natural girls
Comments
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althea, congrats on the 6 year anniversay and so glad your still feeling good.
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Congratulation Althea.....it is so wonderful to hear:)))
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Althea...:) !!!
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A big CONGRATULATIONS, Althea!!! Hopefully everything you're doing, and everything we've all learned and shared here, will ensure a lifetime of happy cancerversary celebrations! So happy for you! Deanna
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Carola,
I also decided not to take Tamoxifen or AI's. I did try them, each one for over a month and felt really ill.
My naturopath has me on several things for my weakly positive ER. I take quercetin, green tea caps, grapeseed, I3C...the list goes on. Can you tell me more about what you are taking?
Thanks.
tuckerto
Dianne
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Happy 6th, Althea!
It's so wonderdful to see how far you've come, step by step.
We're counting on you to become our resident nutritional consultant.
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Congratulations Althea! Awesome.
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Hello everyone,
I had DCIS, so lumpectomy followed by rads. I am experiencing a lot of foot pain, and it just dawned on me that this might be tied to the radiation. What started as Plantar Fascitis now seems like just pins and needles on the bottom of my feet. Yes, it's spread to both feet. I am a 42 year old who shuffles like an 80 year old at this point. So painful.
Wondering if those of you who did rads were told about this, and is it a normal side effect? I consciously wouldn't allow myself to read up on the radiation treatment, since I knew it would lead to panic attacks and sleeplessness, so I have continued to resist going "Google" on radiation and foot pain.
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Marianna, I am 49 and now have arthritis in my left hip after rads. My pain dr said it is from rads. he said that when we get breast radiation that they cannot miss the bones that are in that area. The radiation changes the molecular structure of the bone marrow and in some people they develop arthritis in other places in their bodies. They also can develop osteoporosis because of it. I mentioned it to my MO and he said it could be the radiation or it could be the tamox that I take as 6% of women will get arthritis from that as well. So he did not argue the point from the pain Dr. just noded and agreed that it could happen
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Marianna-I have developed arthritis in my fingers because of rads. It just infuriates me. I have regretted ever saying okay to rads to begin with and I am so mad that they did not tell me about the long term side effects. I have spent almost 4 years now trying to get the radiation out of my breast tissue. My therms are still red, and I AM SEEING RED! I keep trying all kinds of things to detox this crap out. Do you realize we are exposed to more radiation from medical procedures than from being within 50 miles of a nuclear meltdown. Natural News had a great story on this and I posted a chart with a video on my website from Dr. Brownstein. Anyway, I take a Usana product called Procosa that eliminates my finger pain. I also had a lot of condritis in my chest, which flares up now and then. This is an inflammation between the ribs where they attach to the sternum. It is very common in rad victims. Yes, we are victims. I have not had so many condritis flare ups now that I am on a good supplement and diet routine, but if I get stressed, I get a tightness, so I just go for a walk and do a bit of finger massage between the ribs and the pain goes away.
TuckerTwo-It sound like you are on the right track. Have your estrogen levels checked before and after to see if the I3C is absorbing. Brands will vary. Also, loosing all my midriff was the best way for me to get my estrogens in check. That is where the excess is stored. However, I was not able to loose that without detoxing. The best way is to go on the iodine protocol, which is also one of the most preventive things we can do since bc is linked to iodine deficiency and hypothyroid. I believe that in the near future, as more of us find success with iodine, this will become the standard of care over hormone treatments. I just cannot believe that suppressing hormones is the answer. Women have always been hormonal, so why is the rate of bc skyrocketing in the past couple of decades? Our soils and diets are depleted of iodine, we are told not to salt anything, which is actually counterproductive and we are exposed to the toxic halides like chlorine, bromine and fluoride that iodine is needed to chelate out. Read Dr. Brownstien's books "Iodine, Why you need it and why you can't live without it" and "Salt your way to Health". You can also find info about the iodine/bc study being conducted at breastcancerchoices.org
Taking iodine and getting rid of my root canal, and mercury fillings (not done yet) are two things that I believe are saving my life more than anything.
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SherryC.. i use a Brita water filter for our cooking needs.. it sure works better than the rather minerally tap water we get 'ferfree'.
not quite a distiller tho you could make one... which is not worth it to me.. altho my sons want to make their own alchohol when they turn 21 ... LOL
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congrats Althea.. I'm kind of envious and hope to make 6.
