Trip to Tulsa (Jan. 30-31, 2006)
Early Monday morning on Jan. 30 found Jim and Laurie winging their way to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to visit the Cancer Treatment Centers of America. We anticipated a three-day visit for consultations and testing. Our purpose in going was to get a second opinion on Laurie's medical treatment. We also were interested in exploring more natural approaches to helping Laurie fight her cancer. CTCA is known for their integrative approach that complements the medical treatments with nutritional and naturopathic methods of cancer treatment. We felt this was an important step, having observed for years the value of such an approach in the health of Laurie's parents.
We spent the first day getting settled in and then in meetings with a radiation oncologist and medical oncologist. Both basically confirmed the course of treatment that had been prescribed by Laurie's team in Dallas. Interestingly, we discovered that Dr. O'Shaughnessy, Laurie's medical oncologist at Baylor, is very well known indeed. The oncologist in Tulsa had not only heard of her, but indicated that Dr. O. had an international reputation and produced much of the research on which medical oncologists across the country based their decisions. In fact the oncologist in Tulsa was pleased that her recommendations were very similar to Dr. O's! This gave us another opportunity to praise God for leading us to some of the best breast cancer doctors in the U.S.
Tuesday morning we met with the nutritionist and the naturopatic doctors. Our meeting with the nutritionist was phenomenal. She walked us through many of the things that Laurie could do to support her body during and after her treatment. She also gave us some good recommendations of things to avoid because of the characteristics of Laurie's cancer. One of the things Laurie needs to avoid is soy. You would be amazed at how many food products contain soy--besides soy sauce that is! :-) She also gave us some suggestions on how to prepare meals and where to buy inexpensive natural and organic foods. We almost felt that the meeting with the nutritionist was worth the trip to Tulsa.
The naturopathic doctors were also very helpful in giving us information on certain foods and supplements to avoid as well as things we could take to support the medical treatments. Their recommendations also confirmed recommendations from Dr. O'Shaughnessy in Dallas, especially in regard to taking natural alternative herbal supplements. Basically they affirmed that avoiding a lot of supplements during chemotherapy was a safe course of action. The rational was to not create an environment in Laurie's body that might make the chemotherapy less effective. They affirmed that Laurie could begin a naturopathic regimen subsequent to her medical treatments that would help her rebuild her body's health and strengthen her immune system to help ward off a return of her cancer in the future.
As it turned out, our consultation with the naturopathic doctors was the last appointment of our visit to CTCA. Since most of Laurie's medical tests from Dallas were so current, we were not required to stay the extra day, and in fact, were allowed to go home early, much to Jim's delight, since he preferred to spend his birthday with Steffi and Abby in Dallas!
In retrospect, we were very glad to have made the trip to Tulsa. To have the medical options for Laurie's treatment confirmed was encouraging, and to get a good handle on the natural things Laurie could do to support herself through those treatments and rebuild her body's defenses after the chemo and radiation was very helpful. With the trip behind us, we were more confident of the next steps Laurie would face in Dallas in the treatment of her cancer.
We spent the first day getting settled in and then in meetings with a radiation oncologist and medical oncologist. Both basically confirmed the course of treatment that had been prescribed by Laurie's team in Dallas. Interestingly, we discovered that Dr. O'Shaughnessy, Laurie's medical oncologist at Baylor, is very well known indeed. The oncologist in Tulsa had not only heard of her, but indicated that Dr. O. had an international reputation and produced much of the research on which medical oncologists across the country based their decisions. In fact the oncologist in Tulsa was pleased that her recommendations were very similar to Dr. O's! This gave us another opportunity to praise God for leading us to some of the best breast cancer doctors in the U.S.
Tuesday morning we met with the nutritionist and the naturopatic doctors. Our meeting with the nutritionist was phenomenal. She walked us through many of the things that Laurie could do to support her body during and after her treatment. She also gave us some good recommendations of things to avoid because of the characteristics of Laurie's cancer. One of the things Laurie needs to avoid is soy. You would be amazed at how many food products contain soy--besides soy sauce that is! :-) She also gave us some suggestions on how to prepare meals and where to buy inexpensive natural and organic foods. We almost felt that the meeting with the nutritionist was worth the trip to Tulsa.
The naturopathic doctors were also very helpful in giving us information on certain foods and supplements to avoid as well as things we could take to support the medical treatments. Their recommendations also confirmed recommendations from Dr. O'Shaughnessy in Dallas, especially in regard to taking natural alternative herbal supplements. Basically they affirmed that avoiding a lot of supplements during chemotherapy was a safe course of action. The rational was to not create an environment in Laurie's body that might make the chemotherapy less effective. They affirmed that Laurie could begin a naturopathic regimen subsequent to her medical treatments that would help her rebuild her body's health and strengthen her immune system to help ward off a return of her cancer in the future.
As it turned out, our consultation with the naturopathic doctors was the last appointment of our visit to CTCA. Since most of Laurie's medical tests from Dallas were so current, we were not required to stay the extra day, and in fact, were allowed to go home early, much to Jim's delight, since he preferred to spend his birthday with Steffi and Abby in Dallas!
In retrospect, we were very glad to have made the trip to Tulsa. To have the medical options for Laurie's treatment confirmed was encouraging, and to get a good handle on the natural things Laurie could do to support herself through those treatments and rebuild her body's defenses after the chemo and radiation was very helpful. With the trip behind us, we were more confident of the next steps Laurie would face in Dallas in the treatment of her cancer.
posted by Laurie Thames | 8:18 PM
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