Radiation/surgery, or not?

Thank you. I have been to at least five specialists(neurosurgeons included) in the past three months, so I am trying my best.
Earlier in the year I had seizure like symptoms and that was the catalyst for all this. That is how this was all found out.
So I have been seeing every person I am referred to.
In fact, I have another MRI tomorrow evening.

some people will call me insane

but you can try fasting
and count on autophagy to do the work

To clarify: I am in Canada, so free health care thank goodness. So I have just been going to referral after referral and I am grateful for but also tired of it.
I have had two MRI's, one cat scan, two EEG's, worn a heart monitor for 48 hours and seen an ENT specialist and two separate neurosurgeons. So I have definitely had a few opinions. And they all say the same thing.

I’d listen to them, in that case.

This is very interesting.
Is this something you have had personal success with?

Off the top of your head, do you have any remedy suggestions? I am already relatively healthy, but if you know of any tips I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Glad to see it's working so well for you.

meanwhile I got diagnosed with epilepsy in April, having so many seizures I can't work, drive, can't even leave the house alone without the risk of me having one, and my next neurologist visit, that was already 6 months booked in advance, is now pushed back 3 more months!

You said you had seizure like symptoms, and now this is making me worry and concerned for myself, did you ever have a grand mal seizure, any absence moments?

Please do not listen to this post. It’s terrible advice.

Sorry I didn’t read this part before my reply, I would find the best neurosurgeon in Canada and get their opinion. Most don’t want to be risky, this is your life and you need to live it without daily complications.

youtu.be/l3lEeZ-yMfE

I am so sorry things are not okay for you. I send you a virtual hug. I hope you have a good support system around you, if you desire one.

I have never had a grand mal, but I do believe I have had absence moments.
These seizure like episodes consisted of me losing complete control of my body and my memory. As in: all of my limbs would quiver and shake, I thought I was dying and I had to keep repeating to myself what my name is, what the date was, where I was, who my mother is etc etc. They were very strange and scary and I could feel them coming on. I havent had one since about March of this year, thankfully, but now I have these other symptoms that happen frequently.

Again, I am so sorry and I hope you have support.

Haha! SO Canadian! Who is this fellow Leaf?? Too beaucoup!

Hey, its me again, angry dude you replied too

God that sounds absolutely brutal, honestly worse than a grand mal.
I wake up from my grand mals sore, usually covered in piss, girlfriend freaking out, but im always laughing just like "shit I had one didn't I"

the second one, I was surrounded by paramedics and in hospital, and they were perplexed that I was laughing.

I too, I have absent moments and they're balls, makes it hard for me to do things which require intensive focus at times, but I do try. Cannabis helps big time in all aspects, as does the medication(Sometimes?)((Divalproex Sodium)

Those episodes you describe sound much worse than anything I've experienced, and I am actually glad you're getting more and easier care than I am desu.

my first one was april 17, then august 11, then had one in october, then have had two in november,(Grand mals)

Check out Graviola (look at reviews on amazon, 100s of testimonials and black cumin seed oil. Check out the research on your own. It can't hurt to try.

To the person who said it's terrible advice. No, it's not. I think you should live your life worry free and happy. If the symptoms get bad enough, you can get it looked at and go for surgery if you are willing to.

Yes, they were the scariest experiences of my life and I wouldnt wish them on any person. But grand mals are no joke and I cant imagine what you went through or how you felt.
We are both in a shitty situation and I wish us both luck. I hope your medications continue to help you and I will send good vibes your way

I will look in to Graviola, thank you. Been taking black cumin seed for about a year now.
And I am with you: I do and want to continue living my life as free from invasive modern medicine as possible. It has a place, but I am open to any and all natural alternatives.
I just remind myself:
"You are strong and you are free.
Be strong, be free"
Thank you to all for the advice, much appreciated.

>It can't hurt to try.
Yes it can. You are wasting valuable time on bullshit. The sooner she gets real treatment, the easier it will be.

WWhat's real treatment here? Something that will damage her? Get real.

You are welcome OP, please take care.

Surgery is the real treatment. You can recover from surgery. You can't recover from being dead because you wasted time with herbal bullshit.

surgery - primitively drilling through her skull or ear for a biopsy. They likely won't even be able to remove it without her dying. Many medicines are based on herbs. I hate this false perception (you're brainwashed) that herbs aren't powerful and useful.

Ok so why don't her doctors prescribe those herbs?

Why did people die left and right from the simplest problems before modern medicine if these herbs are so great?

She didn't say what odds the surgery has either, you don't know how likely it is that they will fail.

