Early Stage Natural Girls!

What really blows my mind are the people who put so much trust in their doctor that they don't do any research on their own for reinforcement, or don't even ask questions about the grade, or staging.  My friend had colon cancer and she knew nothing about her disease.  She did everything her doctor and family told her to do, and when she was done with treatment, went right back to the same old habits she had before...red meat...sugar....alcohol...carbs....and no exercise.  I asked if her doctor had suggested she change her diet and she replied "he said to do whatever I wanted".  Now there's a doctor I want to stay away from!  Fortunately she's still doing fine five years out.

I don't see how a positive diet change or exercise program could hurt anyone.  If you have diabetes and have to control sugar and carbs, you do it as part of the treatment for the disease.  The same is true of cancer...control the things that feed the disease and you have further reduced your risk of recurrance.

Definition of insanity..."doing the same thing you did before, expecting different results" 

Thermograms cannot be used to predict breast cancer. There is no predictive test for breast cancer. There are only tests that uncover risk factors  (not predictions) in individuals. And thermograms are not amongst them.

And that's fine. I'm just correcting Leia's statement about prediction, because that is a strong and inaccurate word.

just joining now because I have decided arimidex is NOT for me...and since tamoxifen caused a blood clot (which caused a heart attack) last spring, just four months after starting it...I have not come to this decision lightly. It took my from the heart attack to October to process the idea of trying another hormonal....and then two weeks of walking around with the prescription in my pocket befor ei tried it...only took it for 7 weeks but my hands, chest, back and arms swelled...I have been incredibly fatigued and my sleep was lousier than the usual lousy....they put me on a NSAId for arthritis because of my back and hand pain...and with the heart meds I am not supposed to be on nsaids...i have been an emotionaly basketcase off and on for 7weeks...made some major decisions at the same time...partially based on how overwhelmed I was at the idea of taking arimidex. (ie. didn't buy the perfect house, quit a big part of my job and cut my stress in quarters)...anyhow, saw my breast surgeon for a one year post surgery chat and exam...told her what was going on and ended up in tears and she said 'go off of it'...agreed with my pov that it in my case it is a preventitive medication and if it is causing more crap than it is helping me then....don't do it...I felt so relieved...one week later,my fingers are almost the regular size..arm and chest are still swollen but it is coming down.

So what am I doing instead?

taking 4000vit d daily (I live in nova scotia); 1500 calcium and 750 magnesium; 100mg CoQ10, trying to drink the right amount of water...

taking a dendelion concoction from my naturopath to detoxify and a valerian cocktail with my zopliclone to sleep....it has stopped me from waking at 4am...I go to a lymphodema massage therapist and do self massage as well....I switch bras and take off the wire ones when I get home (mainly in the last 7 weeks as the breast and chest area is swollen again...I surround myself with people I love and people who love me...I do my best to rid myself of unwanted waste thoughts and I lay in bed first thing in the amand review all the things I am grateful for ...including being alive.

I have done the candidas diet before and it is hard but great..you feel great and energized. I am doing something similar starting in january...january because I have to get the juicer, get organized and be in my own hoome. essentually going to try Kris Carr's diet in Crazy SexyDiet...I figured out today that if I can beat cancer and a eart a ttack and marital breakup, I can lose 20 damn pounds and not eat things that are bad for me!.I need to go back and read through all of this but...thought I should say HI!

Sandee-Life is a never ending path full of forks in the road. Everytime we decide which fork to take, we change our destiny. All of us here have collided with a major detour. There is no right-of way to go fpr everone. There is only the path we each select. Even when we choose the wrong way, we can still keep going to the next fork. Every detour teaches us something that will help us to make a better choice at the next intersection. So way to go girl! You may have hit a lot of detours, but you still picked yourself up and keep looking for the right direction. You may have taken the scenic route, but welcome to the pathway to holistic health.Taking the steps to putting our lives in our hands is very powerful. 

There is a lot of sunshine on this path. Soak it all up. And remember never look back, except to  learn.

If I have learned one thing in the past few years that I truly believe with every fiber in my being, it is that no doctor, no pill or treatment can get us well and keep us safe from cancer. There are no guarantees of course, but I know that the human body is an amazing thing and every cell in us will thrive when it is nourished. Feed you soul good thoughts. Feed your body good food and you won't just survive, you will thrive.

