Anyone else out there choosing 100% Alternative?
Comments
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I don't agree with the favorable comparison of Houston to India in regards to poverty. As I have mentioned I am a native Texan. Been living away from there for a long time, but still visit. Houston does have poor areas. But in India the poverty is shocking and in your face. We were in a nice hotel in the middle of Delhi's business section. Everywhere around our area were the most horrifying and pitiful scenes of suffering by both humans and animals. Poor people lived in barb wired enclosed "towns," with only small tents housing many family members. Animals, and their waste products, lived with and around them. Half-starved cows, dogs, and other animals wandered around the city, getting food from the large piles of trash which were ubiquitous (talk about unsanitary conditions)! When we were there it was cold. Night and day, all over the sidewalks and islands in the roads, destitute people had fires going to keep warm.
Anyway, I could go on and on, but I do not believe Houston or any other American city can compete with India in terms of poverty. There is no social safety net there to help the poor. Everybody is pretty much left to their own devises and the better off just try not to notice the horror. It's not that the middle class and rich are heartless, they just really don't know what to do about the situation. We traveled outside Delhi to the Taj Mahal and Mughal palace, and conditions were the same.0 -
ferret, I hope you get to realize your dream of visiting India, but I hope it will be a pleasure trip only! :-)
To add to what others have said about health risks of visiting India ... While I've never gone, i do know from friends and family who have visited that, as Mardibra pointed out, vaccines are recommended prior to going. My sister opted out of the Larium shot (due to its potential side effects) before visiting India and thankfully did not contract malaria. However, she did get a pretty violent intestinal bug.
My friend's husband is a native of India now living in the US. His work requires him to visit India several times a year. He told me that even as a semi-native, he catches an intestinal bug every time he visits.
I know these are unscientific samples of two, but my point is, probably the best time to visit India is when one is very healthy and able to fight any number of illnesses that exposure there might cause.
I really hope you get the care that you need (and are comfortable with) soon.0 -
We had to get malaria shots and maybe something else. We were already innoculated against Hepatitis, so were ok in that regard. Even though we watched everything we ate and drank, and were in a 5* hotel, my DH got sick. He took a bite of a strawberry in the hotel and BAM. Ruined 2 days for him.0 -
ferret, if you are not comfortable interacting with the conventional care clinics in the US have you considered exploring any of the alternative Mexican cancer clinics that are just over the border? Many seem pretty reputable with a range of options similar to the German cancer clinics (that means both conventional + ALTERNATIVE treatment choices), just easier for US folks to get to and a lot more affordable than flying overseas.
The Center for Natural Oncology in CA has a program where they help you put together a personalized program and select possible clinics that have a good track record with your kind of disease, maybe that would be a good thing for you to attend first and get info and make a game plan. The owner of that clinic also maintains a Yahoo group list called "cancercured" that I highly recommend you check out, there are many alternative-minded survivors on there who are happy to share their own experiences.
About the biopsy, I have read that there is indeed a risk of seeding along the needle track if you don't follow later with rads ("drop mets"), or other hazards of cutting into the thing, but I also agree with posters here that you do need to know what you are dealing with. Some think excisional is best if you can get it that way. You said the tumor is large; if you have been considering a mast it might be best to think about skipping the biopsy and going straight to that to get your pathology. I'm sorry you are going through this, making these decisions with so little info (or support) is one of the most difficult parts of this journey.0 -
Momine, you are right, and I'm sorry I hit on your pet peeve. I was just being lazy and using it more as an adjective but I shouldn't have, I just didn't feel like typing it all out and going even farther off track, not to worry
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Planetbananas, phew! and thanks for taking it in the spirit in which it was offered.0 -
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Kayb, I have not read Beesie's links but I can say with certainty that my lumpectomy did NOT remove my needle tracks (I still have the entry scars), so I don't think that's an absolute truth by any means. Nor do I believe that the "seeding" controversy is entirely settled and if I had to do it over I'm not sure I'd bank my life on the current mainstream conclusions, or rely on rads to sterilize the mess. At any rate, this is for ferret to decide for her own comfort.
As for the mast, I guess it would depend where she went, what the thermograms/mammos/US revealed, who the surgeon is, etc. Maybe a Mexican doc would do it if the US docs won't? I was thinking excisional vs needle biopsy, however that can be accomplished. If one is compliant and doesn't ask too many questions you'll be given the Standard-of-Care without a doubt, but that hasn't been the path that all of us have walked. Again, ferret needs to be the one to make her own choices but she can't do that effectively if she doesn't know first what the choices even are.0 -
needle tracks removed or not, the risk of seeding from a breast biopsy is theoretical. Please read the link below:0 -
Ferret - If for some reason MD Anderson does not meet your specifications I would hold up the Moncrief Cancer Institute in Ft Worth or UT Southwestern in Dallas. Moncrief I know for certain provides indigent care and being that it is part of UT SW I am sure they do as well. Moncrief has just finished an incredible building in the medical district of Ft Worth - I have no affiliation just have eye doctor adjacent to it.
