After practicing in Milton for almost 7 years, I have decided to stop seeing patients at Vital Elements in Milton. I saw my last patient in Milton at the end of July, taking August off to move out of my Milton office and into my Burlington office.
I am very happy to announce that today was my first day seeing patients at my new location in beautiful Burlington and everything went smoothly.
Since my blog post last week, where I publicly shared my story about living with cancer, I have received an outpouring of support from friends and colleagues. I have even received emails from people whom I don’t know, sharing with me that my story inspired them.
I am very happy that by sharing my story I seem to have inspired so many people. That was my intention. 
In some of the messages that I have received, there were some questions about how I found out that I have cancer and how I think I got it. So I figure that a follow-up post is in order.
Today the passing of Jack Layton inspired me to begin sharing my story publicly.
As you probably know Jack Layton wrote a letter to the public a few days before he died. In that letter he expressed a message for other people living with cancer. He said: “please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey…”
I believe the sentiment that Jack was trying to share is that cancer is not always a death sentence. Jack fought cancer courageously while doing an amazing job as the leader of the NDP. Even though I personally support the Green Party, I highly respect Jack Layton as a politician and great man in general.
I have been feeling a strong pull towards sharing my story with people. For many reasons I hesitated to share the fact that I have cancer publically. I have told most of my family and friends, even some of my patients. Jack Layton’s passing has inspired me to be even more open about the fact I have a neoplastic disorder of my cells that produce platelets. I tested positive for a JAK-2 gene mutation, which is one of the mutations seen in leukemia and other bone marrow cancers. The main conventional medical treatment is chemotherapy. For which I am not a candidate because my platelets are high, but not high enough. At this point my hematologist monitors my platelet levels and checks the size of my spleen and liver annually. The good news is that at my most recent appointment with my hematologist in September 2010, he told me “keep doing whatever you are doing”. I asked him if wanted to know what I was doing to stay healthy, he said “no, thats ok” 
In April, I was invited to visit the Head Office of Thorne Research in Dover, Idaho.
We flew to Spokane Washington, where we were met by Thorne employees whom drove us about 90 minutes Northeast of Spokane to our hotel just North of Sandpoint, Idaho. Along the way to Sandpoint, we were all struck by what a naturally beautiful area the founders of Thorne had chosen for their head office.
The next morning myself and 14 other docs from Canada headed over to the Thorne Research head office. They had a very nice spread ready for breakfast, including organic fruits and naturally raised bacon (yum!).
Brief History of Thorne
As you may know. I moved my home from Milton to Burlington almost 2 years ago. As of September 2011, I will be joining Doctors Naturae at their new Downtown Burlington location inside of the Medica One building.
This location of Medica One, at the northeast corner of Caroline and John, is temporary until construction of the permanent location wraps up in 2013. The new permanent location will be located directly across Caroline street.
I am very excited to join the team at Doctors Naturae. I will have a full-time assistant whom you will be able to phone to make appointments or if you prefer, online booking will still be available.
As of the end of July, I will stop seeing patients in Milton. In September, I will begin seeing patients at my new Downtown Burlington location on Mondays and Thursdays. In addition, I will continue practicing in Brampton two days per week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
This allergy season has been one of the worst on record in Southern Ontario. Personally, I never had seasonal allergies until a few years ago.Now, each year, towards the end of May and the beginning of June I get hit with a couple weeks of congestion, watery eyes, sore throat, fatigue, headaches and a general crummy feeling. I believe I have narrowed down the antigenic culprit to either Birch or Oak pollen.
When my seasonal allergies hit this year, it was more intense than usual. I spent most of day in bed on the Saturday of Victoria Day long weekend. Fortunately, I had my 6 year old to take care of me, bringing me water and tissues. I tried all of my usual tricks to reduce the symptoms, but nothing was really helping. I even tried taking some Quercetin, however I was only taking four 500 mg pills per day. Then I happened to be speaking with one my Naturopathic colleagues and he suggested that I try twelve pills of Quercetin per day. Desperate…I gave it a shot. Within an hour of taking four pills all at once, my congestion cleared up and I was able to join a friend on a patio a few hours later for dinner, symptom free. For the next week I continued taking nine-twelve 500 mg Quercetin pills per day until I saw the Birch and Oak pollen levels drop on The Weather Network.
