179. Final Post and Update

This final post is being written by Jordan, and as I sit here trying to gather my thoughts, I still struggle to find the words to express my emotions at this time.

Irmgard Maria Mueller passed away peacefully on March 23rd 2024. The targeted therapy treatments were unsuccessful at controlling the tumors, and shortly after discontinuing the treatment, her liver function was compromised to the point of being clear that survival was not likely. Four weeks ago her liver began to lose function and she consistently deteriorated until she entered palliative care for the last 10 days of her life. She was at peace and comfortable when she passed, with family by her side.

There is nothing good that can be said about cancer, even the silver lining lessons learned are always accompanied by pain, suffering and sometimes loss; the randomness of the disease at times only increases the feelings of helplessness, frustration and despair. Mom kept a very positive outlook on things through out her entire battle, one of her many admirable qualities that was apparent to everyone that knew her, and her toughness and determination in fighting this disease was nothing short of inspirational. I'm grateful for all of the healthcare professionals who helped mom over the last few years, the excellent palliative care at Pasqua hospital, and especially dad who was by her side for every appointment and treatment. 

Thank you for reading this blog, every visit, post read and comment left was very important to my mom. This blog was one of the many countless creative endeavours of her life, but it might have been the most important to her overall. I hope the memory of the type of person she was lives on in every person who knew her, and the lessons about being aware of what is in the food you eat and being an advocate for your own healthcare, stay with everyone who reads this blog.

178. Chemo A Crystal Ball for your Health

An acquaintance told me about regular visits to a Functional Medicine Man who utilizes a diagnostic tool that can detect all kinds of health problems.  I told my husband about it, we both raised our eyebrows and said: "Yeah, right".  Despite our skepticism and because this acquaintance had been so enthusiastic about the results of her treatment, we decided to book an appointment also.  It took 6 months to get in.  I was seated in front of a computer screen, wearing a pair of headphones (and clothes of course! 😊) and a program was started where I was  being scanned like items at the supermarket.  One organ after another was displayed on the computer at dizzying speed.  Afterwards, the operator went over what he considered to be my main health concerns.  He especially mentioned difficulties in the area of my bile ducts.  Because I had filled out a lengthy questionnaire beforehand, my husband and I were still skeptical about the whole event.  Nevertheless, I had a follow-up consultation 2 months later and about that same time the bile duct problems were indicated on a CT scan at the cancer center.  This time I did not fill out any questionnaire.  I figured that as the scanner was so good at finding difficulties, it should do so without my help.  The scanner picked up a trace of blood in my urine (which I have had for years), some difficulty in my lungs and that I had a gastro infection (which I had just gotten over from).  Dave and I became a little less skeptical.  But we switched to a naturopathic doctor with the same kind of diagnostic tool due to the fact that the Functional Medicine Man was too interested in peddling his lotions and potions and had no credentials to his name.

With the naturopath I also wear headphones, sit in front of the computer screen and have to place the palm of my hands on a metal pad.  Again the computer flashes images of organs and body parts at dazzling speed.  The practitioner shows you where your major trouble spots are and will prescribe supplements accordingly.  The brand name of the tool is Sensitiv Imago.

Now this was a long way around to describe what is called Bio-Resonance Technology.  There is no radiation involved.  It works with wave lengths and radio-frequencies and such.  Too much information to put into this post.  But check out the links below if you are intrigued.

As far as my acquaintance is concerned, she had a double mastectomy about 5 years ago, refused any chemo treatment offered to her, has been seeing the Functional Medicine Man for the last 4 1/5 years or so and is doing very well.  And Dave and I are a lot less skeptical, to the point that my husband is on the waiting list to be scanned also.

https://sensitivimagousa.com/bioresonance-machines/technologymechanism-of-information-retrieval/

on YouTube:  look for videos from Dr. Nick Baboulas in the series: Sensitiv Imago Bioresonance Diagnostics    Part 3 is called:  What a physical scan of organs/tissues looks like    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byegqo7L7Xk    And Part 4: What a patient is doing during a scan   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ily0B4Ngcg

Not sure when I'll be back.  It may be a while.  Take care!  SanTeh!

177. Chemo The Miracle Club

Dave and I watched a Netflix movie a while ago called "The Miracle Club".  It relates the story of 4 women of different ages who want to go to Lourdes, each of them hoping for a cure or a miracle.  Lourdes is situated in southern France where, in the 1800s, the Virgin Mary appeared before a young peasant girl.  I've been there; when I was 12 a relative treated me to a trip to Lourdes.  We arrived on the train along with masses of other travelers.  Since it was summer, the whole town was just jam-packed with people.  I can still remember the crowds.  I also remember the walk at night in front of the church with each person holding a candle wrapped in a paper cup while hymns were being sung.  That was impressive.  In addition, I also remember the quiet desperation of some people being pushed around in a wheelchair, hoping for a cure.  Since 1858, of the thousands of claims of supernatural healings, only about 70 or so have been recognized by the Catholic Church as genuine miracles.  That is not a lot.  What if there was a better way to give people a glimpse into their health, let's call it a "medical crystal ball" that might be able to early diagnose some types of afflictions, wouldn't that be a kind of miracle in itself?  Perhaps there is...  Stay tuned...    

