Anyone know anyone who has done alternative cancer treatment? Possibly in Mexico or Europe? If anyone has some knowledge about this, good or bad, please comment or email me or call me ASAP.
While I have my next round of chemo scheduled, we (I) am really dreading having to injest/inject all the toxins as my only hope to rid my body of cancer. Some of these miracle drugs cause neuropathy; some cause other cancers. With my locally advanced breast cancer and the current treatments available to modern medicine, I'm only being offered a 50% survival rate; I am definitely exploring my options.
We got word on Friday that a spot on my femur that was there before chemo is not there now. Not good. That means that it may have been cancer and it may have reacted to the chemo. At this point there is no test available to tell us whether it is (or was) cancer. We could wait for it to come back someday and then biopsy through my leg to find out, but I just keep wondering if there isn't a better way.
We do know that cancer was in the lymph nodes on the right side, same side as the original tumor. We also know because I opted for a bilateral (double) mastectomy that there is cancer in the left nodes as well. What we don't know is if those are the same cancer, spread through the lymph system or two separate cancers. Add in the femur and it could be three different cancers.
If you consider just my breast cancer, we would stage that at level IIIc. That's as close as you can be to stage IV without actually being stage IV. If we discover or assume or surmise that the femur spot is cancer and it metastasized to that area from the breast cancer, then I'm stage IV. There is no stage V.
In addition, I'm Her2neu positive, which means that my particular cancer is overly sensitive to estrogen so as long as my body is producing estrogen, we've got a problem.
It's amazing the amount of knowledge we've gained. I feel like I've been cramming for finals for months now.
Here are some things I've learned that I would hate for you not to know:
- Obesity is a HUGE risk factor for developing all kinds of cancer. If you are chubby (like me), put down the chalupa and go take a walk.
- Eating red meat is like introducing the perfect storm of "where-cancer-grows-best" into your body.
- Cancer cells LOVE sugar.
- Cancer cells don't love broccoli, kale, chard, spinach, red grapes, beets and other leafy greens. Unfortunately, neither do I, but I've been chowing down the fruits and veggies like mad the last several days (twelve servings alone just yesterday), passing on the meat, dairy, and sugar, and hoping to create an environment in my body that the cancer doesn't enjoy. I also hope that it's a place where the chemo will be less damaging than it would be if I was hitting the Golden Arches every afternoon.
- Many people claim to have healed cancer through diet and alternative therapies alone. No chemo. No radiation. But lots of faith in the Great Physician. I gotta say, that sounds so good.
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