Sat, Mar-05-22, 05:07
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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Man given six months to live in 2014 puts survival down to keto diet
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Man given six months to live in 2014 puts survival down to keto diet
Pablo Kelly was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer eight years ago and turned down conventional treatment, instead opting for the ketogenic diet
A man who was given just six months to live when doctors discovered an inoperable brain tumour eight years ago has put his survival down to an unorthodox method. Pablo Kelly, from Wrangaton, near Plymouth, turned down chemotherapy and instead opted to practise the ketogenic diet - a meat and fat-heavy diet.
Pablo says doctors have labelled his his current health as "miraculous" but continue to offer chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The dad of two had been engaged to his fiancee for two years when he began experiencing headaches.
He tried to ignore the pain but a seizure at work led him to seek medical help. Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Pablo was given an appointment at Derriford Hospital which he thought would be to discuss options with his oncologist.
However, the hospital had initiated radiotherapy in order to treat his cancer as swiftly as possible. “I was sent a letter which I thought was to go and see my oncologist to discuss options but it was actually them fast tracking me into radiotherapy,"
"So when I thought I was meeting the oncologist, I was actually meeting the radiotherapy mask fitting guys. I turned up with a pretty ‘caveman looking’ beard and they told me I needed to be clean shaven, to which I replied saying ‘I thought I was here to meet my oncologist’ but they said they were starting my radiotherapy.
“I just went along with it, as you do when you’re a bit confused and scared to say no. I was just thinking ‘I don’t want to do this’ but I continued to go along with it. So they got some scissors because they couldn't find a shaver anywhere and they hacked at my beard for like 20 to 30 minutes - got rid of most of it and I left the place looking homeless.
“So I got the mask moulded to my face, they got me into the room where they were going to measure me to the machine for the radiotherapy and in the pit of my stomach I felt a very negative impulse. I just thought I can’t do this and decided I needed to speak to the oncologist. After meeting her I just said ‘is this going to give me a long life and what sort of longevity am I going to get if I go down the route of chemotherapy and radiotherapy?’”.
“She said statistically, 12 to 13 months but with someone of your health maybe longer but we don’t know.”
When Pablo suggested trying a ketogenic diet the oncologist told him that she didn’t think it would do him any good. But Pablo wasn't impressed by the side effects of opting for chemotherapy which would likely see him lose his hair and make him infertile. He said at that point in his life he was wanting to start a family so that wasn't an option and told the oncologist "that wasn't good enough".
"If I'm going to die anyway, which you're telling me is pretty much the outcome anyway, I'm going to choose something else", he said. "So I declined it there and then.
"I just went with my gut instinct and that's kept me going ever since."
Pablo could have had sperm saved and used fertility treatments but by declining conventional treatments he has had the opportunity to bring two children into the world naturally. Pablo's eldest has just started nursery and his youngest will turn one this summer.
In another unusual twist, Pablo says his keto diet has caused the shape of his tumour to change - making it operable. Pablo explained: "Essentially from my understanding of it, over the course from 2014 being on the ketogenic diet helped keep the tumour at bay. It changed shape and made it more accessible for surgeons."
Pablo is now recovering from his second awake craniotomy - a lengthy and risky operation on the brain that requires the patient to remain awake to ensure surgeons do not damage any part of the brain.
“I actually told all the surgeons that I loved them, they laughed their heads off," Pablo said after his second operation. "They told me no one’s actually said that in an operation before.
“So I was made dopey, they cut me open and brought me back to cognition so I was aware of what was happening. From then on I was doing all sorts of exercises - I think it was about a four-hour operation.
“During which, towards the end in fact, my hand disappeared. I literally couldn’t move it, I was willing it to move but there was so much response. So basically they’d touched something that was impacting my motor neurons.
“It was completely terrifying - I was just doing the exercises where I touch my fingers one by one and then back the other way and then suddenly I couldn’t touch my finger.”
Pablo managed to regain the use of his left arm through intensive rehabilitation. But while 90 per cent of his tumour can be removed, some has remained on Pablo's brain.
He said: "I can't work, I can go for medium to long walks but my stamina just isn't what it used to be. My ability to push my brain is reduced significantly, to the point that if I was ever to overexert it I would have a seizure."
Sadly, despite the operation, Pablo still has terminal brain cancer but he has been using his story to inspire others via his blog and website, Pablo's Brain Journey. With the disease having weakened his immune system, Pablo fears his mercury fillings could be causing him some serious issues - saying that he has a migraine and a metallic taste in his mouth.
Pablo has contacted a dental practice in London who remove mercury fillings holistically, which means the toxicity and leakage of the mercury into the body is reduced by using supplementation and other techniques. The removal costs just under £3,000 and now Pablo is appealing for help so that, in his opinion, he can extend his life and improve his quality of life.
Doctor's have advised him to use the NHS but Pablo believes it is much safer to go private.
Before ending the interview, Pablo offered some words of wisdom for anyone going through the same situation as he is. He said: "For anyone who is going through the same as me, just going through a diagnosis the best thing you can do is ask about quality of life and quantity of life.
"You should ask about how it will affect you and your family, and how you can achieve a normal way of living with this horrible, horrible disease. It's disgusting how it affects you, I mean you can't work and those who do go back to work are killed by stress, which is horrible.
"Just make sure you ask the right questions and don't get bullied into doing something just because you're told it's the only way - always look for an alternative or something you can put alongside the treatment which will benefit you."
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https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...s-live-23284312 |
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