A Day With Gamarcie

 Yes, I have a name..... GAMARCIE!
Here he is, Grandma's "Big Boy" .......he told me; "Gamarcie I'm a big boy."

 He's happy to be at Gamarcie's

 He enjoys picking up my garden waste....

A cute, but sad thing he is currently doing is going to my garden gate looking for Snickers......the first time he did it I cried.  Today he ran over shouted puppy!  I then reminded him that Snickers went to heaven.

Looking like his dad 

MCC

Yeah for Mom

I went with Mom to her last chemo treatment. She was grinning ear to ear. We were so happy when the Doctor told us that she didn't need to see her again until June!!!!  She is one of the 20% that is cured and we are so happy that she is one of the few to keep that stat up alive and well.
I went with Mom to her first appointment to Dr. Prysest and heard all the dismal news. I was concerned but never felt like it wasn't incurable. (Hind sight tells me that we all reacted with a positive this is just a step along the road and we will beat it attitude.... her attitude was catching even then). Anyway we are all excited to have Moms cancer gone. I am so glad that we still get to experience up close and personal her positive attitude, her faith and her hopefulness. We should all follow her example it would make this a better world.
Mom asked an interesting question on our way home..."Now that I have been given this extension in my life, what is my responsibility?" What is expected of me?
What a great thought for all of us to think and act upon.  Mom is truly remarkable woman who is faithful and positive. I am sure that Mom will come up with many wonderful ways to serve those around her.
I have learned so much through Moms experience, not only about cancer symtoms but about faith, hope and attitude. They all make a difference.

Gary and I have said numerous times what a crazy year for our parents health wise. All of the experiences have been learning ones for us and have made us rethink our preparation for life's challenges and how we would respond if  I was the one experiencing it. With the two scariest health issues, Bills and Moms cancer we saw it through with two different but equally good outcomes. Mom is still here with us but Bill left this earth. Moms question about her responsibility is one we all need to be anxiously engaged in. What is my responsibility and do something.  Bills experience made me face my religious beliefs head on, do I really believe in what I believe in?

Oh life you are such a learning experience.

MCC

Chatty

Captain Chatty was over last night....he is so much fun!
He talks non stop  and has the funniest high pitched sound. He will repeat almost anything he hears and has a typical boy sense of humor.
Some of his latest funnies.....
 We were saying the  dinner prayer. He fold his arms and in the middle of the pray decides he is thirsty he keeps  his arms folded and reaches for his cup and then takes a drink, all with one his arms folded. Now I know it is possible but who would have thought a 2 year old would figure this out.
At he same meal I asked Nelson to get us some pickles and all Captain would then say was picko, picko...and then proceeded to eat 5 dill pickle slices....and he would have eaten more if I would have let him. He loves tart food.
His food tastes surprise me and textures play a big part in his ability to consume.  He will try almost anything, however this doesn't mean he will keep it in his mouth...like I said texture will get to him before taste.
He downed half a kiwi fruit and like saying kiwi.
He knows that i keep my treats and snacks in a closet with a normal door and will knock on the closet door and ask for a gold fish or cookie.
Captain loves playing with the uncles......football is  a big run around with the little guy running from or after Hayden. Captain with his baby football shrieking over and over hike or touchdown and Hayden with his nerf trying to teach him how to hike or hold the ball.
He loves Hayden and last night when Hayden got home he had to shower and Captain wanted to play.....he would knock on the bathroom door and say Hayen. He tried to get me to open the door and when I wouldn't tried something new.....he saw the light coming through the bottom of the door and got down on the floor, he tried to put his fingers under the door (very reminiscent of my days with young kids trying to find a few minutes peace only to see little fingers fluttering under the door.) then he said "peek a boo I see you." I laughed out loud it was so funny. Hayden said I'm glad he didn't really see me, it might have damaged him for life.
He loves our iphones and ipads and knows how to use them. I opened a sound effects app on my phone knowing he would get a kick out of the sounds. He pushed the buttons and was amused, but reacted as a true little boy when he triggered the burp and fart button. He laughed and laughed and wanted to do it again and again. I said 'excuse me' when he triggered those the sounds so now he wants to play 'scuse me.' I guess we are all wired to giggle at those sounds. As Rachel says " farts is funny."

Love being a grandma...even though he says 'gampa gary' and calls me 'gama' or nothing at all.

MCC

Wednesday Weigh In

On the diet front it is all slow go, but I am enduring and not gaining which is a good thing. Staying the same is a really good thing. I must be looking better since everyone comments. I  hope it is the exercise that is giving me some shape. I now need the secrets of toning up old flabby skin...old is the key word, my skin is not young elastic and resilient as it once was.
Enough on that.....

Laurie sent me an interesting article about cancer, nutrition, health and attitude from John Hopkins.
here it is:
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY... (INCLUDES GOOD PREVENTATIVE INFO)
:
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

3.. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.  To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

4. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.  Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.  An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply..

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar, it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer     cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and are harmful.  A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small    amounts.
Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment.  A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food, including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

5. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

6..Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

7. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy tcancer cells.

8. No plastic containers in micro. No water bottles in freezer. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer.  Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc.., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.


I find it interesting that the core of this is the suggested health code mentioned in the Word of Wisdom. I know that it is my trying to implement these principles that has lead me to losing weight.  who knows maybe I am keeping cancer at bay as well.

MCC

Mad Marchness

March Madness, Mustache March, Munch Madness, Madness to the Max.....apparently march and madness go together.
So I ave been thinking about what to focus on in March and since it is a long month and I will have plenty of time, So my mad thought is Organization, De-cluttering, getting things out of my life that are making me mad.
That means the closets and cupboards emptied, sorted, stuff through out and then put away with a purpose.
While visiting Gary's aunt and uncle in Cali a few weeks a go it was inspiring to look in the closets, cupboards and drawers and see a neat, minimal, organized approach to keeping stuff.
I have too much stuff and most of it is not used or even needed so I need to part with it so as to get things in order and stop the madness.


MCC