I may decide not to do chemo and radiation

Anonymous

Me too, did not opt for the radiation and chemo that a few oncologists wanted me to do. I also did not go back for more surgery when the first was too borderline to the cancer to make them confident in my surgery. Especially when they knew I was not going to do the traditional medical.

That was three years ago, since the surgery. Almost two years ago after going it on my own with the choice treatments I wanted from some alternative doctors, I knew I was not winning, you can just tell when it turns on you again. Went to another oncologist, a gentle one that does not believe in every treatment be the same, thank goodness. He told me the radiation would not have done a bit of good for me and the chemo would have been overkill for the ER+ PR+ @ nearly 100%. He sent me to a breast cancer specialist who agreed with his theory.

Talk about feeling like I had dodged the bullets!

Between them, I am on Faslodex injections and Arimidex. Within a few weeks the stage iv cancer had reduced to pin dots and my nodes were no longer swollen, my health improved, pain reduced, energy was good again.

Sometimes it is not meant to be the usual medical. And sometimes the usual medical treatment is needed. Talk, listen to your body, your choice of doctors and learn all you can. Then take back your life, do not allow the cancer energy to consume you either.

One of the most important and viable lessons I received from my beloved oncologist was to take back my life now, it was under control possibly even going......... and i was to stop studying and worrying and live again. There will be a point for all this along the journey.

pstrous

treatment or not, that is a tough question. You may wish to research really well what you are doing. Perhaps the following helps: .... from my own research I've concluded that estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, IGF1,2,3, GH, HGH etc are all involved in the Western cancers because their primary role is to promote growth...... The macrobiotic diet that had some successes in the past has the strength that it is nearly plant based. We are basically plant eaters, just add B12 because our hygiene does not supply us with enough bacteria. This is what the China study tells us, this is what the WHO data tells us, this is what dr mcdougall tells us and after having done my own research, they are right. http://users.tpg.com.au/freestro/cancer.pdf

Cee67

It's been a bit since I was here, but I wanted to reply to you Bluebird: You're on Faslodex?

I've heard that Faslodex is similar (or the same - can't recall) to the pill form of the drug BZA (Bazedoxifene) which is only available in UK. I didn't know you can take it with Arimidex.

I'm not one to follow celebs and the things they do, but I always recall Suzanne Sommers espousing the benefits of BZA. Of course she can go to UK and get it whenever she wants.

I'm rather afraid of long-acting injections, and I'd like to try BZA in the pill form. I've read that BZA isn't supposed to have as many SE's, but if you read about it, it reminds me of other AI's in that department. I read that Faslodex is gentle? Do you think it's gentle?

labelle

"Yes, it seemed bizarre to eat clean, work out every day, eliminate toxins from my cleaning arsenal at home, lose weight, get rid of parabans in my hand lotion, throw out my precious lavender scented products, buy organic, etc etc while getting in my car to drive 90 minutes each day to receive an enormous dose of radiation. "

Not to me, LOL, since that's exactly what I did/am doing. Well, I don't drive that far for my poison, but out went cleaning products, beauty products, plastics, nail polishes, perfumes, etc.

We all have options.

I use Frankincense rather that lavender. It smells just as nice and is less worrisome.

Hindsfeet

This thread is interesting. I used to come a lot to the alternative threads, however, due to the drama I quit. There have been a few times I have been tempted to just drop in and did not, but the last few threads in the alternative, while scrolling by it...it caught my interest.

I am one who decided when dx with stage 1a (2011..Dec) to declined chemo. I hoped at that time a mastectomy was enough. I will admit that cancer recurrence was on the back of my mind due to the punch biopsy. Sure enough a few years later, I am dx again with cancer. This time it was stage iv. The PET scan lit up like a Christmas tree. I had done my home work years earlier naturopathic vs conventional meds. My oncologist said my life expectancy was six months. If I did chemo a bit more. I chose not to do chemo. If they couldn't cure me why suffer. I decided I would not do anything that lessen quality of life.

Most of my friends are into holistic health for various reasons. I was given so many essential oils, supplements, herbs,  juicers, red sauna, and more! My head was swimming with everything thrown at me. It would be a full time job doing it all. I again began doing a lot of research. There are more "cancer cures" than you can shake a stick with. I know people who have been cured going all natural, holistic medicine, diet and exercise. I also know people who died using only alternative. I know more who died the chemo route. I met one naturopathic doctor who said those who do both live longer.

