The story of Amy and her integrative cancer survival programme

How Amy Pomykal beat a glioblastoma

Every now and again, a cancer survivor story comes along that highlights exactly what CANCERactive is all about. We try to help increase people’s personal odds of beating cancer by empowering them with ALL the relevant information - not just orthodox but on complementary and alternative cancer therapies too. We help people use the research information to build there own Integrative cancer therapies packages- the Best of the Best - we use a discipline we call the ACTIVE8 PROGRAMME. And for some people we help them prepare their very own Integrative Plan - their Personal Prescription.

Amy’s story - Living Proof that Integrative Medicine works

We have written frequently about which bioactive supplements can help with GBM, glioblastoma multiform, from research studies. Not just did cancer survivor Amy Pomykal use everything we had discovered, her oncologist (the World renowned Dr Henry Friedman) encouraged her!! He calls it Enlightened Medicine. 

Everyone with cancer should read this short story because, it includes almost a model supplement list. 14 years on, Amy is alive and kicking, and is married with two children.

American Airlines flight attendant, Amy Pomykal, credits a cornucopia of supplements for her quick recovery from an aggressive, malignant brain tumour.

Diagnosed in April 2002, she was running a marathon in December, having had eight hours of surgery in May followed by simultaneous chemo and radiation.  Amy’s story is particularly poignant because she had escaped the fate of her 9/11 colleagues and was contemplating a career change or, at 32, starting a family with her husband Tom, when she was struck down by anaplastic glioblastoma:

"They basically told me my days were numbered. I felt like I was going to die", she recalls. "I couldnt speak because of the tumour and I remember being angry". Amy’s husband, a cautious and conservative man, became her treatment advocate, sharing the role with her sister Keri who took a more daring and enquiring approach. It was Keri who researched the supplement programme on the net and acquired them in time to support Amy’s brain during radiotherapy and protect against potential memory loss.

The pills and potions were so numerous they had to be stores in a fishing tackle box.  It seemed to conserve her stamina during post-operative treatment too- she could still play tennis twice a week and kept her hair.   "Running that race was not", Amy reflects, "the brightest things I’ve ever done, but I lived through it!"

She also used visualisation, imagining the tumour shrinking, herself growing older. I prayed a lot for strength and the ability to make good decisions.

Knowing the prognosis was still very poor, Keri directed her sister to a cutting-edge clinical trial at the Brain Tumour Center at Duke University Medical Centre. The trial was officially closed, but Amy was given special dispensation by medical director Dr John Sampson. This trial involved culturing the patients dendritic cells with RNA from the tumour to produce a strong immune response against the cancer cells. Every fortnight for six weeks, Amy received her injections and three months later her scan showed marked improvement. Six months on, in January 2004 the tumour had disappeared. Dr Henry Friedman, co-director of Duke neuro-oncology programme takes a progressive attitude to complementary treatments like Amy’s. As long as she told her doctors what she was taking, and it wasn’t toxic, he was content. His belief is that empowering patients in their own care achieves the best outcome. "We have no proof that what she was taking might hurt her, and it might help. We don’t know the answer" says Friedman.  "We could say the same things about what were doing. I think its enlightened medicine. It’s admitting where you don’t know what’s going to go on, but following the principle of ’Do no harm’."

Since her illness Amy has become the mother of two children. She continues to take her supplements along with her anti-seizure medication.

"I believe the supplements did a lot, and that I’ve done well because of them, and my mental attitude and my faith. I believe that I’m going to survive."

And so we come full circle to almost the same things Chris found in his research.
You can read the full story of what complementary therapies are shown in research to help a brain tumour patient by CLICKING HERE.  
Now, thankfully, whatever your cancer, at CANCERactive, Chris and the team of doctors, herbalists, naturopaths and so on will help tailor a Personal Information Prescription based on the unique ACTIVE8 PROGRAMME (click here to find out more) to help you start your own integrative approach to beating your cancer. Dr Friedman of Dukes called it enlightened medicine. We just call it an information service that tells you all the things shown in research to be of some effect but then we dont treat, we just inform! And we certainly don’t believe any one thing, drug or vitamin, is a cure for cancer. But we do believe, to use a famous advertising slogan, that Every Little Helps!

’If you are already thinking of buying these supplements, why not see what the Natural Selection store has to offer. All natural products, originally chosen by Chris Woollams" CLICK HERE.