Complementary and integrative approaches

SherriG, You're a foster parent? Good for you. I did it for many years and found it very fulfilling.

Merilee You're right she was the fool, but I should have gotten up and walked out of her office that first visit. If nothing else I've learned we must be our own advocates in this process.

Quality of life in breast cancer patients during chemotherapy and concurrent therapy with a mistletoe extract

http://www.phytomedicinejournal.com/article/S0944-7113(10)00217-5/abstract

IF WE"RE GOING THROUGH HELL, LET'S KEEP GOING !!

To go back to the question of sensitivity to aromatase inhibitors.........there is some research (sorry, no link at the moment) postulating that GIVING ESTROGEN for a limited time to women with stage 4 disease, will  'kick start' their tumors into being sensitive to an anti-estrogen again. This is when they have been using AI's for a while and ceased to have a response, presumably because their tumors became sensitised to the drug.

I've heard of that too.  But only in reference to stage IV women.

Merilee- You have a good idea to start a new thread to call attention to CAM. So much gets lost in the natural girls thread because it is so long. Sadly, whenever we stray off that thread controversies follow, so I do not usually do not even read other threads, but I thought I would list some of my protocol in case anyone is interested.

It has been a lot of trial and error, but finding what works for me has brought me vitality that I never thought possible. We all must peel our onion, and get to the roots of our health issues. Cancer is not a crap shoot. It has causes. We must all figure out what caused our cancers and then do all we can to change the environment inside and outside to keep our bodies from being suseptible again. Here are some of the things I have learned that have helped me:

1. Detox- I have used all kinds of ways to get the toxins out of my body, and the toxic people out of my life. For those people who still upset me, but I love anyway, I have learned to take long walks and bike rides to help me deal with it. I no longer let others problems become my own. I have used many things to detoxify. I have done some cleanses with specific supplements, and I sit in a far infrared sauna regularly. I also take a supplement to keep my liver detoxified.

2. Digestion-It all starts with the gut. If our food is not digesting, our bodies are not getting the nutrients, no matter how well we eat. The stomach is the first line of  defense against disease.So getting my gut in order by eliminating all kinds of things that caused me gut issues has made it possible for me to no longer have cramps, indegestion, bowel issues, etc. If the plumbing is working, the body stays cleaner and our cells absorb nutrients.

3. Nutrition-I found a plant based diet was good for me to start out with. It is the best way to cleanse, but it did not sustain me very well. It did help me to lose weight, but now I follow a mediterranean diet. I have small amounts of meat, very very little starches, lots of herbs, garlic, olive oil, etc. I do not eat much fish because of he mercury issues, but I love it so I do have it every couple of weeks.

4. Supplementation-After testing for  a couple of years,  I saw my blood tests fluctuate constantly with different brands. I finally switched to a pharmaceutical grade brand (Usana) and my numbers are staying up. I especially try to keep my vit D level in the 80's or above. I do not believe we can get enough nutrition from food only. I just cannot chew that much food in the course of one day. I do have an organic garden, but that is not available year round, even though I can some for the winter. Since Usana has great combos, I have been able to limit my intake of pills to about 8, two times a day. I take chelated minerals, mega antioxidants, a liver support combo, a grape seed/vit C combo, extra vit D, Biomega fish oil, and a supplement that has really helped my lousy vision.  I no longer bother  with I3C as my hormone levels are pretty stable now that I have gotten rid of all the midriff that was storing all that extra estrogen. 

5. Exercise- I try to do a good hour everyday. I prefer biking and walking the most, but when  I cannot get out, I do rebounding and free wts.

6. De Stress-We underestimate how much stress suppresses our immune system. It is impossible to get stress out of our lives, but we can control how we react to it. Getting upset with others who do not agree with us is counterproductive. I have learned to walk away from aggravators and for those I cannot get away from, as I said, I go for a walk. Nothing releases stress for me like enjoying nature. I even love the winter!

