Vitamin C for my Basal Cell Carcinoma, Round 2

The border around my used-to-be scar looks great. My scar... now that's another story. I am using Vitamin C again.

I had that one scab right on the edge of my scar that I couldn't stop peeling off... Every time I dried my face I would look in the mirror and realize I took the scab off with my towel. Was my sore not healing because I couldn't prevent from peeling the scab off or was it because it was still a basal cell carcinoma? How can you tell? I figured that regardless, the Vitamin C again couldn't hurt!

I applied a strong solution (more Vitamin C than water) and the constantly-scabbing sore started bleeding like there was a blood clot trying to escape. Within the hour, it was scabbed over. And this time it was a huge scab! Dark red, almost black. I couldn't forget that it was there and therefore was able to remember to not touch it at all! I didn't even peel it off with the towel!

I was able to prevent myself from peeling off this scab for a whole two days! It fell off naturally. At first I thought it had done nothing. I still had the same small sore near my scar. 

About a day later, I realized it... My sore wasn't in the same spot... It used to be on the edge of the scar. There was nothing there anymore! The sore I had now, had moved. It was in the middle of my scar. While I was able to leave the scab on long enough for the original sore to heel, I had applied the Vitamin C at the perfect time to pull out the hidden basal cell carcinoma. 

If you remember from my earlier post, nothing had happened to the scar the first round of treatment. I think this was because the fresh scar tissue was acting like a shield. Originally I thought that the skin cancer was gone in that area... guess I was wrong... It went deeper.  So of course with this new discovery, I continued applying vitamin C.

I had to calm down the solution. Everytime I applied the solution with too much vitamin C the sore would bleed just like the first time and scab over. That's not the point. I want it to scab over, but not cause the bleeding for it to scab over. The point is to have the cancerous-goo scab over after pulling out of the skin and for the cancer to fall out.  

I had to create the solution correctly using only as much vitamin C as can disolve in the water. With this solution I see the progress or failure or whatever it is. The sore keeps getting bigger as the scar goes away. It has almost completely taken the place of the scar. The scar was literally acting as a shield for the deeper carcinoma. 

I kept getting discouraged because every time I look at it, the sore is a little bigger. However, both my mom and K, on separate occasions have told me that it is actually looking better. My mom even pointed out that I am still applying the solution to the same large area, but this time, it's only the small spot in the center that is reacting. The same original spot the dermatologist scraped off. And also the same spot the was guarded and wouldn't react to the first round of vitamin C treatment.

Will it heal? I'm not sure yet. It's taking more than one round of treatment. I think it will take more than two rounds. But I'm not going to the dermatologist till I'm done doing this treatment myself. I'll keep you posted on what I find!

One thing I do know... the pool has opened this weekend, and my hat collection is definitely about to grow :)

Raw Foods: Healthy Eating or Eating Disorder?

Did you hear about the latest eating disorder?!

Does eating healthy mean you have an eating disorder? Well according to some it is. Orthorexia is the obsession with eating healthy.

I know eating disorders are very serious and I do take them seriously, but I had to laugh when I saw this on yahoo.com. I mean how ironic! What incredible timing! It described in detail the way that I was eating!

After the first couple days of eating raw foods I was dropping weight. Dropping quickly! But how can I gain weight when I'm only eating raw fruits and vegetables?! That's why I didn't stay completely alkaline, I had to eat something else to keep the weight on. I was happy with my weight. If I lost any more weight I would look sick in my own opinion.

Plus, raw fruits and veggies gets boring. You can make it interesting for a while, but your body needs more! Proteins! Carbs! Salt! Sugar! BALANCE! After a couple days of almost all raw foods, I not only needed more for my body, I was craving it. Raw food is a great cleanse, just not a way of eating... For me at least.

Even after working other foods into my new more-alkaline diet, I could still manage to gain a few pounds, but that will come back slowly. I feel good. I feel healthy. I like my healthier decisions. And I'm no longer losing weight.