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Congratulations Althea!
Marianne: I have seen people with rads & chemo end up with some kind of neuropathy. Every time I go for a walk I am a cripple the next day. Still trying to get my body temp up so the pain goes away.
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vivre, I still remember the day I was presented 'the list' and the acknowledgement form I was given prior to rads. "The list" was the known possible side effects of radiation treatments -- you know, the potential heart attacks, the weakened ribs that might break when you sneeze, the heart damage, and that's just the ones I can remember offhand.
This list was presented to me while I was sitting in the waiting room wearing the flimsy gown, moments before I was to be called in for the setup. The tv was on the weather channel. It was 2005, the year of Katrina, which happened just 6 weeks after I was in NOLA for my surgery. I literally got a brand new case of ptsd just watching 5 days of Katrina coverage, wondering when on earth were those buses going to come get those stranded people out of the superdome. Plus, this meant no one was home at the surgeons' office if I were to have a complication.
Another 4 weeks later, Rita was forming in the gulf with the computer models showing it making a direct hit on my city. My first oncologist stressed me out so much over my decision to leave town for surgery that I decided to switch. Stress stress and more stress, and there I was sitting alone, reading all these dire warning of side effects, no one there to ask questions, feeling like there's no choice but to say "I promise I won't sue if I get any of these side effects you just told me about".
It chaps my hide to this day that this portion of my treatment was handled that way. I mean really, fat lot of good it does to survive cancer if you end up dead from a heart attack! Clearly, I never got a deadly heart attack because I'm still here to complain about my rads, but none of us knows this when we're in the middle of it! ...which in my typical longwinded fashions brings me to acknowledge everyone's well wishes for reaching my 6 year anniversary of surgery. I'm so glad to be here, even though I do go on when I complain about things.
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tuckertwo...please tell us the rest of your list !!!
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Thank you for the responses on rads. I had a suspicion that the pains I am having are somehow linkied.... now I am certain. I really, really wish I had opted out of the rads, but I was so darned scared I agreed to it.
That brings me to my next point. I got a job offer today, so was floating, pretty happy about it. Followed by a call by my BS's office. The receptionist informed me that I need to get a contrast dye MRI before my July 25 appointment. I am really balking at this. I guess I am so tired of the constant need for procedures. I had DCIS, 2mm, low grade. I really think they are overtreating me, but I also don't want to be hiding from the fact that I could have a recurrance. I really think I want to tell her NO and maybe I'll do it next year.
Guess I was pretty let down, after my good news phone call this morning, as always, cancer rears its ugly head....
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so sorry ... we are always looking over our shoulder aren't we?
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I know the feeling Marianna. I met with my Onc on May 31st. He ordered an MRI based on feeling "something" under my right armpit. I had just had a negative Mammo/Sono 2 weeks before that. I told him that before starting Rads 3 years ago, the Rad Onc felt something in that same spot and it turned out to be a blood vessel sitting right next to a lymph node.
I'm really not worried about it and my Onc admitted that he is just being extra cautious. Insurance company has rejected it, saying that the test is not warranted. Onc's office is still trying to get it approved. I feel kind of like this is just overkill and maybe not necessary.
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Luna, Rose,
Thanks for responses. I talked it over with my best friend (nurse practitioner), and we discussed the fact that it seems like overkill. She suggested that I talk to my BS about doing the procedure next year, so as to give my body a break. I had a clean mammo in January, and I will have another mammo soon. Mine was totally low grade, DCIS. I know there is still a risk for recurrance, but I feel like they are pressing a protocol on me that is made for another type of Dx, one with more prevalance for recurrance.
Anyway, so I have decided to talk to her and explain my thoughts.0 -
Hello Natural Girls!
This is my first post since I first discovered you in the summer of 2009 when I was first diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. You helped me greatly with your common sense and research which affirms my own thoughts and feelilngs about mainstream medical protocols. I had a lumpectomy with 5 lymph nodes very clean. I did do radiation and with great reluctance gave the tamoxifen a try. Three months later, I stopped due to all the discomfort I was experiencing. I have been on a lot of supplements through the Block Center for Integrative Cancer (DIM, resevretol, curcumin, fish oil, Vit D, E, and some of Dr. Block's own formulations. I had been feeling great...........until the day before my baby girl's wedding, July 8th, when I went to the ER after the wedding rehearsal (missed the dinner:() with intense horrific pain in my side. I was released that night but was back again in the morning. By God's grace and I truly believe angel Gabrielle, I made it to the church two minutes before I was to walk down the isle with my three sons. My poor baby girl and my entire family- what stress I put them through!!!!!
I NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!! Monday I am facing surgery to remove a 6cm cyst and 3cm solid mass that is in, partly in, or outside of my right ovary. More than likely my ovary and fallopian tube will also go. Ladies...talk to me!!!! Medical protocol: Remove both ovaries and uterus.... you have ER+ breast cancer.....dah! Of course you want to get rid of the estrogen.
I have given the surgeon the ok to remove both ovaries if this mass in my right looks cancerous and if my uterus looks cancer, fine, take it out.
I am doubting my decision. If they only see cancer in one.....why should I get the other out? The surgeon said that more than likely it will have travelled to the other ovary. Is that so? Maybe they should first check the nodes, etc???!! If Mayo clinic's website states that it can be confined to one ovary and if you still want your fertility, then hang on to the second ovary and uterus, then why can't I? Am I just being pressured to remove both because I do not know what is best for myself (obviously, I do not..... the doctor ordered tamoxifen and I am not taking it).
I am almost 53, cycling with the same normalcy as when I was 25. I did have a bit of break through bleeding (spotting) in the middle of my cycle a few times these past couple of years. (mmmmm...is it possible the tamoxifen messed me up at all???)
So...I am scared. This mass could be breast cancer...or could be another primary cancer in my ovary. I am hoping and praying for a benign mass, which most masses are in the ovary....but because of my history.....Yeah, I'm scared.
If you could make sense of my post and you have any words of wisdom/encouragement, please respond. Why I did not write earlier in the week....I don't know....
Blessings to you all! Know that there are many of us out there who have read your posts and have never said thank you. Now's my chance-----THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Peace and all that is good,
Mary
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Marianna...by having rads, you have had more treatment than me and I had a 1.7 cm tumor not DCIS. But I was also post menopausal. If you are doing a lot of the natural things that have been discussed here...I think you should go with your gut on your decision. My "gut" was right on two very important decisions.... To fight for the OncotypeDx test when my oncologist opposed me having it and to refuse chemo which my oncologist was also pushing...( oncologist said and I quote " I don't want to be sued in 20 years for not recommending chemo".) Seem silly that anyone would sue 20 years down the road. I pray and meditate and pray and meditate on these important decisions after researching my brains out and then go with what I really believe is the right choice. My head was screaming YES to OncotypeDx test and NO to chemo .. so I went with it.
I haven't read back through your posts...but I'm assuming you are getting your D3 up as high as you can towards 80 ????
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Dear Mary,
I can relate to your problems. Several years after breast cancer, I had a huge, baked potato sized, cyst on my ovaries. I had a TAH (total abdominal hysterectomy), and the cyst was found to be benign, a beautiful word. However, because it was so large, and I think the gyn/onc suspected ovarian or BC cancer, the incision was vertical, not with laproscopic procedures. That caused the most problem, and resulted in a huge incisional hernia a couple of years later.
However, it does not bother me at all. I was menopausal at the time, so there was no issue with that (i am 62).
Just try to push for laproscopic hysterectomy if that is what they want to do. It is much easier. I don't miss the extra parts either.
FYI There is a good web site for discussion of hysterectomies. www.hystersisters.com
It has discussion baords also.
Prayers and Best of luck.
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Mary, I don't have wise words for you. Hopefully someone else will chime in.
I probably did overkill when I opted to have a hysty/ooph for no real reason. I did it because I was scared and because I had already had a D&C to remove a polyp and another to check to see if it had grown back and just didn't have the strength to keep worrying about ovarian cancer. Things I have read here since have made me question whether or not I should have kept my parts...so I am not the best one to give advice on this. Also, I was completly through menopause by age 45 and this was 10 yrs later in 2009.
I will say, though, that I opted for the Davinci Robotic method of Hysty/ooph by a specialist in ovarian cancer so that the tissue could be checked and if need be the nodes could be checked or removed during the same operation. My gyno had said that since I had already had enough procedures...that even though he could easily do the hysty/ooph....if he did it and cancer was found ...another procedure would be required to take the nodes....This way my nodes were'nt messed with since the tissue was all clear.