 Thus, as I began my stage iv cancer journey, June 13, 2014, there was a lot of trial and error. You have to learn what works for you. We are not all the same. No one can tell you what to do or not to do. I learned that the doctors are not going to tell you everything. When they recommend a treatment or meds they do not tell you all the horrible side effects that can happen to you. You have to do your home work. In the end, it is your choice. You are your best advocate to how you want to fight the cancer battle. We must respect one another's choices.

The good news is for me, I am still alive, driving, and working. People tell me all the time they would never know I had cancer if I hadn't told them. With that said, I have had a lot of complications from what conventional treatments I had. Radiation was brutal. I had to because my spine had fractured. They put a port in for Herceptin/Perjeta weekly treatments. The port after a few weeks developed a massive blood clot around the catheter. It had to be removed so now I get to worry about a blood clot and blood thinning meds that I reacted to. Nothing is easy. But, I do believe, I am still standing strong because of alternative medicine. The nurses say they are surprised that I am still around. Very few with all the many tumors I have last that long. I had Gamma Knife for 4 brain tumors. So far my scans say tumors are shrinking or stable.

I've chosen quality of life, which means no chemo. And with what ever treatments we choose or not choose it is a roller coaster ride.

 

Meow13

Hindsfeet sorry to hear about your brain mets. I am with you do what you need to live. You can't look back and say if I did chemo I would be OK now. Chances are it wouldn't have helped anyway. No one knows how long we have. Concentrate on feeling good. Praying for you and every one of us dealing with this disease.

Hindsfeet

Thank you, Meow.

 

AlaskaAngel

Hi Hindsfeet, good to see you!

I agree, each person has to make those decisions as best they can, one way or the other. I do find it very questionable for anyone to define success just by whatever it is they chose to do (as in, doing "x" saved my life). I can't say that chemo did squat to help me as a Stage 1a, or that it didn't. I can say truthfully that not doing trastuzumab means that unlike the majority who get it now regardless, I know it did not save my life.

Even so, by a long shot I would do trastuzumab, though, rather than chemo, but that choice wasn't made available to me at the time.

And how can healthy choices plus lack of abusive practices not stand a strong chance to improve one's lifeline? Glad you are finding your way through the confusion, Hindsfeet!

Hindsfeet

AA ... it hasn't been easy, but I'm still standing strong. I'm doing the Rick Simpson oil that is supposedly a cancer killer. I've used it just a few times, and I've seen a difference. It is helping me a lot. I have to do it for 3 months before we can see if it's seriously shrinking and or gone.

 

Kjones13

Ok dumb question--I've heard several people say they are using cannibus oil. How and why?

Meow13

How do you get cannabis oil? What are the side effects?

Cee67

I am on the oil - I have a thread in the Alt section called 'Treating Stage 3b Cancer with RSO".

I actually am in stage 4 - my orig Dx was not accurate, and I have not seen results from using the oil, though I never got up to the 1 gram a day they say you have to get to. I'm sensitive to the oil. I can have unusual reactions to meds and did not want chemo which is why I chose oil. I have SE's to it, too - more than many do - but, if I stop the oil the SE's go away. There's nothing permanent.

Cannabis oil, aka RSO or Rick Simpson Oil is made by using a solvent that strips the THC/CBD (active ingredients) off the plant. This liquid is then cooked down into a thick, sticky oil that is so concentrated, an uninitiated person who takes one drop the size of a cooked grain of rice will be knocked out for several hours. A person is supposed to work up to one gram of oil per day, for 2 months, and cure their cancer. As they gain tolerance fatigue and being high become much less.

I was fully functional at 30 drops per day (1/2 gram). It wasn't until I tried to up my dose again that I had some bad issues.

Everyone moves up at their own rate and we're not all the same, but my collective (where I get my oil) had an aggressive dosing regimen - to double the dose every 4 days. IF you can do it you'll be at a gram a day in less than a month.

Cannabis oil has shown great promise against brain, liver, prostate and skin cancer. I knew when I began that there hasn't been as much press about it and BC. I don't think it works as well against it. Some women claim they've cured their BC by using oil alongside chemo. Oil seems to work well at keeping cancer from coming back after the chemo gets rid of it.

My collective told me that cannabis oil is being studied for TNBC with promising results.