Can you get eggs frozen before you choose? Choose to monitor. Brain surgery is rough even under better circumstances.

You don't understand - meds are based on the chemical structure of herbs. It's all for profit. Many people die today too, often of medical mistakes and dangerous prescriptions. The odds are not good for invasive brain surgery.

Yes, meds are based on the chemical structure of herbs, all the more reason to not take random herbs recommended by some dumbass online.

And yes, it is all for profit, and yet doctors take medicine and have surgery too.

Are you a brain surgeon? Did you examine the OP? No? Then you don't know her odds at all.

Exactly. I am with you.
I cannot fathom basically destroying my physical body- and especially not one of the most important parts of me: my cranium and brain, to MAYBE fix this thing that MIGHT be deadly.
I just cannot do it.
Thank you for the brutal truth good person; these are the things I need and want to hear.

To put it to rest: I was not told about success rates with the surgery, but I was told it would be as invasive enough to entail a few weeks worth of a hospital stay. Make of that what you will.
I was a bit too numb to ask too many questions when I found this all out. My fault, I know.
Again, thank you all for speaking with me. Every viewpoint helps.

Then she should see a naturopath. They are highly trained.

I know the odds for brain surgery in general...not good at all.

You're right many doctors are addicted to their meds...all the more reason to avoid that quackery.

And how do you know the naturopath isn't addicted to his herbs? Or just seeking to profit off suckers?

This is something to consider.
Though, I am past prime baby making age. I am 33.
Is this something even worth doing at this point? I only just realized in the past year or so that I would enjoy having a child, and so I dont know if it is too late for me to do what you have suggested.

The herbs will be destroying your body as well, because as I said you are wasting time. If this lesion really is a problem, the sooner you deal with it the better. If you dick around too long trying BS herbs, it may be too late.

I think it's worth finding out the risks, they will be quick to get you to fill out forms, waiving their responsibility of malpractice during the surgery.

Sorry if that was brutal. I do think it's good to weigh all options and include your quality of life after. If you can live with the common severe health risks or the chance of dying.

I know from experience, sometimes it's better to just live in peace, especially if the prognosis isn't good. Keep your dignity.

Of course, if there is a great chance of no or little risks, you need to consider that option.

Bless you user

It takes less than a minute to ingest some herbal remedy....a few seconds really.

And weeks/months to see if it worked.

So what was your experience?

Brutal in the best way

33 isn't late. Talk to someone about getting them frozen. Start monitoring. If nothing happens, you can then choose to conceive or go with a surrogate.

It's her life buddy. You're not the one that could end up drooling in a wheelchair for life.

Watching loved ones choose terrible procedures and die painfully and uncomfortable.

It's a fine balance user. Weigh your options carefully.

One procedure gave my grandfather a stroke on the medical table. Another one made my father's life uncomfortable and miserable but I have also heard of one person recovering from cancer through chemo and radiation (all the rest died).

And you're not the one who could end up dead because you waited too long.

So you don't actually have any personal experience from a situation like this, alright
You shouldn't be here giving shitty advice

I see.
I am sorry for those in your life that have suffered, but happy for those that have pulled through.
I appreciate your candor

OP here: so what would you do? Most replies are telling me what they think I should do; so tell me what would you do?

I am the guy saying go with the surgery.

My grandfather died this summer from skin cancer. It had metastesized to his brain. He couldn't speak really at all, mostly from being unable to find the words, not from slurring. The brain surgery to remove it actually went well and he was recovering great. But it had also spread to his colon and the radiation punctured his colon and he died of sepsis. He was 82.

But a close family friend had late stage lymphoma and was completely cured via chemo, radiation, and surgery. He had it ~10 years ago, and is doing pretty much totally fine now. He's strong enough to still go deer hunting, and he's ~60.

I'm a cancer survivor and I'm glad I started the treatment as soon as possible, as it had already spread elsewhere on my body by the time they found out about it. From that experience I think you should keep monitoring the lesion and then get the biopsy if it gets worse. You are dealing with something serious here, ignoring it will make it worse and you might die. I'm not saying what you have is cancer (it seems extremely unlikely), but that I've been in similar situations where I had to make hard decisions about my future health too

Please kys.

As a radiation therapist in training, all the treatments I've seen on the brain have been more for the benefit of the quality of life for the patient, rather than curative.
It's rare, and I only make the focusing heads for the machine's electron treatment, but from what I understand its a lot of radiation over very few sessions. But the people who perform the treatments know what they're doing. They have a team that makes sure the radiation hits what they want and affects as little as possible outside the target area. I would highly suggest you consult a radiation therapy site and see if it's a good fit for you at this point.

