Tips for the Newly Diagnosed

 

I found out this morning that another friend was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It really does feel like a bit of an epidemic–especially among those over 40 years of age.

It’s such a shock when we get this news.  It brings up so many questions–of mortality, of whether we’ll lose a breast or our hair, of what will happen with our jobs and our children.  It can be completely overwhelming.  I know because I’ve been there.  And so, as a veteran of this fight, I’d like to pass along some tips–not just regarding treatment, but about the need for radical self-care, about changes we can make in our environment and lifestyle, and not least of all, the spiritual ramifications of finding out we have what could potentially be a life-threatening disease.

So here you are, Lisa.  And anyone else out there who has just received the news that they have breast cancer.

Give yourself the time and space to feel your feelings.  It is normal to freak out emotionally when you get this news.  You may look normal to the outsider, but on the inside, there will certainly be some panic going on.  Even if you seem strangely calm, do not be deceived; you are likely in shock.  You may notice, for instance, that your normally assertive and intelligent self fails to ask for definitions of the many new terms being thrown at you by the clinicians you suddenly have appointments with.  You may notice that when asked if you have any questions, your mind draws a blank.  Don’t worry.  The questions are likely to come later–probably when you’re trying to sleep.

If you don’t give yourself time to feel your feelings and begin to process them, you may find yourself a bit vulnerable to accidents (hopefully minor) or unexpected outbursts.  Like the time I was getting ready to go for a consultation with the breast specialist, for instance.  I found myself bumping into furniture, stubbing my toes, and dropping things.  I was a wreck.  I finally realized that if I didn’t take the time to sit down and really breathe–or cry, as I soon found out–I was probably going to really hurt myself!  If you allow time and space for emotional outbursts, you are also less likely to break down in a less-than-ideal situation–like at work or in the middle of a grocery store or with your children.  If you actually schedule time to be alone–at home, at a park, or with a dear friend (which I know is a bit oxymoronic, but you know what I mean), you can allow yourself to scream, to cry, to rant, or to curl up in a fetal position.  It’s really essential to give space for all your feelings.

Make sure you’re comfortable with your doctors, surgeons, radiologists, etc.  There is a good chance you are going to be seeing each of your clinicians several times and it is imperative that you trust them and that they show you respect.  If you have a good working relationship with them, it makes the whole process ever so much easier.  The very last thing you need right now is someone who is overbearing, rude, arrogant, abrupt, or untrustworthy.  If you have any doubts whatsoever, get a second opinion.  I changed doctors early on and it made a world of difference.

Take time to make the decisions regarding treatment that are right for you.  This was the most helpful advice I ever got.  My dear friend, Julia, who was the first friend of mine to be diagnosed, reminded me that the vast majority of cancers grow slowly over a long period of time.  If you need a week or two or three to sort through the many options, do it!  This is your body and you must feel comfortable with your course of treatment.  Do not let doctors or clinicians pressure you to do something unless or until you have decided that it is an appropriate course of action for you.  Take the time to do research.  Look online, read books, talk to other breast cancer patients and survivors.  My advice is this: use your brain, but in the end, trust your gut.

Change your diet right now.  Chances are there is room for improvement.  If you eat meat and dairy, greatly reduce consumption of both or make sure you are using hormone-free products–preferably also organic and/or locally raised.  (Locally raised livestock are less likely to be filled with all the chemicals and toxins that agribusiness routinely uses in their “food production.”)  Double, triple, quadruple the number of vegetables and fruits you consume.  Most veggies and fruits are not only extremely nutritious and supportive of your immune system, but many actually fight cancer.  They fight free radicals, they slow tumor growth, they neutralize nitrosamines and toxins, they balance out hormones, and they even help make changes at the DNA level.  You can’t afford NOT to eat lots of produce.  (Again, please try to make it organic if at all possible, or from local farms and gardens.)  Consume lots of salads and soups and smoothies.  And throw things like chopped kale, onions, carrots, and ground flaxseed into almost everything you consume.

Make your environment as pure as possible.   Drink pure, filtered water whenever possible.  Use natural cleaning products and detergents.  Don’t use air fresheners, hair sprays, and certainly no weedkillers on your lawn or pesticides around your home.  Consider not using nail polish or hair gel or perms or harsh dyes.  Don’t drink out of plastic drink containers that have been left in a hot, sunny car and definitely don’t microwave in plastic containers.  (The plastics leach into the water or food.)

Cut way back on alcohol consumption and try to quit smoking cigarettes.

Exercise.  Being overweight is one of several risk factors for breast cancer.   If possible, try to find ways to move more.  Personally, I find walking outside good for my spirit as well as my body.

Try to get as much sleep as you can and make your bedroom dark at night. (Except for moonlight.  Moonlight is very good for you.)

Under your doctor’s guidance, make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D.  Those lacking sufficient Vitamin D are more prone to cancer.  Consider also the possibility of adding other medicinal herbs or supplements to your health regime.

STOP DOING THOSE THINGS THAT STRESS YOU OUT!  If you hate your job, now might be an excellent time to leave it.  If the company of certain people makes you anxious, stop spending time with them.  If you are over-committed and overwhelmed, let go of as many commitments as possible.  This is major TAKE-CARE-OF-YOURSELF TIME!!!  Everyone and everything else must take a lower priority right now.  Even if you have children, you must place your needs at the top of the list right now.  After all, if you don’t do all that you can to get well, they could lose their mother.  YOU are the priority!  YOU!!!

Enlist and/or accept the support you need right now.  If someone offers to take care of your kids, and if they are a responsible person, by all means, say yes.  If someone offers to accompany you to an appointment or to drive you, and if that would be comforting and helpful, say yes.  If someone offers to make you dinner, say yes!  Now is not the time to be a martyr and do it all yourself.  Allow yourself to be supported.

If you are uninsured or do not have the funds to pay for your treatment, ask the doctor’s office to put you in touch with a social worker.  All hospitals have social workers and they can navigate the system and help you get the care you need.  I learned that in Pennsylvania, for instance, if you have breast or ovarian cancer, they will expedite your medical assistance.

Give yourself time to work on your emotional, psychological, and spiritual issues.  Oftentimes unexplored or unresolved old issues or habits can be contributing factors to your illness.  For instance, many women are trained from a very young age to take care of everyone else first.  If this describes you, you may need to learn the lesson that you are important and worthy of care.  For others, they may have had a lifelong dream to do something exciting or meaningful.  It may be time to dust off that dream.  For others, they may have a deep spiritual yearning for greater connection with the divine.  This may be time to deepen your spiritual practices.  Find friends that you trust or a good counselor or spiritual advisor and give yourself permission to get healthier on many levels–not simply at the physical level.

Above all, now is the time for MAXIMUM SELF-CARE!  Now is the time for flowers on your table, delicious healthy food, movies, books, time in nature–whatever represents nurturing to you.  And now may be the time for massages, facials, Reiki, or acupuncture.  (Check with your doctor about any contraindications.)  Treat yourself the way you would treat an especially beloved friend or family member.  You deserve to be treated well!!!

May you be healthy and well. This is a scary time, but it can also be a powerful, life-changing time.  Take it one day at a time.   And take care of you.

