My Cancer Update
– My Mind is Keen; My Body is Compromised –

Dr. Al Danenberg Nutritional Periodontist

April 9, 2023

If you have been following my cancer journey from the onset, you know I was diagnosed with incurable bone marrow cancer in September 2018 and given 3-6 months to live. Spoiler alert, I’m still here! But not without a fight, and I’m currently facing another battle.

Multiple myeloma is a complicated form of cancer where plasma cells in the bone marrow become malignant. Plasma cells are responsible for making antibodies that recognize and attack germs, so this puts my immune system at a severe disadvantage. At the time of that dire initial prognosis, I was given the option of chemotherapy, which would continue to damage my already weakened immune system in an attempt to kill the cancerous cells. I believed that the collateral damage to healthy cells from the chemo outweighed the potential benefits. And my oncologist was candid that the chemotherapy would not cure this malignancy.

So, I rejected the chemo (but not all forms of conventional medicine) and set out to figure out how I could maintain the best quality of life for the time I had left.

This led to the creation of my Unconventional Cancer Protocols. I was coming from a foundation of good health (you can read more about my background HERE), but there were some important adjustments I made in order to create the most robust immune system I possibly could. I’ve written about those at great length in previous blog posts.

However, setbacks occurred.

A major setback took place in August 2019 when I broke my right femur and my right humerus in half as well as several ribs – all at the same time. That put me into a hospice hospital to die. But amazingly, I recovered; I revoked hospice in September 2019; and I continued with my Unconventional Cancer Protocols.

I did quite well while following my protocols until I was exposed to the COVID virus. Then, a series of setbacks ensued. The SARS-CoV-2 virus reactivated my multiple myeloma by stimulating my malignant plasma cells to aggressively create dysfunctional antibodies. And I contracted COVID three time –  in June 2021[1], in January 2022[2], and again in December 2022[3].

COVID played havoc with my overall health and specifically my plasma cells. The virus caused my multiple myeloma to become very active which created an abundance of dysfunctional antibodies in my bone marrow. These dysfunctional antibodies continued to weaken the internal surfaces of my bones. The results were numerous pathological bone fractures. Today, I am dealing with several rib fractures which take their time to heal.

Unfortunately, COVID turned into Long Haulers COVID, which has caused my body to continue to feel exhausted and weak. In addition, the further activation of my multiple myeloma led to anemia. The dysfunctional antibodies were crowding out my healthy red blood cells and platelets. The myeloma also was preventing the normal creation of red cells and platelets. My hemoglobin and platelet counts dropped to low levels. The first lab results to confirm this were on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

On Tuesday, April 4, 2023, I had my regular 4-week appointment with my oncologist. My doctor ordered the same blood tests that have been monitored since my diagnosis in 2018, (CBC, CMP, and specific antibody blood tests). The results showed slight improvement in my hemoglobin but more deterioration in platelets. In addition, there were increasingly higher levels of dysfunctional antibodies being produced.

 

NLR

I also have been monitoring my NLR.

The NLR is the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio. Neutrophils and Lymphocytes are two different white blood cells that can be identified in a Complete Blood Count (CBC) blood test. It is a reliable blood marker for systemic inflammation in many chronic diseases and cancers as well as a most robust marker for COVID. In addition, it is an indicator of the survival prognosis for multiple myeloma patients. A rising NLR may suggest a poorer prognosis as multiple myeloma progresses.

A normal NLR is between 1:1 and 3:1. In this published study, the average NLR for hospitalized COVID patients was 6.15. When that ratio rose above 8.17 in the study, the risk of death increased. Strikingly, my NLR on 11/2/21 was 42.0 – a seriously disturbing level when I was diagnosed with COVID in November 2021! However, I was able to significantly reduce the NLR as I healed from COVID using my Protocols after my first bout with COVID.

This time around with Long Haulers COVID, my NLR was 11.6 on March 7, 2023, and then increased to 22.3 on April 4, 2023. My goal is to reduce the NLR from 22.3. I was able to do this before, and I am determined to do it again!

 

Where Do I Go From Here?

As I said, I am diligently working on reducing my NLR and returning to a stable state with this cancer.

In the future, a transfusion of packed red blood cells might be necessary.[4] But for now, my diet and gut health are two of my major efforts to regain the most robust immune system I can. And my oncologist agrees that my animal-based diet with an emphasis on organs and animal fats has a lot to do with the improvement of my hemoglobin.

To that end, I will continue to follow my Unconventional Cancer Protocols. But I will add a new product to the three desiccated organ products which I already consume daily. The new product is Life Blood from Heart & Soil.

 

Life Blood contains whole blood extract from grass-fed and grass-finished pastured cattle in New Zealand. The extract is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and various immune proteins. In addition, Life Blood has spleen and liver in the mixture. These vital nutrients and peptides should help to improve my iron stores, oxygen delivery, and endurance.

My way of eating will stay the same, but I will include more cooked organs more regularly. I have found a good source of liver, heart, and kidney mixed into a pound of pastured grass-fed ground beef that is easy to stir fry and delicious to eat. The farm is The Family Cow in Chambersburg, PA. There are other sources for this mixture, but I have found The Family Farmer to be dependable and to practice ethical husbandry.

 

I don’t have a panacea for curing my malignancy or any other cancer or chronic disease. As I have repeatedly said, creation of a robust immune system is critical for overall wellness and healing. My protocols are based on the case reports and papers published by The International Center for Medical Nutritional Intervention in Budapest, Hungary as well as my independent research of the gut microbiome and other external factors affecting cellular health.

 

Conclusion

I appreciate you being here and supporting me along my cancer journey. If I had a choice, I would have never wanted to be the face of unconventional cancer treatment – I’d choose to be healthy instead! But the information that I’ve found during my fight has been life changing for me, and I’m grateful that I have this platform to share my findings with you.

