Having difficulty making decision

Anticancer: A New Way of Life (Hardcover)
by David Servan-Schreiber (Author)

I copied this from Amazon.com.  I noticed also there are a couple of utube videos of him, though I didn't view them.

Thanks, Amber  I try to be as inspirational to others as my friend has been to me!  Since you found her testimony uplifting.. I will share a little more.  It is on some other subjects.. but I don't remember which ones!

I have known my friend since kindergarten and I am 59!  We had lost contact, but reunited at our 40th class reunion, Sept of 07.  I was dx w/ bc in April of 08 and when I told her.. she said, I had cancer 10 years ago and if you would like me to share my story, I will!  She had lost her sister to bc 20 years ago, and also her dad to cancer.  She witnessed their tx, though we all know it has improved... she said if it ever happened to her she would "find another way"  When she was dx, she had a very bad experience in our small upstate NY town and said they spoke to her as though she didn't have long for this earth!  She said she prayed just that thought...to find another way.... went upstairs and saw an ad for Cancer Treatment Centers of America.She called them the next morning and made arrangements to go there.  They did a 2nd surgery, and still suggested chemo and rads, but when she went for her first chemo tx, one thing led to another and she was there a long time when she said, never mind... I am not going to do it!  They directed her to their spiritual counselor who immediately gave her a copy of The Artist's Way by Julie Cameron and then to the nutritionist who armed her with much knowledge that she did!  Over the years, she said she did see counselors and medical intuitives, went to sweat camps etc. but the rest is history.  Currently she takes a blue green algae supplement from some place in Oregon  I think it is called Simplexity Health...and also bone up from Life Extension.  I'll tell you  what!  People can say what they want... but 11 years cancer free sure speaks to MY heart!  

Peace and Health to all

I just spent the last two evenings reading through the "I Quit" thread here on this site where I found a wealth of information and links about the many alternatives to Tomox and AI's plus a great reading list of books that deal with this very topic. 

I was supposed to start Tomox a few weeks ago but everything in me is telling me I need to understand this more fully.  Five years is a long time to be on a drug... I think I need to take a few weeks (or even a few months) to learn a lot more about ALL the options.

Thanks Anom! and to everyone who has opened my eyes on this site.

While I admit I did go along with my Onc up until this point (mostly because I was too sick, tired, and just too scared), for several reasons, I am not feeling good about this hormone therapy.  I am not saying that I am not going to try some form of hormone therapy.   I am just realizing that I am just one of many patients and that my doctor is human and I need to learn a lot more than my doctor can tell me in a 30 minute visit.

One of the things I learned this week is that Tamox can cause uterine cancer.  I take that VERY seriously.  It is anti-estrogenic to the breast while at the same time, acting as an estrogen to the uterus.  That means while it counters breast cancer recurrence, it promotes uterine cancer and the growth of fibroids. While this won't happen to all women it will happen to some.  Before BC, I spent the last 15 years dealing with this very issue.  I want to live and  I do not want another round of BC but having said this, I am not looking to trade one cancer for another. 

Relative risk vs. absolute risk and survival value just got added to my list of terms I need to understand better!  Thanks!

Carol, that is an inspiring story....I  met a lady who runs the bread store here, who shared a similar story...she had surgery...couldn't afford chemo or tolerate the effects, put it in the lords hands and has been cancer free for quite a while.

Runner, iam with you on the adverse effects, the uterine cancer though rare is a concern...and the liver effects had me even more concerned. My BC diagnosis is similar to yours, did you have the oncotype dx done. I scored a "7". which meant if I took tamoxifen, I had a 7% chance of recurrence....I have a 25% chance of recurrence if I don't take it based on adjuvant....It is something I think about...and this coming Friday I will have my first mammogram post diagnosis.

I read alot on "I Quit" too.

Anom, you always make me smile!

hugs and happy thought in Jesus,

Amber

HollyAnn - Like you, I did everything "right" - breast fed my 3 kids (over 1 year each), active, ate healthy, not over weight etc, etc and I still got BC.  Its not that if you do all the things you won't get BC, it just lessons the "risk" so to speak. But walking (exercise), eating healthy, good weight are all things that minimize odds of re-occurance, but don't guarantee...but then again, remember these are all things that are healthy and good for you.  Exercise provides many benefits - helps with stress, helps with my sore joints from AI's.  My goals is to feel good (physically and mentally), be healthy and hopefully reduce my risk of mets.

Yazmin-  Thanks for this info.  So that means most people are hearing that 43% risk reduction and believe that the medication lowers their chance by that amount because there is no clarification;  I am getting it right?  That is so misleading.  So when I go in to my onc on Thursday and ask her to clarify whether the statistic is relative or absolute is this when I get the blank stares that anomdenet was referring to?!?

Springtime- I was referring to the information about uterine cancer but my search started on the "I Quit!" thread where there was a lot of other really great information (indole 3 carbinal, grapeseed extract, the idea of cutting the pills in half as a way to get acclimated [with docs approval], diet and suppliment info... too much to go through here), links, articals and a reading list about the risks and alternatives to hormone therapy.  I am sure I could have found a lot of this on my own if I kept digging long enough but since I am still at the beginning of my quest for knowlege, it was nice to find so much in one place. 

