Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) Support Group
Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), also known as acute myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells. Patients with AML usually present with symptoms such as fatigue, bleeding, infection, prompting medical attention. An abnormal blood test reading will then result in further testing in a hospital with a hematologist to determine AML.
Let me first say that I am not a doctor, nor an I am giving any medical advice. I am a daughter who loves her father very much and we, as a team, are doing everything we can to help my dad get through this.
Another member here suggested I start this thread as we have been corresponding through email for months and he thought we should share all of our knowledge and experiences so that others may benefit from it if there is any benefit to be had.
First background- then I will tell you want alternative treatments he is trying....
Dad is 70 years old (he just had his 70th birthday :-)
He was diagnosed with AML M0 on April 7, 2011. We brought him to Dana Farber the very next day where we were told the risks, etc. and he began induction within 2 days. At that point he had 88% blasts.
He flew into remission after induction and we were thrilled. Although he had a number of complications during that time, the team was amazing there and he made it through and went home. Unfortunately he became extremely dehydrated from lack of drinking water and was back in the hospital within 5 days in acute kidney failure. They fixed that too, but again he had a number of complications and was almost unable to go through consolidation.
We whipped him into shape and he finally got consolidation. He again ended up with complications: confusion, high fevers, infection, etc., but he again made it through. On our last day in Boston(we were to go home that afternoon) he had blood work and saw the doc. His counts seemed funny. They did a BM biopsy just to check what was going on.
The next week our worst fears were realized. Dad has relapsed. We couldn't believe it. We were devastated. (all this- for 4 months- for nothing we thought). He was 5 weeks out of consolidation.
He was given 4 choices: induction again, palliative care (which is lose-dose chemo for 1 hr. for 5 days on and then 28 days off and repeat, a clinical trial, or nothing in which case we would call hospice and he would die.)
Dad did not want to go through induction again- it was hard on him. He didn't want a trial because that meant months away from home again. He choose the low-dose chemo at home in NY.
The choices were given to him on 7/27/11 and they said he could wait until after his birthday party 8/7 to start the chemo. He was given anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to live.
Here comes the alternative part ......... while we were sitting on the porch on 7/31/11 a neighbor stopped by to see dad. This neighbor has multiple myeloma. He was given 2 years to live. That was 5 years ago. When he was diagnosed, he did not want to do chemo. He went MD Anderson where he was enrolled in a clinical trial. The trial was for 1 year and was given 8000mg of curcumin a day. When the trial was over he was not cured, but his cancer did not progress. He was at 30% when he went to MD Anderson and that is where he is today. He never stopped taking the curcumin. He says he can tired easily because his counts have stayed low, but that in general he feels fine. That was all dad needed to hear. He wanted to try it.
Dad asked for a list of everything the neighbor was doing. He obliged.
He takes:
1.) 8000mg of curcumin a day (4000 in the morning and 4000 a night). Super Curcumin w/Bioperine Time Release 1000mg-60 Tabs
Here is the website:
http://www.agelesscures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=1
We bought another brand (1000 mg with bioperine) to get us by at first from a local health food store, but ordered this one since it is the same curcumin he used in his clinical trial at MD Anderson.
2.) Silver : specifically Sovereign Silver (immune system booster)
Here is the website:
http://www.natural-immunogenics.com/
We bought it in a local health food store though
3.) Ojibwa Tea Liquid 16 oz (473 ml) by NOW -
Here is a website: http://www.betterhealthinternational.com/productDetails.asp?prodID=N4855&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=comparsionshopping&CAWELAID=556908777&gclid=CNe7q6GwxaoCFQfBKgodBUU8zg
We also got another version from the health food store (Essiac tea concentrate), but we also ordered this version as it is the one our neighbor takes
In addition to what the neighbor has taken for the past 5 years for his multiple myeloma, I have done research and saw some promise for other therapies for AML.
I found that Japan has done a number of clinical trials for AML using high dose vitamin D3 and high doses vitamin K2. There are different kinds of K2 out there, but Japan uses K2 M-4 (Not the K2 M-7 that we see on every vitamin shelf in the USA) It was a tough time to find K2 M-4 for sale in the US, but I finally did.