The Courage to Say No

So today I called to cancel my doctor appointment for September.   It was a regular follow-up/check-up with my breast surgeon – a little over one year after my lumpectomy.

My doctor/surgeon wanted me to get another mammogram prior to the appointment.  She wants me to get them every six months, for the time being.  My girlfriend, Julia, a breast cancer survivor, said this is typical after a cancer diagnosis.

The problem is I know a mammogram every six months following a cancer diagnosis is the standard recommendation for the first year or two.  But I don’t like it.

I have already voiced my concerns multiple times in this blog about the problem of the primary diagnostic method in this country also being a risk factor for contracting the very disease it is supposed to be diagnosing.  It’s a little crazy, to me, that we could be endangering ourselves while attempting to diagnose ourselves.  But there’s another issue.

Every time there is a mammogram that shows a slight irregularity – ie, microcalcifications, or something that could be either a tumor or a cyst, they’re going to want to do a biopsy.  And many of these biopsies are somewhat invasive – at least from my perspective.  When there are microcalcifications, they must do a stereotactic biopsy in order to properly locate the problem area.  For me, this was a painful procedure.  Twice.  And it does leave a little scar.  I could be wrong, but I have some concern that there will be several times my mammograms are “concerning,” and then several times I’ll have to have a subsequent biopsy, and before you know it, I’ll have received several extra doses of radiation and several more scars on my breasts.

I know what you’re probably thinking.  If it catches cancer in time, then of course it’s worth it!

But here’s the thing.  Most of us carry a few cancer cells in our body at any given time.  This is actually normal.*  The problem is when they multiply.  But if we live right – ie, eat well, keep our stress level low, exercise, keep our weight down, and stay away from toxins, excess estrogen, and radiation(!), those cancer cells will likely not multiply.  What particularly interests me is knowing that most vegetables and fruits, as well as some other foods like seaweed, nuts, beans, and grains, can actually prevent those rogue cells from multiplying.

So my own personal choice is this:  get off the clinical hamster wheel.  I don’t want a steady succession of mammos, followed by biopsies, potentially followed by more lumpectomies.  It feels like it could happen repeatedly – and with each time I’m sure I would experience the resulting stress and fear – all of which can further cause dis-ease!!!  Instead, I want to TRUST that I know what to do within my own inner wise self.  And I want to trust that my beautiful wise body can fight off cancer when I live right and eat right.

 

And I can guess what many of you are thinking.  ‘But I know so-and-so, and she has been a vegetarian and a yoga practitioner for years!  And she got cancer!’  Well, who knows what other factors were present in her life?  Who knows what part genetics played in her health?  Who knows what kind of emotional stressors or psychological issues were at play?  And besides, that’s not the point.  I am talking now only about me.

FOR ME, at least for now, I will do occasional mammograms and check-ups.  But I am NOT going to obsess about it and do it every six months. FOR ME, the obsession adds to the fear factor and is counterproductive to my health.

For whatever various reasons, I feel healthy now.  I’ve been healthy my whole life until last year and I trust that I got the message, I heard the wake-up call, and I responded by making some changes.  I feel back on track.  I am trusting my feelings.  I believe that I am cancer-free right now.

 

My current plan is to get another mammogram in December or January.  That will be eleven to twelve months since my last one.  And if that’s good, I will probably get the next one two years later.

This may sound wayyyy too risky or crazy for many of you.  And I get that and I honor your opinions and choices.  But I know I need to listen to my inner voice.  And I believe in her wisdom.

 

My hope is that gradually, I will shift my lifestyle to one that breeds truly exceptional health.  As I get my ducks in a row – greater financial abundance, more exercise and yoga, more consistent exceptionally healthy eating, wonderful healing herbs and supplements, and a joy-filled, love-filled life, I trust that I will live to a very ripe and wise old age.

But in order to stick with this plan, I have to have the courage to say no to many of the recommendations of the medical establishment.  And believe me, it does take courage to stand up to these clinicians.  I am very blessed with a practice who, though somewhat traditional in terms of allopathic recommendations, also respects the right of their patients to make their own choices.  And even so, I have felt extremely nervous voicing my own opinions.

When I spoke with the office manager on the phone yesterday, she was very nice and very respectful.  And I still had knots in my stomach just from talking with her and “sticking to my guns.”  My very non-invasive, intuitive, first-do-no-harm, personal choice guns.

 

I know I will probably receive a few comments from some readers and friends who will be worried that I’m not being aggressive enough in keeping tabs on what’s happening in my body.  But I ask that you please respect my choices.  I am choosing a slightly more moderate, less fear-based road.   For now.  If I find myself getting too far off-track, or if my intuition or dreams start ringing alarm bells, I promise to make an appointment for a mammogram immediately.

 

May you be blessed and healthy and happy and well.

 

* “Cancer is a perfectly natural process. A very small percentage of cells in every person who has ever lived turn cancerous. And the body usually gets rid of those cancerous cells before they do harm. This process has been going on for eons. It is only when more cancer cells are being created than the body can get rid of that the problem comes. With increased toxins, viruses, carcinogens, etc. our immune systems have become significantly overworked and weakened.” (http://www.angelfire.com/az/sthurston/understanding_cancer_and_cancer_cells.html)

 

PREVENTING BREAST CANCER

This is my most important blog post to date.

It’s about PREVENTING breast cancer.   And indeed ANY kind of cancer.

Good food and healthy eating is the key.  I had always known that it was important to eat healthy, unprocessed food, but it wasn’t until I found out I had breast cancer that I began to learn that many foods actually work to prevent cancer and/or assist the body in fighting cancer.   The key is to focus on foods that come from plants (the green growing things, not the factory kind) and especially to eat as many colorful vegetables and fruits as possible.

We can take all the medicine and drugs we can stand; we can pull out the “big guns” of chemo and radiation to fight our cancer; but unless and until we SUPPORT our body in its healing – through good food, healthy thoughts, plus emotional and spiritual work, our chances for true healing will be greatly diminished.

The following is excerpted from a book in process and I want to share it here and now so that you will support yourself in either getting well or keeping well, whichever the case may be.

You can memorize this list (below) or you can simply try to eat a more vegetarian diet.  Please note that I don’t tell people they must be a vegan or vegetarian or raw foodie because we are all different and we each have different body types, different temperaments, different physical demands, and different taste preferences.  However, the more vegetables and fruits, beans, whole grains, and nuts we can incorporate into our diet, the better.

One more thing to remember: if you can, please try to eat organic as much as you can.  Or at least eat food that is grown by local farmers who are more likely to use less herbicides and pesticides than huge industrial farms.  I know it’s usually more expensive.  I, too, was reluctant to spend the extra money because I was truly financially challenged for quite a while.  However, when I realized my health and life were on the line, the choice became clear.  The bonus is I feel better ethically supporting those who are being kind to our planet.

 

 

CANCER-FIGHTING FOODS!