7. Toxic Teeth-After a lot of research, I am convinced that the constant stress on my immune system from  a festering root canal and a mouth full of mercury was a major cause of my bc. I have pulled the root canal, and sure enough it was all infected, even though I had no pain, and my dentist was not concerned. I found my way to a biological dentist who is taking out my mercury as I can afford it. It really pisses me off that I had to pay to put this poison in, now I have to pay to get it out, but  I do believe this is a lifesaving neccesity. I am halfway there, and in the meantime, hoping that keeping my immune system strong, is countering the toxins still in my mouth until I can afford to complete the mission to be mercury free. I hope that someday the ADA will be brought to its knees for lying to us about the safety of mercury.

8. Iodine-I have come to learn that I was hypothyroid for decades, but it never was tested because I thought it was normal to be tired. Aren't all moms tired? But after I learned about the iodine protocol, I finally tried it and it has made a huge difference in the way I feel. Iodine is helping to detoxify my breasts of all the built up chlorine from my years of swimming of using cleaning agents without realizing how toxic they were. I have so much energy know, and my breast tissue is so much healthier, I often wish I had known about iodine before. I think this would have prevented bc entirely.

9. Thermography-I get them regularly as they give me a great picture of what is going on inside  and they are totally safe. I will never have a mammo again. Therms give me such peace of mind, and I am helping to educate women about them so that we can get back the insurance code that was taken away by the powerful lobbies of the mammo industry. I believe that if young women were routinely screened with therms, we would have very little late stage breast cancer. 

10. Follow my passions. For too many years, I took care of everyone else and put my own dreams aside because I did not have the time. Now I am doing what I love and if I don't feel like making dinner, DH knows how to make a sandwich. lol I have always wanted to write and so I am working on a book and blogging on my website. I am also using my teaching skills to organize seminars to encourage younger women to be more proactive. When we do something we love, we are happier. Happy people do not get cancer.

All these things have given me a peace I never thought possible, and taken away any fear of a recurrance. Yeah, it could happen, but I am not going to worry about it for one minute. 

Thank you Vivre for a great post



Alamik. nothing written on these boards should be taken literally and to the letter.



If supplementation is not required according to you, why is it that a multivitamin is recommended by every known medical body because of the depletion of soils. Are you saying you don,t even take a multi, you must be the only one on BCO then.



As far as happiness is concerned, we all get Vivre,s point. No need for condemnation.



As far as stress, well, we hope you got the point

Vivre,

Thank you for taking the time to write out your anti-cancer/pro-health strategy.

 I've watched as you have pieced it together your program with so much detailed research. It's the real deal. I hope people realize how much time you and the veterans have spent to create a detailed approach. Integrative medicine is highly specific in mechanisms of action. It isn't a philosophy so much as a research program.

As to anyone who thinks you can get nutrients through food alone, the test of that is when you take supplements and feel better. Also, our soils are so depleted that the food contains much fewer vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than our ancestors had.

Anyway, big thanks, Vivre, for sharing your learning. I hope you will come back often.

I think that explains that this is what works for her, if we want to take any of the information she has found works for her than that is great that is why she posted it.

I work for the Agriculture extension office in our county.  I can tell you our soils are depleated and our food does not have the nutrients it had years ago.  If you grow your own or buy at a farmers market you will get better produce with more nutrients in it than what you get at the grocery store that is picked so very early.  We have people all the time that send in soil samples so that they can get recommendations on what they need to add back into their soil for the nutrients that are lost.

My DH bought something called Green Vibrance from Vibrant Health. Has anyone heard of this stuff, and is it any good?

Kira, I take it and itis great! I get so much energy from it it is amazing. Tastes terrible though. I mix it in veggie juice along with turmeric and gag it down in three gulps.

My Vitamin 3D was in the 30s at dx - I avoid the sun like the plague. The trouble is that it is seen as normal, so doctors say nothing and you often have to do your own research. I had to take 15,000 IUs per day (yes, fifteen thousand) to prop my levels over 45, above which they refused to go even when I was taking 6,000 IUs/day.

I am now on a maintenance dose of 10,000/day and tested at a reassuring 89 one month ago. It took about nine months to get those levels up, though - not an easy feat.