Here is the website: http://www.nbihealth.com/p-10-osteo-k.aspx
Dad has asked that we throw everything but the kitchen sink at this (AML). His current chemo doctor told us that he can not condone him taking the supplements, because he has no idea if they will #1. Have any kind of interaction with the chemo and #2. if they will cause the chemo not to work (ie. the supplements and chemo could cancel eachother out).
Dad said he didn't care and that he wants to take it all at the same time. SO- dad has become his own guinea pig.
Here is what dad is taking:
(chemo) - dacogen -- just started 8/8/11 - 1 hr a day for 5 days- then that same regiment is repeated every 28 days)
Supplements:
Totals: (a day) - dad started the supplements on 7/31/11 -
His red and white stayed level at that time, but his platelets went up. He has not needed blood or platelet transfusions since he started the supplements- (blood draws only gave us results from 10 days he had on supplements alone before he started the chemo)- He was getting them (transfusions) every 2 days prior to starting them though.
8000 mg of Super Curcumin w/Bioperine Time Release 1000mg tabs- so 8 pills total for the day
1 teaspoon of Silver
2 tablespoon of Ojibwa Tea Liquid
6 tabs of Osteo-K( 3 with breakfast and 3 with dinner)
4 tabs of 1000mg D3 (so he ends up with 6000mg total for day between straight D3 tabs and what is in the Osteo-K)
How he does it:
Morning: 4000mg of curcumin (IMPORTANT- he can not have food or drink 1 hour before and up to 1 hour after so there is maximum absorption into his blood-according to the neighbor)
-- 1 hour later he takes the rest of his morning pills (other meds for other things- thyroid, etc) and he takes 3 tabs of the osteo-K which has K2 M-4, calcium and D3 in it.
-- He takes an additional 2 tabs of 1000mg of vitamin D3 so we can get higher does of D3(Osteo-K must be taken with food)
Before Lunch:
-- 1 teaspoon of Silver (hold under the tongue for 30 seconds then swallow) - once a day
-- 2 tablespoon of Ojibwa Tea Liquid (swallow once a day)
Dinner: he takes
-- 3 tabs of the osteo-K which has K2 M-4, calcium and D3 in it.
--- He takes an additional 2 1000mg of vitamin D3 (Osteo-K must be taken with food)
--- 1 hour after dinner he has 4000mg of curcumin- he waits an hour- takes his night pills and heads to bed.
SO - he is taking all of these supplements AND the low-dose chemo together at the same time.
I have seen trials with curcumin alone, trials with curcumin with D3, trials with D3 alone, trials with K2 M-4 alone and trials with K2 M-4 and D3 together, but never one with using them all. We have no idea what will happen, but we have high hopes. We have not been able to find a doctor who knows about this or is willing to give the thumbs up as they say they have no knowledge on the subject. MD Anderson has a whole group that deals with supplements and alternative therapies as well as trials, but dad does not want to go to Houston. So here we are trying it ourselves.
I will keep you posted on progress. Dad said if it isn't working - since we will have no way of knowing if chemo or the supplements are not working- we will adjust as we go. If he does well- he will stay on this regiment.
From what I have read- curcumin has killed cancer cells in vitrio and in viro. K2 M-4 and D3 have also done that. They said that they have studies K2 M-4 in vitro and seen some leukemia cells mature into normal cells. Of course these are all trials and the docs here and the FDA will not approve things without tons of research. I welcome people to do their own research and also let me know of there are any other alternatives out there that they have either tried or have heard about. Like I said- we have no way of knowing if this will help, but we will keep you informed on dad's progress.
Another member here suggested I start this thread as we have been corresponding through email for months and he thought we should share all of our knowledge and experiences so that others may benefit from it if there is any benefit to be had.
First background- then I will tell you want alternative treatments he is trying....
Dad is 70 years old (he just had his 70th birthday :-)
He was diagnosed with AML M0 on April 7, 2011. We brought him to Dana Farber the very next day where we were told the risks, etc. and he began induction within 2 days. At that point he had 88% blasts.
He flew into remission after induction and we were thrilled. Although he had a number of complications during that time, the team was amazing there and he made it through and went home. Unfortunately he became extremely dehydrated from lack of drinking water and was back in the hospital within 5 days in acute kidney failure. They fixed that too, but again he had a number of complications and was almost unable to go through consolidation.
