Anyone completely refuse surgery/conventional treatment?

Hi! I did refuse surgery and did pursue an alternative route to deal with the cancer. I'll share what I found helpful for me. I was diagnosed back in December 2013.I went through the whole traditional diagnosis path – mammography, ultrasound, and biopsy. That was the point they told me I had a tumor in my right breast. They then did an MRI and determined that I likely had it in my left breast also and wanted to do a biopsy on that. I found out about the left breast while I was meeting with the surgeon. It was at that point that I decided I wasn't going to go the traditional route for breast treatment… the whole chemo, radiation and surgery route that is. I watched my mother suffer terribly before she died from breast cancer many years ago and I'd been through it with my sister just a few years ago as well. I've always been kind of holistically inclined so when she was diagnosed, I did a lot of research on alternative cancer treatments and became convinced that cancer treatment, whatever the diagnosis, had to be treated systemically. It also had to BUILD UP the immune system, NOT SUPPRESS or tear it down! So when it became apparent that the cancer was in both my breasts, I started looking for treatments that treated the whole body. I found many approaches out there and following are the ones I have pursued over the last year:

Two Feathers healing formula (www.healingforumula.net) – an ancient American Indian treatment for cancer was the primary treatment I chose to start with. It is a "paste" that is taken internally and applied externally where and when indicated. It's like nothing I'd ever heard of before. I applied a small amount, as instructed, to both breasts and cancerous material was literally drawn out through the skin. It was definitely not a pain free experience, especially in the right breast, but in light of what I've seen others go through with their treatment (I'm in a cancer support group), it was a small price to pay for the result. Though it varies for each individual, the treatment for me took several months.

There have been other things I've done as well along with the Two Feathers.The gentleman that so graciously worked with me through the whole Two Feathers process also recommended that I get on a Vegan diet during the treatment, which I did get on for a few months. Today, I'm not doing strict Vegan, but I do eat organic and stay away from sugar as much as possible. I also had done research on the link between iodine deficiency and breast cancer and worked with a doctor through FFP Lab (http://ffplab.org/) to do an "iodine load" test to determine how well I was absorbing iodine, went on a high dose of iodine for three months , then retested. Today I'm taking a daily dose of 25mg of iodine and plan on taking it for the rest of my life! There is very hopeful and helpful information on the iodine/breast cancer link on a site FFP recommends as well - http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/.

I had an MRI done in December 2014 and it showed that the left breast was clear of cancer and the tumor in the right breast had shrunk from 4.2cm to 1.2 cm – pretty awesome results, though I'm not completely out of the woods yet. My oncologist is going to do an ultrasound in March (I think she was surprised at how well things were working), so I'm looking forward to seeing if things are holding or even improving at that time. I've not been on the Two Feathers now for probably 5 months. Side note: throughout this entire process, I've been working and functioning pretty much normally.

I have also been working with a Naturopath locally that has had his own success with treating people with cancer. He focuses on Liver detox, which other research has indicated is one of the first things that needs to be addressed in cancer patients. He also focuses on eliminating Candida Albicans growth which which contends is what is at the root of cancer. He actually helped me get through one of the toughest parts of my Two Feathers treatment with his herbal regimen for me.

There is so much good work being done out there on arresting and reversing cancer – Vitamin D3, Coriolus mushroom (another great one to check out –http://www.mushroomscience.com/), Beta Glucan, Curcumin, just to name a few.

And Diet – it's imperative that the body be maintained at a slightly alkaline ph level. It's been proven that cancer cannot live in an oxygenated environment - (See research done by Otto Warburg - http://oxygen4cells.com/html/warburg.html).

Bottom line, so far so good though I'm not completely out of the woods yet. Will keep you all posted.

pipers,

I am so glad you are doing well. Keep up the good work! I am still rebounding and have increased the time from 5 mins to 8. When I started, I could only do 5 minutes. I also take Dim, Vit D, calcium, magnesium and some other supplements. Do you take magnesium? Stay away from copper and iron. I read someone mentioned to stay away from boron also. I have not researched that yet but I am not taking any multivitamin. I recently did some blood work to check mercury and some other metals but the test was normal. I still have a few teeth that have mercury amalgams in them but have not removed them. Was your mercury test normal before you took the fillings out?

mapat...Hi I would be happy to discuss with you. I did have a BMX but refused any other treatment. How are you doing and what are your stats?

Without a biopsy, how can you know it was cancer, and therefore how can you know that your alternative treatments worked? It could have been a fibrocyst or other benign growth that was self-limiting.

