Medical Industrial Complex

I was really hoping Susan would have some good information on the FOCC diet.

I believe someone said several days ago that we can't talk about the FOCC diet here...

Digger, I thought you said you were leaving for good.....

"I'm curious how much memory on this server these idiotic cartoons take up, given some users obsession with them (I often have to wonder if some of these cartoon-obsessed posters"

Actually, Athena started the cartoon fest

Oh and BTW lots and lots of pictures on other threads, including your headquarters

and FYI, one little key of 1G can contain 100s of pictures, maybe you should enquire before making such ridiculous assumptions

actually, i think the problem is, the alt only thread was ignored by many. susieq's new thread about conventional/complimentary mix is thriving. i noticed some who post here going over to that thread and seemingly attempting to disrupt a great conversation.

in other words: some say they want the playground to themselves, but then can't stand the silence. they thrive on drama, division, and chaos. they also can't stand when others are enjoying civil debate - and even healthy friendships (note rainbowpony's comment about another thread andmilk and cookies)!

the best defense well meaning, right minded women here can do is ignore the disruptions on other, healthier threads. and forget about responding to the craziness with earnest, intelligent answers - it's just like speaking to someone who's high or drunk. different language!

(think digger hit the troll, oops! i mean nail on the head....

and marie, great post.

well, keep laughing, but this is what is known:

Why have chemotherapy after you've just had surgery to remove the tumour?

Cancers are made up of billions of cells that can travel from one part of the body to the other. Cancers that develop away from the original tumour are known as metastases. When only a few cancer cells have traveled away from the original tumour, doctors may be unable to detect them even with sophisticated scans and blood tests. These tiny metastatic deposits can grow and ultimately cause incurable disease.

Because we cannot detect these tiny metastases we need to learn from the experience of other women over years of research, which patients may be at a high risk of recurrent disease at some time in the future and which patients may be cured with surgery alone.

The goal of chemotherapy is to reduce the number of recurrences and to increase the number of women who are cured after a diagnosis of breast cancer. Research has shown that both premenopausal and postmenopausal women benefit from chemotherapy, and that chemotherapy given at the time of diagnosis can significantly reduce the risk of the cancer recurring.

and you know, well, who originally posted the link to that article.

My point is GNM has been discussed ad nauseum in the past.

And may I also point out that you do not know all the particles in HappyLibby's case with a recurrence of breast cancer.  I don't believe that Athena has a screw loose, as she has all the facts in Libby's case.

Bren

Give up Bren.  She is just too far from understanding the depth of friendship on the thread she is taking out of context.

man- i liked the cartoons- thanks Luan-they made me smile and I was in need of some smiles today (being sincere here). I couldn't help coming in and checking out the thread. Hope not to offend anyone with my presence. I read somewhere back about a zillion pages ago that chemo is recommended to everyone with breast cancer per national cancer institute..nope, in fact, my BS was thrilled at results from the ONCODX saying I didn't need it (but in my gut I already knew it and don't put on a happy dance for my low score since it is such a nascent test done on very few women-but it is non invasive and if my stats help another- so be it).

I chose a BMX for my very small cancer. Always knew I would if one spec of it was ever found in me long before it was. Just the way my brain works. It was recommended I get a lumpectomy and radiation and I said no thanks. Nada. Not interested. Maybe if one day in the future it comes back I will consider it but not now, not then, not for me. I will be damned if I will ever consider myself dumb or ill-informed for choosing the BMX. It is the one thing over which I have no regrets. Docs tried to dissuade me but then of course, let me make my own choice. My former onc grudgingly agreed with my choice on our last follow-up before he left the state. This is a top researcher who was devasted by my choice not to take AIs....he said, you know, you just might be right having done what you did. No radiation and no going back in for clean margins. I had argued I didn't like surgery and did not want them in there excavating multiple times. Go in once and have at it. If one made it, the other knows how to. Maybe not scientific but to me, what I could live with. Knowing my limitations.I don't need my boobs. The arguements over the AIs were not for me to contribute (or my insurance company to contribute) to the MIC, he just said it is the best we have right now. He did not say it was a cure or a guarantee. Never did he say that, nor had my present one. He was also glad I did not need chemo. Not because it was not effective some of the time, just because it is harsh. And he was glad to spare anyone that if they did not appear to need it. Again, who knows? We can only choose what is right for us. When I was getting my second mammo prior to seeing if I needed the biopsy several women asked why I was there. I said it looks like i might have a small bit of cancer but if I do, they are coming off. Without fail, each was shocked and said so. Now I did not bang them over the heads with MY OPINIONS as to how could they be advising me that I was hitting a fly with a proverbial sledgehammer when some were there to determine if they needed third or fourth surgeries from their own "small" cancers. I was told (from women I had never met before that day) that I was dumb, foolish, mutilating my body, etc. That i had to keep as muchof those boobs no matter what. hmmmmm....nope. never wavered. I was already internally freaking over the DX- having been scared out of my wits  years prior with some odd cells that my WONDERFUL docs watched closely over the years- which is how the found a tumor .5 cm at its largest diameter in a mammogram. Could I have left it there? Sure. And it might have taken another 8 years before it ever hit 1 cm. Who knows? Not me. In retrospect (always easier to look back) I know I had warning signs. No my boob did not hurt or change. My body was sending me off signals the entire year. My D level proved dangerously low (which interestingly enough I had been told by NIH researchers to watch -this was in casual conversation as we were discussing flu vaccines and my discinclination to partake of one after understanding it is just a scatter shot guess albeit an educated one that it will address the most likely flu strains that will pose danger in North America with the decision made six months to a year prior to each flu season-yet without fail each agreed that vit D was if not more important and effective than said vaccine, it was at least as good)-, I had unusually high iron several years before, I had repeat pink eye I could not shake, the list goes on.

But I still am not so smart. For all the taking care of myself I find my biggest battle now is not BC but quitting cigarettes. I even enrolled in a clincial trial at MD Andersen but in the end did not want the drug combo they were offering. Did not want to mess with my brain chemistry. So, once again, I have to do it the old fashioned way. Argh. It is harder than anything and if there was a drug that could help me without changing my fundamental chemistry I would gul it down in a minute. But instead, I will go back to the old man who does acupuncture and pins in my ears. I tried it two weeks after my DX with BC but was not in the right frame of mind. It worked and I willingly pulled out pins so I could smoke my head off to keep me company in my fear. I will go back. East, west....hopefully my truths are somewhere in the mix.

Quitting smoking was the single hardest part of my cancer treatment. Good luck, annettek. I'm 26 months out.

Early stage cancer is like crossing the Mafia and getting away with it. You live, but must forever glance over your shoulder.
Diagnosis: 3/2009, IDC, 3cm, Stage IIb, Grade 3, 3/8 nodes, ER+/PR+, HER2-

Annette, don,t blame yourself ! Everybody smoked back then: in movie theatres, in hospitals, everywhere. Nobody was aware of how damaging it can be, it is highly addictive. I remember how so totally devastated I was when I learned that my son had started (