Yorkiemom - can say that as far as Ft. Worth goes your description of existing poverty is spot on. Homeless for sure as any metro area. I bet the other shot your thinking of is typhoid.0 -
this and that: ferret, you're probably aware that there is a lot of hostility here to those using much or all conventional treatment. why, I don't read minds, so I'm not sure. perhaps through good feeling for helpfulness My sister spent several months in India recently & she thinks, & google agrees, no vaccines are required but several are recommended. she seems to remember she got typhus vaccine & had kept up with others. sophia. I stopped using butter some years ago though I still use half & half & heavy cream & whole milk yogurt. all organic. I found that coconut oil in a cool room will harden enough to be able to use as you would butter. re sweets: I expect your craving is partially for chocolate. they say now that chocolate is an anti inflametory, though the chocolate in for instance chocolate chips has little of it in them. I'ts mostly stabelizers & sugar, but has enough of the love-feeling chemical to make it addictive. I havn't used it for many years, I do crave sweets though so I use organic maple syrup in my cereal & "ice cream" (yogurt, cream, berries, black rasberry powder, turmeric powder, cinnamon. ) regarding phytoestrogens: this is a very important question, & perhaps our think-tank could shed some light on it: the health of those who've used HRT , & those who used soy for the problems of menopause.0 -
Huh? Abigail do you mean "unconventional"? I think this board is pretty conservative and can think of several other places that are less conventional than here.0 -
wanted to bump the post where momine? mentioned phytoestrogens & the chemicals but couldn't find it not do I know how to bump. re sugar again: I forgot to mention that dates are a good substitute earthbound farms has a packet of organic dates, they will melt if eaten slowly & they taste some like chocolate0 -
Abigail is correct. There are recommended vaccinations for travel to India, but none that are required
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/india#vaccines-and-medicines
Although I haven't been for many years, I used to travel to India frequently. I also lived in a country where few people were vaccinated and typhoid, smallpox and polio are not pretty. Since most of us grew up in the era of vaccines, we have never seen the effects of some of the diseases they prevent and as long as most continue to get vaccinated we won't. Herd immunity will protect those who are not vaccinated. Let's hope it stays this way.0 -
Just asked DH and he said we got shots for typhoid and took pills for malaria. I leave this stuff up to him when we travel, so sometimes don't connect all the dots. But I can always blame my brain fog on AROMASIN!0 -
right vespersperrow, I miss wrote that big-time. my sister got sick in india anyway, a flu-like trouble. there are stories about biopsy on the pain fora, nothing about seeding there, I guess those are elsewhere I've not found. interesting that mastectomy can't be performed without biopsy, I wonder if that's another reason people travel to india for surgery, but what of women who believe they should be men, they must be able to get mastectomies without biopsy as they arn't physically ill.0 -
kayb, I think the reason lumpectomies have as low of recurrence rates as masts is because they are almost invariably paired with rads. But what if someone doesn't want rads? Something to think of *before* getting that biopsy if it might be an issue later.
I'd think some combination of tests could show with good accuracy if something is malignant, especially at 3". But I am NOT a doctor so I can't say I know. Ferret needs to consult with one that will giver her options that she can feel comfortable with, and somehow I doubt that any of the US docs will be able to offer much outside of the usual SOC which is not what she wants. I guess my point here is just that if I were her I'd consult with the Natural Oncology gentleman, or maybe someone in Mexico before taking any action. I've heard more good things about the Mexico clinics for alternative cancer treatment than anywhere in India.0 -
Vespersparrow - I think Ferret is only considering alternative treatment as she cannot afford conventional treatment. I truly hope she contacts the suggested places and finds someone to help her.
If someone doesn't want rads, they usually have a mastectomy.
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I still don't understand why ferret doesn't have money for a biopsy, but seems able to travel to India.0 -
vesparrow,
I'm not a doctor either but I have never heard of any combination of tests that could confirm bc without a biopsy. As to the money issue, even a clinic in Mexico is pricey, very pricey.
Abigail,
Removing a breast with unconfirmed disease is very different than surgery performed for gender reassignment. People undergoing gender reassignment undergo a battery of psychological tests before such a radical procedure. It's not like requesting a cosmetic procedure.0 -
Brnx, true about gender surgery. There are also prophylactic mastectomies. I theoretically had one on my left breast (no disease detected and no biopsy performed). My doc agreed to do it, at my insistence, because of the type of cancer and my relatively young age (higher chance of a genetic problem). In the end that breast had disease too, LCIS, so the MX turned out to serve the cause after all.0 -
ferret1 please get properly diagnosed then you can make informed decisions. You cannot make healthy choices with incomplete information.