I'm a complete layman, but I feel the reason it doesn't work as well on BC is because there's no way to apply it near the breast. Oil works wonders on skin cancer because you can apply it directly to the lesion.

Taken rectally, oil gets close to prostate cancer as well as liver cancer. You can't apply it to those organs, but the liver and the brain are the two organs mainly responsible for metabolizing it so they are getting what amounts to direct dosing I wonder if stomach cancer could be helped with it, given the most common way to dose is ingestion.

Oil is horribly bitter so it can be put into capsules for easy swallowing Some put it on food (a teeny bit in yogurt adds unique flavor no matter the variety) but once you're at big doses there's no way to hide the taste...and it burns the throat. Capsules are best.

Ok, not trying to usurp the thread, but I'm pretty useless here on advice...but the oil is something I do know about and have direct experience with.

I live in a legal state for cannabis (California) and can find RSO at many dispensaries, but be aware that most RSO found at the store comes from compassionate donations from marijuana growers. They use their leftovers and off-cuts to make the oil. I've tried this kind of oil and it's strong, but, if you're going for a cure, it's best to have someone who knows what they're doing to make the oil for you, using only the flowers of the cannabis plant. The flowers are where most of the good stuff is! Plus you can hand-pick your varieties. Store oil is a mix of plants and strains. You'll never know how strong it is and each vial will be different in its constituents.

If you just need oil for pain or stress relief, store bought oil may be fine. You'll have to buy some to find out.

Search You Tube for 'How to make Rick Simpson Oil' and you'll find lots of tutorials. Ignore any that show people cooking it indoors. ONLY cook it outdoors.

I'm no expert but can answer questions. PM's are welcome as I don't want to hijack this thread; but please note I can be a slow responder...but I WILL respond. If something is really urgent I try to get back ASAP.

For those who were curious, I hope this helped and made sense. It's late and my oil is kicking in so if I rambled, that's why

Cee67

Meow, you can get oil wherever it's legal. SE's are sedation/tiredness/fatigue, which get better over time. It can cause a little queasiness at first, or if you take too much. It causes coordination issues. Have you heard of chemo-brain? Well, we have "canna-brain!" LOL! Oil can cause memory lapses, searching for words, forgetting your thought in the middle of a sentence etc., anxiety, happiness and laughter, hallucinations.

It *can* cause more severe SE's like a drop in body temp, a drop in blood pressure, heart palpitations, hallucinations.

ALL of these SE's will go away if you stop using oil. Nothing is permanent. Take oil before bed and sleep through most of the unpleasant SE's.

hersheypassion

Inga6060,
Can you explain more about the "greek blood test"? Cost? I live in St.Louis, can you recommend an integrative doctor in my city?
I am also doing tumeric and other supplements, such as turkey tail and maitake mushroom capsules, green tea....I had a lumpectomy for Stage 1a 2 months ago and am currently getting radiation for 6 weeks. I choose not to do hormone therapy...I am ER/PR+ and Her2-, clean nodes and margins. I bought DIM but will wait until radiation finished to start taking, as was advised by my Rad.Onc.

Thanks!
Hershey/Passion

Hindsfeet

Cee, thanks for your posting. I am learning about the oil. I have done it for about a week. I mix it with coconut oil and put it directly in my mouth. One night I took 2 grains (rice size) and I got a little high. I felt my senses were hyper. I went right to bed. I had plan to do a small rice size in the morning but I was a bit wobbly so decided not to do it until bed time. I'm only taking 1 rice size now so not to get hyper. Guess I will work my way to doing two and more.

I have an excellent source in Oregon for cannabis. They make it for you at a fair price. I buy it from the farm, and the people running the business really want to see people with cancer heal.

 

bigmc

I had a lumpectomy last  September for stage 2 IDC. Did a lot of research and decided not to do radiation, chemo or tamoxifen, because it seems to me that a lot of people get sick from their cancer when they start getting treatment for it. I was so stressed when first diagnosed about having to undertake those  poisonous treatments, and since deciding not to  a great weight has been  lifted from my shoulders. You have to go with your instincts.  I'm taking metformin and aspirin and having 6 monthly MRI and ultrasound. If it comes back, I'll have a double mastectomy. Cannabis oil sounds very promising but we still don't have medical cannabis here in Australia. Should happen this year with any luck.