Hello all, most of you can probably relate to this. You get a cancer diagnosis and everyone around you "wants to help."

That's great. But then everyone and their brother starts sending you diets and recipes and books and e-mails on "how to cure cancer." It's quite overwhelming to say the least, especially when a lot these things contradict each other.

"For dinner tonight, honey, we're having shark cartiledge, some special tea from the Southern hemisphere and a bag full of fish oil suppliments. Enjoy!"

Anyway, everyone is well intentioned around us, and I really do think nutrition plays a HUGE role in fighting cancer. God gave us fruits and vegetables to eat, and therefore they must have great qualities that our bodies need to stay/become healthy.

That being said, is there anywhere to go to read/learn about nutrition and its affects specifically against SCC?

There is a lot about nutrition and cancer in general, but I keep telling folks that the "magical diet" that helped Ol' Joe in Oklahoma beat colon cancer might not work as well on squamous cell because this is a totally different type of cancer. Friends and family don't always understand this.

So, anyway, just curious to know if there were some nutrition/alternative treatment experts in the realm of head and neck cancer whose brains we could pick...

Thanks -- and you guys can have my shark cartiledge if you want... lol...

Eric

i'm no expert, but i just started reading up on nutrition issues as i see my sister dealing with serious problems in this area. here's a page that could be a starting point at least in terms of understanding the importance of nutrition and nutrition therapy within the conventions of western medicine:

<http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/nutrition/patient>

as someone who grew up through a sickly childhood with non-western herbal medicine and nutrition therapies and having first-hand experience of their beneficial effects, i am a total believer in the importance of nutrition as not just a means of sustenance but as an adjunctive yet significant curative path.

i agree with you that there may be no "magical diet" but i have no doubt that there are ways in which what you eat can have direct impact on the fight against cancer, and this is not just about eating a lot of muffines to get a lot of callories (as the NCI docs oddly suggest, as if all that sugar and white flour could be good for anybody!) i'm still reading up and will post here what i find significant.

be well.

gita

AZ - I love your sense of humour!!!

Thanks, Carol, sometimes you've just got to laugh... especially today, which has been extremely frustrating as I try to wade through everyone's "here's what you need to do" advice...

Eric
Shark cartiledge and red wine...
seriously I've been a veggie for six years and I also TRY to be a healthy eating veggie.. not helped me though.. didn't have the cancer when I ate the rubbish..
sunshine.. love and prayers
Helen

I believe cancer isn't formed overnight. Just as some people say they are surprised to get cancer after quitting smoking for many years. When they smoked, they didn't have cancer. I think the cigarettes may have already laid harmful effect on their body, just like a bomb ready to explode when there are other risk factors triggering it.I attended a seminar on cancer this afternoon organised by the Hong Kong Cancer Fund. 5 doctors expert in oncology shared their views on cancer.They mentioned the importance of a healthy diet on prevention of cancer and obesity being a high risk factor. Before I had cancer, I used to be a meat lover and was overweight. Now I choose to eat plenty of veggies because I believe in the saying that 'we are what we eat'.

Karen.

Hi Karen
Perhaps the only way to prove this is to raise twins.. one to do everything right.. one to do everthing wrong.. why then do I think Murphy's law would come into play.. and that the so called healthy twin would be the one with the problems
suppose that's life...
sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

Eric,

I totally agree with you the advice. There's this older gentlement at my church who's always buying me some new elixer to try. I have done what the doctors perscribed and I'm at peace with my decisions. I know they are well meaning but each time someone ask me, "have you tried x? it robs me of my peace. I hope that you'll just keep on laughing although some days it pretty hard. God bless you. I hope your neck dissection goes well and you have no complications. I'm thinking about you.

Lynn

Yep, get the same thing, first one of our suppliers came up with about 5 box's of mushroom capsules, said it helped his mother when she had cancer, and that got my wife started, so now I take 3 of these mushroom vitamin pills every day. Along with my ginko because my brain needs all the help it can get.

Seriously, I strongly beleive that diet can aid greatly in the build up of the immune stystem and recovery. I'm not all that convinced that it actually helps cancer, but in this part of the world you can't discount herbal medicine. I've run across and used some pretty remarkable if foul tasting stuff for other issues with some success.

Bob

Most of the people offering the advice on alternative treatment haven't a clue. This type of cancer and it's location make it much tougher to survive and treat. The quality of life issues we face pale in comparison to other types of cancer. In no way do I believe any type of cancer is a walk in the park. It's just a diffucult location to have cancer. It's embarrassing to have these well meaning people come up and offer "Old Joe's" magical potion to me.

I do think diet is very important in preventing as well as healing cancer. It's just the fact no one has the answer yet. Thats just my 2 cents worth on this subject.

Dan

I am not completely sold that anything really prevents cancer. My mother, for example, was teaching macrobiotic cooking in the 70's and developed many low fat, no msg type foods over the years, even in a couple of restaurants she had. She preached the preventative aspects of proper eating and ate very good. She got cancer 4 weeks before she retired and passed away 2 1/2 years later.

I have stumbled on many "cures" and they sound great until you see what they cost. Most are multi-level marketing schemes and you would have to live in a cardboard box because your mortgage payment may cover the cost of some of them.

My 2 cents worth, too.

Ed