I am aware that taking Quercetin is simply palliation. It does not address the root cause of why I have allergies. From my many years of experience working with all kinds of allergies, I know that the root cause of my seasonal allergies is stemming from toxic accumulation in my body leading to inflammation and immune system in balance…a topic for another article. However, I am very grateful to have learned about high doses of Quercetin. Shortening my now annual appearance of seasonal allergies from a few weeks to a few days.
Quercetin is a major bioflavonoid in the human diet. A potent antioxidant, research also supports Quercetin’s ability to stabilize the membranes of white blood cells and thereby balance the production of histamine and inflammatory signaling molecules.
Common dietary sources of flavonoids are fruits and veggies, as well as beverages such as wine and teas. Quercetin is the most widely consumed flavonoid in the diet.
I can not begin to express my sadness over the death and destruction that has occured in Japan since Friday. Now to make things worse, the people of Japan and the world are potentially facing the largest nuclear emergency ever. The amount of radiation that could end up being released into our environment is unprecedented. I am somewhat concerned that since we all share the same air and water…radiation may end up finding its way into Canada. I am especially concerned about all of my family and friends on the West Coast of Canada and the USA. Many of these people have asked me to write about what they can do to reduce the negative effects of radiation.
The first thing worth mentioning is the fact that we are always exposed to radiation…in fact the universe is full of radiation. The human body deals with radiation every day at relatively low levels. The concern about this particular nuclear emergency, is the massive amount of radiation people may be exposed to in a very short period of time. As I write this here in Burlington, Ontario, I realize that I am on the opposite side of the world from Japan. The likelihood of being exposed to lethal doses of radiation is zero. However, over the next few week and months, we will be exposed to higher levels of radiation than usual. Also keep in mind that in our global village, a lot of our food in Canada comes from Asia. In the coming months I suggest being ultra aware of where your food is coming from.
There is a lot of talk online and in the media about supplementing with Potassium Iodide (KI) in order to protect the thyroid gland from radiation. This approach works by saturating the thyroid with stable (non-radioactive) Iodine, preventing radioactive Iodine from being taking up into the thyroid. While this approach is effective at protecting the thyroid, you should know that the dosage of Potassium Iodide that the CDC suggests for an effective dose is extremely high and does carry with it the potential for some unpleasant side effects. It is important to know that Potassium Iodide ONLY protects the thyroid from radioactive iodine, it IS NOT A GENERAL RADIATION ANTIDOTE. Therefore, whether or not you are taking Potassium Iodide, it is important to protect all of your cells, not just the thyroid.
The primary way that radiation exerts its negative effects on the body is by producing free radicals. Free radicals formation leads to cellular, tissue and genetic damage. The long-term result being a significantly increased risk of cancer. However, our bodies have built in systems for eliminating free radicals via the glutathione reduction pathway in the cells. There are many ways we can go about supporting the glutathione reduction pathway, primarily through supplementing and eating antioxidants. If you are not sure which antioxidants are best for you…ask your Naturopath.
Many Naturopaths use the term sponge to refer to a supplement (or food) that acts like a sponge to soak up unwanted particles such as heavy metals. Chlorella and pectin act as a sponges, aiding in the removal of radioactive particles.
Lymphatic drainage is another important component to reducing and potential negative effects of radiation. The lymphatic system is a series of vessels that drain fluid from the space between the blood and the cells. When there is potential cellular damage occuring, draining debris from the this fluid-filled space allows the filters of the body, such as the liver, spleen and kidneys to filter out the debris. This will prevent further cellular damage and speed up the healing process.
Trace mineral formulas often come in a liquid form in order to be added to your drinking water. Trace minerals act to buffer the acidity in the body, creating a more alkaline internal environment. Attempting to keep your body alkaline will speed up the healing process if any tissue damage occurs.
Foods that are great to protect the body from radiation include:
We also need to keep in mind that this is a very stressful time in the world. So it is more important than ever to take the time to de-stress through practicing yoga or meditation or whatever relaxes you. There are many supplements to help with reducing the effects of stress on our bodies.
Take a deep breath.
…grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.
