I said NO to radiation and NO to Chemo and am doing a Natural approach... has anyone else done this?

Keep us updated..

Denise

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.

CindyH, i see that your last post was August 2015.  How is the all natural treatment working for you?

I thank God I was fortunate to make contact with an excellent oncologist and have received excellent care. I was also given excellent information and was allowed to make any and all choices in my treatment.  My first couple oncologist meetings seemed to go on forever between the questions, explanations, and information. The single most helpful piece of advice was to"use care when searching the internet for informaion on cancer treatments".  The background I had in education and journalism had already proved this to be true. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and those that put it out there will prey on anyone.  If they truly knew what caused cancer, we would have a cure. 

Having said that, I have no problem with people wanting to eat and live healthy. Doing things the natural way is not a bad choice.  Home grown and prepared food is how we were raised, and that continued while raising our family, as my husband has allergies to food preservatives.  Imagine my surprise, then, being diagnosed with breast cancer. I am the only one with any cancer, so it isn't hereditary.  Food related?  Unlikely.  

It does surprise me when those who choose to have "natural" care always seem to second guess their own decisions and return to Drs. And tests over and over to keep checking on their health.  i do  not believe people who claim they had cancer  But did not have a medical diagnosis.  I wish them all well, but I have bad news for them.  Every one I knew who told me i needed to go the herbal vitamin tincture raw foods route for cancer treatment because it worked for them..........they have all died.  And I am still here.

I knew when God sent me the first canoe I was to climb in.

Sue

Sue, I completely agree with you!  Was just wondering how this lady was going. 

Hi Cindy: if you do not want to take chemo and radio, you must have to drink green juice watch on you tube videos. diet it is very important for us, curry, turmeric, baking soda and green juice. I only did chemotherapy, not yet radiotherapy; i am litle scare off radiotherapy, becauseoff these side effects: dificulties of respiration, pressure level, swallow the redness whilw the blister off your skin

i agrre with Cindy about lack or deficiency of vitamin D3 and iodine linked of breast cancer.

Thanks for the update Button!  I am so sorry to hear about Cindy.  I'll keep her in my prayers.

concern_sister said:

NO TO CHEMO/RADIATION..Searching for alternative/natural cure...

Hi Cindy,

I came across your post because I am trying to find alternative cure for my sister. I came across an inspirational documentary video of battling cancer with natural remedies. And it was very promising. Can I check on you? Did you continue natural remedies? My sister is on 5th chemo now, and she will be having radiation next year. Based on the video, chemo and radiation will aggravate the condition. Pls let me know your current condition now? Did natural remedies work on u? What steps did u take? Hoping to hear from u soon. 

Liz

Liz, read a few messages above yours. Cindy hasn't been back on here. One of the ladies here saw her on another website & she has another tumor. So no it didn't work. She has an aggressive cancer. There are so many different breast cancer. They type, size & locatioin of tumor, very important is the biopsy. Thats how the Drs decide on the treatments. Vitamins can't cure cancer. Not everyone needs chemo or radiation. There's a lot of bad information. Even reading through messages I see so much that people don't understand. We aren't Dr's but you can read studies that have been proven to work. Yes women will die. Cancer isdisd nothing to screw around with. People here almost begged her to at least to the treatment to block estrogen & the meds for Her +. No one likes to see someone not treat their cancer then get worse. At that point you may not be able to turn it around. But even women with stage 4 terminasl cancer can live up to 10 years with ongoing chemo. I see some women blame the recurrence or spread of cancer blamed on going off their diet for a few months. It doesn't happen like thast. Its been growing all along. That's why Drs don't say youre cured. Because there can be that one cell that gets through & vitamins won't kill it. Its sad she has new tumor. No one wants to hear of asnother womans cancer spreading. We all want cures.

​Book recommendation:

The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer--

A Practical Manual for Understanding, prevention and Care

by Sat Dharam Kaur (Naturopathic Doctor)

This book covers an enormous amount of information, from understanding breast cancer to the many topics we have covered here, and much much more.  Whether you have chosen strictly alternative treatment, or as complementary to standard treatments, this covers, in-depth, many, many options. 

I originally got it from library, but bought my own copy from thriftbooks.com for just a few dollars. Really helps increase understanding of just what we are fighting and our options, especially natural ones,  for doing so.  

mapat said:

book recommendation

​Book recommendation:

The Complete Natural Medicine Guide to Breast Cancer--

A Practical Manual for Understanding, prevention and Care

by Sat Dharam Kaur (Naturopathic Doctor)

 

This book covers an enormous amount of information, from understanding breast cancer to the many topics we have covered here, and much much more.  Whether you have chosen strictly alternative treatment, or as complementary to standard treatments, this covers, in-depth, many, many options. 

 

I originally got it from library, but bought my own copy from thriftbooks.com for just a few dollars. Really helps increase understanding of just what we are fighting and our options, especially natural ones,  for doing so.  

My oncologist told me NOT to take vitamins during treatment and afterwards as well. She said too many vitamins could feed the cancer and make tumors grow. I'm not sure this is true, but I'm doing what she says and relying on a very healthy vegetable and fruit based diet. (I went through conventional treatment - surgery, chemo, radiation, target therapies and now hormone therapy - four years ago).