Recuperation was a snap! They made me stay overnight but I felt fine. Once home, had a hard time remembering not to overdo since it is a major operation.
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Thank you, Luna. It's hard to make my own "decisions" on something as big as cancer, but I intuitively feel that they used a bazooka for a gnat in my case. Let's hope, anyway. Yes, getting my D levels up, and the last time we checked I was at around 75. I stopped during the summer because I was getting so much sun while riding my bike. I am as tan as I used to get when I was a 13 year old! Yikes. Trading wrinkles for health, I guess. And that is with sunscreen. I can't seem to stop getting brown, despite fervent application of sunblock.
Thanks for "listening" to my rant. It's so mind boggling sometimes, being Dx'd with cancer.
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Mary,
Sorry to hear about the pain and rush to hospital. So glad you were able to get out for the wedding. I have no experience with your types of mass, but it would be good to get a few opinions before you make your final decision, if you have the time. I would always opt for a conservative route, but have been talked into "more" treatment, and I have mixed feelings about that. (evidenced by my posts on this forum) Peace and healing to you, and I hope that you find a doctor that will look into every aspect before deciding to take both ovaries.
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By the way, did anyone ever hear back from evebarry or crunchypoodlemama? Neither one has posted in a very, very long time. Hoping all is well with both of them.
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Marianna-Have you tried thermography? It gives me such peace of mind, is safe and reliable. I can see the changes as I try to detox all the radiation, though it is taking so long, it makes me mad that I can still see the after affects. I loved your analogy of killing a gnat with a bazooka. How I wished I had trusted my instincts and said JUST SAID NO!
Mary, my only advice is to get another opinion or two and then weigh all their recommendations and make a decision based on what you feel is best for you. Whatever you do, YOU must feel it is right for you. God Bless.
Althea-I cannot believe you had to make these decisions on top of dealing with Katrina! I had a hard enough time and I was enjoying the most beautiful fall weather I can remember. The sad fact is, we have to make all these decisions at a time when we are walking around feeling brainless. One of things I am hoping to do with my seminars is to encourage people to be better prepared than I was. I would have done it all SOOOO differently.
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Thank you dear friends for your responses. Like I said in my first post, I do not know why I waited till today to ask for your advise.... Surgery is scheduled for 11:00 am Monday morning. If I were to cancel, so as to get another opinion, I do not know what would happen financially....am I held responsible for skipping out on the surgeon?
53 in August....should I try to hold on to my other ovary if they cannot discern whether or not cancer has spread to it? Part of me just wants to throw in the towel, get it over with, and say, "Take it all out!" I would then feel as if I have let myself down and surrendered to the "enemy". Please pray for me as I will for you!
Peace and all that is good,
Mary
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Besides mammos, what other regular testing do you girls have done in relation to your bc? (LDH, CTs, PETs, etc)
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I was recently diagnosed with DCIS and am scheduled for a mastectomy on Aug. 10, 2011. I confess that my current diet is horrible! I'm thinking that my bc is a good excuse to start improving the way that I eat. I've been meaning to do so for quite some time and now I have some real motivation. I did read on some of the earlier posts that taking vitamin C and magnesium supplements was a good plan, prior to surgery. Anything else? I have green tea in the house but have yet to drink any. (blush) I'll have a cup tonight!
My question to this group is: how do I begin to change over to a more natural diet? There's no way that I could just go 'cold turkey' and give up Diet Coke and Kemps "Under the Stars" ice cream! ;-) I don't mind vegetables but rarely eat them. The same goes for fruit. I do have a blender and was thinking that I could try smoothies. I wrote down a couple of recipes from the early days of this thread (green juice and green lemonade), thinking that I could perhaps incorporate more veggies and fruits into my diet that way. I'll be staying at my daughter's house for a week or two after my surgery. She'll want to pamper me. I figure that I'm lucky that my diagnosis came in the summer ~ when fresh fruits and veggies are readily available. Anyone have any thoughts on "organic" vs supermarket? Obviously, organic is MUCH more expensive and I am single and unemployed. ...sigh...
I would appreciate any advice, resources and/or recommendations!
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