I had my genetic results back, so it was time to make a decision about my treatment. Before I had ever gotten a diagnosis, I knew that I was not going to have chemo or radiation done. It was something that I had thought about more than once. I knew that I needed to really study and figure out the best alternatives for me.
I had started reading a book called "Cancer Free" by a man named Bill Henderson. He was featured on the film "Cancer is Curable Now", and he seemed like he had done a lot of research on alternatives to the traditional stuff. His research had lead him to believe that diet and supplementation alone could cure cancer. He had multiple followers on the subject, and many of them claimed that they had cured their cancer this way. Amazingly enough, Mom just happened to have his book, so I started reading that.
Also on the same film they interviewed a woman named Charlotte Gerson. She was the owner and operator of The Gerson Institute. Her father (Dr. Max Gerson) had come up with a diet in the 1920's to prevent his migraines. Through coincidence, he prescribed this diet to a cancer patient that also had migraines. Not only did this diet help or cure the migraines but it also apparently cured the same patient's cancer. When he found out this piece of information, he then prescribed the diet for numerous cancer patients. He had great success with this diet, and started to prescribe it for a variety of different ailments.
I had plenty of information to look through, and I also had many sources to go to for help. I saw a local Osteopathic doctor and also a Naturopathic doctor. They both prescribed basically the same thing as Dr. Gerson and Bill Henderson. I just didn't know exactly where and how to start.
Because I was putting off surgery (I wasn't really excited about losing a large portion of my lymph nodes), my surgeon suggested that I see an oncologist. I agreed that I should do something as well. He referred me to one, and I saw her a few days later. My mom, my husband, and my younger brother all came with me. I was prepared for her to say I needed surgery, chemo, and radiation, but I was not wholly ready for some of the rest.
She started by going over my pathology results and then followed with the chemo and radiation bit since I didn't want surgery immediately. I asked her at that time if she was familiar with any alternative practices. She said she was not schooled in them and did not recommend them over conventional treatment. She went on to emphasize to me that the treatments she recommended were all studied thoroughly and were the top of the line. They were proven time and again to be the best. She said that if I do a natural approach, there's not way to know what will happen because they do not publish and have peer reviewed studies, etc.
This was very difficult for my husband and mother I could see. The oncologist could also see this. She then asked my mom how she was holding up. She became a bit emotional, and then so did my husband and I. At this time she took the opportunity to have me think of my children. That was a tear jerker. I could tell she truly cared, but it was just not what I felt was right for me.
Then she took another tactic. She said she could see that I was determined. She then said that whatever I chose to do, I should do it quickly. She felt that what I was currently doing felt to her to be no action at all. She said that I needed to do my research quickly and then act on it quickly. Don't wait around. In this I felt she had a point. I was eating healthy and making healthier choices, but I wasn't all the way there yet.
She did have a couple of recommendations then at this time. She recommended that I have either a CT and a bone scan done or a PET/CT done to look for metastasis especially since they already knew there was lymph node involvement. Then she encouraged me to look up a local naturopathic doctor that had worked with them collaboratively while doing chemo and radiation. She wanted me to speak with her and get another opinion on my treatment plan. I agreed to both. They sounded reasonable. I also was interested in a baseline in imaging so that I could show them that I really was recovering. It was the only way to really know.
The weekend after this appointment was very hard on the family emotionally. My husband Nick was scared to death, and this made him a little angry in a sense. He wanted the lumps gone for sure, and then from there he felt he could be more supportive.
Also, my grandmother was told of my diagnosis after this appointment. I had wanted to keep this from her as I didn't want her to worry and I felt like I would not have to go through the bulk of the suffering that most cancer patients would. Once she found out I went for a visit the next day. We spoke of many things, but at the end she told me I needed to have the surgery and after that the rest was up to me and I would be fine.
After this I felt like I needed to have the surgery. I felt like I needed to do it for the family, but I also felt like I needed to do it for myself. I could have the masses removed and then anything that was left my immune system could easily get rid of the rest. I felt confident and good in this decision. Now I just needed to figure out how to do the diet and detox to boost the immune system.
After a bit more research, I chose to do the Gerson Therapy. They have a clinic for patients in Tijuana, Mexico, and the reviews that I found for it were quite positive. I had a good feeling about this, but I needed to turn in some paperwork first and wait to be accepted. There was no telling how long that process would take. I was hoping I could go pretty quickly after my surgery, and to my delight I got just that!
No comments:
Post a Comment