Since early on in Mollie's treatment, I have wondered about complementary therapy- ways to improve Mollie's nutrition and overall health in order to increase the effectiveness and lessen the side effects of the chemo. The only information that I have been able to glean for certain, is that we should avoid giving her any type of folate supplement. This is because methotrexate is a folate antagonist that inhibits folate-dependent enzymes essential for cell division and growth.
I happened across an interesting program at the Columbia University Medical Center: The Integrative Therapies Program for Children with Cancer. This website is full of interesting information about the potential use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in children with cancer. It includes recommendations, manuscripts, and links to other research articles. I wish I had found this resource a long time ago! I will definitely spend some time navigating through the site for information relevant to Mollie's care.
You are a wonderful mother.
ReplyDeletealthough not a child, i hope my mom pipes in on this, because she has sought out alternative treatments of various kinds and can share information that the local cancer center (apparently quite good) might have available.
ReplyDeleteand i agree with the above commenter. you are a wonderful mom. you inspire me daily, sarah.
How did you know that I needed this link? You absolutely rock.
ReplyDeleteI even setup an Oriental Medicine/Acupressure for this week.
Find anything useful for Miss Has Some Gorgeous Hair Going On?
Here's Nicola's Mom...I believe that there are so many paths to mental and physical healing and it is worth exploring all to find the comfortable ones--both for you and matt, as well as Mollie. The Cancer Center here has a number of programs dealing with the 'whole' person, not just the medical aspects. This is a very surface answer for now, but we are traveling tomorrow--I'll write more when we return. Sarah you are so very special!
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