokey herbal websites and don't believe everything I read. That being said, I am always willing to check into things a little further if it is related to my pancreas and the potential longevity of it... and therefore the longevity of me!

I found a couple more sites that talked about the benefits of rhubarb. The Zhion website states, "Researchers found that a rhubarb extract prevented calcium phosphate precipitation in a in vitro study. Thus, they suggested that supplementation of rhubarb extract may have benefit of preventing calculus formation." [Source: Hidaka S, et al, Effects of a rhubarb (Rhei rhizoma) solution and its fractions on the formation of calcium phosphate precipitates.J Periodontal Res. 1996 Aug;31(6):408-13)]

Oh wow! I just Googled 'pancreatic calcification treatment' and there are websites addressing this issue! Whoopie! I'm a happy camper with my reading cut out for me!

I love progress. :-)

If anyone has any experience, strength, hope or information to share on this matter please share it! If you have answers, great! If you don't, no problem. I don't have answers either at this point... just looking around for longevity options. :-)

PS. If you're new to this whole 'I've got pancreatitis. What do I do? thing' I'd like to remind you (as your doctor most likely has) that we can't drink anymore... not at all. Not on holidays. Not on special occasions. Not ever. No exceptions. You may never have another drink for the rest of your life. Now go have fun living your life! It's beautiful out there and now you get to be sober enough to enjoy and remember it!

PPS. I just read on the Zhion site, " It is unclear if rhubarb is anti-cancer or carcinogenic. There are reports that it may cause cancer; there are also reports that its ingredients have anti-cancer activities."

PPPS. I found a couple more rhubard/pancreatitis studies on here. One study shows hints of potential value in test tube studies but also states that most test tube studies don't pan out. The other study states that the consumption of rhubarb probably does not impair calcium absorption. The sources for the studies are mentioned in the link above.

Pancreatitis and Marijuana

It was well over two years ago now that I encountered my near deadly attack of Severe Acute Pancreatitis. If you've never had a severe pancreatic attack then you simply can't imagine how difficult it is to eat and how important it is to stay away from food, at times, no matter how hungry you are.

Several months after recovering from the pancreatic attack, my daughter and I went to Amsterdam. I'm not a drug person and since the pancreatic attack it was made clear to me that I will never be able to have another drink alcohol again and that in doing so the result could be death... even immediate death. Personally, I enjoy life too much to risk death over a drink so I've never had a drink since and can't imagine that ever changing.

When I was much younger - a teenager - I used to smoke pot. Eventually, it didn't work for me anymore and just put me to sleep so I stopped smoking it. Nonetheless, my daughter has picked up the frivolity and wanted to go to Amsterdam with her friends. This didn't seem like such a great idea to me so I told her I would take her.

During our 6-day stay in this lovely, quaint city we visited several coffee shops. If you don't know what an Amsterdam Coffee Shop is then let me explain: It's a place where you can buy and smoke pot... LEGALLY. Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam.

I ended up smoking a little of the cannabis plant as well as digesting it in a very delicious brownie only to find out that mother earth's natural drug helped my pancreas feel better. I never ate or smoked very much but a very little here and there truly made a difference. It substaintially decreased or eliminated the pancreatic pain more so than any other remedy I've found before or after that time. It was not necessary to smoke or eat enough for it to be mind altering - a very small amount felt like a nutrient to the pancreas. I want to say that it felt like it helped against calcification - which is one of my greatest concerns.

I was recently in Barcelona and found myself again with the opportunity to smoke a little pot and hopped on that bandwagon. It eases the pain of the pancreas. This is my experience. I am not interested in getting high. I don't like the feeling nor is it necessary to smoke or eat that much for the cannibas to work in what seems to be a healing manner for the pancreas.

I don't smoke pot at home or anywhere besides the above mentioned. The reason I tried it in the first place was because I had heard of a study that was done on rats where marijuana helped rats with pancreatitis. So, I gave it a shot.

Just wanted to let you know my experience. I know our doctors have a long way to go before they can really be helpful to us sufferers of pancreatitis and we have so few healthy and safe options available to us. I'm not promoting getting high. But I do want to share my experience and what I have found to ease the pain of pancreatitis.