Supplements, I think may have helped me....

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gnatmo
gnatmo Member Posts: 10
edited November 2016 in Complementary and Holistic Medicine and Treatment

This is my first post!


Hi, I'm Natalie. I'm a 41 year old mother of my 6 blessings. My story is that I had a ton of female problems since puberty.(endometriosis, PCOS, adenomyosis) My husband and I married 20 years ago and wanted children right away. Our oldest was born just 4 days after our first anniversary. (so, 19 years old) Our youngest is 7. I had a hysterectomy in 2011.In the fall of 2011, I went to my OBGYN because I had a lump in my breast. I had my first mammogram- a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. The radiologist told me I "just" had dense breast tissue. Anytime I felt anything I kept saying- you JUST have dense breast tissue. I wasn't at all concerned about breast cancer. I had breast fed all of my children (105 months total) and I didn't use BCP. We found out I had breast cancer 8 days after our 20th wedding anniversary :/

My favorite aunt had breast cancer- but one person having breast cancer doesn't make a family history- at least that is what I told myself. I really didn't know the extent of our family history. Well, it turns out we have a much more extensive family history of cancer. I did genetic testing and have a chek2 mutation. This has an increased risk of ovarian, colon and thyroid (and prostrate) cancers. So that means at some point here, I will have my remaining ovary removed too.

I found out that I had breast cancer on April 30, 2015. My surgery wasn't scheduled until June 15, 2015. (I chose to do a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction- glad I didn't have to fight any of my doctors on what I wanted) But, for me, it was a long time between diagnosis & surgery so I wanted to do anything I could to combat the cancer myself. I started doing research and asking friends for their thoughts. I started doing intermittent fasting, and a ketogenic diet- with the idea that cancer feeds on sugar. I do HITT for my exercise- normally on a recumbant bike. I also started taking supplements. I take 3000mg AHCC per day, 400mg COQ10 per day and 3000mg curcumin per day. (I also lost between 10-15 pounds)

By mammogram(4/28/15) it showed my tumor as 4.2 X 2.2 X 4.1cm. MRI (5/8/15) showed my tumor as 2 X 4.2 X 6.3cm. And then at surgery (6/15/15) my tumor was found to be just 2.2cm! I did have lymph node involvement. I will continue with traditional treatments of chemotherapy & radiation. But I will also continue my diet and supplements. Tomorrow I have my first PET scan, and then I see the oncologist on Wednesday.


Has anyone else used alternative methods to treat their cancers? I should add a friend's mom has pancreatic cancer and started taking AHCC. In 6 months her tumor shrunk in half. Now, a year later, she just had a PET scan and no signs of cancer remain!

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Comments

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited July 2015
    Hi gnatmo,
    Sorry to welcome you to bco, but welcome you are! Since you are doing conventional tx along with supplementation and diet, you might want to ask the mods to move your thread to the complementary forum. Many members fall under that umbrella as we have done or are doing conventional tx, but supporting it with non-conventional adjunct therapies. The alt forum deals with those who use no conventional therapies, or stop them completely. Best of luck to you and check out the complementary forum.
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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2015

    Bumping for gnatmo. Any members have some insight for this newbie?

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  • DivineMrsM
    DivineMrsM Member Posts: 9,620
    edited July 2015

    gnatmo, wow, you are one busy mom with all those kids. And now dealing with bc.

    I am in my 50s, diagnosed early 2011 with stage iv from the start. Did all the big treatments, you can see that in my signature line. I have remained stable on Arimidex having just had scans at the end of June.

    I do believe complimentary treatments are beneficial. My personal research led me to start taking a curcurmin supplement, fish oil, as well as calcium supplement as I get a zometa iv four times a year. The other supplement many of us seem to take is Vitamin D3.

    Along with treatment and supplements, I have learned to lessen my stress and work load. Started doing more of what I wanted rather than what I felt obligated to do. It is a process. Also, I am not one who thinks stress caused the bc, (getting bc is a crapshoot) but lessening stress makes for much, much better quality of life. These days find me getting rid of clutter throughout my house, even tho most people wouldn't think I have much at all, yet for me, it's simplifying things and I feel good about that.

    You may also find it beneficial to get rid of toxic people or situations. I don't have time for that stuff any more, and I believe eliminating these kinds of things are just as important as diet, exercise and supplements.

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  • gnatmo
    gnatmo Member Posts: 10
    edited July 2015

    The Divine Mrs.M,

    Heh. I debated whether to make my signature : Comparison steals your joy. OR The key to happiness is owning less. Which I truly believe too. I tell it to my kids CONSTANTLY when they want whatever little plastic crappy thing we are going to throw away with in 5 days of owning it. The more you have, the more you have to clean, dust, maintain, etc. The less you own, the more you have of the thing no one can buy you- TIME.

    One of the things I often say, sadly, is "Family, people you would never associate with, except that you are related". I don't feel that way quite as much now because three of the worst offenders have died in recent years. (none from cancer)


    I do think I probably need some vitamin D. (is that oral, shot, IV? ) I need to research how it is best absorbed since I'm about to start chemo for the next 20 weeks and am told to stay out of the sun. How are you currently doing? Have you ever looked at AHCC? My friend's mom & our priest both had such dramatic results from it that I couldn't resist.

    This is the brand of AHCC I take because it comes in the biggest mg per capsule and then I only have to take 4 a day to get 3000mg.

    http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0047533WG/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1437099165&sr=1&keywords=ahcc+750mg

    not sure how to make that show as a link w/o my charity coming up, sorry.


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  • Stacyd
    Stacyd Member Posts: 4
    edited November 2016

    I was dx in April 2016. I immediately changed my diet. No caffeine/no sugars. Started more fruits and veggies. My tumor was 5 cm. Started chemo immediately And surgery in Sept at the time of surgery my tumor was non existent no node involvement. I like to think the hand of God and diet change was effective

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  • Husband11
    Husband11 Member Posts: 2,264
    edited November 2016

    What brand of AHCC are you using? (oops, sorry, I see she answered that already!) It's pretty expensive. I figure around $5 a day at 3g/daily.

    My wife takes Maitake D extract, which is a similar concept, also expensive.

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