We whipped him into shape and he finally got consolidation. He again ended up with complications: confusion, high fevers, infection, etc., but he again made it through. On our last day in Boston(we were to go home that afternoon) he had blood work and saw the doc. His counts seemed funny. They did a BM biopsy just to check what was going on.
The next week our worst fears were realized. Dad has relapsed. We couldn't believe it. We were devastated. (all this- for 4 months- for nothing we thought). He was 5 weeks out of consolidation.
He was given 4 choices: induction again, palliative care (which is lose-dose chemo for 1 hr. for 5 days on and then 28 days off and repeat, a clinical trial, or nothing in which case we would call hospice and he would die.)
Dad did not want to go through induction again- it was hard on him. He didn't want a trial because that meant months away from home again. He choose the low-dose chemo at home in NY.
The choices were given to him on 7/27/11 and they said he could wait until after his birthday party 8/7 to start the chemo. He was given anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to live.
Here comes the alternative part ......... while we were sitting on the porch on 7/31/11 a neighbor stopped by to see dad. This neighbor has multiple myeloma. He was given 2 years to live. That was 5 years ago. When he was diagnosed, he did not want to do chemo. He went MD Anderson where he was enrolled in a clinical trial. The trial was for 1 year and was given 8000mg of curcumin a day. When the trial was over he was not cured, but his cancer did not progress. He was at 30% when he went to MD Anderson and that is where he is today. He never stopped taking the curcumin. He says he can tired easily because his counts have stayed low, but that in general he feels fine. That was all dad needed to hear. He wanted to try it.
Dad asked for a list of everything the neighbor was doing. He obliged.
He takes:
1.) 8000mg of curcumin a day (4000 in the morning and 4000 a night). Super Curcumin w/Bioperine Time Release 1000mg-60 Tabs
Here is the website:
http://www.agelesscures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=1
We bought another brand (1000 mg with bioperine) to get us by at first from a local health food store, but ordered this one since it is the same curcumin he used in his clinical trial at MD Anderson.
2.) Silver : specifically Sovereign Silver (immune system booster)
Here is the website:
http://www.natural-immunogenics.com/
We bought it in a local health food store though
3.) Ojibwa Tea Liquid 16 oz (473 ml) by NOW -
Here is a website: http://www.betterhealthinternational.com/productDetails.asp?prodID=N4855&utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=comparsionshopping&CAWELAID=556908777&gclid=CNe7q6GwxaoCFQfBKgodBUU8zg
We also got another version from the health food store (Essiac tea concentrate), but we also ordered this version as it is the one our neighbor takes
In addition to what the neighbor has taken for the past 5 years for his multiple myeloma, I have done research and saw some promise for other therapies for AML.
I found that Japan has done a number of clinical trials for AML using high dose vitamin D3 and high doses vitamin K2. There are different kinds of K2 out there, but Japan uses K2 M-4 (Not the K2 M-7 that we see on every vitamin shelf in the USA) It was a tough time to find K2 M-4 for sale in the US, but I finally did.
Here is the website: http://www.nbihealth.com/p-10-osteo-k.aspx
Dad has asked that we throw everything but the kitchen sink at this (AML). His current chemo doctor told us that he can not condone him taking the supplements, because he has no idea if they will #1. Have any kind of interaction with the chemo and #2. if they will cause the chemo not to work (ie. the supplements and chemo could cancel eachother out).
Dad said he didn't care and that he wants to take it all at the same time. SO- dad has become his own guinea pig.
Here is what dad is taking:
(chemo) - dacogen -- just started 8/8/11 - 1 hr a day for 5 days- then that same regiment is repeated every 28 days)
Supplements:
Totals: (a day) - dad started the supplements on 7/31/11 -
His red and white stayed level at that time, but his platelets went up. He has not needed blood or platelet transfusions since he started the supplements- (blood draws only gave us results from 10 days he had on supplements alone before he started the chemo)- He was getting them (transfusions) every 2 days prior to starting them though.
