Chemotherapy & My Grandpa

Well my grandpa is 70 and has been on chemotherapy for a while. Hes finding that he has very little appitite and if he forces himself to eat he throws it right back up.

Here is an email I sent him regarding supplements he should consider, if anyone has any input/sugestions in general feel free to add anything.

Some of my descriptions may have been fague or evena little off but the goal was to give him the general idea. Thanks in advance

http://www.T-Nation.com/onlineStore.jsp

From this website there should be a couple of things that you should buy. It may seem to be a little expensive but its well worth it. This company has best quality of products that I have found, and their price is actually lower than others, in comparison to places like GNC.

Some things you may be interested in are

Metabolic Drive Super Protein shake
Metabolic Drive Complete
Micronized German creatine
Flameout

The first two products are simply powdered food. The difference is that the Metabolic Drive Complete contains some carbohydrates and is used more as a meal replacement. Although, the Metabolic Drive tends to taste a lot better, and theres a lot more things you can do with it to make it tasty.

What you should do to add some calories is throw a few scoops of the powdered food into a blender with some water, and add other things that are very calorie dense such as peanut butter, different types of oil, etc. By mixing three scoops of protein, 2-3 spoonfuls of peanut butter, and a tablespoon of olive oil and you have a 1000 calorie drink you can sip durring the day. I’ll look up some recipes for you that are supposed to taste pretty good, but I havn’t tried most of them.

The micronized german creatine is really cheap for its uses. You will probably want to take about 5 grams or 1.5 scoops of it in some sugary juice. Doing this spikes your insulin and helps you to absorb the creatine. There are basically no side effects of creatine and you could probably take 5 grams daily for the rest of your life with no consequences aside from better health.

The first two products are simplified food, and creatine helps prevent muscle deterioration, and promotes growth. Its has been used to help treat muscular sclerosis.

Flameout is a very high quality fish oil supplement. The benefits of fish oil are countless. With this, the more the better. I would start by taking at least the recommended dose, and increase as much as you’d like.

Heres just a quick link for some of the things fish oil helps
http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Fish-Oil-Benefits-Proven-by-Research&id=415032

Those are things that are probably essential to you, the next few products should also be considered.

Biotest Superfood
Any form of Spike
Alpha Male

A quick rundown

Superfood is basically a powderized form of all the neat little things that fruit and vegetables give you, all the vitamins, antioxidants blah blah. I haven’t tried it yet, but I wouldn’t doubt it’s a good product.

Personally I built a tolerance to Spike almost instantly, I don’t know why. For the week or two that it actually worked it was great. It’s a stimulant with almost no negative consequences, no jitters, no horrible comedown, none of the things you’d expect from any other stimulant. When it did work for me the days that I took it I felt on top of the world and ready to handle any problem. The physical and mental clarity it brings are simply amazing.

Alpha Male is a testosterone booster, quite simply it has things in it that stimulate your endocrine system to produce testosterone on its own. Its very very helpful in older individuals.

There are threads on what people have found to be good protein shake recipes (you may need to register to view it but I don’t get any spam from registering).

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=1646112
http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=460531

Send a dude on a fixed income a link to how to spend money. You’re a sweetheart darlin’.

Wow guy.

Your grandpa is SEVENTY.

“Oh, sonny says i need some Alpha Male!”

EDIT:

Another ellipsis or two to further display my disbelief in what I just read.


He was working up until earlier this year at a 6 figure job and has plenty of money saved up. Thanks for your input though dick.

[quote]Defekt wrote:
He was working up until earlier this year at a 6 figure job and has plenty of money saved up. Thanks for your input though dick.[/quote]

That changes things a bit.

REZ-V should be added, it’s more of a health supp than any of the others you listed, except Flameout.

That list will definitely bump you up to Level 4… just make sure you have him sign in as you first otherwise you won’t get your points!

Just kidding - nice recommendations though.

Maybe your grandpa should consult with a doctor first? This is cancer. Few people here are actually qualified to give the average healthy person advice… few if any are truly knowledgable enough to recommend supplements.

I admire your efforts… but I think bringing this question and your recommendations to the doctor would be best.

You REALLY need to talk to the doctor first. All of those products could really hurt your grandpa depending on his type of cancer and other health conditions.

He sees doctors regularly, the main thing that hes looking for is help eating really. Hes lost a ton of weight recently. He was around 200 pounds and now sits at 130. Im not sure exactly his type of cancer its colon or prostate i do know though. Its gone in remission once, I’m not sure if its still in remission and the chemo is a preventative measure or exactly what s going on. The main goal is to stop him from under eating and wasting away.

Defect, one thing you should consider is cod liver oil. Cod liver oil is high in DHA and EPA. Flameout should cover this, but cod liver oil is also high in vitamin A and D. Consider substituting one of the Flameout dosings with the cod liver oil. Also give Vitamin D. I would give 5,000 IU a day. And also Magnesium.

For the appetite bone broth soups should be a staple and should also be relatively well tolerated. Buy him a Nourishing Traditions book for the recipe on broth and several others. If he still cannot eat well get him on a prescription for Megace or Marinol (yes this is derived from weed).

Where to get the Cod Liver oil?
http://www.greenpasture.org (get the blue ice gold cod liver oil)
Where do I get the Vitamin D? (5,000iu every day)
https://secure.bio-tech-pharm.com/detail.aspx?product_id=18&cat_id=2&subcat_id=0
Where do I find more info on natural Cancer therapies?
http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com/

I am a pharmacist! Hope this helps.