Yeah it's personal. It's my dad and grandad.

You suck and have about as much empathy as a tiger.

I don't believe you are what you say.

I send you my condolences, I hope you are okay.
Wouldnt you want surgery to be your last resort though?

This is all good but she's not considering radiation therapy, but is worried about the amount of radiation to her body from CAT scans

Your comment says everything she needs to know about you. The fact that you would write kys because of your biased viewpoint, because you disagree with someone tells me you don't reason at all and are ruled by emotions and fear which is the medics specialty.

Glad you are still here and proud of you. You are strong.
Was your first instinct to fight it no matter what?

I would go travel and enjoy life, be in nature, eat healthy.

>Wouldnt you want surgery to be your last resort though?
Yes, but not if the earlier treatments will make the surgery less likely to succeed. Like, what if the early treatments don't work, and the problem gets worse? This could make the surgery not work as well.

With cancer it was obvious that if I don't get any treatment it would eventually kill me, so yes I wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible and figured I'll handle the chemo side effects and aftermath and recovery if it gives me a chance to live. I've been 2.5 years cancer free now, I was 24 when it was diagnosed. Hodgkin's Lymphoma, nodular sclerosis type, stage 2b

During the treatment it was influenza season here and I almost died two times from severe neutropenia and neutropenic fever, but here I still am

Neuropaths don't profit off fear?

A naturopath you mean? It's a totally way of looking at the human body. The focus is on prevention and helping the body work properly.

>you don't reason at all and are ruled by emotions and fear
You're describing yourself. That's why you stick to your tinfoil bullshit. Just do everyone a favour and kill yourself because people listen to morons like you and then fail getting proper treatment from actual science-based medicine.

different*

There is actual science-based research on these herbs. You never even looked. All you got is ad hominems and extreme hatred and vile emotions. Maybe you should go get addicted to your beloved pills opiates maybe?

Uh huh, and how exactly do they not profit off fear? The only arguments you fags make are all fear based. That's why you always resort to claims about doctors being all in on some big conspiracy to make money.

If your herbs really work, cite some sources. Until then, I stand by that other user, kys.

Link some of those research articles please

Here is a start, it's not hard to use google.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3642442/
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252704/
academic.oup.com/fqs/article/2/1/1/4823052

What a fucking toddler you are that you have to write kys because someone disagrees with you. It's laughable.

melanoma.org/find-support/patient-community/mpip-melanoma-patients-information-page/black-seed-oil

there is another one

>muh herbs muh herbs
I'm a 4th year medical student and I know for sure that you don't know the very basics of physiology or pathology to be able to actually discuss the topic, there's no point in telling you anything other than kys, because you operate on anti-medicine fear mongering and conspiracy theories about evil men in white coats and the """"Big Pharma"""" mafia scare stories. There is absolutely nothing scientific or evidence-based in bullshit trends like naturopathy.

BS you are a med student, you can't even talk to humans properly. You expect us to believe you?

1] Woo CC1, Kumar AP, Sethi G, Tan KH.; “Thymoquinone: potential cure for inflammatory disorders and cancer,” Biochem Pharmacol. 2012 Feb 15, PMID: 22005518.

[2] Abukhader MM., Department of Pharmacy, Oman Medical College, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, “Thymoquinone in the clinical treatment of cancer: Fact or fiction?” Pharmacogn Rev. 2013 Jul;7, PMID: 24347919.

[3] Khan MA1, Chen HC, Tania M, Zhang DZ.; “Anticancer activities of Nigella sativa (black cumin),” Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2011, PMID: 22754079.

[4] Randhawa MA1, Alghamdi MS.; “Anticancer activity of Nigella sativa (black seed) – a review,” Am J Chin Med. 2011, PMID: 22083982.

[5] Mabrouk GM1, Moselhy SS, Zohny SF, Ali EM, Helal TE, Amin AA, Khalifa AA.; “Inhibition of methylnitrosourea (MNU) induced oxidative stress and carcinogenesis by orally administered bee honey and Nigella grains in Sprague Dawely rats” J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2002 Sep, PMID: 12385

6] Cikman O1, Ozkan A, Aras AB, Basedlemez O, Alkis H, Taysi S, Karaayvaz M.; “Radioprotective Effects of Nigella Sativa Oil Against Oxidative Stress in Liver Tissue of Rats Exposed to Total Head Irradiation,” J Invest Surg. 2014 Mar 28, PMID: 24679182.