8000 mg of Super Curcumin w/Bioperine Time Release 1000mg tabs- so 8 pills total for the day
1 teaspoon of Silver
2 tablespoon of Ojibwa Tea Liquid
6 tabs of Osteo-K( 3 with breakfast and 3 with dinner)
4 tabs of 1000mg D3 (so he ends up with 6000mg total for day between straight D3 tabs and what is in the Osteo-K)
How he does it:
Morning: 4000mg of curcumin (IMPORTANT- he can not have food or drink 1 hour before and up to 1 hour after so there is maximum absorption into his blood-according to the neighbor)
-- 1 hour later he takes the rest of his morning pills (other meds for other things- thyroid, etc) and he takes 3 tabs of the osteo-K which has K2 M-4, calcium and D3 in it.
-- He takes an additional 2 tabs of 1000mg of vitamin D3 so we can get higher does of D3(Osteo-K must be taken with food)
Before Lunch:
-- 1 teaspoon of Silver (hold under the tongue for 30 seconds then swallow) - once a day
-- 2 tablespoon of Ojibwa Tea Liquid (swallow once a day)
Dinner: he takes
-- 3 tabs of the osteo-K which has K2 M-4, calcium and D3 in it.
--- He takes an additional 2 1000mg of vitamin D3 (Osteo-K must be taken with food)
--- 1 hour after dinner he has 4000mg of curcumin- he waits an hour- takes his night pills and heads to bed.
SO - he is taking all of these supplements AND the low-dose chemo together at the same time.
I have seen trials with curcumin alone, trials with curcumin with D3, trials with D3 alone, trials with K2 M-4 alone and trials with K2 M-4 and D3 together, but never one with using them all. We have no idea what will happen, but we have high hopes. We have not been able to find a doctor who knows about this or is willing to give the thumbs up as they say they have no knowledge on the subject. MD Anderson has a whole group that deals with supplements and alternative therapies as well as trials, but dad does not want to go to Houston. So here we are trying it ourselves.
I will keep you posted on progress. Dad said if it isn't working - since we will have no way of knowing if chemo or the supplements are not working- we will adjust as we go. If he does well- he will stay on this regiment.
From what I have read- curcumin has killed cancer cells in vitrio and in viro. K2 M-4 and D3 have also done that. They said that they have studies K2 M-4 in vitro and seen some leukemia cells mature into normal cells. Of course these are all trials and the docs here and the FDA will not approve things without tons of research. I welcome people to do their own research and also let me know of there are any other alternatives out there that they have either tried or have heard about. Like I said- we have no way of knowing if this will help, but we will keep you informed on dad's progress.
Thanks for the report. Great news! Your Dad and you are sources of hope, inspiration, and information for us all. Continued blessings to you both.
Jonathan9
I have an appointment with my oncologist next week and plan to discuss with him the treatment you have developed for your Dad.
I have done some research on the web on K2 M4 and even ordered some pills from your source. The research I have found relates to the treatment of osteoporosis. I can see a connection between bone health and the treatment of AML but found no research on the subject. The most recent material was in about 2004.
Can you refer me to the research on the use of K2 M4 to treat AML, including the most recent reports you have found.
Incidentally, I had been taking 500 mg of curcumin a few times a week for about a year before my dx of AML and occasionally sprinkled it on my hot cereal. I had heard of a trial study at the Department of Neurology at UCLA on the effect of curcumin in the prevention of Alzheimers Disease. I was told that people in India had a low incidnce of AD and some thought it might be attributable to the high consumption of curcumin. In a brief elevator conversation with the director of the study, he said the amount used in the trail was much more than one would get by eating Indian food a few times a week.
Thanks for your help.
Jonathan9
Here is some info. The research was done a long time ago. I have yet to find an oncologist here in the US that will look into it. It all became very frustrating, so I just quit trying.
Funny thing happened ----- just today my dad's onc told him that we will be going back to monthly visits now instead of weekly.
He said "You're doing great! No signs of abnormal cells in the smear- you are looking great! I know you had a very tough time in Boston, but it must have done you good. Everything looks fantastic. I'll see you in a month."
Boston must have done him good?!!!!! He almost died in Boston several times. He had 2 heavy rounds of chemo and then he relapsed in Boston, and was given 3 weeks to a couple of months to live! We then started him on all the supplements and a year later we still have him. i guess his local onc must have forgotten. I can't.
Anyway- here are some links.
I have been swamped at work, but I wanted to get you what I could find quickly to at least get you started.
All my best,
Heather
Let me know how it goes.