 

(Much of this I got from the website:  http://www.cancure.org/cancer_fighting_foods.htm)

• All fruits – preferably organic and especially berries which are exceeding high in anti-oxidants!  Grapes can “put primary tumors into remission and prevent recurrences.”  And raisins are “antimutagenic and particularly good at preventing breast cancers that arise with age.”[1]  Apples, raw and cooked, in fresh-pressed cider and in vinegar block the formation of cancer and help prevent recurrences. Apricots, especially dried, are exceptionally high in anti-cancer carotenes. [2] The bromelain found in pineapple “disrupts the glycol-protein shield that tumors use to protect themselves” and has been found to “reduce metastatic recurrence.”[3] Among 1, 271 elderly Americans, those who ate the most strawberries were least likely to develop cancer.[4] (Strawberries should be organic.)
• All veggies – preferably organic and especially cruciferous veggies like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, horseradish, bok choy.  Cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts are purported to be the best anti-cancer foods. [5]  A compound found in cruciferous vegetables, as well as kale and collard greens, changes the way estrogen metabolizes and makes one’s estrogen less apt to promote cancer.[6] Besides cruciferous veggies, the next best choice is: Dark, leafy greens, which “are rich in cancer-preventing carotenes, chlorophyll, antioxidants, folic acid, flavanoids, and – if fresh and lightly washed – Vitamin C.”[7]  Cucumbers are also anti-cancer (and taste great in smoothies.) Carrots contain a lot of beta carotene, which may help reduce a wide range of cancers including lung, mouth, throat, stomach, intestine, bladder, prostate and breast.  But the carrots should be raw, not cooked.[8] Cancer researchers have found that eating … one raw carrot daily can prevent certain kinds of cancer.[9]  Sweet potatoes can lower cancer risk and “are especially good allies for women exposed to environmental organochlorines and for those wishing to avoid breast cancer recurrence.”[10] “High consumption of tomatoes correlates strongly with lessened risk of cancer.”[11] In fact, all red foods appear to be really good for fighting cancer – red peppers, beets, red grapefruit, red/purple grapes, etc. Turnips and watercress are also very high in anti-cancer compounds.
• Garlic. “Garlic, the queen of cancer-preventive and cancer-inhibiting foods, counters the initiation, promotion, and recurrence of many kinds of cancer.”[12] Garlic has also “been clinically proven to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells…. Raw garlic is far more effective than cooked or encapsulated garlic; the active principle is linked with the smell.  As little as half a clove of raw garlic a day strengthens immunity and increases the number and power of natural killer cells.” [13] 
• Ginger.  Used even in small doses, ginger helps prevent the initiation of breast cancer.

• Legumes.  This includes all kinds of beans – black beans, lentils, kidney beans, split peas, etc.  Peanuts are also legumes but are probably not as healthy as other legumes (or nuts.)  Legumes should be a large part of your protein intake.  They are very high in fiber and very nutritious.  They offer cancer-inhibiting enzymes. Lentils especially are “capable of reversing cancerous cellular changes.”[14]  Chick peas/garbanzo beans are one of the richest sources of protease inhibitors.[15]
• Nettles/stinging nettles.  You will not find nettles in a grocery store.  But you can find them in many fields.  Or look for an area herbalist to guide you.  Nettles are one of the most nourishing plants we can consume (taken as a tea).  Well-known herbalist Susun Weed says, “Nettle is the world’s riches source of carotenes and chlorophyll, as well as an excellent source of folic acid and selenium.  Nettle is a powerful ally for women choosing chemotherapy, as it protects the blood itself from the mutagenic changes (which can lead to leukemia) caused by the chemotherapeutic drugs.”[16]  Well-known herbalist David Hoffman says that nettles “strengthen and support the whole body.”[17]
• ·        Whole grains – especially brown rice. (Pre-menopausal women eating the most fiber (>30 grams daily) more than halved their risk of developing breast cancer, enjoying a 52% lower risk of breast cancer compared to women whose diets supplied the least fiber (<20 grams/day). Fiber supplied by whole grains offered the most protection. Pre-menopausal women eating the most whole grain fiber (at least 13 g/day) had a 41% reduced risk of breast cancer, compared to those with the lowest whole grain fiber intake (4 g or less per day). www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128  Amaranth is also anti-cancer. Oats, barley and rye are also good.  Wheatgrass is extremely alkalinizing and “the enzymes and amino acids found in wheatgrass can protect us from carcinogens like no other food or medicine.”  It is also extremely detoxifying.[22]

• Mushrooms.  Not the kind normally found in supermarkets, but certain wild and exotic mushrooms like puffballs, reishii, oyster mushrooms, shiitake, straw mushrooms, maitake, Zhu ling, polyporacea, chaga, enokidake, and tree ears are exceedingly healthy and important in the fight against cancer.  However, foraging for these mushrooms is very risky as mistaken identity can lead to serious poisoning or death.  Therefore, buy from Chinese herbalists or other reputable sources who know what they’re doing.

• Nuts contain the antioxidants quercetin and campferol that may suppress the growth of cancers. (Note: Many people are allergic to the proteins in nuts, so if you have any symptoms such as itchy mouth, tight throat, wheezing, etc. after eating nuts, stop. Consider taking a selenium supplement instead or work with someone on how to eliminate this allergy.)  www.cancure.org/cancer_fighting_foods.htm “All nuts and seeds are good sources of anti-cancer protease inhibitors, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants.” [18]Almonds are especially anti-cancer.
• Seaweeds like wakame, kelp, and kombu.  Seaweed and other sea vegetables contain beta-carotene, protein, vitamin B12, fiber, and chlorophyll, as well as chlorophylones – important fatty acids that may help in the fight against breast cancer. Many sea vegetables also have high concentrations of the minerals potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and iodine. www.cancure.org/cancer_fighting_foods.htm  “Seaweed in the daily diet protects the thyroid, strengthens the lymphatic and immune systems, and prevents the initiation of cancer.”  Seaweed is anti-tumor and helps prevent a cancer recurrence.[19] Kelp also helps protect the body from the effects of radiation, which often leads to cancer.
• Seeds – especially flax.  Flax contains lignans, which may have an antioxidant effect and block or suppress cancerous changes. Flax is also high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to protect against colon cancer and heart disease.  www.cancure.org/cancer_fighting_foods.htm  Best of all, flaxseed appears to be anti-estrogenic and quite specific against breast cancer.[20]
• Tea.  Both black and green tea “checks the initiation, promotion, and growth of breast cancer (and eight other cancers including lung and liver.)”[21]

• Yogurt.  Christiane Northrup, M.D. says that organic yogurt or other potent forms of Lactobacillus acidophilus help to minimize hyperestrogenism and reduce the risk of breast cancer.[23]

• A note about soy.  There are numerous studies both encouraging and discouraging the use of soy as a cancer preventive.  I consulted my surgeon as the evidence was confusing.  She told me it was okay in moderation but not as my primary source of protein.

That’s all for now, folks.  Enjoy!  Because once you start eating this way, you will feel so much better!  And it tastes good!

Stay tuned for the “cookbook” I’m completing which gives tips on how to make your healthy food more interesting, healthy, and inviting!

Bless you, bless you.

---

[1] Susun S. Weed, Breast Cancer?  Breast Health!  The Wise Woman Way, Ash Tree Publishing, Woodstock, NY (1996), p.34.

