Shane - Diagnosed in June with Dialated Cardiomyopathy

[Corrij (therapeut)]

WOW Verona,

You make my day

What a great news

What would Shane have done without you, youre a big part of this healing story, I am very proud of you

<a href="http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&lpver=3&ref=11" target="_blank"><img src="http://cdn.content.sweetim.com/sim/cpie ... 2.gif"></a>

greetings,
Corrij

[shane]

Hi Corrij,

How are you and your husband doing?

I wanted to keep Shane from getting the swine flu this season. Is it okay to add vitamin D and Omega 3 Fats such as Krill oil to his protocol?

Thanks so much!
Verona

[Corrij (therapeut)]

Hi Verona,

Vitamins fight the flu by boosting the body’s own immune response and by accelerating healing. Individuals can be better prepared for an influenza epidemic by learning how to use vitamin supplements to fight off ordinary respiratory infections. The most important vitamins are vitamins C, D, niacin, and thiamine.

Vitamin D′s mode of action

The adaptive immune system creates taylor-made antibodies to pathogens by trial and error. It is a match for any pathogen, but that process takes time. The innate immune system, on the other hand, produces antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with broad-spectrum antimicrobial effects against intact microbes and "Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs)". These AMPs will not be a match for every pathogen, but when they are the innate immune system springs into action immediately.

The influenza virus is spread by coughing and sneezing, and inhaled. The epithelia in the upper airways are surrounded by a thin aqueous layer of AMPs covered by mucus. This double layer of antimicrobiol peptides and mucus creates an antimicrobial shield that rapidly and irreversibly damages the membranes of virus particles that penetrate it.

Viruses that somehow make it through that shield to the endothelium induce endothelial cells to emit a burst of new antimicrobial peptides. These inducible AMPs bind to the carbohydrate portion of a viral glycoprotein, hemagglutinin A, thereby blocking the fusion between virion (virus particle) and endothelial cell; the virion can no longer penetrate the endothelium. The inducible AMPs also recruit macrophages and other white blood cells to limit further damage and clean up the debris.

Where does vitamin D come into the picture? When microbes like the influenza virus end up in the upper airways, they stimulate the production of an enzyme that converts 25(OH)D, the circulating inactive form of vitamin D, into the hormonally active 1,25(OH)2D (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D). 1,25(OH)2D is required to turn on the genes that code for antimicrobial peptides. Without vitamin D there is no innate immunity.

There is convincing evidence that supplementation with a sufficient amount of vitamin D can prevent the onset of a flu or cold. An analysis of a randomized controlled trial showed that post-menopausal African American women taking 800 IU/day of vitamin D were three times less likely to come down with the flu or cold than those receiving placebo. 2000 IU/day essentially eliminated cold and flu cases altogether.

Seafood is a good source of omega-3 fats. However, eating fish nowadays is tantamount to increasing your exposure to toxic substances. With the high concentration of toxic, industrial pollutants in seas, eating seafood is likely to increase PCBs, heavy metals, and radioactive poisons in your body.

Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have warned children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers to avoid certain seafood.

Krill oil may not be as heavily exposed to marine pollutants as other aquatic organisms, making them a safe substitute for seafood. Toxins are unlikely to accumulate among krill population as they rank low in the food chain.

greetings,
Corrij

[shane]

Hi Corrij,

Thank you for the info. Sorry it took so long to get back! I have read that Epicor really ramps up the imune system, but it also gives more energy. Would this be okay with Shane's protocol?

Also can I increase the Alpha Lipoic Acid from 250 to 300 mg.? I can get a better price on the higher strength right now.