Raw foods are good for you but there is a lot more the body needs to be healthy! Anything taken to the extreme can be dangerous.

Raw foods work for some people. Check out the following links!
First there is Brad, founder of Brad's Raw Foods. How did raw foods help him turn his wellness around?
http://www.bradsrawchips.com/pages/meet-brad
And then there is Lauren, a Raw Chef and Plant Based Nutrition Wellness Coach. See how raw foods changed her life!
http://www.rawissexy.com/p/about.html

To read more about the delicate balance between staying healthy and turning healthy eating into an eating disorder, check out the following link to a TIME magazine article:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1963297,00.html

Going Alkaline to Starve out Basal Cell Carcinoma

Did you know that cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment? Yep! You guessed it! I went on an alkaline diet to work along side the exteriorly-applied vitamin C. That way I could starve out the cancer from the inside as well as kill it on the outside.

When I say diet though, I don't mean going on the stereotypical three week diet or however long those things are. I wasn't trying to lose weight or anything like that. I was very happy with my weight and my fitness. I was just not happy about my nutritional health. It's more like I was going through a dramatic cleanse as a start to a new diet completely: a healthy diet that I want to have for the rest of my life.

So here's what I did:

1. I cut out dairy.
2. I ate raw fruits and vegetables.
3. I cut out meat.
4. I ate more raw fruits and vegetables.
5. When I needed more calories, I ate brown rice, crackers, tortillas, whole wheat noodles and other carb foods.
6. I ate tons of raw fruits and vegetables.

Yes I was basically vegan. After a day, I realized I had to add in some carbs so I wouldn't drop too much weight. But after a week and a half, I HAD to eat some meat just to be sure I got some protein. I ate as alkaline as I could, but added the variety and balance into my diet as I felt needed.

I am now back to normal eating, I just try to make a lot healthier choices! Instead of my morning latte I either have lemon water, freshly made juice or iced green tea! For lunch, I eat salad, or I make dips for my tortilla chips, or on days like today, when I need some extra carbs, I have something like a quesadilla but I chop up some fresh peppers, onions and tomatoes to put on top.

Whatever I do, I am trying to eat lots of raw food. I make my exceptions throughout the week so that I get my other nutritional needs, but I figure, the more alkaline I can make make it, the better. Based on my skin issues, I think that might be the case for a while. But I would love to be able to possibly help prevent more basal cell carcinoma in the future.

The Martini Saying

So today is my birthday. I celebrated with the family early, since my parents are out of town on the day. But tonight, for my celebration, I went out with a couple good friends, and of course K, to the cheesecake factory. Martinis and cheesecake... at least that is exactly what I had!

I ordered a martini that hasn't been on the menu since before I was 21. I tried it because it's my mom's favorite... and although I've strayed, I've never found another flavor that compares: The key lime martini! It's amazing! The bartender always remembers how to make it!!! Nobody has ever said no! And, of course, I had an amazing piece of cheesecake... the leftovers will last for several days!

Anyway, as I was drinking my second martini, I wanted to be sure my friends knew "the saying." At least that's what I thought it was. I've realized over time that sometimes the "sayings" that I know (if I can say them right), aren't always a "sayings" that others know.

So for all of you, here it is, as my parents have told me since before I drank in public... or even before I was in high school:

"Martinis are like boobs. One is not enough. Three are too many!"

My Basal Cell Carcinoma

About two and a half months ago, I went to the dermatologist for three reason. To have a mole cut off my chest, to schedule an appointment to have another spot on my chest lasered off and to have this never-disappearing sore/pimple/thing cut off my nose. A week or two later, when I went back for the laser treatment, the dermatologist informed me the mysterious sore on my nose was was a basal cell carcinoma.

Yes, at 22 years-old I have skin cancer. Minor. Just a basal cell carcinoma... But still. I have skin cancer. And I'm sure this is going to be a problem throughout my life. My dermatologist recommended I go get Mohs Surgery.