[2] Weed, p. 28.

[3] Weed, p. 39.

[4] Weed, p. 42-3.

[5] Weed, p. 30.

[6] J. Michnovicz and H. Bradlow, “Altered Estrogen Metabolism and Excretion in Humans Following Consumption of Indole-3-Carbinol,” Nutrition and Cancer, vol. 16 (1991), pp. 59-66, as referred to by Northrup, p. 357.

[7] Weed, p. 34

[8] http://www.cancure.org/cancer_fighting_foods.htm

[9] Earl Mindell, Earl Mindell’s Herb Bible, Simon and Schuster/Fireside, NY (1992), p.248.

[10] Weed, p. 43.

[11] Weed, p. 44.

[12] “Garlic fights nitrosamine formation… as do tomatoes and other  produce,” Science News, Vol. 145, February 1994, as referenced in Weed, p. 33.

[13] Weed, p. 33.

[14] Weed, p. 35.

[15] Weed, p. 31.

[16] Weed, p. 42.

[17] David Hoffman, The New Holistic Herbal, Element, Shaftsbury, Dorset and Rockport, Massachusetts (1900), p.218.

[18] Weed, p. 36.

[19] Weed, p. 41.

[20] Lilian Thompson and M. Serraino, “Lignans in Flaxseed and Breast Carcinogenesis,” Dept. of Nutritional Sciences, Univ.  of Toronot, 1989, as referenced in Weed., p. 32.

[21] Bonnie Liebman, “Tea  for 250 Million,” Nutrition Action Newsletter, Nov. 1994 (Cancer Research, 52:3875, 1992 and Journal of National Cancer Institute, 85: 1038,  1993) as mentioned in Weed, p. 43.

[22] Ann Wigmore, The Wheatgrass Book, as referenced by Carr, p. 110.

[23] Northrup, p. 357.

Moving through Fear into a Greater Connection with the Divine

March 2, 2012

So I am continuing to process my last two blog entries regarding food and fear and I am realizing they are related.  This is where I am today:

1. I think the scary dreams are warning dreams, as opposed to prophetic dreams. I think they are messages sent to me which say: If you don’t get on the right course, this is what is likely to happen.
2. I’m feeling a little bit less anxious because three or four times now this week, I have had pH readings in the optimal alkaline zone.  (Yay me!!!)   This is extremely encouraging.  If I can stay in this zone 5-6 days out of the week, I will feel like I’m on the right track.
3. This morning’s card was labeled “Fear.” The message was to look at my fears to see if they are valid or if perhaps my imagination is running away with me.  In my case, I think they are reasonable concerns, but I also think I have allowed them to become too consuming.   This card confirms that “fear is a crippling companion.”  It indicates “a loss of faith and connection with the Divine.”

I really need to look at this.   I think of myself as a spiritual being, but have I been walking the walk?  Have I been immersing myself in the presence of the Divine?  Have I been having conversations with God/Goddess/Great Spirit on a regular enough basis?  Have I allowed the healing energy of Divine Presence to flow through me?

This takes commitment on my part.  I need to carve out time in which I can really sink into Sacred Space. One cannot do deep healing or spiritual work in a fast-food, drive-through kind of way.  Although one can certainly offer small prayers all day long, true connection with Source probably requires a slightly larger allocation of time.

I ask myself, What are ways I can sink into a deeper Sacred Space?

Here are my answers.  Yours may very well be different.

• Spend time in Nature.  This can mean a walk through the woods, it can mean sitting on a chair under the trees, it can mean lying on the sand at the beach.  The most important thing is being present to the Beauty that is all around.  Let the Beauty feed your soul.
• Prayer/chanting/singing/meditation.  I’m putting them altogether because chanting and singing are forms of prayer and meditation for me.  Whenever I try praying in a more traditional way (with spoken words), it never feels like enough.  It doesn’t feel deep enough, heartfelt enough.  But if I sing or dance my prayers, they take on greater meaning. I can feel my yearning come through more readily.
• Art/painting/drawing.  This is something I love to do, and for some reason, resist.  But when I feel inspired and allow that creativity to flow through me, I find myself really happy.  And I imagine the Spirit of Divinity is present in me and through me.
• Massage/healing.  This pertains to both the giving and receiving of it.  Both can be enormous opportunities for grace and healing and peace.  I continue to practice being in sacred space when I give massage.  However, it is clear I need to find a  way to receive more massage, reverent touch, and healing.
• Find a wonderful dream group.  I continue to be blessed with an abundance of dreams.  (Relatively few are scary, but I seem to share more of those kind with you!)  What I would love to manifest is a dream group which knows how to enter the sacred space in which dreams and insights can be gently shared in a respectful way.  There is so much richness in our dreams!

May you discover the ways in which you can deepen your connection to the Divine.  As for me?  I’m going to go paint.  Right now!!!

Confessions of a Yoyo-ing Health Food Convert

February 28, 2012

(Note: A dear friend said he found the following blog entry “more than a little obsessive.”  My initial reaction was embarrassment.  I immediately wanted to delete the post.  However, I’m going to leave this up here  because it’s real.  For those fighting cancer who are educated and somewhat health-conscious, there is a tendency to get obsessive about the foods we put in our body.  It’s one thing  we do have control over and, as research shows, it definitely can make a difference.  So the upshot is, obsessive or not, I feel this is an important blog and I’m keeping it.)

Let me assure you that I’ve always been a fan of healthy eating (aside from when I was a child and didn’t know better – eating Lebanon baloney on white bread for lunch every day, along with a Tastycake for dessert.)  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that eating “foods” that have very little actual food left in them (but tons of additives) are not really good for you. I may not have been as healthy as some of the slim vegetarian yoga aficionados we see trotting around in Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, but I certainly knew how to cook a good healthy meal with real food, brown rice, veggies, etc.  However, I do confess that I became much more lax the last decade or so.

Like many people who have busy lives, taking the time to prepare healthy food was not always among the top contenders on my to-do list.   I began eating out more, and more and more often, I am quite embarrassed to say, I would resort to fast food figuring that anything was better than nothing and at least  I’d have some protein or carbs to keep me going energy-wise.  (I hasten to add that I now know that I was deluding myself big-time with that theory.)

Having a cancer scare quickly makes one take stock of delusional thinking like that.  I got myself back on board quickly!  I knew I needed to be more vegetarian.  While vegetarians may not necessarily agree that the vegetarian lifestyle can include the words “more” or “less,” for me it made sense to aspire to the lifestyle without having to be a complete and total purist.

I consider myself fairly well educated in general, and specifically with regard to nutritional issues, I am probably more well-read than most.  However there’s nothing like the big C word to make one read a bit more voraciously on the topic. I quickly learned that there were foods that were not only generally healthy, but specifically important in the fight against cancer.  I strove to incorporate as many of them as possible.

