Covid Or All That Sh*t Going Down.
Thought I would like to share with Forum members the experience I have been through and hope it helps keep them safe .
I have previously posted this a couple of weeks ago but the forum Main Man gave me the thumbs up to put it here out front... so here goes.
Cuppa time . Bit of a long read.
As some of you know , three years ago in the summer of 2017 my cancer returned after being nine years in remission. If that wasn't enough of a shock I was given a terminal diagnosis and offered palliative care : i.e. chemo just to prolong life for a while not being able to cure it.
Dark times.
A month later I received a call from my lovely oncologist , who called and said she wanted to see me urgently.
A match of various cells meant I was eligible for a limited world wide trial of immunotherapy a ground breaking new way of attacking cancer cells.
Only 800 people worldwide were going to be on it.
When you are faced with your own mortality and that horizon is coming at you ..... there is no question that you wont try all and everything to live.
I started that September attending every three weeks rain or shine and having three monthly scans never knowing if was still working.
After a long tiring emotionally draining journey ... September last year 2019 I completed the treatment.
I have been in remission since.
No violins please but during this time my wife of 30 years bailed out on me. There were days of pain or denial and nights of nightmares.
Many duvet days.
She never once attending on over 600 hours of treatment / transport it was in itself enough to form a part of my petition to divorce her. That completed in March this year.
During the two years of treatment there was forum reference made to me in the "Whatever Happened To" Thread and Billy 1 bless him let it be known what was happening.
My Red brothers and sisters as one came together as a family and made some wonderful comments of encouragement that led me to be unable to read them due to the tears I was crying with the love that was coming out.
There were special members . You know each one of you , who you were, as do I , so I wont name drop here.
You and the rest of my Red family were there for me.
This love affair over many years with my club has made me cry a few times in joy and sadness.
This support was another time but something very special.
I want to thank you again for all the love. Amazing.
Now I come to what I have learnt.
Immunotherapy treats the T Cells in the body's own immune system to attack the tumour.
I learnt many things on the journey which I would like to share.
* N.B. This is not medical advice and nothing in it would require anyone to seek advice. *
The immune system is the body's own private hit squad. It keeps you healthy by fighting off invaders in the modern day not so much Vikings but viruses.
It is driven by having a healthy thyroid and gut bacteria that keeps your immunity in high readiness.
The first thing to know is about anti biotics. Anti bios may help with an infection but the damage is that it takes out the gut bacteria that is important for maintaining your immune system.
Collateral damage.
Anti bios are of course needed and prescribed ( over prescribed in many expert's opinions) for serious infections to give the body a mega hit.
However your gut bacteria is wiped out as collateral damage ergo your true immune system then is virtually non existent.
Your immunity does slowly recover and the healthy gut bacteria build up again but meantime you are actually open to further infection.
So ... how do you help the healthy bacteria in the gut to maintain high immunity?
There is much on the internet about superfoods to eat but probably the easiest and best contributor is Yoghurt.
Not the eye popping range of silly injected flavour ones but those with live cultures.
You will see L Acidophilus and also B Lactis on the pot.
Greek yoghurt (NOT " Greek Style") often contains it. Have a look in the supermarket or actually ask for it. Not the only one.
All supermarkets stock them and some are naturally flavoured.
Its just one of the best things you can do for your immunity.
Also the spice Turmeric or better still Curcumin tablets which is the active ingredient of Turmeric. Also black pepper .
.................
Vitamin D.
I was first treated in Toulouse in 2005 for cancer and it went into remission for a nearly a decade before coming back.
My oncologist there ...Nathalie ...let me into a secret.
That was that the cancer survival rates are higher in southern Europe than northern Europe which really could only be down to climate or diet.
As a nation we still eat sh*t. We do. Though things have dramatically improved we still eat sh*t processed food.
Although not as bad as the States the food industry pump certain hormones into cattle and poultry that we go on to eat.
So as far as diet is concerned you are what you eat.
You wouldn't put urine into your petrol tank ...( I may have done when I was on the piss every day !) ....you put highly refined specialised octane fuel to make your car actually work. Many people look after their cars better than they do there own living miracle ...their bodies.
I digress. Most of us are lacking in basic vitamins and minerals we need.
Drinking destroys B12 C and D. It depletes the body of other minerals.
Smoking destroys primarily C in a big way that's why a smoker can look 10 years older than some one else of the same real age.
Technically both are toxins.
So food . Its down to the individual.
I personally take every day a multi vit/mineral tablet. No advertising intended I take Wellman by Vitabiotics . That UK company have been around years , have got the best balance of vits and minerals and comes in a very dated box with some geezer on the packet. Good gear though.
So the thing we can't control is the fact that we live in a damp wet often dark northern European country.
When I lived out in Barca and South Of France for 15 years you get sunlight just going shopping , mooching around town, getting in and out of your car... kids to school etc
There was no need to hit the beach with the tourists as you were getting sunlight virtually every day of the year.
Here we get SAD syndrome.
Nearly all of us are deficient in the most important vitamin as an immune system driver. Vitamin D.
My local GP only a few months ago was telling me that they did a survey of the Practice patients last year. Nearly all were Vit D deficient.