I wanted it off immediately and scheduled a consultation with the recommended surgeon. When I walked in the doctor's office, I felt like an infant. I was by far the youngest person in there. I felt like everyone was staring at me. The people behind the desk; the people in the waiting room; they were all looking at me. The lady at the front desk didn't say anything about my age, but once went back to the room, the nurse, the white jacket (not sure who he was) and the doctor all commented, first thing, on my age.

Why was I there? How could somebody this young and with such clear skin already be in there. They would literally ask me "Why are YOU here?" They would rephrase into some short, second-guessed question as they flipped through my file. The next thing that would come out of their mouth was, "22!"

I'm not a huge tanner. I've tanned in a tanning bed a couple handfuls of times, but not many. I mean I love being outdoors in the sunlight! The first couple years of my life were spent in Florida, and I've visited at least once a year ever since. They all seemed to think it was the tanning bed. However, between the first two years of my life being spent in Florida and both sides of my family having a history of skin cancer, I think this is more likely the cause of my issue so early in life. If the tanning bed was really the cause, then I think a lot more people would have this problem... I know a lot of people who have tanned more than a couple handfuls of times.

Anyway, after their initial shock that I was even in their office and blaming my cancer on the tanning bed, they each described the surgery that I was about to go though. They were going to cut off the skin that the previous dermatologist already cut plus about a millimeter extra around the original cut. Then they would examine the piece of cutoff skin under a microscope and map out were the cancer had spread. They would go back and cut out more in the places that it spread, plus another millimeter around that area. They would repeat until it was all gone. Doesn't sound bad, right?

Mine would have been closer to
my eye, but I imagine about the
 same size.

Well each description got worse. By the time the doctor marked on my nose where he would do his first cut, I realized that they were going to cut off about a quarter of my nose. Plus, it was close to my eye and I would probably lose some feeling in my nose for about a year. I was definitely going to have to visit the plastic surgeon afterward for repair.

When each person left after talking with me, they commented on how composed I was and how well I was taking everything in. When I got to my car, I called the plastic surgeon and scheduled a consultation. Little did everyone know that as soon as I hung up, before I even left the parking lot, I started sobbing. I drove home, talking to my mom on the phone crying.

I had three weeks before my plastic surgeon consultation, what harm could there be in trying a natural remedy while I wait? Any remedy is better than having a quarter of my nose cut off and having, as my dad says, a piece of my butt sewn to my face! (S said that my nickname would have to be butt-face! Loving. I know!)

I was extremely busy as you all know since I wasn't even writing, so my mom started researching for me. For the next few hours, I received email after email about different natural remedies. They were all different. None of them are scientifically proven. Finally one started popping up repeatedly. Topical vitamin C.

The theories behind it made sense and people were writing about their successful results. However, basal cell carcinoma discharges, scabs over, heals, but then returns. Mine disappeared for a couple months... That's why I waited so long to go to the doctor. So as I read these people's stories, my concern was that nobody had written of their success after months had gone by. How do I know that it really worked. How do I know that it never came back? Finally, I got the best email. Mom found someone's story who had a confirmed case of basal cell carcinoma, had gone to the dermatologist only a couple weeks after the vitamin C treatment and who wrote 6 months after the cancer disappeared. The dermatologist had told him the skin looked like healthy and the 6 month period just confirmed that it hadn't returned. I had vitamin C on my nose immediately.

If you want to know what I did then keep reading. If you want to know how it turned out, skip to the end. I am writing my experience in detail so that anybody else who was like me and looking for testomonials from people who have tried this crazy easy cure, can know my story.

Note: This is only one of the three things that I did that I believe helped me. I will continue writing about what I did in future posts.

Recipe for success:

1. Pour a small amount of water into a small container. (Only about a tablespoon or so.)
2. Mix in powdered vitamin C until it stops dissolving.
3. Apply the concentrated mixture with your finger tip or a q-tip to the suspected or confirmed spot of basal cell carcinoma.
4. There may be some stinging, but when the water evaporates, vitamin C crystals will be left on the spot. 
5. Repeat as often as possible.
6. It takes anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks, but eventually the spot will scab over and fall off.