[7] Velho-Pereira R1, Kumar A, Pandey BN, Mishra KP, Jagtap AG.; “Radioprotection by Macerated Extract of Nigella sativa in Normal Tissues of Fibrosarcoma Bearing Mice,” Indian J Pharm Sci. 2012 Sep, PMID: 23716868.

[8] Raghunandhakumar S1, Paramasivam A, Senthilraja S, Naveenkumar C, Asokkumar S, Binuclara J, Jagan S, Anandakumar P, Devaki T.; “Thymoquinone inhibits cell proliferation through regulation of G1/S phase cell cycle transition in N-nitrosodiethylamine-induced experimental rat hepatocellular carcinoma,” Toxicol Lett. 2013 Oct 23, PMID: 24012840.

[9] Hassan MI1, Mabrouk GM, Shehata HH, Aboelhussein MM.; “Antineoplastic effects of bee honey and Nigella sativa on hepatocellular carcinoma cells,” Integr Cancer Ther. 2012 Dec, PMID: 21147814.

[10] Al-Sheddi ES1, Farshori NN, Al-Oqail MM, Musarrat J, Al-Khedhairy AA, Siddiqui MA.; “Cytotoxicity of Nigella sativa seed oil and extract against human lung cancer cell line,” Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014, PMID: 24568529.

[11] Racoma IO1, Meisen WH, Wang QE, Kaur B, Wani AA.; “Thymoquinone inhibits autophagy and induces cathepsin-mediated, caspase-independent cell death in glioblastoma cells,” PLoS One. 2013 Sep 9, PMID: 24039814.

[12] Motaghed M1, Al-Hassan FM, Hamid SS.; “Cellular responses with thymoquinone treatment in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7,” Pharmacognosy Res. 2013 Jul, PMID: 23900121.

[13] Salim LZ1, Mohan S, Othman R, Abdelwahab SI, Kamalidehghan B, Sheikh BY, Ibrahim MY.; “Thymoquinone induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in vitro,” Molecules. 2013 Sep 12, PMID: 24036512.

[14] Norwood AA1, Tucci M, Benghuzzi H; “A comparison of 5-fluorouracil and natural chemotherapeutic agents, EGCG and thymoquinone, delivered by sustained drug delivery on colon cancer cells,” Biomed Sci Instrum., 2007, PMID: 17487093.

[15] Gali-Muhtasib H1, Diab-Assaf M, Boltze C, Al-Hmaira J, Hartig R, Roessner A, Schneider-Stock R.; “Thymoquinone extracted from black seed triggers apoptotic cell death in human colorectal cancer cells via a p53-dependent mechanism,” Int J Oncol., 2004 October, PMID: 15375533.

[16] Salem EM1, Yar T, Bamosa AO, Al-Quorain A, Yasawy MI, Alsulaiman RM, Randhawa MA.; “Comparative study of Nigella Sativa and triple therapy in eradication of Helicobacter Pylori in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia,” Saudi J Gastroenterol. 2010 Jul-Sep, PMID: 20616418.

[17] Effenberger-Neidnicht K1, Schobert R.; “Combinatorial effects of thymoquinone on the anti-cancer activity of doxorubicin,” Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2011 April, PMID: 20582416.

[18] Woo CC1, Hsu A, Kumar AP, Sethi G, Tan KH.; “Thymoquinone inhibits tumor growth and induces apoptosis in a breast cancer xenograft mouse model: the role of p38 MAPK and ROS,” PLoS One. 2013 October 2, PMID: 24098377.

This is a fucking advertisement.

19] Banerjee S1, Padhye S, Azmi A, Wang Z, Philip PA, Kucuk O, Sarkar FH, Mohammad RM.; “Review on molecular and therapeutic potential of thymoquinone in cancer,” Nutr Cancer, 2010, PMID: 20924969.

[20] Abukhader MM.; “Thymoquinone in the clinical treatment of cancer: Fact or fiction?” Pharmacogn Rev. 2013 July, PMID: 24347919.

[21] “Black Seed: Seed of Blessing,” By The Institute of Tibb Medicine, Johannesburg, South Africa, Published in Awareness Magazine, September/October 2000. awarenessmag.com/sepoct0/SO0_BLACK_SEED.HTM

[22] B. Saliha, T. Sipahib, E. Oybak Dönmezc; “Ancient nigella seeds from Boyalı Höyük in north-central Turkey,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 124, Issue 3, 30 July 2009, Pages 416–420, PMID: 19505557.