Living in a vegetarian household for which I have agreed to prepare a fairly large percentage of the dinners has helped me to eat quite well for several days of the week. Consider, for instance, my diet today:

• For breakfast:  Smoothie – almond milk, homemade hormone-free yogurt, kale, half an organic banana, and a teaspoon of organic peanut butter.
• For lunch: Sesame tofu stir fry with local cabbage, organic onions, organic carrots, and daikon, seasoned with lots of cancer-fighting turmeric, some garlic, and a couple dashes of tamari.  Brown rice cooked in organic vegetable broth.
• For dinner:  Red lentils cooked in organic vegetable broth and seasoned with turmeric and coriander.  Salad with organic baby greens, shredded cabbage, local organic micro-greens, shredded organic carrots, diced daikon, cucumbers, zucchini, and local organic watercress.  Dressed with olive oil and organic lemon seasoned with tarragon and marjoram.
• For snacks: One small square of dark chocolate, off-the-charts in anti-oxidants.  A gluten-free peanut butter cookie.

Not bad, right?  I confess, even I was impressed with today’s feast.

Now let me confess to you yesterday’s diet:

• Small smoothie (See above.)
• 2 chicken tenders (prepared by Carversville General Store.)
• One bottle Snapple Peach Tea.
• Mug of blackberry tea.
• Brown rice with dribble of chicken drippings.
• Blanched broccoli.
• 3 slices of whole grain bread with butter.
• Purified water.
• Homemade unsweetened iced tea.
• 2 large helpings of salad (See above, but without the daikon, carrot, or watercress.)
• 2 1/2 pieces of iced carrot cake (with only a modest amount of carrot observed in it.)
• Fairly good-sized bowl of microwave popcorn (with very little butter in it.)
• Bowl of homemade (by friend’s son Adam) soup with chicken, carrots, rice, and seasoned with sesame oil.

Well, on second thought, that may not be too horrifying, but I confess to feeling no small amount of guilt about the cake and the Snapple.  (I did enjoy both though.  I did, I did.)  Plus, although I don’t have a problem with butter specifically, this was not organic butter and so it no doubt contained the hormones that are very uncool for someone with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer issues to ingest.   The chicken may have had been raised in an unhealthy corporate farm as well.

And while one day like yesterday is not a huge deal, I am chagrined to confess that it followed a week of some indulgence.  I was out of town for 3 days last week. Those of you who travel can attest that it is much harder to eat healthfully when one is on the road.

In the car ride to the destination, I did eat a couple of delicious locally grown apples (from Solebury Orchards) and snack on things like organic nachos, nuts, and rice thins.  And for the first lunch from the small buffet at corporate headquarters I had egg salad on half a piece of whole grain bread with lettuce, spring water, and fresh fruit salad.  But that night at a wonderful and very fine Italian restaurant I did allow myself one piece of bruschetta, two fried risotto balls, a salad, and half of a large plate of spaghetti and meatballs.  (Oh was it ever good.  It was really, really good.)  And the next day I had, among other things, the rest of the spaghetti, the dessert I’d taken home (the best and lightest cheesecake I’ve ever, ever had), and, on the road, some local candied pecans.

Perhaps you’re thinking, Cindy, this is not such a big deal. You are allowed to eat real food that doesn’t look like it was prepared at an ashram.  The problem is: once you’ve had a cancer scare, you tend to be a bit more nervous about what you do and don’t eat.  I have several friends who’ve had breast cancer who were/are MUCH more disciplined about their food intake. One dear friend was so afraid to put anything non-organic or unhealthy in her mouth that she was literally afraid to eat for a couple months.  Another ate a strictly macrobiotic meal the whole time she was getting treatments – even taking containers of the “good stuff” with her to parties and social gatherings.  Another friend is able to refrain from putting a single piece of cheese in her mouth.  Her boyfriend confirms that she does not veer from healthy eating.  Ever.  Sadly, I don’t seem capable (yet) of such discipline.

Here is the test to see whether I’ve gone too far off-balance.  A couple days ago I finally received in the mail some pH strips with which to test the alkaline/acid balance of my body.  For those who don’t know, disease of any kind has a much harder time getting a foothold in an alkaline environment.  Sadly, most Americans are way on the acidic side.  I was eager to see how my body was doing.

I returned from my trip on Thursday night.  The next morning I found the mail carrier had delivered my package of pH strips while I was gone. I eagerly opened it and went to take a pee so I could test it out.  The result?  I was one step below the target alkaline range.   In other words, I was acidic, but on the lowest end of the acidic scale. I was pleased.  After a couple days of indulgence, I was close to the alkaline zone.  I could get back on track, I was sure.

The next day, I had the same exact reading.  Okay, so taking my supplements and getting back on track for one day was not going to be enough.  I tried to make up for it by eating lots of salads that day, even though I was out and about and not at home. I began the day with a smoothie and by the time I finally had time for lunch, I was ravenous.  So in addition to a salad, I had another Peach Snapple, some baked potato crisps, a bit of tunafish, and two gluten-free peanut butter cookies.  For dinner I had a Caesar salad (light on dressing, no added cheese) with wonderful grilled chicken.   I was only halfway good. And the accumulation of all of the past days’ dietary digressions led to a more seriously acidic reading this morn.

Let me add here that part of the reason for my added anxiety about my diet is that about two months ago I had asked a professional intuitive/channel whom I know if I was “doing enough” to stay cancer-free.   What she was told was that I was on the right track but that I needed to focus on staying alkalinized. (I knew the importance of alkalinization from my research as well.)

This is why I’m sharing with you the monotony of my dietary dealings.  I want you to learn from me!   If you want to be healthy, stay alkalinized and eat healthy!  Lots and lots and lots of greens, lots of veggies, lots of salads and raw foods. You can do it!  And hopefully, in another month or two, I will be more consistently on track and a living, breathing, beautifully energetic and radiant model of glowing health.

Thanks for listening.  Be well, friends!

PS  In the afternoon on the 29th and in the morning  on March 2, I made it into the “green zone!”   The green colors on the color scale of the pH strips indicate one is in  the alkaline zone.  The optimal  zone is 6.75 to 7.5.  I was there twice! YAYYYYY!!!!

PS2  (Added March 3, 2012)  Rather than write a separate entry, I decided  to add a postscript to this blog.  If anyone thought I didn’t misbehave too badly diet-wise (above), let me assure you, I really really really did last night and this morn.   There will be no dispute about how far off my healthy eating plan I fell.

Let me confess.  I began the morning well – leftover brown rice with spinach and almonds plus red lentils, followed shortly thereafter by one organic egg (from the chickens who live on my property) with red onion, goat cheese and herbs.  I also made a big pot of vegetable soup, but only ate about a cup of it.   All well and good, right?

Well about 3 hours later I remembered the Breyers chocolate ice cream my housemate  had in the freezer.  I indulged in not one, but TWO bowls of it.  (Oh my, it was good.)

Four hours later I am ravenous.  Of course.  I’ve waited way too long for my next good meal.  And  when that happens, look out.

I was craving something salty and crunchy and I had nothing.   So I went to the grocery store and debated between several options before getting a bag of Herr’s popcorn, which my companion and I began eating as  we walked through the store. Then the subject of (yes, I am in confession mode, I have to tell you) McDonald’s came up.  And we ended up going and I had a $1.00 double cheeseburger, a small fries, AND an apple pie.  The only thing I DIDN’T do wrong  was have a small cup of unsweetened iced tea.