It is so great to be nearing 60 and feel better than I did at 25. I have no aches and pains. I am back to my wedding weight. I have leaned to let go of all the hurts and forgive and forget and appreciated all the gifts I have been blessed with. My only regret is that I did not choose this path a lot earlier. I sure took a lot of detours! But I love being on the path I am on now, and walking it with so many courageous women who understand.

vivre:  Very well stated...thanks!

painterly:  Scientific basis or not.....I had my hormone levels tested (for the first time I might add) through both saliva and blood, and then had BHRT compounded specifically for my needs.  I was on them for nine months before I got my bc diagnosis and I felt remarkable!  Prior to that I had been on synthetic estrogen for 20 years, and I always had some kind of symptoms and didn't feel right.

 Of course, now I have been taken off the BHRT because my tumor was HR/PR+.  I'm still not convinced that eliminating all the estrogen in our bodies is the answer to keeping our bc from recurring.  I am going to be meeting with a naturopathic doctor tomorrow and and I will ask him about this and report back what I've learned.

SAndee good for you for taking charge.  You have had some bumps in the road for sure.  I hope the DIM and other things work for you. And remember your 24 hour rule.  You are always good about listening to your body so this adventure will be a good one for you.

HI - I just joined a few hours ago and have been reading and learning ever since.  One of the questions  have is about flax seed / flax oil. I read a book by Dr. Johanna Budwig, a German chemist and cancer doctor who devised this "smoothie" to eat every morning.  The phytoestrogen's in the ground flax help protect the breasts by producing the same effects as anti-estrogens (such as Tamoxifen).  I was prescribed Tamoxifen then began reading non-toxic ways to prevent recurrance stopped taking it.  Also a Canadian (woman) doctor prescribes 2 tbsp. of ground flax seed in her "breast cancer muffins" and it slowed down tumour growth.  Everything I've read and researched has said that (freshly ground, organic) flax seed / organic flax seed oil gives a protective effect of alpha-linolenic acid.

Last week I went for thermography (rather than a mammogram, as mammogram's have so much bad press about radiation, and with 16 rounds of radiation 2 years ago I decided this might be a safer examination).  The results came back with a neutral (which is good) but the tech. who did the pictures told me I should avoid flax, because of the phytoesgrogens, same as soy.

Does anybody have knowledge about flax and breast cancer - whether it is good or bad?

 Also I am very please and grateful I discovered this forum.  The book I found this website through is Bill Henderson's  Cancer Free - A Guide to Gentle, Non-Toxic Healing.

 Thank you

I have heard that Blue...I'm triple negative so I take flaxseed...I wouldn't take it if I were er/pr positive.

I agree with Titan.

Kaara - I only took them for 4 years but I was on the pill for many many years before that, so that's what I blame. The pill is 5 times the strength of HRT. My surgeon said that highly ER receptive BC is an indicator it could have been caused by the hormones - both of mine were way over 90%

luna5:  Thanks for that information on progestrone.  I also had zero in my body when I was evaluated by my bioidentical doctor last March.  He put me on progestrone and an estrogen patch and took me off the synthetic.  I was feeling just wonderful until the bc dx and then he wouldn't renew the prescription:(....said we would revisit later, which translated, means he doesn't intend to do anything.

My new integrative doctor is cautious, but said he believes that a combination of progestrone and estriol would benefit me; however, he wants to see my blood work and some other things before he makes that decision.  He's got me on infusions of antioxidants and I'm taking iodine and some other supplements to prevent recurrance.  I'm also getting a termography scan to make sure there aren't other suspicious areas lurking.

I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and doing everything I possibly can to keep from having a recurrance. 

Sherryc:  Just a suggestion...don't buy a cheap juicer because you won't be satisfied with it, and they have so many parts they are hard to clean.  I like the Omega juicer or the Champion juicer...both work very well and will grind up everything but the kitchen sink with little or no difficulty.  You get lots more juice too, so in the end, you don't use as many veggies and fruits.  It will pay for itself in the end.

I have to get a water filter...my integrative doctor has stressed this many times.  I'm going to look into it after the first of the year.

Whatever you decide, good luck, juicing is wonderful...nutrient dense...my doctor calls it. 

Thanks for the thoughts on juicers.  I will just have to wait and see what I can afford and maybe wait just a little bit and save some money so I can get a really good one.