For what its worth…I have heard from a very reputable plastic surgeon/allergist that cancer cannot grow in an akaline condition in the body…and every person who has cancer if you test their ph it is always acidic…if you get the body in an akaline state cancer cannot grow…the supplement Greens has been shown to do just that…not to mention numerous strength coaches reccomend the supplement…

EPA and DHA supplementation in cancer patients has been shown numerous times to attenuate and even reverse the cachexia associated with the cancer itself and the chemotherapy treatments.

But as was stated previously, some of the other things may not be suitable - most likely, however, REZ-V and Superfood, along with Flameout should be the main focus.

It definintely depends on what kind of cancer he has. There is a book available on Amazon that another T-Nation member(Hot AZ) recommended me; its called How to Prevent and Treat Cancer with Natural Medicine. I highly recommend looking into that, along with bringing your supplement recommendations to a competent oncologist, preferably one who is knowledgeable on nutritional supplementation for their patients.

Best of luck to you and your grandfather, from one relative of a cancer patient to another.

[quote]ivexplorer wrote:
Defect, one thing you should consider is cod liver oil. Cod liver oil is high in DHA and EPA. Flameout should cover this, but cod liver oil is also high in vitamin A and D. Consider substituting one of the Flameout dosings with the cod liver oil. Also give Vitamin D. I would give 5,000 IU a day. And also Magnesium.

For the appetite bone broth soups should be a staple and should also be relatively well tolerated. Buy him a Nourishing Traditions book for the recipe on broth and several others. If he still cannot eat well get him on a prescription for Megace or Marinol (yes this is derived from weed).

Where to get the Cod Liver oil?
http://www.greenpasture.org (get the blue ice gold cod liver oil)
Where do I get the Vitamin D? (5,000iu every day)
https://secure.bio-tech-pharm.com/detail.aspx?product_id=18&cat_id=2&subcat_id=0
Where do I find more info on natural Cancer therapies?
http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com/

I am a pharmacist! Hope this helps.[/quote]

You are a pharmacist and are giving medical advice without knowing anything about his condition or the medications this gentleman is on? Fish oil is certainly contraindicated in some cases. You’re either lying or know law far worse/better than I do.

OP - sorry I didn’t mention this the first time… All the best to your grandpa and your family.

[quote]Pugsley wrote:
For what its worth…I have heard from a very reputable plastic surgeon/allergist that cancer cannot grow in an akaline condition in the body…and every person who has cancer if you test their ph it is always acidic…if you get the body in an akaline state cancer cannot grow…the supplement Greens has been shown to do just that…not to mention numerous strength coaches reccomend the supplement…[/quote]

No offense, but that’s just silly.

[quote]JFG12 wrote:
Maybe your grandpa should consult with a doctor first? This is cancer. Few people here are actually qualified to give the average healthy person advice… few if any are truly knowledgable enough to recommend supplements.

I admire your efforts… but I think bringing this question and your recommendations to the doctor would be best.[/quote]

Doctors know nothing and they don’t get kickbacks from Biotest products. I seriously doubt protein and fish oil are gonna harm him in any way. Drink plenty of filtered water. I might even give him some BCAA’s and would definitely get him to try some superfood.

I would also get his diet in order as much as possible. Grandpa is off boxed food and shit. Grandpa is also gonna get as much exercise as possible in his condition and he is gonna start reading and doing puzzles and living as much life as he possibly can at this point.

OP - Good luck with our grandpa. Keep him positive and fighting this thing as much as you can. The mind and body are powerful healers in their own right.

I don’t know that gramps needs any Alpha Male. But if he still can do the “damn thing”. More power to him. I’m a fan.

I have heard about the alkaline thing also, but I read it in a Kevin Trudeau book, so…

I’m wondering if its prostate cancer why they are doing anything at all. My dad had that and from what I understand people that are 70 years old are likely to outlive the cancer. (Dad was like 58 at the time and sought treatment.)

I would say at this point maybe take a list of ideas and opinions from these posts and research them, bring them up with multiple doctors you trust and see what they say. While HoratioSandoval and I seem to disagree, he sounds like a good source of information to consider. My agenda is, I’m not a big fan of MOST western medicine. Invasive procedures, synthetic medicines and such…I’m very leery. My .02.

HoratioSandoval, tell me one single example of when it would be contraindicated to be on Fish Oil. Is there anyone who cannot eat salmon?

[quote]ivexplorer wrote:
HoratioSandoval, tell me one single example of when it would be contraindicated to be on Fish Oil. Is there anyone who cannot eat salmon?[/quote]

I have heard (and it was actually a dude posting here bitching about it), of people being told not to take fish oil because of its blood thinning properties, before a surgery where blood clotting is vital. You’re right though, it’s the fatty acids so the doctor should say to consume less of the healthy fatty acids, but whatever.

[quote]Pugsley wrote:
For what its worth…I have heard from a very reputable plastic surgeon/allergist that cancer cannot grow in an akaline condition in the body…and every person who has cancer if you test their ph it is always acidic…if you get the body in an akaline state cancer cannot grow…the supplement Greens has been shown to do just that…not to mention numerous strength coaches reccomend the supplement…[/quote]

How do you measure a person’s pH?!! Hahahaa

First , measuring pH is possible , using pH paper to simply test your saliva. Second off , why does everyone on this forum dislike medical doctors so much? I understand there are a few clueless ones out there (check out my college’s health services), but for the most part , they are more knowledgeable about their profession(especially cancer facilities) than the typical “I use WebMD + Biotest make-believe doctors” on this website. The poster who said " who cannot eat salmon??" made me cringe specifically. Salmon’s great, but if your old, and your kidney’s are shot, you will not be eating any salmon no matter how good the Omega ratio is.

To the OP , nothing else much more to say except really do check with your Doctor. If your trusting this guy enough to be taking care of your grandpa’s cancer , than you should trust him with alternative ways on making your grandpa stronger.

use ph strips I believe…look it up…