In Search of Holistic Treatment After Lumpectomy

Hi @malleemiss251
Thank you for sharing 🌺 I'm glad you have found things to help manage side effects.
My Oncologist would like me to take anastrozole (which I'm told is similar to letrozole). I have several meetings this week -oncology, radiation, and my Functional Doctor. Then I have to make decisions.

The Functional Dr has helped me get my body healthier overall and that has to be a good thing. I am interested in starting to exercise. I need to start -yesterday I told myself I'd do leg lifts and arm stretching on commercials … I did yesterday, not yet today (giggling). But I did vacuum and brush our Great Pyrenees for about 20 minutes! That's gotta count for something! What exercises have worked for you? How did you get yourself to start? What exercises did you find to begin with worked for you?

It sounds really hard for you to get nutrition, what things taste good to you? what staples do you fall back on? I'm sending hope that you will find enjoyment in things that taste as good as to you as they are good for your body!

I appreciate the dimension you spoke about in doing something intentionally but only temporarily. I often (usually) tend to think if I do something, for example, take the anastrozole, that I will always take it as prescribed for the 5-6 year duration. My brain doesn't intially think of the variations that it could be taken. I was talking to a friend about this med in particular and she said she'd ask the Dr if she could take it every other day? and what if she only took it for 3-1/2yrs what would happen? I was surprised, as those options hadn't occurred to me.

All or nothing -giggling, like the exercise, too! Did I do the leg lifts today? Did I walk a lap in the house? Did I sit outside in the sunshine? No, but I often forget to remind myself I likely did something different that still matters.

As for discussing things with your onc, I too have done that the whole way through. I was diagnosed Dec of '22. They managed to get me scheduled with appointments with everyone and have me lined up for surgery within a month. It astounds me they were able to do that! Unfortunately, for me, it was too fast. I felt rushed and like it wasn't right for me.

I talked with a friend, another cancer survivor, and asked her if she would do anything differently knowing what she does now. She shared a lot. The primary thing she spoke about was working with a Functional Dr. I had never heard of that!

In this field of medicine the doctor has extensive bloodwork panels run. The results fit in to one of three categories: a Healthy Range, an Unhealthy Range, and a Clinically Unhealthy Range. Their goal is to have all results in the Healthy Range, 😉 as does traditiontal medicine. The difference being that they can watch and see if you trend out of the Healthy Range and guide you to make changes to prevent you ever getting to where the general doctors treat you for being Clinically Unhealthy using medications to try to bring you back into the Healthy Range.

I wish I had known about this branch of healthcare so many years ago.

But I digress. When I felt rushed, I did reach out to my Nurse Navigator and shared that with her and asked her to pause everything. I explained I was going to talk with the Funct. Dr. and would get back to them. I talked w/the FD then went back and talked with the Onc. with my husband and mother. We all talked, asked questions, and in the end the Onc. said it was OK for me to try the other way. We agreed I would get follow-ups every three months to keep an eye on things.

I worked with the FD for a year and a half: I had the bloodwork done, mammograms and ultrasounds every three months. I met with the Onc every three months. Then I decided that since I was not doing all I could with the guidance of the FD, the lumpectomy and SNB were what I needed to have done.

And that's where I find myself now. A month out of surgery and trying to decide the next steps for me.
I do value and appreciate traditional medicine. To me, trad. med. can be harsh and cut-and-dry. I prefer a kinder, gentler way of life. If my health can be improved that way, too, I would prefer that.

I do also understand that sometimes life really sucks rotten eggs ~ and I cannot always have my way. Why can't we have our own way more often? LOL

So, in closing, thank you again for sharing and commenting in an area on this site without much activity. I find myself thinking in 'holistic' measures, but in reality I suppose Complementary Treatment is where I am heading. I've even heard the term Metatbolic Therapy recently, and that may be the terminology I should adapt to.

There is a whole other language I need to learn -and I hope not to upset anyone as I venture out asking for guidance and offering support as I go.

Sending peace, health, and happiness your way! 🦋🌺