My Cancer, Part 2

So far, my diagnosis only tells me that it's everywhere in my body, because it's (Non-Hodgkins) Lymphoma, Stage 4B. Stage 4 means it's travelled everywhere in my body, via the lymphatic system, the one that produces white blood cells. Instead of fighting off whatever infection comes along, some of these lymphocytes (see https://www.healthline.com/health/lymphocytes#function) have gone over to the dark side, becoming enlarged and creating, rather than solving, problems. (Caution: underinformed, layperson, allegorical talk.)

The diagnosis came from an oncologist via lab analyses of about five bits of my liver via a needle biopsy. Like many with this diagnosis, my only symptoms have been excess fatigue and vague cold-like symptoms. A test for flu was negative. A week of Tamiflu did not help. Unknown: how long I've had it, where it came from, and if there are any solid masses lurking in my body. (A PET scan should reveal anything of that nature, yet to be scheduled.)

On Feb. 24, I will see a second oncologist, and may be immediately scheduled for the prescribed PET scan. This is being done through the VA; when services such as the ones I need are far from home or outside the VA's ability to handle directly, they authorize third parties in my community to take over my care (and fund most or all of it). When analysis of this scan is complete, my oncologist (at Shore Cancer Center, Somers Point, NJ) can put together a treatment plan. I will consider allocations available to me, and remain in control of my own care. I will avoid unproven or dodgy remedies.

As I mentioned in the last post, the first oncologist told me he thinks he can cure me. My sole reason for switching: that oncologist does not work with the VA, and PET scans can be quite expensive. 

A second, and secondary, matter is the question of how I got this lymphoma. I have joined a mass-tort action with thousands of others who suspect it may have started with exposure, years ago, to Monsanto's Roundup (and now, continuing exposure through environmental contamination). As my VA physician pointed out, people have been getting this disease since long before Roundup's invention in the early 70's. Monsanto, now faced with thousands of lawsuits from alleged victims, continues to assert that Roundup is safe for humans. However, at least 5 plaintiffs have been awarded large settlements by juries; one of them will not live to get any money. Monsanto will doubtless follow Exxon's game plan: appeal until all the plaintiffs are dead, and all their survivors are in nursing homes.

Some eye-opening links for the curious:
1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWM_PgnoAtA

2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JszHrMZ7dx4

3) https://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/press_releases/foee_5_environmental_impacts_glyphosate.

pdf

4) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717330279

5) https://www.weedkillercrisis.com/topics/the-link-between-non-hodgkin-lymphoma-cancer-and-roundup/

6) https://www.sott.net/article/328165-The-ubiquitous-presence-of-glyphosate-now-found-in-vaccines

7) https://www.momsacrossamerica.com/glyphosate_testing_results

...and many, many more.

Link #1above and several others contain an interview with a Monsanto spokesman* who asserts that "Roundup is so safe you could drink a quart of it and it wouldn't hurt you." The interviewer, being prepared for this statement somehow (or just calling his bluff) says "We have some here. Would you like to drink some? Answers: 1) I'd be happy to...not really. I know it's safe." 2) "I'm not stupid." 3) I'm not an idiot." It's a must-see.

If you seek to avoid glyphosate by avoiding all GMO foods, beware: some non-GMO foods are deliberately killed by Roundup before harvest. Why? to accelerate the natural drying process for crops that must be dried before harvest (animal feed comes to mind). Yet another reason to go vegan; there's no regulation requiring food producers to reveal their use of Roundup.

Monsanto claims that "over 800 studies" have proven Roundup to be safe. What they don't reveal is a) all these studies were financed by Monsanto, and b) substantial evidence exists (via the legal discovery process) that the studies themselves were ghostwritten by Monsanto employees.

I asked oncologist #1 if one of my liver biopsy samples still out in the field could also be tested for glyphosate contamination. His answer: No Can Do. "I can't order any test (such as a test for glyphosate)  which is not medically indicated." When I persisted, asking if such a test could be done if I thought I'd been poisoned and knew that I'd been exposed to glyphosate (true), his tone changed. "Contact a lawyer." I took his advice, in the form of joining a mass-tort suit to that end. (you can join if you've been exposed. https://www.weedkillercrisis.com will take your info, as will many other sites. Many, many law firms are eager to be part of  the action. There is no cost to any plaintiff; if they win, you will get some share of the settlement. (Depending on the number of participants, it may be quite small.)

While I will persist in my quest to bring justice to Bayer/Monsanto, I will not let this sidetrack me from getting cured. 

What would justice look like? No amount of compensation will bring back the dead. I propose the "nuclear option:" revoke the Bayer/Monsanto corporate charters, liquidate their assets, and use these funds to heal the surviving victims and remediate the global environmental damage these monsters in nice suits have caused, in their depraved indifference to anything other than enhancing their profits. Those executives not sent to prison must be enjoined from holding any corporate or public office forever, and fined for their complicity in their employers' crimes.

Prosecution should extend to those in "our government" (actually government-services corporations, complete with D&B registrations), such as the FDA official who recently presided over the EPA's decision to reapprove glyphosate for use in the U.S. The decision was accompanied by public comments by Assistant Administrator for the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Alexandra Dunn, who stated, "There's no risk to public health from the application of glyphosate." Have a quart, Alexandra.

*Update: the interviewee is unidentified in the linked videos. He has been revealed to be