Today marks a day that I thought I’d never see. May 28th 2020 marks 5 years that I’ve been in remission from Mantle Cell Lymphoma. In some ways I am reborn a new person who is in better health now than I was when I was 30 years younger. So Happy 5th “Rebirthday” to me!
While we are all in kind of a shock over the last 3 months worth of COVOD-19 events, life still goes on for many of us. There are birthdays, anniversaries, marriages, babies born, religious milestones, graduations and other important dates to celebrate. May 28th, 2020 is my personal day of celebration for several reasons with the most recent being I have had no signs of cancer in 5 years. For folks who have had cancer – that 5 year mark is especially notable.
The medical community uses the 5 year mark after diagnosis to evaluate the severity of an illness. Obviously the higher the percentage who survive after 5 years – the less severe the illness is predicted to be (Someone could die 5 years and 2 days after diagnosis and still be counted in that survival statistic). For Mantle Cell Lymphoma – that number is 56%. This doesn’t take into account the severity of the illness or stages. This number is an average of all cases. I was stage 4 and had a VERY advanced case. The doctors told me that a stem cell transplant was the only way I would make it and we had started the process of trying to find a donor match. Then I went into remission. No one could actually believe it at first.
The agreement is that my age at diagnosis (50/51), being female, and living a healthy lifestyle for years leading up to my diagnosis played a significant role in my outcome – how I handled the chemo treatments successfully and mitigated its harmful effects afterwards. I was way too advanced – I needed the chemo at that point to get rid of the toxic load of cancer cells in my body so they didn’t overtake me (my WBC was 240K of mostly lymphocytes – many irregular). But my healthy lifestyle helped me get back to feeling better than ever and looking great on paper with a perfect CBC, among other things.
While some things you cannot help such as age, sex and genetics – you can actually influence your genes in a positive way and mitigate health problems by living a healthy lifestyle. Generally speaking – a diet of unprocessed and mostly plant-based foods, moderate exercise, the ability to handle stress in a more “positive way”, getting adequate rest, avoiding toxins and overcoming nutrient deficiencies and enhancing cellular health with certain supplements is almost always agreed upon universally. The details within each of these factors is what’s almost always up for debate: Eating animal products vs. 100% plant based; GMO vs. Non-GMO (never GMO in my opinion); What forms of supplements are best?; How much exercise is too much?; Is fasting good and how should I do it?; I could go on and on because there’s no one right answer for many of these – the answers depend on who you are as a “bio-individual”. What works best for one person may not work for the next within each category. But the above general rules are for living a healthy lifestyle are a great place to start.
The immune system has been my focus for the last 5+ years due to having cancer of the very cells that are supposed to protect me – a key component of my immune system. It seems like now everyoneis focused on their immune system so that they can easily handle the COVID-19 virus should they be exposed. Now EVERYONE is paying attention to how and why their immune systems work. Many people are seeing the importance of maintaining a healthy immune system. Those who are compromised in some way are the ones “targeted” by the virus and have poorer outcomes. Having a compromised immune system could mean many things. You could have another condition such as a cardiovascular disease, diabetes (a group who seems to be faring the worst (Type 1 followed by Type 2), chronic lung disease, kidney disease, an autoimmune disease, cancer or something else that already is pushing your body to its limits. Now it has to handle a virus on top of that. You could also be like me and have a deficiency in your immune system due to heredity or chemotherapy (like I have where I don’t make certain antibodies yet that would recognize and kill invaders to my body – hoping that someday soon they regenerate). Or you could have nutritional deficiencies that have been shown to impact the mitigation of the inflammatory syndrome that occurs with COVID-19 and is what’s linked to poorer outcomes. This study, published in May 2020 – also illustrates the role of certain nutrients in modulating a healthy immune system while mitigating the inflammation caused by an immune system overreacting to deal with the virus.
To summarize the study observations:
-The Mediterranean Diet which is high in unprocessed fruit, vegetables, legumes, olive oil whole grains, nuts, seeds and monosaturated fats, followed by low-to moderate consumptions of fermented dairy products, fish, poultry, wine and lastly low consumption of processed and red meats is associated with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory compounds including essential vitamins (C, D, and E) and minerals (zinc, copper calcium, etc.) that affects a personals nutritional status.
-The Western Diet, characterized by high consumptions of processed foods such as refined grains, cured and red meats, desserts and sweets, deep fried foods and high fat products is linked to high blood sugar and high lipid levels which are linked with inflammation, metabolic complications and chronic disease. People with those diseases (cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, asthma etc.) are most susceptible to having poorer outcomes with COVID-19.
-Food groups/nutrients that are anti-inflammatory and/or support healthy immune system function include:
– Fruits and Vegetables
– Fish and Fish Oils
– Vitamin C
– Vitamin D
– Vitamin E
– Zinc
– The primary conclusion is that it is vitally important to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle during the pandemic, especially for the most vulnerable in our society.(Now where have you heard that before….?)
To read the entire study – COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation: https://www.mdpi.com/720056
So I am going to continue living my healthy lifestyle the way I have been because it is my best insurance policy for staying healthy – whatever comes my way. And because the 10 year survival rate for Mantle Cell Lymphoma is less than 10% – I do have a challenge ahead of me. For now I will celebrate and take each day at it comes. Before you know it another 5 years will have gone by…
