how to treat an ulcerated (breast) tumor

I am in one hundred percent agreement with Lightandwind and Pipersdream. 

This is an "alternative" thread.

If you don't like alternative thinking or disagree with another's philosophy, why argue about it? There is a whole site of threads aimed at traditional medicine.

I personally don't like the use of radiation and disagree with most surgeries. When I'm on a thread where someone is struggling with these choices I'm either emotionally supportive or go to another thread.

This is supposed to be an emotionally safe place.

I've seen extreme kindness and support on these boards from the very people who are criticizing Abigail here. Please try not to extend your kindness only to people you agree with.

Why even go to the trouble of typing that? Why respond at all if you're that bothered?

Abigail,

You've probably already heard this, but I thought I'd share. My breast tumor gets painful sometimes. I've been using warm cabbage leaves in an old bra about every other day when it gets bad. It really does help. I steam some leaves to get them warm, then just bruise the inside leaf enough to get it juicy. I leave it on for hours sometimes. 

PS thank you for posting about fennel. I was going to do a quick juice cleanse with fennel, ginger etc. 

I'm rethinking the fennel now.

I'd also like to say....Lightandwind, you are an intelligent compassionate person. 

If even a little bit of your courage to do what's right rubs off on someone you've made a big difference in this world.

abigail...now I understand why you avoid seeing a physician.  If I'm correct, your fear of dying on the table due to blood loss is keeping you from seeking conventional help.  Have you been formally diagnosed by a hematologist?  I ask this for several reasons.  A niece of mine became pregnant with a rare blood disorder and was advised not to become pregnant. Well, she did and she and her husband insisted on having the baby.  Long story short, the physicians worked with them.  She ultimately gave birth to a 1 lb 8 oz little boy whom I call Hercules.  Following Hercules birth, as you can well imagine, both he and my niece had complications from the birth.  She was hospitalized for 6 weeks!  He, for 3 months.  Almost 5 years later, they are both doing well.  So, despite her rare genetic blood disorder, she survived surgery.

Likewise, the DH also has an extremely rare genetic metabolic muscular dystrophy.  Thankfully, it wasn't until he was 60 that he required surgery under general anesthesia. To say the least both he and his team of physicians weren't happy at the prospect of putting him under general anesthesia. Thankfully (boy oh boy am I using the word thankfully enough times), time was on our side, so a HUGE team of doctors were able to figure things out so they'd all have a good outcome.  And, after 4 1/2 hours, all was well.  Having pulled through, a few months afterwards, our faith was tested again.  Only this time, we didn't have time on our side.  The DH required emergency cardiac by-pass surgery.  One of his vessels was within 1 mm of bursting!  Thankfully (there is that word again), the surgeon was guided by the previous anesthesia report given to us by the previous doctor "just in case."

Story doesn't end there, quite yet, only gets better....a few months after THAT, the DH woke up in the morning with horrific chest pain.  By now, the ER room, including the janitors knew the DH.  Turned out, he needed emergency gall bladder surgery, having never had an issue with the gall bladder before that day.  Doctors couldn't believe how diseased it was and wondered how he had never complained before of symptoms.

Still there is more to the story.  Within a year of the by-pass, one of the vessels closed.  Put in a stent. Stent closed within a few months.  Which brings us to a few weeks ago. Stent ballooned and opened.

So, what am I trying to say?  If physicians could deal with my niece AND the DH, then you should at least have a consultation to see if there is anything they could do for you, and at a minimum, help improve your quality of life.  I know what it takes just to keep the DH vertical each day and the things we do are exhausting.  I can only image all that you are doing.  You must be at your wits end.  And may I ask....is there an odor?  At some point, between exhaustion and the odor, you will need some kind of assistance. 

I must admit when I meet people who have no knowledge of the DH's condition and hear them say that they have all these things wrong with them and won't seek medical help, I kind of want to tell them the DH's story about trust and faith and luck AND survival.  But I don't. I neither want to bore or excite people.  I also don't need to hear from someone telling me about some doctor's mistake that cost some relative or friend their life.  All I know in my heart of hearts and from my own experience (that's another story) dealing with the DH's issues is that there ARE good outcomes.  

Lastly, I do want to mention, there is no conventional treatment for the DH's disorder. However, he is in a clinical trial and takes an oil similar to Lorenzo's oil.  He also is prescribed supplements and amino acids.  They all do help.

So, Abigail, I do not frown upon what you are doing because, like the DH, you are open to all or nothing in treating your illness.  However, if it is fear that is keeping you from doing EVERYTHING possible, I would ask you to reconsider.  Not only did the DH and I fear the thought of him ever having to need major surgery, life interfered with that emotion. When we lost our ability to handle on our own what was happening, letting go of that fear required trust.  So, in the matter of hours, trust superceded fear and that ultimately led to a good outcome for now.

I hope you will have the emotional fortitude to consider what I am telling you. I think the hardest part of our journey is letting go of fear and being trustful.  In fact, I find being trustful liberating. No need to spend positive energy on negative emotions.

Think about it.....

Oh dear Abigail, I do hope you will get it looked at. I hate the thought that you are going through all this if there is something that could be done to give you a better quality of life. You can, of course, refuse any treatment they offer......but just maybe there would be something you would feel comfortable with that could really help.

Abigail...First off....

What I strongly suggest you do is contact your Congress person.  Explain to them what you were told by Social Security and have them get involved.  All Congressmen (and women) have contacts with other governmental agencies.  Someone knowledgeable should be able to assist you in getting coverage.

Chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, Otis Brawley, MD recently wrote a book, How We do Harm, which begins by discussing a woman who shows up in the emergency room with her breast in a bag.  It was so ulcerated, that it fell off.  He goes on to say that THAT should NEVER occur in our country.  He goes on to explain that the woman had medical health insurance, but could NOT get off from work to see a physician. She was the chief breadwinner in the family and also had to care for other family members.  He goes on to say that there is something wrong not only with the medical insurance system, but with employers and lastly, the patients themselves who fail to seek medical attention.

What you need to do is not only see a breast specialist, but also a hematologist.  Like I said, do not let fear or lack of health insurance hold you back.  My motto is to never take no for an answer.  Your Congress person is the way to start.  I think the work you put into addressing your limbo will be rewarded.  

Finally, you need to nail down your blood disorder.  I'm enouraged to hear that up to now it hasn't wreaked havoc in your life.  I know how blood disorders can disrupt one's life.  That's great that you are 77.  May you live many, many more  joyful years.

Keep us posted.