Update - completion of radiation

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).

For those wondering why it’s worth doing HBOT before and after radiation:

Hypoxia (low oxygen) is a hallmark of most tumours and a barrier to the efficacy of radiation-induced apoptosis. Through oxygenation under pressure, HBOT reverses hypoxia and acts as a radio-sensitiser. It can also be used after radiation to support the healing of surrounding tissues and reduce side effects through the increase of stem cells and leukocytes.

For those wondering about fasting before radiation:

I read a study that shows it significantly increases both early and progressive response to radiation. I have linked this study to the post. None of the participants in the fasting group were on a low carb diet - they simply fasted 14 hours prior to radiation. What’s really great about this is it’s strategically timed, so prolonged fasting isn’t required - simply skipping breakfast was enough (approx 18 hours for me as I eat dinner early). Fasting seems to decrease metabolic activity of healthy cells, but not cancer cells due to the mechanism of differential stress resistance. This is a radio-protective strategy because less radiation will permeate healthy cells when in a fasted state (resulting in less toxicity), but will simultaneously make the cancer cells more vulnerable to DNA damage. In addition, according to this particular study, there was a reduction in acute toxicity in the fasting group which highlights the potential benefits of incorporating fasting into radiation therapy protocols.

Anyway, the next steps are for me to continue with an intense aftercare period of HBOT, CDS, RLT, hydrogen, sauna, earthing, meditation and reintroduce anti-inflammatory nutraceuticals, e.g. curcumin, quercetin, omega 3, etc. as the side effects typically intensify 10-14 days post-radiation. I’ll get a scan in 5-6 weeks to assess tumour response and update the group. This radiation protocol is only intended for pre-surgery tumour shrinkage, but I’m hoping with all the other modalities I’ve stacked that I’ve destroyed shrimpy boy! 🤞🍤🥊💥https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360301624016456

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