Karen1956- You are right.  I too was doing the "right" things so getting BC has been a bitter pill to swallow.  However, now, excercise and diet mean more to me than ever.  When I hit my lowest point last year during treatment, my doctor wanted me to go on antidepressants, I decided instead to turn to diet and excercise and used it to pull myself back out of the black hole.  For me it worked.  It is pretty hard to feel sad when those pounds melt away, and your skin starts glowing, and you know you are in the best shape of your life.  This is one of the many reasons I lay awake worrying about hormone therapy- joint pain- hopefully I will be one of the lucky ones this time.

runner4life: to answer your question: yes, that could very well be the reason for those blank stares in your doctor's office.

Also: please check out the attached report from the highly reputable International weekly journal of Science. This article is being circulated within my support group by the group leader (who, I shall point out, is a Registered Nurse and not at all a fan of Alternative Medicine). Our group facilitator felt compelled to provide us with this information because this research seems to show that Tamoxifen may not only be ineffective on HER+ tumors, but might actually be ACCELERATING those tumors. As a result of this article being circulated, one of my fellow support group members discussed it with her oncologist who appeared immensely embarrassed during their face-to-face and took her off Tamoxifen (she is HER+). That doctor was aware of the report, but had her on Tamoxifen because.................that's what the protocol still says.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v456/n7222/full/nature07483.html

Choices are difficult, indeed.

runner4life: You go, girl. You make your own decisions. Good luck with your appointment.

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      • thomcat wrote:
      • How in the world could I possibly exercise to prevent recurrence when I felt really crappy and was gaining weight while taking the drug?  Next, I was prescribed Aromasin. 

And I am saying: AMEN. Faced with the dreadfully low ABSOLUTE statistics benefits from both the SERMs and the AIs, I decided to do none. I am faithfully doing very high-impact aerobic exercise plus weight lifting every two days,..... and no slacking. I am practicing what I consider "dietary excellence" (sorry, I realize that this sounds kind of huge and lofty, maybe pompous, but I don't mean it that way). Anyway, I am feeling BETTER than I did when I was 24 years old (could not care less about diet, back then). I have lost a lot of weight and am able to dress in cute, tight-fitting, color-coordinated business suits and skinny "little black" dresses. Of course, I spend hours and hours on the net researching any supplement or new food that I am planning to incorporate in my diet. I am feeling upbeat and happy. I sleep really, really, well and wake up totally refreshed and very happy (Oh, what a beautiful dreary day...). But that's not the good  news.

The good news is that my GYN, my General Practitioner, and my Onc all agree that "whatever I am doing," I am doing great. So just keep going. I am 3 years out. In another 2 years, God willing and fingers crossed, I am not setting foot in an Onc's office anymore........if I keep doing this fantastic. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers.

I wish everybody on this Board who is not feeling so great to start feeling the same way I do. And thomcat, you are right: making decisions is so personal that there is no right or wrong way to do it. There is certainly not a single way to do it.

So: to our pinkiest of health. All of us here.

Thomcat,

Your story breaks my heart. We are learning Tamox and AIs can be disablingly toxic. If you are looking and feeling haggard on the inside/outside, what is it doing to your vital organs such as heart liver, lungs?

I still haven't found the overall survival advantage statistics on AIs. I do know the drug company cooked the books when revealing the report to the National Cancer Institute a few years ago. So the company had to revise the report.

And as we know, many breast cancer patients have died taking AIs and Tamox til their final day.

And you, go Yazmin! You are an inspiration.

Anom

Dear EWB:

I am happy that AIs are helping you so much. And there is no doubt in my mind that your diet/relaxation/meditation are at least some of the reasons why the drugs are working out for you.

Please be well, too.

Yazmin- I truly believe that the extra things I am doing make a big difference in how I feel and how treatment is working.  The less stress I place on my body, the more support I give myself ----- physically, emotionally, mentally ---- means more energy to fight and deal with the disease.  Since I am stage 4 (was at dx) I want to do everything possible to extend life AND improve QOL.

Sweet dreams to all...Elaine

Hi, Cathie

I've been through the same exprience a few years ago. At first I was so afraid to have all the medical treatments, I tried to find some alternative medicine. And I found some Chinese Healing Herbs for breast cancer. Herbs that may be helpful are black cohosh, chasteberry, dang gui, dong quai, wild yam and soy. These herbs are typically administered orally (in pill form). Your medical provider will determine the dosage based on your weight and tolerance.Try to get a second opinion that available in your area and I recommended this site that may help you with the information www.talkaboutcancer.cn

new-becca ~  I notice that you've mentioned that referral website in every one of your 5 postings to date, and I'm just curious if you are personally connected with it????  

Cheryl60: Indeed, we are all in this for the long haul. No wonder you are feeling that way: you are, as you put it yourself, a newbie. You are not yet used to being a cancer patient. I remember thinking: What? Me, cancer? But cancer is for others! This is not for me..... Then I realized that it is not a death sentence. Please keep on and keep on  And if you can find a local support group, I personally feel that makes a HUGE difference.