We need to expose our skin to the sun in order to activate Vitamin D, however too much sun exposure can lead to skin cancer. Maintaining the balance between too little sun and too much sun can be a challenge. Add to that, the fact that most of the readily available sunscreens are toxic to humans.
When my son and I head outdoors, our default sunscreen is to cover up, especially with hats (even though I look stupid in a hat), my second layer of sunscreen (if required) is Badger Sunscreen. Badger Sunscreen’s have been rated the safest and most effective natural sunscreen’s on the market by the Environmental Working Group.
If you are interested in trying Badger Sunscreen, it can be found at your local health food store. If you are in the area, the Downtown Brampton Wellness Centre is now carrying Badger Sunscreen 30 SPF and 15 SPF for face and body.
I picked him up from his mom’s house last Wednesday afternoon and took him home to take care of him. For 4 solid days we hardly left the house and he slept in my bed everynight coughing all over me. I did not get the flu. My last post talked about what I did to help my son get over the flu quickly and naturally. Now I want to tell you what I did to stay healthy.
I was constantly exposed to the flu virus while my son while he was sick and I could tell that my immune system was fighting to stay healthy. So what did I do to stay flu free? Well…I am very proud to say that I listened to my body. Two nights last week I was feeling extremely tired, so I went to sleep when my son went to sleep and woke up when he woke up (which resulted in a two 12 hour sleeps). I felt much better in the morning. I think it is so important to listen to your body! As one of my yoga instructors says “Listen to your body when it whispers to you, so you don’t have to listen when it screams at you”.
As far as diet goes…I continued to eat my usual healthy diet, but I also made an extra effort to completely avoid refined sugars and alcohol.
I came up with a concoction that I have been taking at least twice per day for the last week. I mixed a heaping teaspoon of Scorbatate powder with 1-2 teaspoons of Sambu, diluted in about a cup of water. It actually tastes pretty good, despite the fact my son faked a slow death when I tried to make him drink it (he likes Sambu straight off the teaspoon).
That’s it…I hope you find this info helpful. If you have any questions please leave a comment below.
Tell me how you listen to your body. Please comment below or use the Twitter hashtag #ListenToYourBody
My 5 year old son came down with the flu on Monday night and since Wednesday afternoon I have been at home taking care my favourite little flu monster. For the record, he is normally very healthy and rarely gets sick. Other than the chicken pox, this has been the most prolonged infection in his life.
Since much of the last few days have been spent cuddling on the couch, I have had a lot of time to think about the flu. So far, I am still healthy and I will talk about what I have done to stay healthy in my next post. My son is feeling better today, but still not 100% and since I am just sitting here on the couch, I feel the urge to share with you what I have been doing to take care of him.
I believe that the best approach to the flu is to help the body do what it is trying to do naturally. Fever is one of the ways the body fights a viral infection and my son was running a fever constantly for the last few days (it seems to be gone today). I did not want to suppress his body’s natural defence, so I have not been giving him acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Instead I have been giving him UNDA numbers 2 and 15 every few hours to help his body have a more efficient fever. Two nights ago, when his fever was really high, I got him into a room temperature bath for about 5 minutes. He was not a big fan of it at the time, but he did say that felt much better once he was back in bed. So, hopefully next time I suggest it, he will be more willing.
I have been doing my best to baby him, so that he can relax and sleep. Up until Thursday morning he was not interested in eating, so since he has started asking for food, I have been giving him pretty much whatever he asks for, including a quick trip to get some of those peaches that he was craving. I have been encouraging him to eat small portions when he is hungry, but I have not been giving him any refined sugar, since sugar suppresses immune system. The flu calls for lots of fluids, so I have been getting him to drink as much water or herbal tea as possible.
Since his tummy was bothering him and he was feeling very warm, I made up a concoction that I am calling “Iced ginger-aid tea”. Which consists of chilled Lemon Ginger tea (from Yogi tea), fresh squeezed lemon juice and a bit of raw honey. FYI – Ginger is great for soothing an upset tummy.
To help stimulate his immune system for a rapid recovery, I have been giving him the following supplements:
We took a trip to the Chiropractor on Thursday afternoon. My son and I have been seeing Dr. Coddington for years, and when Sterling isn’t feeling well, he loves going to get an adjustment.
