Suzanne Somers on Dateline tonight

Iago,

One shouldn't spread rumors about chemo or it makes them look uninformed. I thought you would be interested in the facts that taxotere and taxol are definitely not natural. Now that you have the facts, I'm sure you will pass them along and won't accuse anyone who points out facts of being a "mean girl." 

I hope people will correct me when I get my facts wrong. We all need to be concientious not to generalize from what we assume.

I tend to agree with lago that many of us who choose traditional treatments also want to supplement that with alternative/natural treatment.  It's not a strict case of one or the other.  I definitely believe that the body is out of balance with a cancer diagnosis. Re-adjusting nutrition, adding meditation, exercise, ect. along with medical treatment is the only thing I would be comfortable with.  I could not go only alternative.

I began immediate dietary changes according to the "Anticancer" book  as soon as I got my Dx on Jan 6, 2011 but over the next 5 weeks, it did nothing to shrink my tumor, which is something around a 2 inch by 3 inch mass.  Chemo began Feb 16, 2011, and I'm still not sure the mass is getting smaller, altho it doesn't feel as hard.  I mean, I checked that stinkin' tumor every day when I changed my eating habits actually believing I could get it to disappear before I ever got near chemo.  I am still going to follow the anticancer diet, I do believe in it, but I need the medicine, too.

Some of your points, whichway2run, are valid, but I am extremely cynical of celebrities like SS, I will always believe they look for ways to reinvent themselves, even if it means playing up their illness, so as not to loose that spotlight.  As for her fame and fortune, who cares? It makes zero difference to me.   I, too, have an incredible life!  I would not change it for anyone's fame or fortune!  My cancer Dx has brought all that I've appreciated for so long into a much deeper level of existence, and my DH and DS have told me the same thing.  It is one of the silver linings of this insidious disease.

Does "standard of care" have anything to do with what the insurance companies want to pay for or is it really a medical decision?

MotherofPatient.....It's a "return on investment" discussion.  Insurance companies pay for what is most likely to be most effective and reduce their overall cost over the long term.

So a business decision based what have proven to be the most effective therapies or "standard of care".  Most of the real issues occur when treatment is recommended that is outside these guidelines.

Screenings and wellness checks also fit under the concept of reducing overall medical costs.  Of course, this also benefits the patient in that if you need less medical care, you are probably healthier.

If the insurance companies want a cheap fix, then wouldn't they be the FIRST ones to have us go for a chew in the forest???? This fear mongering about "big pharmaceuticals" not wanting to find the cure is such a load. People would pay MILLIONS for a cure.....

I think taxotere is derived from the European yew tree and taxol is from the pacific/ Chinese yew tree. Both are probably mostly synthetic due to supply problems. It could take 6 trees to treat one patient if we were to go the wholly natural route. Mistletoe does not present the same supply problems and has been around for 90 years in the iscador formulation. anyway, I'm thinking it might be something for me if femara side effects get intolerable.



Timothy, you are right about "medicine for the masses". I just read an interview where a famous onc was saying breast cancer is 200 different diseases!

VJSL8, which doctor did you see, and what were his recommendations?  Smoking does not make anyone a quack, how many parents speak one way and do things another?  That doesn't make them bad parents.

I predict that chemo, as we know it, will end.  There will not be any of these barbaric drugs that cause so much toxicity and damage to our bodies that some people cannot even recover from that treatment.  What makes chemo so horrible is that no supportive treatment is given to assist our bodies to tolerate it.  The day will come that we will see a cancer doctor, who treats the entire body, not numerous doctors who 'do their thing'.  That makes no sense to me at all, I imagine that doctor will use conventional surgeries and maybe radiation, but I see these types of treatment as things of the past.  The body will heal itself, if given the proper nutrition and care....even advanced cancers.  There are too many people who are being cured for this not to be true.  It is just that in this country, in particular, cancer and all health care, is huge business.  Bigger than anyone realizes.  It affects so much of our economy that the government wants to control the health care system.  