That's a lot to go through when you probably never even had cancer. A root canal should not cause infection if done right. Good luck

mapat,

My last interaction with the Breast Cancer Industry was January, 2009. My prior diagnosis will show on my sig. In January, 2009 they said I had breast cancer, again.

I didn't have breast cancer, again. That was the end of my involvement with the Breast Cancer Industry.

By now, seven years later, I have never had another mammogram. I'll be 62 next month. I still do self-breast exams. That won't reveal some 1cm "cancer," but what IS the threat of that, anyway? WAY overstated ...

I have taken active steps to improve my chances of never having any sort of cancer, again. The FOCC, primarily, but also a high D3 level. Mine is 80. Back in 2006 when I was first diagnosed they said my level of 22 was great; NOT. That is totally deficient.

The latest addition to my anti-cancer arsenal, Coconut Oil. LOVE it! Maybe not, anti-cancer, but pro-Health. Healthy bodies don't get cancer. Rather, they might, but their healthy bodies kill it.

My thoughts.

I run when asked to type amen or anything else or to share. I'll share if I think the post is wonderful, and if so needn'.t be reminded

diagnosed BC 2012, refused all standard treatment. (I probably would have done the lumpectomy, but the more questions I asked the more they wanted to cut off.) And the rest just didn't make sense to me. So I just said NO to any of it. Since then I have done an ENORMOUS amount of reading and research.

Shortly after diagnosis I read Jane Plant's book on dairy & BC-- just AFTER my own observations of how dairy products and chicken seemed to produce symptoms. So cut out the dairy(and chicken) March 2013. That also led me to the China Study, then to other books and websites [drmcdougall.com]. I generally try to follow this way of eating, but still had occasional small amounts of meats and oils. Lowered cholestrol enormously, have lost about 70 pounds, and overall have always been extremely healthy.

Was doing fine until last fall--eating too much of things I knew I shouldn't have (meats & fats)...Really bad winter, lots of pains, moving from one area to another...trouble bending over, couldn't lie down flat...lots of pains ..Really bad winter...

By mid Feb, after eating beef/gravy & such and woke up with pain the very next morning, I got that "DUH" feeling and finally got back to eating properly. But still ended up in ER with pain and difficulty breathing, they did a cat scan and said cancer had spread to bones.

In April, finally went to oncologist, who of course immediately recommended lots of drugs, even though she actually said, now being stage IV, 'this is going to kill you'. (And they wonder why I don't like (most) doctors). I did finally agree to try just letrozole, about the same time I started taking curcumin95.

By May I was on hydrocodone and muscle relaxants every four hours, using a hospital bed, and not doing much of anything.

But I was being much more consistently compliant with eating a starch-based, plant food diet.

By July, I was back in my own bed, in my own house and beginning to do most of my usual activities, which includes gardening and even cutting grass.

PET scan end of Aug/ oncologist appt Sept 14. Most of that appt was a dr-'in training to be an oncologist' talking about why I needed to be on meds to strengthen bones; regular dr didn't say much except she is still pushing the bone meds and that I 'need more calcium' and "should be drinking milk". I mentioned that milk 'promotes and aggravates cancer"--appt over...even though

Cancer has regressed "significantly", many spots are gone, the rest reduced in size 'considerably'. Even the original two lumps are much smaller and 'softer'. I still have some pain in middle/upper back, but seldom have to take any pain killers at all. (Not sure if that's from the cancer now, or from the bone problems from the letrozole for 4 months) Cancer markers in blood have dropped from 216 to 81; and 191 to 82.

I actually stopped taking the letrozole 3 days before my appt.. Probably because I've lost like two inches in height & now have that 'hump' near top of spine (doing stretches/exercises for that) (http://saveourbones.com/ seems to be a good site) I am also in much less pain since I stopped taking the letrozole. Found more research which says "Melatonin As Potent as Letrozole in Inhibiting Aromatization of Testosterone to Estrogen" (without the side effects) (http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2014/06/melatonin-...) Have read quite a few other studies on that topic, so I am trying that now.

So, was it the letrozole, the curcumin, changing my sleep patterns back in April? Or just changing my diet back to consistently starch/plant based? Don't know for sure, but I do know I'm not messing with my diet again!! I can always tell when I've eaten something I should not have had. No matter what drugs or supplements or other changes a person makes, if they don't change how they eat I don't think any of the other things will really help much.

I try to follow a starch/whole-plant-food based diet. See: drmcdougall.com

I also take milk thistle, flax seed and extra vit C and magnesium, and make my own burdock/sheepsorrel tea. A heated corn bag helps me a lot for relieving pain. Also doing reiki, (should be doing) yoga (got out of habit due to extreme pain last winter). Also cut WAY down on tea(caffeine & sugar) and drink lots of water now instead.