Oh, it’s not over, friends.  This morning I got up early and decided to join my parents on their weekly Saturday breakfast out.  They chose Perkins.  Perkins does not have too many healthy options.  I looked over the menu and the only thing that was calling to me was… pancakes.  Ay yay yay, Cindy.  White flour is soooo not good for me.  It makes me bloat.   Syrup is sooo not good for me.  (Or for fighting cancer.   Simple sugars like syrup actually feed cancers.)  (I did have a side of fresh fruit cup.)

And ya know what?  I notice my physical energy is low today.  When I eat healthy food, my energy is usually pretty good.  But I can officially vouch for the fact that junk food, fast food, carbs and sugars will deplete your energy!  Guilt is one thing (and yes, of course I feel it), but low energy is another.  Perhaps I will eventually remember that when I eat this kind of thing  the feel good part is only temporary!  Then I crash energy-wise.

I  obviously can’t do anything about the crap I put into my body the last  twelve hours or so.  But what I can do is eat lots of soup and salad today.  I will also drink lots of water and take extra drops of my detoxifier.   (Pure Body.  Go to http://ToYourHealth.MyTouchstoneEssentials.com)  I also need to  take a long walk and get some extra  exercise and fresh air.

Back on track.  That’s all I can do – get back on track and resolve to go longer before falling off the wagon next time.  I know myself well enough that I won’t be able to be a total purist any time soon, if ever.  But I can go for longer periods before any indulgences….

Please disregard my lapses, dear body.  I want what’s best for you.  I will try to consider your needs more diligently next time!

Playing the Second-Guessing-Myself Game

January 26, 2012

Fighting Doubts

So, here is the latest.  I went to pick up my radiology report at the hospital. As I suspected, they rated my most recent mammogram results a BI-RADS 3.   This indicates that the one microcalcification they found near the site of my surgery is “probably benign” but that some follow-up with my doctor would be wise.

I looked at the digital image of my films.  I am clearly not an expert at reading films, but I did see one big bright white spot, which is what I assume is the calcification to which they were referring.

How interesting:  “one bright white spot.”  So what is the bright side of all this?  The bright spot is I am more acutely conscious of my health and have made significant lifestyle changes as a result. The bright spot is I am learning a lot and I have the opportunity to share some of that knowledge with others.  The bright spot is I AM ALIVE and I have both my breasts and I feel quite good!  I can’t ask for much more than that, can I?!

Here, however, is my current challenge:  to stay in this place of gratitude and trust, even when I am the recipient of someone else’s fears and concerns for me.   I am noticing that when I read a message that is fearful, it takes great will for me to stand balanced in my own internal knowing and not get knocked off-course.  This does not mean that I am unwilling to consider alternate points of view, however I truly don’t want to “catch” other people’s fears or projections. I don’t believe that serves me..

Here are a couple examples of messages I have received recently:

•  “From someone who has used diet for cancer for over 35 years … the people with the greatest success use a combination of standard treatment, meditations for guidance (spiritual help), and clean diet. Especially when caught early and handled aggressively. Once certain cancers get a foothold it is very hard otherwise. (Emphasis mine.)  If I had it to do over I would have had a complete mastectomy like I was guided to to do with my visions back in 2003 instead of the skin sparing one I opted for. So here I am dealing with it a third time. It is my diet and chemo that helped keep it local though. Don’t mess with breast ca, it ain’t leukemia that has been documented to go into remission with dietary changes alone. :)”
• “I too was diagnosed with DCIS. That was 5/1/2008. Because by accident the US tech found another suspicious area on the day of my biopsy, that also turned out to be cancer, I decided to have a mastectomy. Good thing, the pathology study found that my entire breast had DCIS. A lumpectomy and radiation would not have been a cure for me. That was my left breast.
  I have to be honest, I worry for you. Lumpectomy without radiation is not standard treatment for DCIS. The radiation is done to kill any cells left behind. Since nothing showed on my Mammo for the second spot on my left breast, and nothing at all on the MRI, but pathology provide my entire breast had DCIS, I believe we need to go the full course. (sic)
  Certainly healthy eating will help, but I worry about you using that as a cure.
  When any woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, all women are affected. Just want you to have a long, happy life.
  Be well.”

So, just reading these comments, my guess is that you, too, will start worrying for me.  Fear is insidious, isn’t it?

Here is what  I told  myself  after reading the above comments from  very well-intentioned friends or  readers:

1. Obviously both these women have had more aggressive or widespread cancers.  And, I believe in both cases (but I could be mistaken), the technology used originally missed something important.  Understandably, these women therefore have a greater fear of cancer and are in favor of more aggressive treatment.
2. There are untold numbers of women who treated their cancer conservatively – with surgery alone, and survived/thrived.  So one could argue either way.   ie, Either be safe and fight this with all the tools the medical establishment throws your way, or take your time and choose what feels right for you because most cancers are slow growing and some never do  threaten  our lives.

Here are some reasons I am suggesting moderation is also an appropriate tool FOR ME:

First of all, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is not considered life-threatening. The problem with DCIS is sometimes it develops into a more invasive form of cancer and sometimes it doesn’t.  Approximately 80% of the time, it never escalates into a more serious form of cancer.

One site says the following:

“DCIS is considered noninvasive (meaning it has not spread), but does have the potential to spread to other parts of the breast if not treated. (Usual treatments include lumpectomy with or without radiation, use of tamoxifen after lumpectomy, or mastectomy.)” (Italics mine.)  http://health.msn.com/health-topics/breast-cancer/breast-calcifications

Meanwhile, an article about UCSF breast cancer oncologist Shelley Hwang, MD says the following:

“…(U)nlike invasive breast cancer, DCIS is not life-threatening.

Unfortunately, women who are diagnosed with DCIS have a higher than average risk of developing invasive breast cancer later – although some never will. (Italics mine.) As it stands, there is no proven way to predict which women diagnosed with DCIS will eventually develop invasive breast cancer. But because of the elevated risk, surgery to remove DCIS – generally a lumpectomy with radiation, or mastectomy – has become standard treatment. Treatment options are the same as for early-stage invasive breast.”  (Italics mine.) http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2009/03/8165/dcis-not-invasive-breast-cancer-and-might-not-require-surgery

I think most people consider radiation following a lumpectomy standard treatment.  However there are most certainly many women who choose not to go the radiation route.

I do want to mention that I am very grateful I got the lumpectomy.   It does give me an element of piece of mind.  It’s everything else the medical establishment recommends after the surgery that I personally have concerns about, although if I had a more aggressive form of cancer, I would likely consider them much more seriously.

Oh dear.  Guess what.  I was doing research to try to back up my point of view.  And in the process, I am finding that I really am going against the grain of  recommended treatment.  Here is something I just read which is concerning me:

“Of all the debates surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in recent decades, the most persistent and perplexing one involves a very early cancer called D.C.I.S., or ductal carcinoma in situ.

This cancer is noninvasive, confined to the milk duct where it arose. Some of these cancers will eventually become invasive, others never will. In autopsies, about 10 percent of women are found to have a ductal carcinoma that never became evident.

