You have raised a delicate question indeed regarding the diet of your wife.

Firstly, allow me to commiserate with you and your goodlady and to share our common commiserations as on the same date I lost a 45 year old daughter to BC.

I'll quote a couple of anecdotal tales which might help in deciding on an appropriate diet and possible treatment.

I was a fit man until around the age of 43. At this stage I adopted vegetarianism. Around the early stages of this diet health problems began to arise which I put down to middle-age rather than the diet. At the age of 58 I had to have an emergency quadruple by-pass after being on the diet for over 16 years. Prior to that I had suffered from other ailments that required surgery but at no time did I suspect that there may be a connection between the diet and my accruing health problems.

On recovery from the cardiac operation I resolved that if I were about to die that I was going to die happily, so abandoned all care and took to saturated fats. I returned to bacon and eggs for breakfast cooked in animal fat (dripping/tallow) with fried fatty-steaks, chops, stews, and etc at other meals. Much to my amazement not only did I recover rapidly from the post-operative effects of the operation, but, today, some 16 years after the operation, I am in remarkably good health with no aches nor pains, off all MDs prescription pills, and continue to believe, and feel, that I still have a future! Had I left my care to the medics or nutritionists I'd be dead by now. Reading Aitkins and others came later.

My daughter who passed away on February was 5' 9" tall and size 24! She was a city-dweller who lived on so-called healthy fast-foods cooked in the microwave.

The indisputable evidence that is arising today is that insulin is a killer, and, so too, are almost all fats/oils that are not saturated and probably all processed foods. Using the microwave for cooking is also suspect.

Because of your goodlady's indisposition I would be hesitant to subject her to a diet that is too low in carbohydrates which could cause severe constipation so that's a no-no! Neither you nor her need this additional problem. However, a reduction in carbohydrates could go towards improving her condition.

Not only have I been honing my diet over the past years but for the last 10 years I have developed an interest in pharmacology and would like to make a couple of suggestions to you (off topic) which might be of some help to your wife. If you adopt them, then you do so at your own risk, but, I am unaware of any known risk from them.

Your wife may be getting Phenytoin to help relax her muscles but this drug has a wider utility of which most MDs are probably unaware. If she is not being prescribed this drug then it is worthy of consideration. Not only will it help to relax her physically but will also help her emotionally.

Add ubiquinone (CO-Q10) to her diet. Purchase the dry substance and add it to her meals at around 100 mgs 3 times daily. You might wish to take some yourself to increase your own energy level.

There's an old and well researched drug on the market that again has a broad utility, yet, paradoxically, it has not been fully tested; it is Hydergine. Your MD may recognise this for use in cases of senility which is rather regretful. It is a very useful brain preservative and can cure heavy snoring and ADHD-like behaviour and it is certainly worthy of testing it on your wife at 4.5 mgs x 4 daily (or approximately every 5 hours).

Those substances are benign, non-toxic, non-addictive, they are not narcotics, and generally are not contra-indicated. I take them on my own volition and have done so for the past 10 years and I have experimented with them and hence the reason why I feel reasonably confident at recommending them to you. If your MD dismisses them then they can be purchased on the open market if you feel sufficiently confident to do this.

I recognise that you might be slightly overwhelmed at this advice, but, the discretion is solely yours whether or not you wish to adopt it.

Both you and your goodlady have my very best wishes.

PS The word queried, 'foopah', should read 'faux pas'.