If you can take away anything from the information I share, I urge you to take control of your own health. My methods may seem extreme, and they need to be! I’m counting on them to provide me more days.

Now is the perfect time to make changes to your own health. Remove toxic elements from your diet. Exercise. Prioritize sleep. Limit stress. And if you need guidance to help with a specific issue or have questions on how to get started, please reach out. I’m here to help. My goals are to have no one suffer through illness as well as to assist everyone regain a robust immune system.

 

[1] https://drdanenberg.com/my-cancer-journey-i-think-i-had-covid/

[2] https://drdanenberg.com/my-roller-coaster-cancer-journey-march-2022-update/

[3] https://drdanenberg.com/my-cancer-journey-a-new-surprise/

[4] https://www.mymyelomateam.com/treatments/blood-transfusion

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19 Comments

  1. You are truly an inspiration. I hope you are around for a long time as your message is so important. Thank you.

  2. Thank you for continually keeping us informed. You are a blessing to us all. I wish you continued healing and increased health.

    Happy Easter.

  3. I wish I could better express my heartfelt feelings in words; I’m overflowing with appreciation for your sharing your experience and what you’ve learned with all of us. Yes, what an inspiration and what an enormous blessing you are. Thank you.

  4. Thank you so much Dr. Al, I love that you are taking the best approach to your health. I continue to garner information from people as yourself and others in the world fighting various types of cancer. I learned alot from from a series of videos by Ty and Charlene Bollinger called “The Quest for the Cure”. I took lots of notes and have been researching since my husband was diagnosed close to a year ago of stage 1B pancreatic cancer. I believe inorder to treat cancer you need to eliminate what was the source of the problem. I believe my husband has a metabolic syndrome. So we addressed getting those issues addressed. Also to boost his immune system. So far his last blood work showed marked improvement in the right direction. He is doing better with his diet. Just not exactly where I would like to see, but better than before. I have incorporated ozone therapy and IV Vitamin C. We have added Ancient nutritional supplements and colostrum along with various things like berberine, beta glucans, Boswelia Serrta, Curcumin with Bioperine. I am sure I left something out. I regret ever doing the biopsy and the three rounds of chemo. Which I think did more harm than good. We will continue our fight and will pray for you and others I have added to my prayer list. I say “TO HELL WITH CANCER”. So good to hear you aren’t giving up!! Many blessing to you and your wife. You aren’t alone in the struggle. To us be the victory and to God be the Glory and the praise.

  5. Been following since 2018 doc it’s been great to see you still keeping us upto date. It has helped shaped my diet

  6. Heartfelt thanks Dr Al for sharing of your great knowledge, your challenges as well as successes. I’ve followed Lynne McTaggart of the UK in her ‘intentional healing’ endeavors and wisdom regarding holistic and integrative healing (author of Power of Eight, among others, also co-editor of WDDTY i.e. What Doctors Don’t Tell You). Related to your ‘unprecedented sharings’, according to her belief, when one is intending for another’s health and wellbeing, i.e. you do this via your skill and care of others, through a rebound or mirror effect, one might experience a benefit to their own health. Unending gratitude Sir.

  7. I’ve lived with stage 4 cancer for 9 years and appreciate what you do. My approach is similar. I wish you all the best and will keep reading your updates.

  8. Thanks Dr Al for always sharing your journey. Many use your journey to improve their life. You are an inspiration to say the least. We enjoy hearing about you and your wife.

  9. Thank you again for your informative blog. As soon as I see a new post, I stop what I’m doing to sit down and read it. I ALWAYS learn something new and useful for my own well being.
    Saying a prayer the des. blood and spleen help your numbers improve. Using organ meats (and eating carnivore) has improved my health more than anything else I’ve done.

  10. Thank you for sharing your journey and all of your successes with us. You are an inspiration to us all. Wishing you continued success & continued health.

  11. Thank you for the update, and I will continue to pray for you. <3

  12. You are a remarkable man and I believe in what you have taught. You have helped me and I pray for you to be here for a long time.

  13. Like everyone else I appreciate this blog so much! Our family eats ground beef with heart and kidney 🙂 the kids just think it’s ground beef…
    I find it fascinating that you are trying peptides, the evidence so far shows they are almost too good to be true, they are amazing and did you hear the world olympic committee banned them because they are so effective – yet they are just peptides!
    Do you incorporate any gut microbiome treatment (sorry if I didn’t see it on your blog) – Doctors like Nasha Winter and Grace Liu use certain strains to modulate the immunoglobulins in cancer treatment.
    Thank you, again, for being informative and inspirational!

  14. Al, You look great!! My husband is responding well with your protocols, just had a setback requiring bypass in his leg and toe amputation, which has left him very anemic. Three months ago he started beef organs from Heart and Soil and after reading your update, we will add their blood supplement as well.
    We are glad to hear you found Heart and Soil.
    Thanks for your generous posts and insights, they are an inspired blessing for us.
    Love always to ypu and your wife.
    Susan and Mike J.

  15. Dr., I have limited vision and have not read all comments; however, some time ago to help close relative diagnosed with cancer I found info on high-dose melatonin (180mg per day) by Dr Shallenberger based on decades research of Prof Reiter PhD. Not sure this would help your type of illness.

    • My Blog which I will post on 4/23/23 is on Melatonin and my new Protocol.

  16. What a generous man,Dr Al !!!
    And strong one,too !!

    I so wish you win the battle and fully recover to your health !!!!
    I pray to God to give you long lasting joy and blessings, and life
    To continue to work, give and educate people in need
    You are an inspiration, dr Al !!!

    Thank you for your really generous support!!

    Elena
    Bulgaria


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