Hi, Friends!
Well, it was a tough week, but I’m beginning to see a glimmer at the end of the tunnel—even though it often feels like the tunnel doesn’t have an end.
I decided, reluctantly, to go through with my third Keytruda infusion at Stanford on Tuesday, even though I was still in considerable pain from drug-induced acute pancreatitis from the previous treatment. I decided to try one more time, and if it happened again, I would walk away. It was possible that it wouldn’t happen again, so I took my chances but did a few things differently this time to try and minimize the severe side effects.
First, I did a complete water fast the day before and the day of treatment. There’s lots of research from Dr. Valter Longo at USC showing that water fasting actually minimizes side effects and makes the treatment more effective. It wasn’t easy because I was already so weak and depleted from barely eating for three weeks, but somehow I managed to do it.
I also asked them to drip the medicine over a longer period of time, so instead of rushing it into my vein over 25 minutes, they infused it over an hour. I asked for saline afterwards to help with the dehydration. I also asked the hospital chaplain to visit me in the infusion center and pray with me and for me before the treatment. Chaplains are incredible people—they really provide comfort and help calm me down. She even prayed over the bag of medication before it went into my vein.
Finally, Charles and I spent the entire hour of the treatment doing one of Dr. Joe Dispenza’s healing meditations.
So far, I’m just having some of the minor and tolerable side effects (fatigue, rash, and leg cramps)—but nothing like acute pancreatitis!
Medical doctors have often referred to me as stoic because I did all my procedures (endoscopy, colonoscopy, and lung biopsy) with no sedation. I looked up the definition of stoic, and it said “a person who can endure pain and hardship without showing their feelings or complaining.” But I think you can see by my most recent photo that I am stoic no more. Apparently, I am human, and I’m going through a really hard time right now.
Thank you for listening, and thanks to those of you who joined my community. It really is the bright spot of my week. We are able to really dive deep in our weekly live interactions in a meaningful way that we can’t do on YouTube.
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Dr. Matt Lederman did an excellent presentation about the real truth about olive oil—you can find the recording if you’ve joined the Chef AJ and Friends Community.
I hope you’ll join me for my three lives this week. I’m really looking forward to Kathy Hester making ice cream out of sweet potato and dates, and Lissa making sushi.
Love & Kale,
Chef AJ