Then it is up to the pathologist to determine whether cancer is present, and if so, what type of D.C.I.S. it is. There are two main categories, a more aggressive type called comedo, which resembles a blackhead because it contains a core of dead cancer cells, and noncomedo. The comedo type may become an invasive cancer and, thus, less curable in three to five years; the noncomedo type may not progress to invasive cancer for a decade. (Italics mine.)

The guide continues, “Lumpectomy without radiation therapy is usually considered an option only for women with small areas of low-grade D.C.I.S.” An eight-year study of 814 women found that radiation after lumpectomy significantly reduced the risk of recurrence. Radiation also greatly reduced the risk of a later invasive cancer.  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/22/health/22brod.html

And this:

“In the case of DCIS, cells multiply rapidly and are different from normal ductal cells—they’re different in size, shape, and architectural arrangement and more closely resemble invasive cancer, says Arnold Schwartz, professor of pathology at George Washington University Hospital in Washington and a member of the NIH panel. Not all DCIS is alike; there’s a spectrum. The less closely the cells resemble their normal parent cells, the greater the potential danger seems to be, particularly in the presence of necrosis (dead cells) and in younger women (among other risk factors). All those factors suggest a potentially more-aggressive form of DCIS that may recur or become invasive cancer, says Schwartz.”   http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/cancer/articles/2009/10/22/the-confusion-over-dcis-what-to-do-about-stage-zero-breast-cancer

I confess “my” DCIS is the comedo type.  And it was not graded a 1 but a 2-3 out of 4.

So in the process of writing this blog I find myself, once again, faced with some nagging doubts.

Can I fight cancer with diet, herbs, and supplements alone?  Actually, that’s not my entire plan of attack.  I have heard multiple stories of advanced cancer disappearing when the person chose to live the life they always wanted to live.  There are certainly emotional/psychological factors that affect our healing and I will continue to work on these issues as well.

My current intentions include the following:

• Eat a primarily vegetarian diet.
• Strive to make 75% of my diet vegetables and fruits.  (I’m not there yet.)
• Eat as many greens as possible.
• Eat more raw foods.
• Keep my body in the alkaline zone.
• Take the following supplements, all of which aid in preventing cancer, inhibiting tumor growth, eliminating toxins, helping to neutralize the effects of radiation, and/or aiding in the proper metabolism of excess estrogen (The cancer I was diagnosed with was estrogen receptor positive.)  Vitamin D, Vitamin C, flaxseed, DIM-3, kelp, curcumin, garlic capsules, a mushroom product called Agrigold, and a product called Natural  Cellular Defense are all now a part of my health regimen.
• Exercise more.

In addition, I am going to a healer next week.

So, friends, the process continues.  Can I trust my intuition to guide me?  Can I get healthy following my own instincts?  Am I doing enough to prevent a recurrence or a more invasive cancer?  Or  (I am challenging myself to be brutally honest here) was I perhaps more afraid of the treatment than the disease?

Whichever is the case, I am determined to not let fear rule my life.  I am claiming good health.  I will feed myself not only with healthy and healing foods, but with success stories.  Stories of people who have healed themselves of cancer abound.

I think I will save that for another blog.

As always, thanks for “listening.”  May you be blessed with abundant health and happiness.

Preventing Breast Cancer

February 9, 2012

Recently some dear friends threw me a benefit concert so that I could better afford the herbs, supplements,  naturopathic doctors,  and  healing  sessions  that  neither insurance nor medical assistance  covers.  I decided that at this concert  I would share  some of what I’ve been learning about  what  we each can do to prevent (not diagnose, but prevent) breast cancer.

So here in this blog I’m posting one of the handouts.  If  it  resonates with you,  please feel free to share it.   Print it, email  it, Facebook it, whatever.  Let’s just spread the word  so that  more  of  our sisters, friends, mothers, and daughters  don’t have to face this  disease.

STEPS  WE CAN TAKE TO HELP PREVENT  BREAST CANCER

(Not just early diagnosis, but prevention!)

First, let’s educate ourselves on the risk factors.  We all know that if other women in our family have had breast cancer we may be genetically predisposed.  But what else constitutes a risk?  Once we are aware of risk factors, we can try to minimize those which are in our control.  Then our next step is to do whatever is possible to try to prevent the disease from taking hold.

(Hints: 1. Live as “green” as possible – avoiding toxins in your home, office, and natural environment.  2. Clean up your diet by eating lots of organic vegetables and other “plant” foods.)  (See below for more details.)

 

Breast Cancer Risk Factors 

Setting aside genetic factors, you are at greater risk of contracting breast cancer if:

1. You’ve never been pregnant/never given birth, you’ve never breastfed, and/or you began your periods early or you began menopause late, or you took the pill for many years. (This is related to the amount of estrogen in our bodies.)
2. You’ve had radiation therapy for a previous cancer, or have lived near a nuclear reactor, or have been exposed to nuclear fallout, or even if you’ve received too many x-rays or mammograms. (Exposure to radiation significantly increases cancer risk.  Ingestion of kelp, iodine, or various seaweeds can reduce this risk.)
3. You’ve eaten lots of processed meats – like lunchmeat, hot dogs, bacon, and ham.  (Sodium nitrate, used to process all these meats, is a known carcinogen.  And the FDA/government knew it but bowed under meat industry pressure.  But there are foods, such as green tea, which can help process or inhibit nitrosamines.)
4. You live in an area exposed to chemicals or toxins.  This can include living near a golf course or turf farm or non-organic farm, all of which routinely use lots of herbicides.  Many of our neighbors also apply toxic weedkillers to their lawns. Also being exposed to a lot of air pollution, including cigarette smoke, is a risk factor for cancer.  (There are supplements which can help detoxify our body.)
5. You eat a lot of non-organic meat or dairy.  (The meat and dairy industry routinely put hormones into the feed of cattle, pork, poultry to fatten up the livestock faster and this can lead to estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. DIM-plus and cruciferous veggies can help remedy this.  But it’s better to either avoid meat and dairy altogether or to find hormone-free sources.)
6. You are overweight.  (Fat cells store estrogen.)
7. You are under-exercised.  (Studies show that increasing exercise to even 4 hrs/week reduces breast cancer mortality.)

So if any of these apply to you, please take extra precautions!   See tips for preventing cancer (below.)

