Early Stage Natural Girls!

Ruby - that could very well be. Maybe soy is what is making the stomach cancer rate high. Wouldn't that be ironic? They also found was that when people from countries with low levels of various cancers came to "westernized" countries and they adopted our way of eating, their rates of cancer went up exponentially. It was the same for breast, colon, stomach and other cancers, so it takes ethnicity out of the equation and puts diet smack dab in the middle of it; yet the medical community at large treats nutrition as an after thought in most instances.

I do know that meat is very bad for you as it stays in your system for days---also I think we eat more fatty foods than people in other countries.  That may make a difference.

mini you asked about the ER% and if it would be lower with out your hormone replacement.  The way I understand it when they are checking your tuor for % it is the % your tumor reactsto estrogen so hormone replacment would have no effect on that number.  Now if they were checking your hormones that would be different.

Purple my path lab did not do % either.  Rather it was graded so with that and my onco type report I was able to figure out that I was barely ER+.  My onco also said positive is positive and needs to be treated that way.  Although not really sure how much effect the anti hormonals will have on me but too scared not to use them as I already found another lump in my other breast that I had to have removed.  Scare my Dr's and me but luckily it was B9.  Trying to stay fit and eat right and my MO is big on supplements.

Thanks Ruby!  I'll check out the products you mention.  Whey is not an option as I am following a vegan diet.  Vega was great because it also has protein whereas amazing grass, which i've used before, is all green but not much protein.  I'll have to get various ingredients together and make my own combination.  There's a product idea - BC smoothie supplement powder that specifically targets our needs!

Ruby, here it is

http://myvega.com/products/vega-one-shake/features-benefits

Sherry - Darn. Not the answer I was hoping for about the hormone levels. Oh well. Not many of them are these days. :-)

Sign me up. I'll take a truck load of it.

I don't know how much I have to contribute but with synergy I think we could do it. We certainly couldn't do any worse than some of the stuff out there now.

I go to see the naturopath tomorrow. Wish me luck. I go see my onco doc next week. I'm interested in seeing what both have to say. Someone posted a study on another thread that showed a substantially lower 10-year survival rate for those that do not use any adjunct therapy. It was rather lengthy but mentioned nothing about what they consider no additional therapy. Were any of these women using natural supplements? Eating diets with cancer fighting foods? It's frustrating that they publish these studies but do not conduct studies comparing things like DIM and other natural alternatives to Tamoxifen.

It is so hard to look at numbers knowing they are real people and I could be one of them, but I still feel that the cure is worse than the disease in some instances.  I know that sometimes it's necessary and natural is not right in every instance. My husband survived thanks to chemo, and I did radiation but I don't feel Tamox is right for me. At least not right now. Does it ever get any easier when you are bucking the system?

I have recently been introduced to Suzanne Sommers books regarding bio-identical hormones.  It is been 5 years in October that I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I have had my breasts, uterus, and ovaries removed.  35 years ago I had my thyroid removed.  I have NO hormones.  I am miserable.  Has anyone tried the bio-identical hormone approach?  Isn't there a quality of life compared to quantity of life? 

Dunesleeper - I'm half expecting mine to have the sme reaction. I know he has had cancer himself, but I don't know what kind. Sometimes that helps, but it can also lead to I did it this way and look at me I'm fine now so you should do it this way too. I'm trying to go in with an open mind though. He may surprise me. I guess if his mind is shut and he won't follow me, I'll find another Dr. who will. I'm not going to go in and lie and say I'm taking the meds when I'm not just to stay his patient. I want a doctor I can be honest with and get honest feedback from, not one that's going to charge me a fortune to tell me I need to take the meds and if I don't I have a death wish. I don't goosestep for anyone.

Reba - Are you talking HRT as in hormone replacement? Bio-identicals? If so, IMHO, run far and run fast. I took them for a few years and yes they helped with the things you mentioned. They also likely accelerated my cancer rate. They ddn't cause it because it had started before I took them, but it aggravated it and brought it on sooner than it would have; possibly by as much as 10 years. I was done with them when I got diagnosed. If I can't even eat soy, I certainly wouldn't use HRT.

Graced - I agree. Part of me wants to agree with the convenetional therapy, but my gut says no. It was my gut that told me a year before they diagnosed me that something was wrong with me and no one beieved me, so I think we're pretty in tune. :-) And even if the studies show 15-25% of the so-called non-treated patients died, that means 75-85% lived. Why? Was it because they made changes and did things like took DIM and other supplements, changed their habits, improved their QOL? Has anyone studied survivors to what they have in common? Obviously it is something because there's a bunch of them out there. Where are those studies? Does anyone even care? It doesn't feel like it.

Ok, after that cheery start to the morning I'm off to the naturopath. :-)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I have some Himalayan pink salt that I have used when making barks of chocolate with nuts and cranberries.  They were holiday gifts.  It is really tasty sprinkled on food too.

Mini, how was the naturopath?

They don't study the survivors who choose alternative treatment. You'd think, if they were really interested in helping, they would at least stay in touch to find out what we are doing and what success we are having. I had read that others were promptly dropped from follow-up because of going alternative, and it happened to me. At least the nurse at the breast clinic allows me to go to their support group once a month. I just can't talk about my choice of alternative. Well, it wouldn't do the ladies there any good to hear about it. They are all conventional.

Dunesleeper - some statistics on women using CAM therapies published on the Clinical Trial and research forum - worth reading as it does show you that there is follow up in some cases.