I was diagnosed with brain cancer a couple of months ago. First I had surgery. Then I had radiation. The illustration above is what that looks like — they stick you into this mask that they bolt down to the table so you can’t move. Then they stick you under the radiation for 30–45 minutes. And yeah, it’s about as pleasant as it sounds. The machine makes a variety of unpleasant noises, it’s incredibly hard to swallow because they stick a strap in your mouth, and I also had a hard time breathing. They had to provide me with an oxygen tube.
However, all of that is over now. The tumor has been taken from my brain. Unfortunately, they did what is standard medical procedure — they made sure to excise the margins. That means healthy brain cells were affected.
So far, I have managed to escape the plight of being a drooling vegetable, so I guess not a lot of healthy cells were taken. But I did notice I had balance issues. I have been using a rollater to walk because I don’t want to fall.
It’s a royal pain.
And of course there is the worry that I may not be as mentally sharp. For some reason, this disturbs me. After all, I’m a geek, I’ve always been a geek and I like being a geek. I don’t want to lose the IQ points that make that possible, but I may have already lost them. I noticed after my surgery that it was harder for me to focus.
I started to do some research. Were there ways to help my body re-grow neurons?
After some scouring of the net and tracking down actual journal articles from reputable sources (easier said then done) I came across something I thought I could try.
I decided to fast.
And, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
After all, when I was younger, I’d occasionally done a fast for spiritual reasons. Not really long fasts — just a few days. But one thing I noticed — when I fasted, my concentration became better and I could think more clearly.
The research suggested the same thing.
Apparently if you fast more than 17 hours, you get something called autophagy. This does many good things for your body, but among the effects — it may actually help build neurons.
I figured I might as well try it. After all, it was free, an important factor given the reams of medical bills I’ll be facing. And while fasting is never fun, at the same time it’s not exactly torture.
I decided I’d try to fast for 36 hours, since I wanted my body to get several hours to rebuild neurons. Unfortunately, hunger got the best of me and I only managed 22 hours.
That’s not because I’m a wimp — the other times I’ve fasted I went a few days with no problems. But I’ve learned to listen to my body. And it went beyond mild discomfort to out and out loud demands. I gave in.
It made sense to me because I know my body is trying to heal and fight the cancer. It needs protein and vitamins and good nutrition.
I broke my fast with some bone broth, an excellent source of nutrition. Then, about an hour after that, I had a simple meal of pastured eggs, toast made with Ezekiel bread (which is made from sprouted grains) and a spinach salad. Really healthy and nutritious.
I didn’t notice any results, but I figured it would take more than one repeat. So, I ate as normal for a couple of days, then tried again today.
And, it’s had astonishing results.
I mean, it could be a placebo effect. I don’t rule that out. However, already my balance is better and my mind feels sharper.
Again, the mental clarity may just be a side effect of fasting and have nothing to do with rebuilt neurons. But the balance? It feels like my brain is beginning to heal itself.
Will this continue to work? Will I continue to improve?
I’m not sure. However, I’m going to keep giving it a shot. What have I got to lose? A few meals? It’s not like my plump Western body will miss them.
My strategy is to try this long fast a couple of times a week. I figure any more and I might do more harm than good, since my body is still trying to heal and needs good nutrition to do that. I will try to build up to a full 36 hours once a week. But I’m not going to push myself too hard.
Given what my body’s been through in the last couple of months — I want to be gentle with myself. The cancer has already been rough on my body, I don’t need to add to that.
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Previously Published on medium
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The post I Just Started a New Strategy To Heal My Brain After Surgery appeared first on The Good Men Project.
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