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Radiotherapy Damaged Lung - Urgently Need Remedies for Shortness of Breath

Posted By Nicki (London, U.K. ) on 05/23/2021

Hello all - I’m Nicki.

I have just finished treatment for breast cancer brought on by an assault & I have had a continual trickle of illness ever since!

I had radiotherapy after having two tumours removed.

Because of covid I had a different radiation schedule - every day for 5 days I had a 3 day dose.

Unfortunately, the position of the tumours meant that my lung got hit by the radiotherapy - a CT scan revealed that there is damage to the lung.

I was having bad shortness of breath problems - severe & quite out of the blue. My GP tested my blood oxygen - it was only 81-82% so I was shipped off to hospital where they diagnosed COPD!

I'm not sure if it is COPD, I think it’s because my right lung has shrivelled & gone hard from being hit by the radiation, more tests are going to be done in a couple of weeks - including a camera to look at a 5mm polyp in my lung - I pray this isn’t cancer!

I just started H2O2 inhalation after reading all of the wonderful info by Bill Munro - what a brilliant man!

I thought I’d try oil pulling too - but after the H2O2 so as I know which helped me most.

I’m a Dog walker of 10year standing, out all day everyday walking so to not be able to take 4 steps without gasping for breath is crazy - it literally went to that overnight & I feel as though I’m about to die as I’m suffocating & just can’t get any air inside me.

Does anyone know of anything that I may also be able to do to help my hard lung to recover?

I’d be very grateful to try anything that may help me to get my business back as the Dr’s told me last week that I have to quit.

A single Mum with a dog walking business as the only income, with 3 kids - 1 at university, quitting just isn’t an option, I’ll lose our home & I just can’t let that happen! Having read most of the posts here in the last few months I feel confidant that someone may know of something that I can try! I find it very reassuring to read all of the positive comments & posts - thank you all for sharing your experiences to help others.

It makes such a huge difference to read so much positive stuff - thank you all so very much!

Nicki

Replied by GertJr (Madison) on 05/23/2021

My late husband had radiation for lung cancer. I vaguely remember them telling us side effects, but the diagnosis was jolting and we didn't pay attention. I urge you to read up on that aspect. Yes, radiation will affect the tissues that the beam goes through. In our case, it was bone (causing brittleness-a cough could break that rib), surrounding skin (markedly difference, very crepey) and the lung itself. He had multiple lung collapses over the next several years, involving chest tubes and pleuridysis (introduction of an irritant to cause injury in the hopes that the injured tissue would then 'stick' itself to the chest wall and not collapse anymore). All that is said not to scare you, but you should know so you can get treatment quickly as timely treatment yields better outcome.

Going forward, ask about respiration therapy. They can teach you techniques for maximizing air intake, exercises to maximize the 'stretch' of your entire chest, nutrition pointers to reduce mucus production and increase breathing capacity. If they put you on oxygen, use it wisely--my husband tried to show that he didn't need it, which caused lack of oxygen to organs and resulting damage. We used H2O2 sprayed from the saline spray bottle, it gave a boost of oxygen at times. We also used oregano oil and colloidal silver to prevent infections (you are at increased risk of pneumonia). Wear a mask (common these days) to prevent breathing in particles of dust/pollen/etc.

The point is to maximize your health. If you need to lose weight, do so. If you need to get sugar under control or you blood pressure, do so. You have been dealt a hand here, do you fold (give up) or do you strategize to maintain your life? One last thing. If the docs want to prescribe inhalers, try to use single medication ones and then only do one at a time, to see if you have a bad reaction. My husband got hives from albuterol, which is the go-to drug. In an emergency, hives is acceptable if the drug keeps you alive but not as a daily use thing. Also, inhalers include various agents to carry the drug into your lungs. Those elements can have effects of their own, so just beware. Maybe a drug works but the formulation has to change. (nebulize the drug only versus inhaling the drug plus carrier powder). Good luck with your journey. You may not be able to 'cure' the hard spot, but maybe you can prevent it from spreading. If not, maybe you can increase capacity of the other lung.

Replied by Cindy (Illinois, USA) on 05/23/2021

Hmmm...you really want DMSO BEFORE you get zapped but it may stop a "cascade effect", if there is one...I'm not sure. It would certainly support the body's efforts to make repairs but success would depend on the extent of the damage.

I use DMSO straight so I'd just put it on my chest, ASAP, and repeat once the taste in my mouth began to subside. If it got too uncomfortable, I'd douse it with a spray bottle of water and wipe it off, then wait for the taste to subside. I'd do that for an hour or so and go to bed so the body could work uninterrupted - I.e. without having to deal with me freaking out about it.

This is what I'D do but I can't really recommend it as, while DMSO doesn't scare ME, a lot of people find it frightening and it sounds like you're frightened enough, as it is.

If I was frightened, I might try a 50/50 mix of DMSO and either distilled water or aloe juice, just once, and go to bed, then just do that before I went to bed for a few days. See if it helps.

Replied by Tessa (Okanagan) on 05/23/2021

Hi Nicki (London) –

The most important thing I can advise is optimizing your Vitamin D3 levels. It’s vital for so many things – especially cancer.

According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, the correct test your doctor needs to order is 25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the better marker of overall D status.

Here’s a link to an article written by Dr. Mercola about Vitamin D3 and cancer.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/12/07/vitamin-d-to-prevent-tumor-death.aspx

If you read some of the comments at the end of the article, you’ll find a number of posters who have or had cancer. It’s always good to hear from people who know first hand about the experience and what they did.

A few other things you might want to do is get a digital fingertip pulse oximeter to monitor your oxygen saturation (SpO2) so you know that what you’re doing is bringing in results. Your doctor should know a good inexpensive one to get (pharmacies, home health, etc.).

Someone on this forum recently mentioned the Buteyko method of breathing. Patrick McKeown wrote a number of books and is featured on some of the YouTube videos:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=buteyko+breathing

The next time you see your doctor or go in for tests, you may want to ask about using an incentive spirometer, which is a device that helps you recover from surgery. The hospital or clinic usually gives them out for free.

Here’s an idea of what it looks like and what it does:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/4302-incentive-spirometer

In the meantime, are you able to apply for disability until you can get back to your job? You’ve been through so much.

I’m sure others on Earth Clinic will have some suggestions as well.

I wish you all the best, Nicki. Let us know how it goes.

Take care,

Tessa

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