MY IVF Breast Cancer Diary

The test results for the Estrogen Test and the other tests that Dr. Warshowsky ordered are back. Dr. Veltmann and I review at length. He disagrees with Dr. Boyd’s request for me to cut back on the B-vitamins and says I should just be more closely monitored by blood for all the supplement levels. We agree that I will be checked to see why my methylation levels are improving. He suspects that my stomach is not absorbing the nutrients properly.

But I have been told that for years about my ‘leaky gut’ syndrome about how my stomach does not absorb nutrients in a proper manner. I could have told him that a long time ago but since I have been taking the huge quantities of Calcium and the Calcitonin, my stomach has totally changed so no one asks me about it anymore.

We decide to cut back all the supplements I am taking to the original list. This is still extensive in my opinion but it is a return to something reasonable. After all, if the primary researcher of the theories that Dr. Veltmann is pursuing in treatment disagrees with all the supplements, and I have had absolutely no improvement from the original improvement, I see no harm in coming back to basics.

I see Dr. Boyd again but it is a relatively short visit as I tell him I have adjusted all the supplements. We agree that I should maintain a low glycemic index diet and try my utmost to lose weight.

I see Dr. Boyd again but it is a relatively short visit as I tell him I have adjusted all the supplements. We agree that I should maintain a low glycemic index diet and try my utmost to lose weight.

I am typically much more worried about diabetes than cancer. When you watch your own family members die of a particular disease the fear gets genetically transferred. Dr. Boyd’s tests for insulin resistance come back completely negative. I am greatly relieved. One less thing to worry about on the cancer emotional roller coaster.

9 months after filing to the IRS, the Hormonal Cancer Foundation has received 501c3 status and money raised will be tax deductible. I am ready to begin again the crusade to inform women and their doctors about testing estrogen metabolism before IVF or HRT and after too.

Vic and I attend a fundraiser for trees in Greenwich. We have no idea how we were invited and we know that we will be asked for funds but we go anyway as we like the cause. It is a very high level soft sell fund raiser and there are only a few dozen people there at a country club in Greenwich. I meet the first person apart from my friend Jennifer who knows all about genetic testing and medicine. The first person apart from Veltmann who knows a lot more than me. We schedule a phone call and he fills me in on the industry. He tells me my idea about spreading the information about estrogen metabolism and my story is by no means crazy. I am encouraged.

The urologist’s office calls the day before the appointment and tells Vic to be prepared to have his stent removed in case the x-ray results show that it is possible. He takes the X-ray and then they come to get him for the procedure without telling us the results. I wait around wondering how long it takes to take several feet of plastic out of your penis. I hope that this will relieve some of Vic’s pain.

Ironically, the pain has drawn us much closer in a way that my pain did not. Somehow watching my struggles did not affect him in the same way as being in excruciating pain for 6 weeks did. I think that is the first time is his life he has ever really been incapacitated and it resulted in him questioning everything and becoming the man I married again instead of the Wall Street guy he has become the past several years.

It is unfortunate that he had to suffer so much but perversely I am happy that it worked out like this because I have had my husband back for a week or so and it is wonderful. I love him much more even than when I met him. Much more.

I alter my supplements based on the suggestions of Dr. Boyd. I schedule a hip scan so I don’t have to continue to worry about whether I know have bone cancer because my hip aches all the time and it will not stop. That will put to rest whether it is a muscle spasm, the Tamoxifen or cancer. I am tired of all the doctors and their constant disagreeing with each other.

My goal is now to take as few supplements as possible. I will wait for the results of all the tests I am taking before making any decisions.

After even flipping through Dr. Boyd’s book, I feel like an enormous beached whale. The fat rolls on my stomach seem formidable and I vow to starve myself. Of course this resolution only lasts a few hours before I regress. I begin to worry that perhaps I have become insulin resistant. While I have not had any refined sugar for months and months, I read his lists of foods to avoid and see for example, beets. For the past few weeks, I have actually gone out of my way to eat as many beets as possible. I have been buying them fresh, cooking them and eating them daily for weeks. My husband has asked me repeatedly what I am doing by saying, “Why are you eating beets all the time. You do realize that beets are a major source of sugar in Europe, don’t you?”     I ignored him assuming that a diet of huge quantities of fruits and vegetables was okay all around and yet it isn’t. More discretion is required. I call my girlfriend in Chicago, the one whose husband died an abrupt diabetic death, and tell her I am worried about my insulin resistance. Now she worries, too. I hate to tell her but I wanted someone else to worry with me.

Dr. Boyd is the first oncologist I meet that is genuinely interested in the list of supplements that I am taking. He is the author of Cancer Recovery. He is very familiar with most of the items I am taking and has strong opinions on my list.

But the first thing he discusses is my 20 pound weight gain since August when I started taking Tamoxifen. He explains that the weight gain is so much that it may negate the benefits of Tamoxifen. He quotes multiple studies showing that the morbidity rate of women with breast cancer with low BMI’s is lower than all others. He explains that the single most important thing I should be doing is maintaining a low BMI. IN other words, I need to drop at least 25 pounds.

We discuss the weight gain and he explains that a common side effect of chemotherapy is insulin resistance. Given the history of diabetes in my family, it would not be uncommon and would explain the weight gain. He tells me to do research on the drug Metformin. He also strikes terror into my heart. All my life, I have been afraid of diabetes. Much more afraid of it than of cancer as it has been woven into the fabric of my daily life. All of my father’s brothers and my grandfather have died miserable, horrible diabetic deaths while we watched. Before their deaths, there were the terrible mood swings and violence. The words insulin resistance get my full attention.

My weight gain is partially a side effect of Tamoxifen, partially the result of my ‘chemical castration’ or abrupt entry into menopause and the full impact of menopause on my metabolism and partly the result of portion control from the NO WHEAT, NO DAIRY, NO CORN, NO WHITE RICE, BLOOD TYPE B, LOW ALKALINE DIET that I attempt to follow. Unlike most people who can fill up on a big thick steak, I never feel full without bread or pasta. Since I began strictly following all my proposed diets. Dr. Boyd gives me a flyer telling me to exercise at least 5-6 hours a week to decrease my recurrence risk.

We review my supplement list for almost 3 hours. He explains that high levels of folic acid can actually lead to cancer. He stresses that I can not take Vitamin B at the current quantities because although it may redirect DNA pathways, it may also facilitate the tumor along the way.

He speaks convincingly and with a LOT of data. We agree to follow up with Bloodwork and he will speak to Dr. Veltmann.

I leave his office shaken. Who am I to listen to and who can I trust with my recovery and my life? I can not take the views of an oncologist who has clearly studied supplements extensively lightly. I must consider them seriously and research.

Dr. Boyd gives me his book to further my understanding of his methodology.