For the next two weeks I had a thick white spot on my nose... I put a ton of vitamin C in my water. I figured, the more the better and the faster the cancer will die.

None of this is scientifically proven. But I mean, who is going to spend all the money on the research when the result might lead to such a cheap way to cure one simple form of cancer? (That's my opinion anyway.) All I could rely on were the testimonials that I read.

It stung. At first I though it only stung on the cancerous spot, but I'm not sure if that was completely true. I think it stung where ever I put vitamin C repeatedly. But there was definitely a difference in the scabbing on the places where I knew there was cancer.

First, allow me to describe what my carcinoma was like at the time... When the doctor scraped off my sore, the skin that took its place was healthy. I could see a ring of skin around the healthy scar, however, that looked cancerous. It looked like underneath the top layer of skin, my skin was bleeding. There was no actual discharge, since the dermatologist had recently cut off that bad part. But the ring of skin that she missed was irritated and a little puffy.

When I applied the vitamin C, my skin had an interesting reaction. Within 24 hours I had a ring of discharge around my healthy scar. Within 48 hours, I had a scab. It was almost like the vitamin C was literally pulling the cancer out of my skin!

After a couple days, I had to go out of town. I didn't bring my vitamin C and couldn't find it anywhere in the city I was visiting! I couldn't even find capsules with powder in them to break open and mix in water. Within that 36 hours, the spot left behind from the vitamin C had begun to heal. It was already looking so much better!

When I came back, even though my nose was looking better, I didn't want to take any risks, I reapplied the vitamin C and kept applying it on wider and wider surface area. I just wanted to be sure I was going to get it all! And since I had read that the vitamin C only stung where the cancer was, and the whole area was stinging, I went wider. Eventually I decided that the whole area couldn't be cancerous. It was just reacting to the acidity of the vitamin C.

I could see a difference in the scabbing of the two place. The first place was the place I had just applied vitamin C over and over. The second place was where the doctor had told me he would cut, which was the same spot I could see the skin cancer. The cancerous spot was actually a little wider than what we both had thought. The vitamin C had pulled so much out  of my skin that the scab in the cancerous area was much thicker. It was like the skin reacted to the vitamin C everywhere, but the cancer completely ran out of the skin only in the cancerous spots providing a thicker scab.

After a week and a half of this application, I took a break. I let the skin heal. Within a couple days the scab was gone. And I cannot even express how excited I was about the results! The skin is not puffy at all. It's completely smooth. No irritation under the skin either! I don't even know if the doctor would know where to cut!

The few people who asked me about my nose have asked me if I would go back to the dermatologist to have her take look when I was done. I said yes a couple times at first, but then changed my mind. Basal cell carcinoma is known for healing and then returning. I bet my doctor thinks I'm nuts and tells me it is just going to come back. Plus, the only way to prove that it is gone would be to biopsy my skin. Which would mean I would get cut on... Yet again! If it's still there, I'd rather it come back a while down the road and then maintain it again with vitamin C. My skin looks a lot healthier for it!

Something funny about the whole process... People have to see the white vitamin C spot on my face, but they don't say anything about it! People don't even tell you when you have spinach in your teeth! They don't say anything about white spots on your nose either! And its rude to stare! The result: Only the truly honest people or the people you know the best (...or drunk people at a bar) will ask any questions!

Anyway, so far, my nose is looking fantastic!  I have a small scab from where I picked at part of the original scab, but it is almost gone. It's not just healing and then coming back again. I just got a little too excited when the scab was coming off! And now I keep accidentally rubbing the fresh scab off with my towel.

