So much has happened, feeling great but mentally fatigued

I'm working on a lot of things at the moment and felt like it was time for an update, otherwise it would have never been done!

Recently I have done a number of interviews online which have been great for getting the message across about the potential of the ketogenic diet to manage cancer. Please note that I am very careful with my wording and that I would always say 'manage', never cure, even though cure is always the aim. I believe that I will need to be on this diet for the rest of my life to maintain this status quo within my body and brain to keep the cancer in 'complete remission' indefinitely.



Here are some some things I have been working on recently:

1. My website, in which I aim to raise awareness about metabolic therapy and share research. This will have a lot of information soon!

www.metabolictherapy.co.uk

2. My book 'Taking Control', which I am working on currently.

The book will detail my story my individual cancer story from diagnosis to the day I complete writing. I will discuss the current research on metabolic therapy as a management strategy for brain cancer.

I have realised recently that writing a good book with substance is actually quite challenging but I am determined to make it engaging, intelligent, and readable. I would like the majority of the profits from the book to go towards research into metabolic therapy. I am already working hard to make this happen.

3. I have done a few interviews recently which can be found here:

http://zerocarbzen.com/2015/05/31/healing-brain-cancer-with-a-zero-carb-ketogenic-diet-by-andrew-scarborough/

http://superhumanradio.com/shr-1660-the-blueprint-power-hour-curing-brain-cancer-with-the-ketogenic-diet-one-man-s-journey.html

http://patriciadaly.com/cure-cancer-vs-manage-cancer/


4. I have a new supplement which I have found incredibly useful- Ketoforce. I take it twice a day now as a replacement for my epilepsy medication. It also allows me to maintain therapeutic ketosis and keep blood glucose low so that I can do more exercise and eat a little bit more protein which is very nice! I've been struggling to put weight on for a while now. I feel great but its just a superficial thing mainly. I've never been someone who is overly concerned with what I look like, its simply a confidence issue and slight insecurity.

5. I have a girlfriend now and she makes me very happy. This is a very big thing for me and something I thought a lot about even though it all happened relatively quickly. She's lovely and I'm so thankful that she is in my life. I would love to do something special for her soon because she has been so supportive of me in so many ways. I'll think of something good. :)

6. I have attended some meetings of the brain tumour support group at the Maggie's Centre by Charing Cross Hospital. I enjoyed this very much even though at times it was very emotional. I wish I had known about this place 2 years ago as I had very little support when I actually had disabilities and felt depressed. There was a very keen interest in the ketogenic diet when I mentioned it after sharing my personal story which was great to see.

https://www.maggiescentres.org/our-centres/

7. I'm still waiting on a few things, but in the meantime I will stop being lazy and update this blog more often!

I've started going to an outdoor gym 3 times a week with my girlfriend as it has been fairly warm recently. I'm hoping the increase in protein will help me to put on a bit more weight. I have often been hesitant to do this because  attempting this without the Ketoforce supplement caused me to have some facial twitching. I still find it remarkable how stable bg and high ketones keep all my symptoms in check so brilliantly.  In the past week or so I have had days where I feel incredibly energetic and mentally very sharp. Its a tremendous feeling and while I still have some problems associated with any kind of acquired brain injury, I'm enjoying moving and thinking at a pace akin to how I used to live. I feel at though the old me is coming back and I desperately need to help others improve at the very least their quality of life.

I have managed to achieve brilliant control of all my symptoms effortlessly while maintaining impressive bg and bk readings throughout the day in the last few weeks  specifically which is very pleasing. I know that the ketogenic diet in itself is not the be all and end all for cancer management so I am constantly striving to improve it and to find other methods of metabolic therapy that can have a synergistic benefit with a restricted ketogenic diet.


This book and all of the research and hospital visits to help others is mentally exhausting, hence the title of this blog, but it is incredibly rewarding. I do need a break, but that will come. Thank you very much for reading and for all your support whoever is reading this!

Regular exercise routine

I now have a more regular exercise routine thanks largely to a book that I re-found recently. I like to workout as soon as I wake up and I don't like using equipment so this book is ideal and is one of the best fitness books I have ever read. It has an incredible amount of progressive bodyweight exercises for all abilities. 

Patience

At the moment I'm sitting in my room thinking about all the things I need to do but I'm doing very little about it. This is definitely a case of paralysis by analysis and certainly very out of character for me. I have just had a minor skin operation (I will discuss this more in future) and I am waiting on a number of things so I need to be patient. Everything on the outside is so calm and still yet thoughts inside my head are spinning around rapidly. This time it is predominantly with excitement so I can deal with that! 

May started with me receiving my MRI results which were very positive. Rather than the usual routine I had come to expect from these meetings, we barely mentioned anything about the latest scan results because it was so clear that they were the best they could be and I had recently come off levetiracetam completely so even though there is always a doubt, I was quietly confident. My symptoms were largely resolved and I could see out of the corner of my eye that the scan showed noticeable improvement. 

