Tag Archives: Science

Sitting in the chemotherapy infusion room.

The Chemo Diaries Round Five: Infusion Day

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Okay, coming in for round five of six may not be quite as sexy as spending time with Seven of Nine, but it isn’t without its perks today. For one, check out today’s accommodations! I may have to squeeze in a nap, just to take advantage.

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Plus, apparently I have managed to gain ten pounds over the past month or so, perplexing the medical staff who are now curious about my diet and exercise… Let’s just say, it hasn’t been my exercise, and maybe that is part of it. Continue reading The Chemo Diaries Round Five: Infusion Day →

Nutritional Advice: Sometimes It Doesn’t Feed You

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When people believe that you are not healthy, they often want to give you really genuine advice about what they believe will make you better. In a way, this is one of the nicer aspects of human nature. And many people truly, fervently believe that their advice is not only worthwhile, but absolutely correct to almost mystical proportions. This can be especially true of information that is not even relevant to the person’s direct experience, but instead is based entirely upon anecdotal information that the person simply, deeply wants to believe. And this is the problem with so much advice about how to get healthy: it is based on belief and not on knowledge.

Diet is one of the first topics that is likely to come up when talking about cancer treatment. There are a lot of good reasons for this, including
Continue reading Nutritional Advice: Sometimes It Doesn’t Feed You →

Cancer: What You Think It Is May Be Just Bad For You

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Cancer Is Not Intelligent, Cancer Has No Will

Discussing cancer in general terms often leads to insinuations that Cancer has a motivation. It “overcomes” the immune system. It “figures out” how to defeat a drug. It “is surprisingly good at mutating” into something that can continue to grow in spite of whatever is attacking it. It is “nefarious.” All of these descriptions, and there are hundreds more, imply that Cancer wants something, that it is making an effort, that it has an agenda or goal; the implication is that Cancer has a mind. This is a fallacy of thought that not only makes general discussion more difficult, but it actually can impede treatment and healing. Continue reading Cancer: What You Think It Is May Be Just Bad For You →

Natural Cancer Remedies: What You Don’t Want To Know (But Should)

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Natural cancer remedies have been around for at least 3,000 years and yet it appears that modern science and Western Medicine either ignore these time-tested solutions or are in a conspiracy to keep them from the public. Why is this the case? The truth is much more insidious. But to understand it fully, we need to explore the history of cancer and how these natural cancer remedies are supposed to work.
Continue reading Natural Cancer Remedies: What You Don’t Want To Know (But Should) →

Sympathy: Not Just for the Devil, But Still Bad

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I’ve got to tell you, I hate it when people feel sorry for me. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate a bit of empathy for what I am going through, but I can thoroughly do without the pity. I don’t need it and I certainly don’t want it. There is no “poor me” going on here, I don’t feel bad about my situation or somehow maligned by the universe. That just isn’t me. Maybe it’s because I’m something of a secular humanist at heart, but I find strength in knowing that I can get through whatever I need to and too much sympathy dumped in my path just makes it that much slower for me to move along.
Continue reading Sympathy: Not Just for the Devil, But Still Bad →

The Chemo Diaries: Day One

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And we’re off! I began in the height of luxury here at the Keck Medical Center in lovely Pasadena on a beautiful Wednesday morning. The sun is shining, my daughter was off to a great start and my wife has cleared the day to keep me company in our five star accommodations. I have a heated, massage-lounge chair and my own hi-def satellite television service, robust Wi-Fi and some decent natural lighting behind me. Continue reading The Chemo Diaries: Day One →

The Letter to Other Parents

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Today, I realized that it was important to let the parents in my daughter’s class know that I am about to start chemotherapy. Some of them already know about my cancer, but most do not. So I sat down this morning and wrote the following message (with some minor redaction). Tomorrow, my daughter’s teacher (who sent out her own thoughtful letter to the parent community) is going to engage in a brief talk with the class to address any concerns.

Dear fellow parents,

I am writing to update you all on an important issue that will be affecting my family, and which may end up coming home to some of you as a topic of discussion at some point. Continue reading The Letter to Other Parents →

When Being Unfortunate is Good Fortune

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People talk about luck all the time. Good luck that this happened, bad luck that that happened. It is spoken of as if “luck” is an actual thing, with a consciousness or purpose. Yet, rationally, we should all understand that luck does not exist. There is “chance.” There are “odds.” But there is no such thing as luck outside of an emotional response to fortune (or lack of it). That is to say, one might feel fortunate if, for instance, one were to be diagnosed with a chronic disease early enough to do something to stem the tide, or live in a country where the survival rates are generally above 50 percent and increasing rather than decreasing.

Of course, there are those who would be in a wealthy country with cutting edge healthcare and an early diagnosis who would still only see their personal misfortune with such a diagnosis. But this isn’t about those pathetically myopic individuals, this is about the reason we should be glad we don’t live in India. And if you happen to be reading this from within the borders of India, my apologies, but hopefully you are a politically motivated activist with the means to make your voice heard.
Continue reading When Being Unfortunate is Good Fortune →

Science-Light, or Sciency Sounding Sound Bytes – Not Only Bad, But Stupid

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This article brought up some thoughts about people choosing to either be dumb or promote ignorance in the name of greed:

In Heartland Institute Leak, a Plan to Discredit Climate Teaching – NYTimes.com.

The part that made me angry, actually, isn’t that there are people out there actually foolish enough to believe the message this group is spreading. Nor is it the fact that certain interests might finance their mission, which is at this point something I have sadly accepted as inevitable. What makes me angry is the willful attempt to disrupt the education of our children and fill their heads with what is at best confusing claptrap, at worst outright lies. Taking hundreds of thousands of private dollars and targeting that money toward a misinformation curriculum when our nation’s schools are already struggling so much because of political maneuvering and posturing and kowtowing is an unforgivable transgression against our society and the coming generations.

Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com

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At some point, it is inevitable that any intelligent shopper who takes the time to read the ingredient list on most mass-produced pre-packaged food items that come in un-refrigerated cardboard boxes will ask the following question:

Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com.

The answer is, unfortunately, yes. Continue reading Are We Being Knowingly Poisoned by the Food Industry? | Suite101.com →