Alternative & Integrative Cancer Center Manila

06/10/2025

Cancer taught me to read people's grocery carts.

Sounds weird, right? Let me explain.

Chemo week grocery trips were strategic missions:
→ Soft foods for mouth sores
→ Ginger everything for nausea
→ Ice cream because nothing else had taste
→ Tissues (so many tissues)

My cart looked like a sick person's cart. And I was mortified.

Until I started noticing other carts:

The woman buying only frozen meals and energy drinks - probably caring for someone sick while working full time.

The man with 6 bottles of Pedialyte and chicken soup - someone at home needs gentle foods.

The teenager buying pregnancy tests and prenatal vitamins - scared, probably alone.

Cancer gave me X-ray vision for other people's struggles.

Now I see the exhausted mom buying pre-made everything and think ""survival mode, not lazy."" I see the elderly man with protein shakes and think ""trying to stay strong.""

I've become a grocery cart detective for human suffering. And somehow, that makes me a better human.

The unexpected gift of going through hell? You develop radar for others walking the same path.

Now when I see someone buying ""sick person food,"" I make eye contact and smile. Not pity - recognition. We're in the club nobody wants to join, but we're not alone.

What everyday situation do you see differently now because of your cancer journey? 🛒"," "

05/10/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1ZfAEpXbt2/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Long-term data from the STARS trial affirm stereotactic radiation as a strong alternative to surgery for patients with operable stage I NSCLC.

04/10/2025

Am sure Surgeons will not agree to this until more robust evidence not theoretical concepts

Surgeons are rethinking removing lymph nodes in cancer surgery as new evidence emerges.

03/10/2025

03/10/2025

Dr. Martinez saved my life, but Nurse Jenny saved my sanity.

Let me tell you about the difference.

Dr. Martinez delivered my diagnosis with clinical precision: ""Stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. We caught it early. Treatment plan attached.""

Nurse Jenny looked at my face after he left and said, ""That was a lot of big words for 'we're going to fix this.' Want to talk about what you're really scared of?""

That's when I broke.

Here's what I learned about the hierarchy of healing:

**Doctors fix your body.** They know protocols, survival rates, treatment plans. They save lives with science and skill.

**Nurses heal your soul.** They know which IV spot hurts least. They remember you hate the strawberry Jell-O. They hold space for your 3am panic attacks.

Both matter. Both are heroes. But nurses? They're the ones who see you as human first, patient second.

Shoutout to every nurse who:
- Warmed blankets without being asked
- Explained things in words that made sense
- Stayed 5 extra minutes when you were scared
- Remembered your kids' names
- Made terrible jokes to distract from needle sticks

To the nurses reading this: You might not think you're changing lives, but you are. Every small kindness matters more than you know.

Tag a medical hero who deserves recognition today. Let's flood their notifications with love. 💕🩺"," "

30/09/2025

"👥 My cancer diagnosis didn't just change me. It changed everyone around me.

Some people surprised me by showing up in ways I never expected. Others surprised me by disappearing completely.

Here's the friendship audit cancer gave me:

**The Disappearers:**
Couldn't handle the heaviness. Sent ""thinking of you"" texts but never followed up. Made my diagnosis about their own discomfort with mortality.

**The Surprise Heroes:**
The coworker who brought groceries every Tuesday without being asked. The neighbor who mowed my lawn for 6 months. The friend who sat with me during chemo and didn't try to make conversation.

**The Keepers:**
The ones who learned to say ""This sucks"" instead of ""Everything happens for a reason."" Who brought practical help, not just prayers. Who were okay with me being sad.

Plot twist: Some of my closest friendships now are with people I barely knew before diagnosis.

Cancer has a way of stripping away the superficial and revealing what's real. It's a harsh teacher, but an honest one.

The hardest lesson?

Some people can't handle your new reality, and that's okay. Let them go. The ones who stay are your real tribe.

Your cancer journey will change your relationships. Some will deepen. Some will end. New ones will begin.

All of this is normal.

Who surprised you - for better or worse - during your hardest season? Share the love or learn the lesson. 💕"," ",

27/09/2025

26/09/2025

"🤢 Nobody told me the hardest part of chemo wouldn't be the nausea.

It would be losing my sense of taste and crying over a strawberry.

Week 3 of treatment: Everything tastes like cardboard soaked in metal. I'm losing weight not because I'm sick, but because eating feels pointless when nothing has flavor.

My husband brings me my favorite pizza. I take one bite and start sobbing because it tastes like absolutely nothing.

Here's what actually saved me when food became the enemy:

**Cold foods over hot** (ice cream was my friend)
**Ginger everything** (tea, candy, real fresh ginger)
**Texture mattered more than taste** (crunchy apples, smooth yogurt, fizzy water)
**Lemon water** - somehow woke up my taste buds
**No pressure meals** - protein shakes counted as success

The weird part?

When my taste started coming back (around week 8), that first bite that actually had flavor made me cry again. But happy tears this time.

Now I taste everything more intensely. Coffee is richer. Chocolate is more decadent. Even water tastes different - cleaner somehow.

Chemo took my taste away, but it gave me appreciation back.

To anyone currently eating cardboard: This phase is temporary. Your taste buds WILL come back. And when they do, that first real flavor will feel like magic.

What's your ""taste bud comeback"" food going to be? 🍓✨"," "

25/09/2025

24/09/2025

Early-onset colorectal cancer is expected to become the leading cause of death in ages 20 to 49 in the U.S. by 2030.

Research is urgently needed to better detect and treat patients, argues this Science Perspective: https://scim.ag/4blTCMJ

24/09/2025

The sea cucumber may hold the key to blocking cancer — without any of the risky side effects.

A team of researchers led by the University of Mississippi has discovered that a sugar compound from sea cucumbers may offer a powerful new weapon against cancer.

The compound, known as fucosylated chondroitin sulfate, was shown to inhibit Sulf-2, an enzyme that helps cancer cells spread by altering the structure of glycans—microscopic sugars that cover human cells and help regulate cellular behavior. By blocking this enzyme, the sea cucumber compound may slow or stop cancer progression without the dangerous side effect of interfering with blood clotting, a major drawback of current treatments targeting Sulf-2.

The study, published in Glycobiology, found that the sugar compound from the sea cucumber Holothuria floridana is unique in its structure and safety profile. Because marine-derived drugs often come from cleaner, virus-free sources compared to land animals, they represent a promising frontier for pharmaceutical development. While harvesting sea cucumbers on a large scale isn’t practical, the next step is to chemically synthesize the compound for future use in drug development. This breakthrough highlights how marine life, often overlooked, may hold the solutions to some of the world’s most challenging diseases.

Source:
University of Mississippi. "Sea Cucumbers Could Hold Key to Stopping Cancer Spread." Press release.