Apoptosis/differentiation-inducing effects of vitamin K2 on HL-60 cells: dichotomous nature of vitamin K2 in leukemia cells:
http://www.nature.com/leu/journal/v15/n7/full/2402155a.html
(This is about vitamin K2 and how it works on a number of diseases- see page 5 for info on AML)
http://www.altmedrev.com/publications/14/3/284.pdf
Vitamin K2 modulates differentiation and apoptosis of both myeloid and erythroid lineages: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HAEMATOLOGY Vol. 85 Issue 6 Dec 2010: http://www.searchmedica.com/xml-resource.html?c=on&ss=defLink&p=Funnelback&rid=http%3A%2F%2Fubm-search01.squiz.co.uk%2Fsearch%2Fcache.cgi%3Fcollection%3Dpubmed%26doc%3D90%252F20887388.xml%26off%3D0%26len%3D-1%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fubm-search01.squiz.co.uk%252Fpublic%252Fpubmed%252F20887388.xml&t=pubmed
Establishment of Vitamin K2 Therapy in Myelodysplastic Syndromes:
http://kaken.nii.ac.jp/d/p/14570999/2003/6/en.en.html
Successful therapy of myelodysplastic syndrome with menatetrenone, a vitamin K2 analog:
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/paper:10641439
Combination of 22-oxa-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3), a vitamin D(3) derivative, with vitamin K(2)(VK2) synergistically enhances cell differentiation but suppresses VK2-inducing apoptosis in HL-60 cells:
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/paper:12145693
Jonathan
Jonathan
I am so sorry about your friend. This is such a tough disease.
Dad was diagnosed on or about Wed. 4/6/11. At that point he had 65% blasts. By the time we got him to Boston for treatment on 4/8/11 - he was at 88% blasts.
He was prepped for 7-3 induction chemo which was daunorubicin and cytarabine. He began induction on 4/11/11. He had been hospitalized in Boston starting on 4/9/11. He had really bad chills and a lot of pain in his knees when they took him in. His counts were getting so bad that they didn't want to risk infection or anything so he was admitted 4/9/11. He got a hickman line put in his chest to receive the chemo and by the morning of 4/11 he was ready to start chemo.
He did the 7 and 3 protocol for 7 days. After chemo was over he had a lot of complications- high fevers, infections, brain swelling, etc. We almost lost him a few times. On day 14 they do a bone marrow biopsy to see if the chemo is working. Then they repeat biopsy on day 28. His second biopsy confirmed remission or CR1. He had less than 5% blasts.
He was sent home after about 22 days to rest up for the next round of chemo. It was to occur in 30 more days. Unfortunately dad went back to the hospital within 5 days in acute renal failure. That set off a chain reaction of bad events that caused dad to miss his opportunity for consolidation chemo. He became very depressed and very weak. He had a host of new complications. He fell and broke a couple of ribs. He got to the point he could not walk on his own.
He was sent to a rehab facility when my brother and I worked very hard to get him into some kind of shape so he could get consolidation.
The doctor called the whole family in. We were certain she wanted to tell us that he could not handle consolidation and that we were to call hospice. The thing is, when she saw dad, she changed her mind. He walked in on his own. She saw a different man. We pushed him hard. She allowed consolidation to move forward. In the beginning to mid June of 2011 he got 5 and 3 consolidation chemo which consisted of idarubicin and cytarabine (there was a national shortage of daunorubicin so we couldn't get it).
He made is through consolidation with no issues. We left the hospital and took dad to a local Hope Lodge to recover. There he became very sick. He was rushed to the emergency room with very high fevers. We almost lost him again, but again he made it through.
Five weeks after the start of his consolidation round, dad relapsed. He had been in CR1 since the end of April or beginning of May, but as of July 20th 2011 he had officially relapsed.
We were devastated. We took him home. They told us to try Dacogen for 1 hour a day for 5 days each month. They said the chance of it working was less than 10% since he had failed the heavy duty chemo.
I had been researching since the day dad was diagnosed. I had been looking at clinical trial drugs, etc. When dad finally got to go home- it had been 4 long months in the hospital. He had been hours from his home. He did not want to go to another 'foreign city' and check into another hospital to spend months in a clinical trial.
They said another round of induction chemo would most certainly kill him.
They gave us 10% on the Dacogen and the last option was to do nothing and call hospice. None of those were good options. I had to find something else. It was then I shifted all my research to alternative therapies. I figured that there had to be something that would work. Something we weren't told about. Something. The alternative was death for my dad and that just was not an option.
