Dear Rosemary,
Thanks so much for your thoughtful and lengthy response to my inquiry.
You've made me think twice about changing the remedy quite yet. This
is actually a fascinating case, and I've been thrilled with how well
this patient is doing. As far as she knows, there is absolutely no
signs of cancer remaining, and her doctors have not indicated to her
any likelihood of recurrence, although both the severity of her cancer
as well as her case history make me dubious on this count. Since
starting the plussing her energy has improved enormously, her bowels
and her appetite have returned to near normal, she has experienced
some return of taste in what remains of her tongue, has no more sores
inside her mouth, and has some minimal thyroid function. Not bad for
two months of plussing!! I chose the rad brom initially because her
primary complaints were all results of the radiation therapy which she
felt nearly killed her. She also has connective tissue disorder
(probably a variant of scleraderma), which is in rad brom, as is
cancer of the tongue. Other remedies I have considered are Aurum
Muriaticum and Hydrastis. This patient is 22 years old, and has also
been diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, Epstein-Barr disease as well as
the above mentioned disorders. She was an athlete competing at the
Olympic level when she was diagnosed with cancer. Truly astounding.
When I saw her last she had a number of symptoms that she had not
mentioned to me previously, largely because they didn't seem as
pressing at the time -- a sign of improvement I'm sure. The Aurum
covers the constitutional picture of this highly ambitious young
woman, as well as the cancer of the tongue. Hydrastic for the cancer,
as well as her current complaints of debilitating congestive headaches
and chronic sinusitis. However, I may just keep her on her current
regime of rad brom and carc in alternation. In any case, thanks for
your help once again. I would love to join your other discussion
group. I have not been able to get minutus on my e-mail for some
reason, so I use it through the web. Please e-mail me at
blh987@hotmail.com with the necessary information.
Again, many thanks.
Beth
-- In
minutus@yahoogroups.com, "Rosemary C Hyde PhD" wrote:
plussing method. Congratulations on being courageous and doing this!
It's quite amazingly effective as a way to help cancer patients to
resist further inroads of cancer, even with Stage IV cancer.
Rad-br as the first remedy? I would say that as long as that remedy
is making her feel "wonderful," I would continue using it.
initial remedies for 3-4 months anyway, before re-evaluating the
clinical measurements and signs of the cancer to see what is
happening. I don't know why the patient's thyroid gland was
considered non-functional, but the fact that it, too, has responded
positively seems like another reason to continue with the present
remedy combination. In other words, as with any other homeopathic
treatment, it's not a particularly good idea to change remedies while
the first one continues to work. Within that time frame, hopefully
the patient will also show some homeopathic signs of a positive
response -- such as improved energy overall, positive dreams, and
returns of old symptoms both physical and emotional. Teach the
patient to recognize these, so that she can report them to you,
because they are your best indicator of positive action from the
plussing remedies.
they're taking it, this doesn't necessarily indicate one way or the
other that it is working well. The classical returns of old symptoms
and overall level of energy are the best indicators.
happening on that front? Are there tumors remaining someplace? Any
blood markers? If not, then you'll have to rely solely on the
homeopathic "direction of cure" indicators to assess what's going on.
Even if there are tumors or markers, these are not particularly
reliable as evidence of homeopathic treatment's efficacy. It's not at
all unusual for markers to keep rising or even to bounce around, and
fairly often existing tumors appear to just stay as they are. If they
are not growing larger, that's a great positive sign, even if they're
not shrinking and don't go away. The ones that just sit there
eventually lose their cancerous activity -- they become necrotic and
just sit there as inert, benign lumps. If there are no overt signs of
cancer after the surgery, chemo, radiation, etc..., learn what the
oncologists have told the patient about the approximate time frame for
the tumors to reappear (which they will be expected to do in Stage IV)
. If the plussing method is working, the tumors will not reappear
during that expected time frame.
an intuitive assessment of all these factors: the allopathically
measurable cancer indicators, the returns of old symptoms, and the
patient's overall energy, with the allopathic measurements being less
valid than the homeopathic ones.
protocols, you are eligible to join our listserv (another Yahoo group,
very small, consisting only of homeopaths using Dr R's methods, who
can support and advise each other), if you wish. If you'd like to do
this, or if any other homeopaths on Minutus who are using Dr.
Ramakrishnan's protocols with at least one patient would like to join
the group, please e-mail me and let me know.
)