176. Chemo Quick Update

Today I'm starting my 3rd round of targeted therapy after having had a med-free week, which is like heaven to me!  I was just starting to feel reasonably well.  Anyway a CT scan and a liver MRI have been scheduled for the end of this month.  Fingers crossed that if this treatment does not stop the cancer progressing, at the very least, I'm hoping that it is slowing down its growth.

I have an appointment with a naturopathic doctor next week.  I will likely write a post about the visit.  Cheerio!  Keep well!  SanTeh!   Hope we get sunshine again soon!  Don't forget to take your Vitamin D! 😎

175. Chemo The Axe Murderer (without the Harpoonist)

 A few years ago in fall, while my husband was harvesting nearby, I noticed a small black vehicle, without its driver, parked in the middle of our yard, a somewhat unusual occurrence since during harvest, friends usually drive right up to where my husband is working.  They will be checking on any progress he is making and/or to bring him a cold beverage.  We also have an old bungalow in this yard, with the attached porch a catch-all for a variety of tools.  It so happened that when I took a second look at the vehicle, I saw a man, a stranger to me, leaving the porch of the old bungalow.  This man was carrying an axe, our axe to be precise!  I just had to find out what this man was up to.  So I left the house and walked towards him.  Curiously I did not feel threatened or anything.  As soon as the man spotted me, he ran towards his vehicle in a panic.  Before he could open the door I managed to yell a couple of questions.  "Hey, what are you doing with our axe?"  To which I got no reply.  I had more success with my second question: "Who are you looking for?"  The man answered: "Rhonda".  Then slammed the door shut and sped off in his vehicle in the direction of town.  Now I was panicking.  Wouldn’t you assume, like me, that this was likely about a nasty domestic situation?   I phoned my husband and wanted to phone the police.  He said that the RCMP had already apprehended the man. Apparently he had been stealing things in town and some citizens had called the RCMP.  When the police opened the man's car the back was full of stolen stuff.  We recovered our axe.  The man was taken to the nearest detachment and given a thorough psychiatric examination.

The next spring I decided to walk up to our neighbor’s house to have a chat with her.  I was walking down the grid road.  The snow had just melted.  All of a sudden I spotted a shiny object sticking out of the dirt right in the middle of the road.  Oh, oh, this was trouble and could slice someone’s tire.  Carefully I pulled the object out of the mud.  It was a knife, unbroken, totally complete.  Because I was closer to the neighbor's than our place I decided to ask her to dispose of it.  The neighbor has a dog I am not too fond of and the wind had blown my hair all over the place.  I must have been quite a sight when, instead of she, a relative opened the door and saw me standing there with a panicked look on my face, pointing a 9 inch deboning knife right at her.  No RCMP was ever called, so no psychiatric examination ensued, although that is sometimes up for debate!

If you like rock/blues, The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer are a 2 men 1 woman band out of Vancouver.  You can find them on YouTube.  They have a most distinctive sound.

Back in a week or so.  Take care!  SanTeh!  

174. Chemo Country of Origin: a Memory

 I decided to add a significant memory of what I recall seeing while in dental therapy training during the late 1970s.

I’ve alluded previously to the fact that I trained as a dental therapist at a technical institute from 1978 till 1980.  After graduating we were hired by the provincial government to provide dental services to school aged children free of charge.  The work entailed cleaning, drilling, filling and, if necessary, extracting primary teeth, administering local anesthesia, taking dental impressions, putting in spacers, etc.  The first year was mostly taken up by courses such as anatomy, oral pathology, radiation, etc. and the closest we came to a tooth was the “(in)famous” upper adult molar we had to carve out of wax and got graded on.

The following happened during my second year of training.  Before we got to hone our skills on live patients, we were practicing on real human teeth embedded into plaster casts.  At one point in time I needed some dental material out of the storage room.  Scanning the said room, my eye caught sight of a barrel the size that the Bulk Barn uses in its stores.  On the side of it was stamped: Country of Origin: Vietnam.  My curiosity got the better of me and I just had to see what was in the container. The barrel was chockful of human teeth.  This fact was never mentioned by any of our instructors.

Back tomorrow with something a bit more upbeat.  SanTeh!

173. Chemo More on shingles

 Got it from a reliable source that her nursing colleagues working at medical clinics have said that "since Covid started they have been seeing a lot of cases of shingles especially in the eye."  Thought I should put it out there for your information.  Back later!