Most people on this thread are following a complementary rather than alternative protocol as most had at keast one of the following - surgery, chemo or rads0 -
Hello, all. I had a lumpectomy (with clean margins) as well as my Sentinel node removed on July 8, 2013. Due to pathology finding angio-lymphatic invasion present, it was recommended that I have chemo to clean up any cancer cells that may have gotten out into my body via the blood vessels my cancer tumor had created. While my Sentinel node was pNO (i+) - basically node negative with few isolated cancer cells - my tumor was scary with a grade 3 score meaning aggressive and high risk. I have had a bad time with chemo and currently overcoming some debilitating anemia that has delayed my getting radiation treatments started. I had my first boost of rads via IORT, but whole breast rads are recommended to be followed by 10 years of estrogen-blocking therapy (tumor was ER positive); I am post menopausal.
In the down time of illness, I have been researching Radiation Therapy risks and am freaked out by the doubling of my already increased risk of leukemia from chemo, by taking radiation treatment that carries the risk of creating a new cancer in my breast or lung. I bought Suzanne Somers book, Knockout, and am more that 2/3rd's of the way through it. After reading it, I wish I could go back and not take chemo and I want to skip rads, now. Also, she recommends bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for breast cancer, NOT removing all estrogen by chemically blocking it. I am eating organic, am celiac so no gluten, no alcohol, never smoked, non-GMO as much as possible in Ohio, eating very low carb, no sugar, daily plain Snowville yogurt, berries and lemon juice, taking fish oil and supplements and trying to get strong enough to walk more and add yoga. I've found a lot of info in her book to add more than a dozen things to my list of stuff that can tilt the scale my way in preventing recurrence.
Question for you all: Since my cancer is grade 3, high risk, does anyone here think I am wrong to skip rads and hormone blockers and go 100% alternative? Thanks for taking the time reading this 'book'! :-)0 -
The reason that radiation is being recommended is because you had a lumpectomy. Lumpectomy+radiation=same survival statistics that a mastectomy has. Skipping the radiation means that your statistical risk of local recurrence will be higher than without it.
If you are really against having the radiation you can, always, decide to have a mastectomy to lower the risk of local recurrence. But if you decide to skip both the radiation and a mastectomy, then the hormone treatment may be your strongest line of defense against recurrence.
Please discuss these issues with your treatment team. You may still decide to go 100% alternative, but you need to be fully informed about all the benefits and risks before making a final decision.
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I agree with Selena's post. My hesitancy about following Ms. Somer's advice, is that she is relating her personal experiences and what she has gleaned along the way. She has no training or professional credentials. Being Chrissy on Three's Company does not qualify her, in my opinion, to dispense medical advice. I know that others disagree with me and we all must make our own decisions, but I need to get my medical advice from someone with greater force of authority. As to the bio-identical hormones, if you are ER+ you shouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole. Again, just my opinion.0 -
Doitagain, Suzanne Somers is a TV actress. I would not put my faith in her advice. Her hormone ideas sound particularly addled.0 -
I'd also like to add that Somer's herself had radiation.0 -
Oh dear, Somers "hormone doc" is nothing of the sort:
"Further, they said, they are outraged that Ms. Somers endorses a treatment plan created by T. S. Wiley, a former actress with no formal medical training. Although Ms. Wiley described herself in an interview as “a molecular biologist” and has published two books on women’s health, Ms. Wiley only holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Webster University, in St. Louis." NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/fashion/15suzanne.html?pagewanted=all&_r=00 -
Brnx, it also always says in blurbs about Somers that she turned down chemo, except I have never been able to get a clear answer as to whether chemo was even recommended for her.0 -
"Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for breast cancer, NOT removing all estrogen by chemically blocking it."
There is no bio-identical hormone replacement therapy for breast cancer. Bio-identical hormones are used to treat the symptoms of menopause rather than using estrogen replacement therapies. If you are ER+ what that means is that cancer cells that you may have in your body attract and feed off of estrogen. They love the stuff. During menopause (of course) our bodies begin producing a lot less estrogen - and hormone replacement therapies are used to replace some of that estrogen. A bio-identical hormone works just like the hormone that you're replacing - for instance Premarin is metabolized into various forms of estrogen. So by taking Premarin you would be doing the exact OPPOSITE of what SERMS and AIs do - it would be like handing your cancer cells candy and saying "Here honey, get bigger." And that should tell you all you need to know about whether you should listen to an actresses advice about cancer or to the oncologist who has studied it for 8 years before he ever even became a doctor.0