It takes a couple weeks just to get an appointment with the dermatologist. So if you have a basal cell carcinoma, it doesn't hurt to spend $20 on powdered vitamin C and give this a try while you wait! Worst case scenario: you have to do what the dermatologist prescribed in the first place. Best case scenario: you can prevent going to a surgeon, getting a quarter of your nose cut off and going to the plastic surgeon for a repair. Instead you can heal it naturally! Sure you might look like you are a coke addict if it's around your nose, but it could be a natural cure!

(6/4/11 - I realize that this post is getting lots of hits. The story doesn't end here. Please read my post on May 30, Vitamin C for my Basal Cell Carcinoma, Round 2 for the most recent status.)

To read more about the Mohs surgery, visit the following link: http://www.seattlemohs.com/
To read more about topical vitamin C, surf the web! There are so many thing to find, but no official proof or process.

Big News!

Hey everybody!
Sorry it has been so long!!! I got really busy and knew I wouldn't be able to post for a while, but still temporarily left without explanation... Well I'm back! And boy do I have lots of news!

First, I'm helping my Mom open a small Pilates studio on the first floor of the "office house." (It's an old white victorian house and Dad's business is upstairs.) We are taking our time opening it since we have no rent, but all the new equipment (reformers, towers, chairs, balls, etc.) is set up and is so much fun to play with!

Which brings me to the second thing. I decided to learn to teach classical Pilates! The comprehensive training starts in the fall, so right now I'm just trying to fulfill my prerequisites. I'm taking classical apparatus classes every week and classical mat classes about every other week! I absolutely love it! There are so many new exercises that I had no idea that I could even do!

On the downside of the time I've been gone, I have skin cancer on my nose. I have been to the dermatologist many more times than I would have liked within the past month. It's a minor cancer, but it's on my face. This topic deserves a whole post on its own though... Don't worry, you will hear plenty about it soon! I am of course trying out a new natural remedy ;)

I bought a new car! Mom got a new car, Mom and Dad needed a car for my sisters to drive, and I liked my Mom's old stick shift. So I gave my car back to them for the girls to drive and bought my Mom's old Mini Cooper for the difference of the two cars' price! Took me about a week to finally get the hang of that stupid stick shift! And I can even start on an uphill incline!

A week ago, two days in a row, I couldn't get my car to go forward. I would be pressing the accelerator and the car would go vvvvvvrrrrrrrrrroooooooooommmmmmmmm, but I would be rolling backwards down the hill. I ended up having to back all the way down, start on flat ground and then practically run the stip sign at the top of the hill so that I didn't have to start the whole process all over again! Yes, I know. Not the safest way to drive, but I've learned how now!

And finally, I moved out! I finished unpacking a week ago, all I have left is hanging pictures. K helped put together my furniture, set up my TV and now gets to help me by holding the pictures against the wall as I figure out exactly where to put the nail! It has been a wirlwind! But the first round of bills is in just a week. When did I grow up?

Anyways, things are settled down enough that I will be blogging again! So stay tuned!

Makeup with Pilates

Imagine: Legs straightened, mascara in hand,
and location was the bathroom...

My parents and I are kind of obsessed with Pilates. And by obsessed, I mean that we are all instructors so we teach, take and talk about Pilates classes all the time! Recently, I've been trying to find a way to modify advanced exercises so that I can teach them in full classes! A full class is about 5-7 people. But I want to make it so that they are working toward something even better!

Well this morning I was getting ready for work. I'm used to being alone in the morning, but this morning C was late to school and both of my parents were up and about. But... since I'm used to being alone I left the bathroom door wide open while I was putting on my make up. And no... I wasn't just putting on my make up. I was trying to figure out the best modification for an exercise.

So as I was putting on my mascara, I was standing in front of the sink with my back to the door. I had my legs turned out and my feet about three feet apart. I had my arms extended out toward the side walls. With a very controlled motion, I was twisting slowly from side to side... Mascara in hand!

Little did I know that my Dad had walked downstairs and was watching me! I was caught and their was no way to hide it!

He asked what I was doing. My answer: Putting on my make up. He laughed and I had to follow up with what I was really doing....

Playing Pilates!