Harvest We Use to Facilitate Help Reduce Side Effects:
I
would like to start by saying this is in no way meant to solicit you to buy the
products we used for our little Emma. I am writing this to give you insight
into what we did and what worked for all the side effects we were told would be
part of her treatments.
Here
is our story. On July 2, 2010, my wife took Emma (who was 4 ½ at the time) to a
doctor's appointment lymphoma cancer because she looked a bit pale and we
noticed a few spots on her neck that were not normal. Our doctor called a
pediatrician and they advised us to get blood work done as soon as we could.
This happened at our local hospital at 4pm and by 6pm we were back at the
hospital where we were told that she had high risk B-cell ALL (an extremely
high white blood count). Our lives changed in an instant as you are all aware.
By 9pm, my wife and daughter were on their way to BC Children’s Hospital to
start her treatments immediately.
For
work, my wife and I operate a home based business as Independent Herb life
Distributors (an International company in the Health and Wellness industry). I
am telling you all this to show a few things. This disease has no prejudice as
it will afflict anyone; young, old, healthy or ailing. Emma has never had any
major ailments and very few simple colds ever since she was born. We started
her on natural children's supplements, and she voluntarily started having a
morning shake every day. This turned out to be a good thing because while she
was in the hospital, she did not want to eat "real" food but we were
able to keep her strength up with the good nutrition in the shakes. Of course
we made sure with the doctors that what we were giving her was not conflicting
with any of the medication she was getting.
Secondly
we were able to keep working as our business is done on the internet, over the
phone and other simple methods, which meant we did not have to take time off
our "jobs" or leave them altogether to be with Emma during this time.
We have heard about so many others that had financial hardships and job issues
because of this. After speaking with other parents of children at the hospital
and clinic, as well as others from our church that had children with the same
affliction, we made the decision to have all Emma's treatments done where the
care is the best, at BC Children’s Hospital. This meant that we needed to move
off the island which was a tough but necessary move. Again we were able to do
this with very little disruption to our business (which means our income as
well), while always being available for Emma.
So
here is what we have been doing for Emma over the past 9 months - I cannot
believe it has been that long already - and what has been happening. Every
morning she has an Herb life meal replacement shake made from ½ cup water and 1
cup milk. As lack of appetite is one of the side effects, we needed to make
sure she was getting the appropriate nutrition for the day and as these provide
it, we were glad that she would still have them. Another good thing is that
while she is on steroids, she does not gain as much weight due to cravings
caused by them. This shake has also given her a lot of energy which the doctors
are very impressed about. Another side effect is nausea and constipation. For
this, she is having Herbal Aloe Concentrate - which comes in regular or Mango
flavor which she goes between depending on her tastes which changes when she
has chemo treatments. This is a liquid that you drink which protects and heals
your insides as well as prevent other internal issues. During one hospital
visit, she was getting a high dose of Methotrexate and they decided to give her
a stool softener and against our better judgment, we agreed. She developed
blisters and burns on her bum due to this so bad that they prescribed Morphine
for the pain. We increased the doses of Aloe, applied Vaseline and kept her
clean, and within three days it was all cleared up. The doctors and nurses
continue to be amazed at Emma's lack of side effects and at how well she
handles her procedures. She is active and normally has a smile on her face;
however she has the odd days where she gets tired and moody due to the drugs.
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