My oncologist seemed very interested in my unique personal approach to the ketogenic diet and asked me a lot of questions about how I thought it should be implemented. He asked me if I am working at the moment because he is very keen to have me on his team in some capacity to help other patients with the ketogenic diet in clinical settings and to further research in this area with the potential of starting clinical trials. I was delighted with this opportunity and I instantly stressed how keen I am to get started as soon as possible. I have been desperate to get back to work for a long time but was unable to due to fatigue, dizzy spells, vertigo, trigerminal neuralgia, all that fun stuff that I barely feel at all now. I'm still waiting and a little impatient but I have been assured that he will get back to me soon. For my records I asked for a copy of my last 2 MRI scans so that I can compare the 2. 

I'm now going to ask for the CD after every scan so that I don't have to wait for results. I have found that to be quite a stressful thing in the past, luckily I have a pretty good idea about how to best interpret these scans. In a strange way I quite enjoy it because the brain is so fascinating. Here is a video of my latest scan that I took while I was bored! Below is one of the stills. 

*video coming soon

It is quite clear to me (although these scans can be quite vague), that the unusual looking tissue on the right hand side- left temporal lobe area- is scar tissue and that there is no visible disease here as there was previously. It looks a little menacing but it really isn't and I'm not overly concerned by it. I will keep an eye on this area and take every action I can to attempt to continue the healing process. Ideally in the future I would like hyperbaric oxygen therapy alongside my ketogenic diet to give me the best chance of achieving this and to potentially give me better survival odds going forward. I firmly believe that I can manage this disease indefinitely with the right metabolic approaches. Having the access to more of these approaches and the opportunity to help others in clinical settings would be a great step forward so I'm very excited about this prospect.

MRI results- just over 2 years (Anaplastic Astrocytoma)

Fantastic MRI scan results today, the best yet. I look forward to viewing the images again on my computer. Remarkable healing thanks to my own version of the ketogenic diet after I declined more chemotherapy over a year ago. 

I will continue to work on the diet, to share my ideas, and to improve it. My oncologist has offered me a job which may mean moving back to London. :)

Epilepsy and vitamin D

'Antiepileptic drugs cause vitamin D deficiency through induction of hepatic microsomal enzymes that metabolise vitamin D.'

http://aop.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/38/6/1002

I believe this is one of the main causes of lethargy and break through seizures for individuals with epilepsy but neurologists will often dismiss this suggestion in my experience and tell you to increase medication instead. They do not study nutrition in enough depth at medical school so usually they don't know this. 

You can get a free vitamin D test from your GP. If vitamin D is low you will need to supplement with vitamin D3. The type of vitamin D you get through diet is D2 which is not adequate. It is very difficult to get enough vitamin D3 from the sun to reach optimal levels in the blood (typically 100-150mmol/l). 

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin so you will also want to eat plenty of quality fats with enough vitamin A which works together with vitamin D. We typically already get enough calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in our diets so this consideration is less important.

I hope this information helps people to control seizures better and to have more energy, less muscle weakness, better moods, etc. contact me if you have any questions. :) 

This is the best vitamin D3 supplement I know of. It is completely natural and contains no corn, soy, gluten, sugar, starch, or any nasty ingredients to fill it up. 

 

The somatic theory of cancer- embryo studies

If the somatic theory of cancer really is completely true then surely this should be impossible. Epigenenetics is both the cause and potential cure for my 'incurable' cancer in my situation. It is not a simple reversal process by any means and I may fail, but it is certainly not an imposibility.

Eating brains for brain cancer

Yesterday I added grass fed lamb's brains to my ketogenic diet. Because we are squeamish about eating brain in this country my local butcher gave me 6 quality sheep's brains for free! I read an interesting article recently about this recently...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/11364723/Eating-offal-will-the-British-ever-fall-in-love-with-brains.html

I also found some videos of Gordon Ramsey (with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall) and and another video from Heston Blumenthal cooking brains. I understand brain is a delicacy in many top restaurants around the world so I was even more interested in trying it. Here are the videos:

http://youtu.be/hb1YFPLany0

http://youtu.be/X4tItqWIKe4

Obviously I would make KETO versions of these recipes! Let's think about this...

Sometimes the unorthodox approach is perhaps the most sensible. Consider this: 

Brains are built from large amounts of selected fatty acids and specialist components that when eaten could have a potent healing effect to manage/reverse neuroinflammation and improve cognitive functioning. 

Brain is very high in omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory and phosphatidylserine lipids in cell membranes play a significant role in apoptosis, blood clotting, and so could be beneficial in combating neurodegenerative disease. 

Numerous studies with Alzheimers over the years have produced some very interesting results. Phosphatidylserine made from cow brains seems to improve attention, language skills, memory in ageing people with declining thinking skills. http://www.cell.com/biophysj/abstract/S0006-3495(14)02208-5

As the brain is mostly fat I feel it compliments my ketogenic diet perfectly and tastes brilliant with egg and ghee. 

Here are some videos I made of me cooking and eating brain for Brain Tumour Research's Wear a Hat Day yesterday! Enjoy!...

Part 1

http://youtu.be/J4fjfstAzyo

Part 2

http://youtu.be/oRNatOteSbU

Part 3

http://youtu.be/RlP23z0P3zk