Hello warrior fam! 👋 Sorry I’ve been quiet for the last few months. The loss of fellow warriors in this group (and also in my community on Insta) has profoundly impacted me and lead to deep reflection about the unfairness and inequitable outcomes of cancer and mortality. I felt like any update I post would seem trivial and unhelpful during this difficult time for many of you. Although I REALLY didn’t want to, I ended up accepting some standard of care and integrating radiation into my latest intense protocol. The reason for this was financial stress, tumour growth for the first time in 2.5 years, and knowledge that my cancer cells have down-regulated Heat Shock Proteins (which in theory makes them more sensitive to radiation). I chose long-course, low dose radiation (25x1.8Gy) and integrated sensitisation strategies, such as daily HBOT, intermittent fasting and a few repurposed drugs prior. For recovery and minimising side effects I’ve been doing RLT, hydrogen therapy, CDS, while maintaining a high level of ketones as they have anti-inflammatory effects (especially β-OHB which reduces oxidative stress in healthy cells). Today was my final fraction. Initially I negotiated 15 due to fear of both the short and long term side effects, but as I’ve tolerated it so well I decided to have the full 25. I am very lucky to have been referred to a new radiation oncologist who has been open to personalising the treatment and genuinely curious about the potential of HBOT, fasting and the ketogenic diet. Radiation to the pelvis in women nearly always results in infertility and induces early menopause. General side effects also include proctitis, incontinence, rectal inflammation and pain, fibrosis, etc. I’m very shocked to report I am yet to experience any side effects, with the exception of the two days I decided not to fast, didn’t do HBOT, and drank coffee and ate a typical western breakfast. I had to know for sure that the adjunctive modalities I’ve implemented have been truly effective and not placebo, so this is why I experimented with what a “typical” patient (ignorant about the impact of GKI) would likely eat. On those two days (and two days after) I had extreme fatigue and a little irritation in the rectal mucosa. As a result of this, I did a 3 day consecutive fast to try to stop the progression of the side effects and lo and behold… they went away! Unfortunately, prolonged fasting wasn’t / isn’t possible as weight loss impacts the accuracy of the markings and measurements needed for precision radiation (and I certainly don’t want ionising gamma rays blasting non-tumorous rectal mucosa and causing a secondary cancer through oncogenesis of healthy epithelial cells).

This is one of the hardest things I’ve had to write. As many of you know, Cancer Warriors started because of my mum. Everything I’ve shared here, everything I’ve learned it was all to help her and others along the way. She fought so hard. Even through years of mental health struggles, trauma, loss, and eventually cancer, she kept going. She changed her lifestyle, quit smoking, improved her diet, stayed active, and never stopped trying even when things were hard mentally. We had hope. Real hope. She had just started a new protocol we believed in through Astron Health. And then everything changed very suddenly. She developed acute gastrointestinal symptoms, was admitted to hospital, and within a short period things escalated in a way that still doesn’t fully make sense to me. The initial diagnosis was ischaemic colitis, and she received treatment with IV fluids and anticoagulation. Then: - her markers improved - her pain improved - her circulation improved But at the same time: - inflammation was rising and remained extremely high (CRP 14 on admission, then 400 later) - her oxygen levels worsened before later improving - and concerns we raised about possible contributing factors were not fully explored at the time, despite the acute onset of symptoms, confirmed COVID infection, hypoxia, and rising oxygen requirements which raised concerns about possible severe COVID-related lung involvement. Over time, things progressed to a bowel obstruction, and we lost her. The two CT scans during her admission showed a very different picture overtime, with significant progression. I was there every day. I stayed in the hospital for 14 days. I never left. I slept next to her. I asked questions, I researched, I pushed where I could. And now I’m left with a lot of unanswered questions. Questions that I feel I owe it to her to understand. There were also periods where her inflammatory markers were extremely high and her oxygen levels dropped significantly. This raised questions for me about whether all possible causes of her deterioration were fully explored at the time, and whether earlier or different intervention could have made a difference.

Are you currently using artemisinin (or have you used it before)? Please vote and, if you can, share details in the comments: 💬 If you’re open to sharing, it would be really helpful to know: - What form (artemisinin / artesunate / DHA) - Dosing strategy - What you’re combining it with - Any noticeable effects (positive or negative)