UPDATE FROM KASSEL

Firstly, many thanks to those of you who have sent messages of support and wishing me luck - sorry not to have replied to them individually, but I really appreciate knowing that I'm thought about in this new step into the unknown. I'm glad to say that in spite of a busy week leading up to coming to Germany, everything went smoothly and the journey, although tiring, was straightforward. I was very glad to arrive, because the abdominal bloating has been getting worse again, to the point where it's now not only pretty uncomfortable but also hard to bend down to put my shoes on, and it's causing pressure upwards onto my lungs (making me short of breath) and downwards onto my bladder. In addition, a few days before I left the UK I also started getting swollen ankles and feet. There can be various causes for this, ranging from serious to not-so-serious, but memories of my mother's very swollen legs in her final weeks made it quite a scary development. 

So I was extremely relieved to be going somewhere which might help with these symptoms. My impressions of the Arcadia clinic have all been positive: it's a fairly small place, situated in a residential part of town in an elegant old building. There are 3 doctors, 5 nurses and a receptionist, who all get to know you very quickly, so the care is very personal and I feel in very good hands. The apartment I'm staying in is a 10-minute walk from the clinic, and is a delightful light airy place with Scandinavian-style decor. It's around the corner from a square containing several cafes, a bakery, a supermarket and a well-stocked organic shop, and it's lovely having such a comfortable base for my stay.

Treatment started on my first day, after consultations with 2 of the doctors, but the plan for the rest of my visit is being worked out with me as they see how I am and how I respond. The basic rationale is to improve my liver functioning; to address the high levels of inflammation in my body; to use natural anti-cancer agents against the tumours; and generally to support the functioning and metabolism of the healthy cells. So I'm having daily local hyperthermia (heat treatments directly to the liver and lungs) - tumour cells don't tolerate heat as well as normal cell and are therefore more susceptible to damage - combined with various intravenous infusions which target the above areas of concern.  There's also a daily treatment with a pulsed electro-magnetic field machine which aims to increase cell metabolism and improve energy levels. (A lot of these treatments are similar to what I had at Dr Herzog's clinic from 2011-12, but with newer technology and drawing on a wider range of materials.) 

In addition, I'm booked in for a lymphatic drainage massage with one of the nurses, to improve circulation and (hopefully) reduce the swelling and bloating. I've also seen the doctor who specialises in diet (he spent many years as a radio-oncologist but now also practises nutritional therapy), and he's come up with some suggestions about supplements specifically to help liver function, plus a diet which changes the body's metabolism to make it as inhospitable as possible to cancer cells. I'll post more about that later, as it's a topic in itself. In addition, I've had a couple of "counselling" sessions with the doctor who specialises in psycho-oncology - not exactly what I was expecting, as it was quite structured, but very useful thought-provoking. So its a very well-rounded, holistic approach, and it really appeals to me.

However, although all the treatments are "natural" (as in, not using manufactured drugs), they're certainly not negligible in their effects, and on my second and third days I've had a kind of detox reaction, with cramping and digestive upset, and feeling generally shaky and weak. It's made it hard to eat - which of course adds to the disturbances in metabolism and well-being - and I've felt totally exhausted. Apparently this isn't unusual, and is also a kind of feedback to help find the right balance between maximising treatments while giving the body time and rest to process them: this makes sense to me, and I've felt very well taken care of when I've been unwell, but I must admit it hasn't been very pleasant (as well as a stark reflection of how very low my energy is at the moment). So forgive me for not writing more at the moment - I will do when I feel a bit better and can do it justice!