Even with the Dacogen, the doctor gave dad 3 weeks to a couple of months to live depending on how well it worked. That wasn't a good option either. I had to find something. I researched every night until my eyes blurred and I couldn't see anymore.
I took the info a neighbor gave me about curcumin which he had been in a year-long trial for at MD Anderson for multiple myeloma and i expanded. I searched and searched and cross referenced and searched some more. I sifted through a lot of garbage. iI was looking for something with some kind of proven track record. I felt like I was racing against the clock.
I found it. I found multiple clinical trials done in Japan using vitamins MK4 and D3 together. They treated 300-400 patients at over 13 different hospitals over a 2-3 years period (I'd have to find all the records to be sure which is why the estimates are there). I found the dosing. i found the summaries. I found results. Anything I couldn't understand, I cross referenced with a medical dictionary.
When I felt confident in my findings I took it all to dad. He said let's go for it. With potential death in 3 weeks- what did we have to lose?
Dad started supplements with a week of returning home after his confirmed relapse. I gave him a supplement regiment and he took Dacogen. Two months into the treatment he was still here, however his counts were taking longer and longer to recover with each round of chemo. I started to worry that the chemo was doing more harm than good. His bone marrow was scarred. i saw it on the biopsy reports. The more chemo we gave him, the worse it would get. I finally got an oncologist to admit to me that if we continued on chemo, eventually his bone marrow would become so scarred that he wouldn't be able to make his own blood cells anyway and he would die.
It was a couple to three weeks past when we were supposed to have started round 3 of the dacogen chemo. Dad's counts still were in the tank, so they wouldn't start the round. It was at that point, that we decided to quit chemo altogether. I upped the dosing on his supplements and we haven't looked back. It has been over a year since his relapse.
The oncologist says dad's AML is "sleeping". He says he is doing remarkably well. He won't give the supplements credit for it, but we know better.
We keep a close eye on him and his counts. We have a rule that if anything seems funny- we have a plan to launch into action. For now we wait. That is the story of dad's survival. We don't know what tomorrow will bring, but we know we will fight. We will never give up.
It took a lot of love, a lot of support, a lot of prayers, a lot of bravery, and a lot of research to get dad where he is today.
Don't ever give up.
All my best,
H
I am so sorry to hear about your mom. I am not sure if the protocol could work as effectively on CML because the trials I studied were for AML. With that said, the trials covered AML and MDS. Both are similar and both are blood cancers. I would think that CML would respond in a similar way to AML and MDS. I am not a doctor, but that seems logical to me.
It would be helpful to have more info on the situation though. What are you mom's blood counts? WBC, RBC, hemo, platelets, Neu, etc
When was she diagnosed? What is her blast count? Can she swallow pills with no issues? Let me know.
All my best,
Heather
Her WBC and RBC are 22.4 and 3.24 respectively. I want to start her on the curcumin and her doctor said he not opposed to her taking supplements, however I am unsure if it should be the same amount your father is taking; I did read that 8000 should be the amount to be effective. She used to take a lot of pills easily but now she is mentally alert but very weak and is cold always and has not much strength. It is very difficult. I wish the doctors in Phila would work with her on assisting to monitor her supplements in that I am a bit reluctant to medicate her myself. You seem to have a much better grasp of this. I don't know where to read the 'blasts' though. Does your father seem better since stopping the chemo? Personally I am against chemo and it distresses me that my mother takes it but the doctor says without it she has no chance. With the heart risk due to the meds though, I see it as a no-win situation. Sandra
Her WBC count is high, but not very high. This count doesn't put her health in danger. Is the doctor happy with the results? Seems that Gleevec is working for her. Yes, side effects are possible. Every drug has them. But at least Gleevec is an oral form of chemo. AML patients have to take IV chemo which is extremely hard on the body. They have to be in the hospital for a long time to get this treatment.
I understand your dislike of chemo-who would ever say that they enjoy chemo? But sometimes we are put in a situation where there is just no other choice. I think, stopping chemo which the doctor recommends and which is working for your Mom is not wise. Maybe you can give supplements a try in addition to chemo? What is your Mom's platelet count?
I wish you and your Mom the best.