My focus right now is cutting more fats and added oils from my diet: https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/video...

The Link Between Dietary Fat and Estrogen Levels, http://plantfueledlife.com/fat-estrogen/

High corn oil diet promotes mammary tumor development in animal model of breast cancer, http://foodforbreastcancer.com/news/high-corn-oil-...

"Our results clearly show that eating a high-fat diet is sufficient to increase cancer risk, regardless of obesity... tumor formation was caused by inflammation induced by the corn- and coconut-based diets. Notably, inflammation and intestinal tumors in the mice were triggered very soon - three days -- after being fed these high-fat diets." http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160926/Specific...

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2015nl/feb/dietan...

Hope some of these links will help others with their research towards defeating cancer naturally and feeling better. My very best to all of you.

When people who have more money than God go alternative and still die, that rather says something. The conventional treatments and drugs are seen as a "cancer industry" but by the same token, so are all the thousands of money making books, treatments and "drugs" made by alternative sources. Nobody is doing it free, are they? At least with conventional treatments they have gone under rigorous clinical studies (double blinded) and are regulated. Before anyone then says those studies are biased or paid for by Big Pharma....well the advertisements and poorly set up studies, if there even are any, by alternative sources are also biased. And they aren't regulated. The remedies can be dangerous as well. There is no standardization. The herbal remedy can be from poorly grown and/or stored plants and worse, can be contaminated especially those of Chinese origins...but not always. Some OTC herbal "remedies" have very little of what one is looking for in them, nor does the label list contraindications and possible side effects....because they are not regulated. I'll trust science, thank you.....not some failed guru looking for a quick buck. Didn't they call them snake oil salesmen for a reason? Anyway, ALWAYS one's choice to do what one wants and to feel good about your choices. Cancer is awful and even if you have polarized views about treatment, it will always be about one's free choices.

I, did not do Rads or Chemo or Tomox.....but I did have a Mastectomy and then a Hysterectomy that being said I am in my 60's and in Dec. will be 6 years....Liz

Sandcastle, maybe I'm confused but I thought you were diagnosed with DCIS.

If that's the case then with your MX and hysterectomy, you had standard of care treatment - or in fact possibly more than that since not many DCIS women have hysterectomies.

Rads after a MX for DCIS is only done in rare cases where the surgical margins are very close.

Chemo is never given for DCIS.

Tamoxifen is not required after a MX for DCIS and is recommended only as a possible protection of the remaining breast for those who have a single MX. I had a UMX for DCIS-Mi and while I discussed Tamox with my MO, he actually recommended against it.

So given the subject of this thread, I guess I'm confused as to what treatment you refused. But then I know that some docs recommend treatments for DCIS that are above and beyond the usual treatment guidelines. Could you clarify?

years and years ago now I was bullied unmercifully to leave the thread I was posting on and post on not diagnosed but worried, and here now a very interesting person has been vanished this person was writing a very v ery interesting essay on the nature of cancer. everyone should be allowed, no telling what of interest may turn up on any post even off subject

mapat, I'm glad you don't chase off easily. I am also doing holistic and in fact this reminds me I need to answer your pm! LOL.

I'll be three years past dx in mid November and I never did anything conventional--with my family history and personal beliefs, I could not have done otherwise. It's true that some people get cancer despite healthy lifestyles, but the vast majority of cancer cases, per the American Cancer Society, are lifestyle related. If my lifestyle had been perfect before I got this I would have probably gone the conventional route, but I had so much to clean up I felt that holistic was the best option. Also you can have the healthiest lifestyle on the planet and if you have unresolved emotional issues you can still get it. Or you could be completely healthy and still get it.

Mine isn't shrinking but it doesn't seem to be growing either, and the original lab report said mine was moderately fast growing.

Abigail48: Sour cherry juice huh?? All that research on melatonin, I don't remember any of them suggesting foods rather than supplements. (I had always thought it was just something our bodies produced) Apparently, yes, sour cherry juice, as well as others: http://www.immunehealthscience.com/foods-with-mela... (thanks)

Pipersdream: I've been looking a LONG time for others to discuss natural treatments with, as well as wanting to share information with others. I plan to be around for a long time. I don't talk about BC with much of anyone locally, because most are the whole 'ohno you gotta do this/that whatever the dr says...sorry, NO! I don't. Treating the symptoms is not resolving whatever caused it in the first place.

I always considered myself to have a healthy diet/lifestyle (overall), but before the internet, reliable information was much harder to get locally, so there were many things perhaps not as healthy as I once thought they were. Since being diagnosed, I have researched and read and researched and learned more than I ever imagined.