[23] “The SSRI/Folate Connection: Why Big Pharma May Want to Monopolize the B Vitamin You Can’t Live Without,” Alliance for Natural Health USA, 3/18/2014. anh-usa.org/ssrifolate-connection/

user asked for evidence.

I provided many links.

You work for big pharma....enjoy killing people for a living?

Fair enough.
But the whole point is that the outcome is unknowable right now. And so what harm would it do, trying anything and everything before, especially if they are natural things like herbs and supplements? Seems reasonable to try that route before splitting my skull open, in my opinion.

This is why I can't even say I am upset about this diagnosis: it is so fascinating and wild and tremendous.
I am literally at a stand still.
At the bottom of a lake.
Squishing my toes in the mud.
Wishing to swim to shore with clean feet.

It says cancer is caused by inflammation and that your immune system will fight agains the cancer, both of which aren't true. The problem with cancer cells is exactly that they're your own cells gone wrong and so your immune system won't recognise them as a threat, no matter how strong it is. That article is utter bullshit

Which article is that? I listed 30 or so. Did you read them all?

you said there was no scientific research on herbs. That was a 3 minute search. Obviously you don't know what you're talking about.

And you're telling me that no one has died from taking herbs instead of real medicine?

You're not proving shit, you dumb mong cunt. There's a shit ton of plant-derived drugs, as well as a shit ton of drugs derived other organic compounds of fungus and similar. When a natural molecule is found to be medically useful, it's isolated and usually modified so it's more suitable for human use in medicine, and if it's more practical, it's synthetically produced. But these things are thoroughly tested for years and have nothing to do with naturopathy or homeopathy or other retard practices based on hearsay and misguided traditions. Do you think that your handful of studies is meaningful? You saw something involving seed and a text saying "anticancer" and you think that's it, we solved the whole issue, right? What do you actually know about the pathophysiology of cancer? What do you think cancer even is? There's literally hundreds of types of subtypes of different carcinoma some of which have no respose to treatments that others will be eliminated with. You fucking dumb cunt.

OP doesn't even know what she's dealing with. How does eating a fistful of seeds help her exactly? Your bullshit is the equivalent of me walking up to an engineering designing and airplane and telling him to put more feathers cause then it'll fly better.

K-Y-S

>and if it's more practical, it's synthetically produced

PROFITABLE* dumb shit. Nevermind that you are putting something artificial, cooked up in a lab in your body without completely knowing the effects of it on a biological organism.

I hate ignorant people like you. You don't know how to think for yourself.

Oh and you didn't read all the articles, did you? Of course not. :) You'd rather rant your BS biases.

And your herbs aren't profitable?

You don't know the effects of your herbs either. Just because they're natural doesn't mean they are safe or effective. Asbestos is natural. Nightshade is natural. Hemlock is natural. All are poisons.

It's obvious he's a drug pusher for big pharma. Just ignore that vile person.

People don't ingest those dipshit.

How do you know your herbs are any safer than medicine? Some plants clearly can make you sick.

How do you know your herbs are any more effective than medicine? Most plants are clearly not effective.

Why does the fact that medicine is made in a lab mean it is bad? What do you think labs do?

>artificial, cooked up in a lab
This is why you're retarded. Why not do everyone a favour and just eat your meat raw off a carcass instead of artificially "cooking it up" with your artificial gas-fueled artificial lab-like flame inside an artifically-made pot of processed metal ore? Man, technology sure is spooky as fuck, isn't it? Why in the fuck would you assume that some plant's molecules that evolved for its own purpose are supposed to cure your shit?

>without completely knowing the effects of it on a biological organism
Hence why any new drug goes through hardcore testing, but no, just grabbing some shit plant from the ground and shoving it into your mouth is the responsible way to go, right?

>I hate ignorant people like you. You don't know how to think for yourself.
Irony.

People who advise this should be tried for murder

Do you have any idea how many deaths have been caused by prescription meds???

Compare that to some idiot eating hemlock off the side of the road.

They make synthetic substances that are not supposed to be in your system. Take white willow bark instead of asprin. One is from nature, one from arrogant ignorant people like yourself that don't even understand where it comes from.

You should shut the fuck up. OP gets to decide what she wants to do. You're ignorant.

Do you know how many people have died when they've listened to people like you and just take seeds and eat bark without getting their illness treated with modern medicine? I don't think there's even ONE cancer patient who cured cancer by only using herbal medicine

>Do you have any idea how many deaths have been caused by prescription meds???
A lot. How many more have been saved by prescription meds? Billions.

What makes you think they are synthetic substances? Medicines are usually just the active ingredients from plants, in carefully calibrated dosages.