Author Archives: Ren

About Ren

I have been diagnosed with stage 4, metastatic colorectal cancer in October 2012, 3 days after my 44th birthday. There is no cure, but I am determined to go down the road less travelled to find one. I have setup this blog to document my journey and hopefully help others in the process. My view is that if there is a cure, it does not lie with traditional chemo, but with the immune system. Time will tell.

Cancer Fever & The Keto Diet

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Ren

I had nightly fevers in the 38.5 degrees Celsius range for over six months now. A fever can be caused by infection, by the immune system fighting the cancer, or by the cancer itself. A long term fever such as … Continue reading →

Posted in My Journey, Treatments | 4 Comments

Hard Times

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Ren

Three weeks into my latest ketogenic diet, things took a turn for the worse. For about 8 days I suffered from what felt like severe hypoglycaemia. I had no energy what so ever and even getting out of bed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ketogenic Diet, My Journey, Treatments | 1 Comment

Glucose & Ketone Levels

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Ren

Three weeks ago I started on a calorie restricted ketogenic diet in a hope of controlling my cancer. A ketogenic diet derives most energy from fat, about 70%, 25% from protein and 5% or less from carbohydrates. Its aim is … Continue reading →

Posted in Ketogenic Diet, My Journey, Treatments | 4 Comments

2DG & Keto Diet

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Ren

Just a quick update. 2-deoxy-d-glucose in combination with the calorie restricted ketogenic diet is taking quite a toll. For the past week I have been feeling severe hypoglycemia style symptoms. I have virtually no energy to do anything. When I … Continue reading →

Posted in 2DG, Ketogenic Diet, My Journey, Treatments | 3 Comments

Excercise

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Ren

When I first suffered from cachexia (rapid weight loss associated with muscle waisting) the most effective treatment that I found was excercise. Resistance training to be more specific. I consulted a physio, found a good personal trainer and hit the … Continue reading →

Posted in My Journey, Treatments | 3 Comments

2DG Not as Sweet

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Ren

I did 2 weeks of 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG) infusions while at the Siebenhuner clinic in Frankfurt this month. I suspect that this may be one of the factors responsible for my recently slowed tumour growth. The problem was what to do … Continue reading →

Posted in 2DG, My Journey, Treatments | 2 Comments

Ketogenic Diet Revisited

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Ren

I tried the ketogenic diet a while back and managed to stick with it for about 10 weeks. I must say that it was the hardest diet that I had ever tried. Vegan was a breeze in comparison, though I … Continue reading →

Posted in 2DG, Ketogenic Diet, My Journey, Treatments | 1 Comment

Treatment Plan

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Ren

Dr. Kopic, the resident Hallwang oncologist worked out a treatment plan for me for the next month. It is as follows: Hallwang Treatment Plan Xeloda 500mg 3x daily Avastin 15mg/m2 Mitomycin 1x per month, 48hr pump Mg + Inzolen IV … Continue reading →

Posted in My Journey, Treatments | 3 Comments

Removab 3.3

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Ren

My liver recovered enough that I was able to do a third Removab treatment in this cycle. Typically they always increase the dose, but in this case they kept it at 10 micrograms. That was a mistake. Firstly they made … Continue reading →

Posted in My Journey, Removab, Treatments | 1 Comment

Tarceva

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Ren

Tarceva is the trade name for Erlotinib Hydrochlorodine. It is a small molecule that acts as an EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) inhibitor. It is used to treat several cancers, mostly non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in My Journey, Treatments | 1 Comment