My Dad and The Power of Vitamin C

In January of 2020 our family received news that we all dread. My dad was diagnosed with cancer. He started feeling unwell right around Thanksgiving and  had a couple of appointments, including a scan, before Christmas. The scan gave enough information that we all kind of knew what was coming. But that didn't make the official diagnosis in January any easier to hear. 

My husband and I had been taking high doses of Vitamin C for 2-3 years at that time. My mom had started to take a daily dose herself. My dad hadn't been as convinced, but when I asked if he was open to the idea of getting high dose intravenous treatments he agreed immediately! In fact, he dove in headfirst finding a place where he could receive infusions and researching himself. Good fortune had me in Florida visiting when we had his first appointment there. My mom and I went with him and met the woman who runs the clinic. 

The picture above was taken the week we all gathered for our family visit in Florida. My dad has lost a lot of weight but was feeling pretty good. He started taking high doses of Vitamin C orally back when he first started having symptoms in the fall. That helped him feel better long before he started any formal treatments. That week was bittersweet. We were all so happy and grateful to be together, but of course we were all worried about the unknown future. There were many tears shed when we said goodbye. Dad was set to begin his chemo and vitamin C treatments the next week. I tearfully told dad how PROUD I was of him for trying something outside of the "box". His oncologist was not being exactly supportive of him doing Vitamin C, but he was going forward with it anyway. I told him, "It's going to work. You have to believe and keep your spirits up! It's so important!" He said, "We'll get it done." Oh man, we were a mess!

Fast forward 3 months and we received just about the best possible news. Two out of the three lymph nodes they were tracking had decreased so much in size they were back in the normal range! The third was also down by a significant amount. Altogether the improvement measured about 90%. The Doctor said she was expecting a 30% improvement AT THE MOST. Yet, when my dad mentioned that he had been getting 100 g of Vitamin C intravenously twice a week, she was ambivalent at best and mentioned how it can "interfere" with the chemo! It's difficult to understand that statement, when she herself already said he was doing much better than she expected! 

Needless to say, we are thrilled and just want to share our story. There are many, many stories like his being shared! Throughout the first 3 months of treatment, everyone was amazed at how amazingly well Dad was doing! He had virtually zero side effect from chemo, continued to exercise regularly (golf, walks, even pickle ball! and the occasional swim). His weight came back up a bit and stabilized, his appetite was good, and he generally felt as healthy as ever! He will be continuing his treatment plan of chemo and vitamin C and we expect to see continued improvement. 

Post Script: I originally wrote this post over a year ago. After one more round of chemo + vitamin C infusions my dad was in in remission. He is doing so great! 

Amazing results!

I made these shirts for our family and I love how they turned out! It’s not really a super power, but it sure feels like one!