Thank you!
Verona

[Corrij (therapeut)]

Hello Verona,

About the EpiCorn, I couldn`t find anything about giving energy, but its a good product to take in the coming season,

Moyad MA, Robinson LE, Zawada ET Jr, Kittelsrud JM, Chen DG, Reeves SG, Weaver SE.
Preventive and Alternative Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, Department of Urology Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

A yeast-based product (EpiCor, a dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentate) was compared to placebo to determine effects on the incidence and duration of cold and flu-like symptoms in healthy subjects recently vaccinated for seasonal influenza. In a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, 116 participants received daily supplementation with 500 mg of EpiCor or placebo for 12 weeks. Data collected included periodic in-clinic examinations and serologic evaluations at baseline, 6- and 12-weeks. Subjects also utilized a standardized self-report symptom diary during the study. Participants receiving the yeast-based product had significantly fewer symptoms and significantly shorter duration of symptoms when compared with subjects taking a placebo.

PMID: 18335698 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The alpha-lipioc acid 300 mg is oke

greetings,
Corrij

[shane]

Thank you Corrij!

[shane]

Hi Corrij,
I sent you an email about Shane at your "home.nl" address with details. It was kind of lengthy to post on here. Basically, he hasn't been on the protocol steadily for a few months because he has gotten into a bit of trouble like 24 years olds do sometimes. Should he start all over again with the protocol with MSM, etc. or get back to where he left off?

He is really wanting to get back on the protocol...
Thanks so much!
Verona

[Corrij (therapeut)]

Hi Verona,

I have received your mail and try to give you a answer today or tomorrow.
I know its difficult, but try to have faith.


greetings,
Corrij

[shane]

Thank you Corrij! He also has a problem sleeping...can I give him more magnesium/calcium or possibly Gaba?

Thanks so much,
Verona

[shane]

To bring everyone up to date, Shane got involved with drug abuse and really hurt his heart and he stopped taking his supplements for quite a few months. This ended up harming his heart so bad that he had to get a VAD or ventricular assist device implanted. The surgery was three weeks ago and he is still in pain but recovering nicely at home. He really wants to get healthy again, and is serious about it. He wants to become a drug rehab counselor in the near future.

Corrij, I know this is a really an unusual case, but he is wanting to get back on the protocol again. I understand if you can't advise us on this because of the VAD or the extra pain meds he is on that are unique to his circumstances.

Take care,
Verona

[Corrij (therapeut)]

Hello Verona,

Can you tell me what kind of medicine Shane is using at this time?
For the people who don`t know what a VAD is,

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a type of device that is designed to take over function for either or both of the heart’s ventricles. The ventricles are responsible for pumping blood through the lungs and out to the body. Most often, VADs are used in patients who are awaiting a heart transplant, thus they are called “bridges to transplantation.” There are, however, other situations in which a VAD might be recommended.

VADs may be short-term, intermediate-term or long-term, depending on the needs of each patient. A VAD that supports only the left ventricle in known as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and a VAD that supports that right ventricle is known as a right ventricular assist device (RVAD). Devices that support both ventricles are known as bi–ventricular assist devices (BiVADs).

The most common VADs used in the United States are implanted during open-heart surgery. They are powered by a pump that remains outside of the body and pumps the blood through tubes that are connected to the patient’s circulatory system. Some VADs require constant supervision in a medical setting, while others are portable and allow the patient to return to a more natural lifestyle.

Although VADs were first developed in the 1960s, it took almost 20 years of clinical experimentation before they were put into general use. Since then, VADs have continued to increase in sophistication, becoming smaller and more efficient. Today, studies have shown that patients on VADs who are awaiting heart transplant may be successfully weaned off the VAD without a transplant. This is possible because the VAD allows the heart to rest, enabling it to regain function.

I will ask Marion (dutch forum) to give a reaction because she has also a VAD implanted.

greetings, Corrij

[Marion]

Hi Verona,

I.m sorry to hear that things get so bad with Shane!
The last year also was for me not ideal, I spend half a year in hospital.
I lived my life quit stricktly with the supplements and for the rest I tried to hold my lifestyle as healthy as possible.
So you see that the bad condition of Shane don't only have to become that way because of his drug abuse.
But....I'm sure his heart did not like it!
And it is very important that he will be very nice to his heart from now on.

I'm sure about myself that I'm in such a goed condition, physical and mental, thanks to my lifestyle!

So far aboud this.

On Mai 30th I got implanteded a HeartMate II from Thoratec.
Does Shane have the same?
Where does he have the pain?