I agree that many people are on both sides of the fence and hopefully, they are open to all therapies.  What I do see, is that people are not willing to take the responsibility to make themselves healthy.  It is a lot of work and effort on the part of the patient, and most people expect doctors and hospitals to fix them up.  That hasn't been working for decades.  Good health and cancer free start with nutrition....your body cannot heal with any other approach. That is the beginning. Then sound and solid support of your liver and other organs must be maintained (again with nutrition).  There are no drugs that do this, and all those drugs are toxic to our bodies, too, though we are never told that.  Sorry, I am ranting again, but, I want everyone to know there is a better way to become well, and I am not saying conventional medicine doesn't have its place in health care.  I  believe the first step should be bringing the body to its best health possible, and testing to see where that level is.  How many are being tested to see the amount of cancer cells in your blood before, during and after treatment?

lago,

I am not here to fuss.  I don't mean the everyday healthy eating that most all Americans use as a diet. I believe in a well-balanced diet, limiting sugar and most grains.  Limiting and removing toxins play a big part, too.

I also went into chemo with excellent health, none of my tests showed any cancer or illness....only the mammogram showed a tumor. No family history for me either.  My energy levels were high and strength good, too.  My doctor gave me plenty of drugs to alleviate symptoms, but nothing really worked for me.  I am very petite, and my bone scan was excellent, and I attribute that to how active I am in my life...I rarely have time to sit because I always have a new project going on.  

Yes, I have issues from the chemo...numbness in my feet, more in one than the other and my stomach is still raw, though that is getting much better.  I, too, am just over six weeks out.  Surgery and radiation are scheduled next, though I have postponed that for the moment.

Doctors are not treating cancer for what it is...a disfunction of the immune system....it is not having a tumor in our bodies.  Tumors are symptoms of the disease we call cancer.  People don't always realize that, and doctors act as though removing tumors and hoping for a cure or remission is enough.  Remission does happen for those whose immune systems rebound from chemo, surgery and radiation, but only an improvement in the immune system allows cancer to be controlled.  My understanding is that all of have cancer cells in our bodies by the time we are thirty years old, and most of us have immune systems that keep them at bay.

My point is that doctors should be treating the entire body with good nutrition and complimentary medicine and supplements that will improve the immune system FIRST and during treatment of chemo, surgery and radiation if those are neccessary.  Until they start doing that, they are not doing all they can to allow us to regain our lives. 

WhichWay2run I'm not disagreeing with you but making the point that no one way will guarantee the results we want. Healthy living puts the odds in our favor for good health but doesn't always mean we will be disease free. Just like chemo or hormone suppression doesn't guarantee it will keep our cancer away… but better all odds overall for most of us that it will.

Tumours are EVIDENCE of this disease we call cancer, not the symptom!

Peggy you keep saying that the docs have to treat the whole body and I don't think you're getting the point that one doctor dosen't treat the whole body. It takes a village of them! Also, you cannot aggressively go natural while you are in chemo as the supplements you take will counter-act the chemo you are pumping into your system.

As you said, we all have CTC (circulating tumour cells) circulating in our bodies. We still don't know what turns on the switch for each of us. There are Olympians that get cancer....

So maybe get off your soapbox and take a little rest and see how this thread will continue.

Heidi, mistletoe is in Taxotere and some other chemos. Iago mentioned this on another post. So if you're on a Tax chemo, you're getting the mistletoe anyway. (they are now manufactured synthetically to keep up with production)

As for exercise, there are triathalon women on the boards that are still stunned they got cancer. So, though exercise and diet are very important to stay generally healthy, they are NO guarantee that you won't get and/or recur with your cancer.

barbe1958 I didn't say mistletoe is in Taxotere. I said Taxotere is derived from the European Yew Tree.  Just clarifying

Matty we discussed this already a few pages ago. I'm not getting into this again.

Matty you are entitled to your opinion. I never compared Taxotere to granola.

Mistletoe must be processed too. It potentially poisonous. It's not like you can start chomping on the berries hanging from the doorway.

I stand by what I say: "Taxotere is derived from the European Yew Tree" There are other sources for this information but I thought the actual drug manufacturer would be sufficient.

Would somebody post the company in the US that distributes mistletoe?

edited to add: I mean the company that refers people to doctors who use it in their practices.

And what gauge needles do they use?