Q. When loathsome Trump did his Covid stunt to Walter Reed Hospital two weeks ago what was the first thing the meds pumped into him?
Vitamin D. Check it out on the net.
So Vitamin D comes from sunlight and although there are other sources that is the main one. Just 20 mins out there every day getting a few rays is better than nothing.
I take 3000 IU a day Vit D supplement every day and have done for three years now. That is a high dose (dont go over 4k)
Just get them in the supermarket or online.
Vit D is needed by the immune system.
So its been mentioned about ginger haired people not needing supplements. I dont know enough about that but I do know that BAME people biologically have low Vit D levels . Why ? Could be due to skin colour and genetics not needing the sunlight vitamin.... until living in a cold wet damp northern European country.
Thyroid Function.
This is a gland in the body that its function decreases with age.
The decrease in function correlates very much as to the increase in Covid death rates.
Again by taking a range of vits and minerals and a good diet to help the Thyroid to continue to function and all you need to know about your diet is out there.
While I'm banging on a bit now about your HEAD space.
We are all going through it. Wherever you live in the world we don't know what going to happen.
Will I lose my job ? Will my business close ? How are the bills to be paid? When is this going to end?
Anxiety Depression Addiction .
IT DOESNT F*CKING MATTER .
Health is now the new Wealth.
Stop buying Stuff. Thats called Affluenza.
As long as you've got Heats and Eats that's all you need.
In this country with a welfare state your needs are always catered for .......but your wants will never be satisfied.
I'm no sandal wearing new age hippie but I keep sane in all of this by trying to live in the real world ... in the day .... in the breath because thats all you really have .... one breath.
Yesterday is history . Gone Bye Bye.
Tomorrow is a mystery. It hasn't arrived yet and there is f**k all you can do about the past or the future.
Whilst we are worried about sh*t that doesn't matter .... it's like standing on two stools Yesterday and Tomorrow.
We piss on Today.
Yesterday ? The train has gone . We missed it . It ain't coming back
Health and Time.
When they are gone they are gone. ( Virginity ? )
Get some books......
Eckhart Tolle. ( Check some of his quotes to start with ...)
Richard Carlson
Thich Naht Han.
Books on Mindfulness and books on Minimalism.
Get close and back to Nature. Re-wild yourself.
The plants and the animals don't know about Covid (bats excepted) and as the song went " Do They Know Its Christmas ?" .
Christmas ? One day. A load of hassle. The Christians didn't want a pagan revolution on their hands so they moved the Winter Solstice Rave Party back by four days. If you can't beat 'em .....join 'em and rebrand it as Christmas.
Just be happy that you have your health ,friends and family.
Buy an experience ...not a sh*t gift ....for Christmas. People and kids will remember it more
Walk in the woods.
Look at the sky.
Study a cob web. Get down on the grass and watch an ant.
Get back to play. Walk barefoot Get back to being a kid again and enjoy what is around you. Its f**king amazing.
Its free and its drug free.
Do what makes you feel ALIVE !
Last Saturday on Mental Health Weekend I walked around town with a set of battery operated Christmas lights around my neck. The battery and switch were in my hoodie pocket. It was great cracking people up It gave me a buzz as well.
I was the one who felt completely sane.
Become a kid again.
Anyway to quote a favourite Led Zeppelin track Ive "Rambled On" a bit.
That's another one. Music.
I told the ex to stuff all the CDs . Keep 'em.
I went minimalism. Amazon Prime = 60 million songs. Pisses over Spotify/ Deezer anyday.
Get an Alexa and give her some abuse. She's feisty and will give it back.
Get an Alexa Echo Auto and impress every one with more powers in the motor than a wizard in Harry Potter.
Get a plant ....get a pet. I've got Billy Whizz. He's a fat over fed pigeon who roosts in a Copper Beech tree every night and has a special branch.
I say good night to him and don't give a monkey's who hears me. We have deep meaningful conversations.
I worry when he misses a night on his branch and is out on the razz.
Enjoy Life . We've only got the one on this planet as far as we know .
Stay Safe Don't worry about the Government. No other country knows what the f**king hell they are doing anyway. Its all new and an unknown. Blind and blind come to mind.
If you must watch the negative news give CNN ago . The news anchors are brilliant .Watching it is like Mickey Mouse time.
Take personal responsibility for your own safety .
Don't rely on Nanny State. They get it wrong .
( Jonathan Van Tam. April. "No evidence to wear a face mask"
How many people did he kill by spouting that sh*t ? )
Look . (As Robbie Fowler would say )
If I've given something back to my family of Reds in my verbose meandering above then its only cos you guys were there for me when certain people I expected and wanted to be weren't.
Remember: When you are out with your mates (or your hens) thinking you are living large being a macho man impressing them without a mask . ... FFS THINK.
In fourteen days you could be lying in an ICU ward gasping to breathe for the last time as your lungs fill up .... and where would your cool buddies be then ... even if they could see you ?
No .
The only people you would destroy are the people who love you and while you go under finally with the morphine ...they are left behind without the person that truly meant something to them.
You die. You die alone.
Stay Safe . That train is coming.
YNWA