[shane]

Hi Corrij,

He is taking:
Amlodipine - 5mg once a day
Aspirin - 81mg once a day
Docusate Sodium (stool softener) - twice a day
Iron - 65 mg twice a day
Folic Acid - 1000 mcg once a day
Hydralazine - 100 mg three times a day
Multivitamin (iron free) - once a day
Gabapentin - 300 mg three times a day
Warfarin - 9 mg a day
Methadone - 40 mg three times a day
Oxycodone - 30 mg every six hours as needed

He has lost quite a bit of weight too. He is 6 feet tall and weighs only 125. He used to weigh 150.

Thank you!!!
Verona

[shane]

Hi Marion,

Hope you are doing much better now! Six months is a long time. Shane was in for around six weeks.

Yes his LVAD is the same as yours . He is having pain under his left side ribs where they implanted the VAD, he had the surgery 30 days ago. His back is hurting him also. Are you able to sleep on your side? he doesn't like having to sleep on his back all the time.

He was really sick by the time we got him to the heart transplant hospital. He hadn't been going on a regular basis so it took awhile to get him in. The doctors had told him that he was getting better around a year and a half ago, and that was when he was on the supplement protocol on a regular basis. He got hooked on drugs and started not taking care of himself and that is when the trouble began.

By the time we got him to the transplant center, he was hours away from dying. They implanted a balloon in his chest to keep his heart going so he would get stronger for a possible VAD implant later. During this surgery, the doctors told me that they thought the heart monitor was broken and they kept checking it because his heartbeat or output of blood was so low that he shouldn't have been alive. They said that in the history of their hospital no heart patient has ever lived with that low of reading.

I replied and told them that he had many people praying for him. I was in the waiting room praying and sobbing because the surgery was taking a very long time. Even after the surgery, they took me in this room and said that he may not make it with that balloon and the next 48 hours were critical.

What happened with Shane was nothing short than a miracle from God. He had around 250 people praying for him including, church, famiy and friends. This Christmas will really be a special one even though there won't be a ton of presents, just my son who is much alive and he has his old personality back (not drug induced). We have been busy spending quality time together and much of that is with laughter. Praise God!

[Marion]

Hi Verona and Shane,

It's quit a story you all get trough!
Of course I recognize a lot of it.
I am convinced that the suffering for the family is much heavier than for the patient.
We got thru it, but the family is aware about everything is going on, special when you hear about the critical moments.

I went to hospital in Februar 2009 for an echo and they saw what I already feld, the condition of my heart was so bad that they dessided to keep me en started the screening for an heart transplantation.
That took about a month and thank god, my condition was good enough to get on the transplantation list.
Two times I went home to see if I could wait there.
Two times it went wrong and I was hopetalised again.
The second time my condition was so bad, I lost my mind and was not able to understand what they said to me.
On 30th of May they implanted the Heart Mate.
After 2 days I awoke at the intensif care and didn't know what they did to me.
I stayed there for 16 days, then after another 14 days I get home at 29th of June.

I feel very good now!
My condition gets slowly back and I can already do more than I did 1 or 2 years ago!
I did not had any pain, I'm very thankfull for that.
The place where they implanted the VAD feld, what we call, deaf... The nerves were not working.
Slowly the feeling gets back, but without any pain.
I do 2x a week fysiotherapy and 1x a week my Chinese pracktise. I also walk with my dog every day 15 till 30 minutes.

I can sleep on both sides.
The side where the led gets out, I organise with my hands so it will not be in a wrong position.
The other side is no problem, the only thing is that I feel the pump moving (it's like a baby turning around )
Is his back hurting him becouse of the weight of the battery's (mabey I can gif some tips how to ware it better), of is it in combination with the pain onder his ribs.
Is it possible to have fysiotherapy for that... or what do the doctors say about it?

We send to all our friends and family e-mails and we are also convinced that theire thougts and praying helped me through all thise!

I just wrote this without checking all the time if my English was correct, I hope I did not make too many strange mistakes

Best wishes and all my love