Living with Breast Cancer

ANOTHER LOOK AT CANCER

Earlier this year I was diagnosed with breast cancer Perfect mammographies over the past few years caused this to be a surprise for me. However, I found out that dense breast tissue did not allow the contrast of a tumor to be picked up by a mammo. Additionally, I was vegan vegetarian, exercised daily, didn’t smoke or use alcohol, and rarely ingested caffeine. My wellness blood tests, taken weeks before the diagnosis, showed perfect levels and no tumor markers were ever present.

The first surgeon I went to suggested a mastectomy. That nagging little voice inside me said “no,” and I got a second opinion. The radiologist who did extensive ultrasounds said a lumpectomy would do. They measured my tumor as 3 cm. After having the usual round of MRI’s and tests and feeling like I had been put through the confusing maze of the $200 billion cancer industry with my comprehensive insurance, I had the surgery. My tumor turned out to be half the size as pathology had reported, and there was no lymph involvement. Unfortunately, seven clear lymph nodes were removed during surgery along with the tumor, thus compromising my lymphatic system.

Following surgery, radiation was recommended along with Tamoxifen to make sure the cancer did not reassert itself. The surgery was horrible and the pain and lingering nerve damage was something, being athletic and in great health otherwise, that I was insufficiently prepared for. After researching the long-term effects of radiation and toxic chemotherapeutic drugs, I opted to enhance my body’s own ability to fight disease. I had genetic testing which came back negative. I was determined to understand what I was doing that had caused my body to create an environment where a tumor would be hosted. We would all like to believe that cancer just “happens” rather than taking accountability for the part we may have played in its formation. This is proven by the soaring cancer rates of the last 50 years and the accompanying lifestyle of Westerners, in particular. I had read a study involving breast cancer amongst Japanese women residing in Japan and Japanese-American women, with an alarming rate of breast cancer for the Japanese-Americans living in this country after only one generation of living in the U.S.. This encouraged me in my root-cause analysis approach.

I moved on and learned about blood flow, oxygen, dehydration, aerobic exercise, and the various elimination channels, and realized that my body was designed by the Creator to heal itself if given adequate support. If the root cause of disease is not addressed, eventually this disease or another would visit me. Yes, we are all appointed to die at sometime, but the variables are when? and how painful will that process be? And in the meantime, I would have to live with a compromised body that had been radiated, which is a known cause of cancer, and toxified by drugs that often are also proven to be carcinogenic. So, utilizing material from a doctor who was formerly a leading surgeon and professor at UC San Francisco medical center and college of medicine, I began the following regimen:

1. 10 glasses of distilled water per day
2. 75% raw, organic diet (greens, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, etc.)
3. Organic fresh carrot and green juicing; daily
4. Dry skin brushing to enhance the lymphatic system
5. Colon cleanse
6. Walking, jogging or swimming for at least 50 minutes everyday
7. Deep breathing
8. Absolutely no alcohol, caffeine, or enriched bleached flour, meat or dairy products, all which serve to create a host environment for the multiplication of cancer cells. Very limited refined sugar. Many animals with cancer themselves make it unknowingly to our tables. (These were things for the most part I was already doing.)
9. Daily flax seed for omega 3’s
10. Vitamin C and Echinacea
11. Stress reduction - giving up workaholic tendencies, letting bitterness and anger go

To those who may be newly diagnosed with cancer, I would not assume to advise you in your journey. I would be surprised and proud of the oncology industry if they allow this story to go on their website. For those who are not willing to make a total change in their lifestyle and trust God to honor their efforts, I might recommend going with the traditional methods. For many, this change might just be too radical. However, if quality of life is crucial to you and you are very, very serious, (which, if we are honest, very few truly are,) about getting well and investing in a long-term, healthy lifestyle and diet as God originally gave man in the Garden, I would encourage you to research, educate yourself and learn about your body while trusting the “Great Physician” to “heal all these diseases” that have come upon us due to the fallen world we so unknowingly participate in each day.

This change has not been easy for me. I resist it at times and want to fall back to old patterns. However, at age 51 I weigh 111 pounds and can do more physically than when I was age 35. Fortunately, I have a supportive oncologist who has a “wait and see” attitude. Quality of life will always be more important to me than length of life, for I believe I have a place laid up in heaven with the Lord, so I have no fear. Supportive friends, family and church family have also been a critical component to healing.

May you be blessed whatever path you take and may the incredibly distressing health challenge of cancer change you and make you whole once again! Be strong and of good courage!

Jan