Breast Cancer PREVENTION

The US National Cancer Institute estimates that 70% of all breast cancer deaths are avoidable through dietary change. Scientific research published in hundreds of biomedical journals worldwide has demonstrated dramatic ways in which dietary choices can affect your risk of breast cancer – by influencing not only genetic expression, but also hormone levels and immune function.” http://www.beatbreastcancerkit.com/main/

“Study after study shows that a healthful diet – eating less fat and more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes – can vastly reduce the risk of cancer.  In fact, research indicates that if we all ate more of the right foods and less of the wrong ones, the incidence of all cancers would be reduced by at least 30 percent.”[1] “Some scientists think that you could reduce your cancer risk by as much as 40% by eating more vegetables, fruits, and other plant foods that have certain phytochemicals in them.”[2] “Women can help themselves stay healthy by eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans and by getting plenty of exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.”[3]

You can help prevent or heal breast cancer if:

1. You keep your body alkalinized.  Disease doesn’t manifest as easily in an alkaline environment.  The easiest way to do this is to eat a balanced vegetarian diet.  Ideally, 75% of your meals should be vegetables.  Some especially alkalinizing foods include:
   • Broccoli, Cucumbers, Kale
   • Alfalfa grass, Barley grass, Wheatgrass
   • Avocados
   • Soybeans, Navy beans
   • Baking soda
   • Beets, Radishes, Green beans, Cabbage, Celery, Spinach
   • Garlic, Ginger

2. Eat anti-cancer foods.  These include:

• Cruciferous vegetables:  broccoli, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower
• Dark leafy greens:  kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, spinach
• Red and orange vegetables and fruits:  carrots, pumpkin, winter squash, red pepper, tomatoes, pink grapefruit, red grapes.
• Flaxseed and other nuts and seeds
• Seaweeds and sea vegetables
• Berries, red grapes, oranges, apples (organic if at  all possible)
• Garlic, leeks, onions
• Mushrooms, “exotic” – Shitake, reishi, Murrill, and turkey tail mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Papayas, mangoes, figs, apricots
• Green tea
• Lentils and other legumes/beans
• Brown rice, oats, and other whole grains

3.   Eat food that mostly comes from plants.   Eat much of it raw, if possible.

4.  Avoid sugar.  Here is one link that explains why: http://beatcancer.org/2014/03/5-reasons-cancer-and-sugar-are-best-friends/

5.  Take extra Vitamin D and C and consider taking anti-cancer herbs.[4]  These can include:

• Astragalus
• Chapparal
• Red Clover
• Turmeric and Saffron
• Chlorella and Spirulina

A Partial List of Resources in the Prevention and Healing of Cancer:

• www.BeatCancer.org
• www.CanCure.org (The Cancer Cure Foundation)
• lslw.stanford.edu  (Live Strong, Live Well)
• Cancer Fighting Foods, by Vern Verona
• Crazy, Sexy Diet, by Kris Carr
• Crazy, Sexy Cancer Tips, by Kris Carr
• A Cancer Therapy, by Max Gerson, M.D.
• The Plant Programme: Recipes for Fighting Breast and Prostate Cancer, by Professor Jane  Plant
• The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention

 

This handout was created by Cindy Greb, author of The Breast Blog  (https://thebreastblog.wordpress.com) on February 9, 2012.

You have permission to distribute this freely.

---

1. The Doctors Book of Food Remedies, by Selene Yeager and the Editors of Prevention, p. 131.

2.  http://www.breastcancer.org

3.  http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/diet/fs1.phyto.cfm

4.  Feel free to talk to your doctor first. Studies have shown that women with breast  cancer are often deficient in Vitamin D.

First Mammogram Post-Lumpectomy

January 13, 14, and 16, 2012

So, on Friday I returned to the scene of the mammogram which catapulted me on an unexpected journey last year.   Last year’s mammogram – the one with the “suspicious abnormalities” – took me on my journey to a DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) diagnosis and lumpectomy.  This was to be my first follow-up mammogram – almost five months after my bilateral surgery on August 22^nd of last year.

I went there feeling calm.  I was not future-thinking or worrying and stressing.  But truthfully, that was probably because I was multi-tasking big time – trying to communicate and coordinate with a sister, a niece, and another caregiver about a doctor appointment for my mother that morning which had been scheduled just the night before.  I wasn’t thinking about the mammogram; I was just concerned with getting there on time while simultaneously making about five phone calls.

Anyway, long story short, the (really wonderful) technician took two x-rays of each breast and showed them to the radiologist who then ordered close-up shots of the surgery site.  The upshot is he found “one calcification”  – right next to the place where tissue had been removed during the lumpectomy.  We’re not quite sure what to make of it.  Does that mean they didn’t get it all after all?  Even though the pathology report said that the margins were clear last August?  Or is this something that happened as a result of surgery?  Apparently calcifications can form after cell injury.  Apparently it’s not unusual to have some appear after surgery and radiation.

This particular  radiologist hadn’t seen me since May 31, 2011.  He hadn’t known until he saw my surgeon’s order for this mammogram that I’d been diagnosed with DCIS and had had surgery on each breast.  He also didn’t have access to my pathology report, so he didn’t seem to have a clear idea of what that “one calcification” meant.  (Or if he did, he wasn’t letting on.)  He said he would call my surgeon to talk with her.

I kind of thought I might have heard from her by now, but alas, no such luck.

I guess I was a bit surprised by what they found but I don’t think any shock or panic showed on my face.  Instead I continued to smile, be polite, ask a question or two.  (Feels kind of strange admitting that, but smiling is usually fairly second nature for me.)  He did ask me a few questions about whether I’d had radiation therapy (RT) or not.  I’m not positive why he was asking.  It could be he was surprised I didn’t get RT (which is how I took it at the time) or it could be because apparently RT can result in some calcifications. (I found this out during later research.)   I suspect he was trying to get a feel for how “suspicious” this one lonely calcification was.  I kind of feel sorry for him having to do a report on this.  How is he going to rate this one little calcification?  How will he determine how “concerning” it is?  (To use a term mentioned in my radiology report last June.)

Mammograms are rated using the BI-RADS system (Breast Imaging and Reporting Data System.)  Radiologists rate their findings 0 through 5. You may recall that my mammograms and ultrasounds last year “earned” a 4.

The wonderful chart explaining these ratings would not copy to this blog.  However here is the verbal description of how a radiologist determines a rating:

“A negative diagnostic examination is one that is negative, with a benign or probably benign finding (BI-RADS 1, 2 or 3).
In BI-RADS 3 the radiologist prefers to establish the stability of a lesion by short term follow-up.
In the evaluation of your BI-RADS 3 lesions the malignancy rate should be < 2%.
A positive diagnostic examination is one that requires a tissue diagnosis (BI-RADS 4 and 5).
In BI-RADS 4 the radiologist has sufficient concern to urge a biopsy (2-95% chance of malignancy).
In BI-RADS 5 the chance of malignancy should be > 95%.” http://www.radiologyassistant.nl/en/4349108442109

The radiologist seemed to be unsure what to make of this one microcalcification, so I’m going to guess he’ll rate it a 3 or 4 based on what my surgeon tells him.  I imagine they won’t be able to say it’s definitively benign, so I’m guessing it won’t be a 2.

By the way, macrocalcifications are not concerning.  It’s only the microcalcifications which are.  For those late to this party, here is a brief summary on breast calcifications:

“On a mammogram, breast calcifications can appear as large white dots or dashes (macrocalcifications) or fine, white specks, similar to grains of salt (microcalcifications). Macrocalcifications are almost always noncancerous and require no further testing or follow-up. Microcalcifications are usually noncancerous, but certain patterns can be a sign of cancer. If calcifications are suspicious, further testing may be necessary, including additional mammograms with magnification views or a breast biopsy.”  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-calcifications/MY00101

How do I feel about all this?  Well, on the one hand, ONE calcification can’t be too scary.   First of all, there’s a great possibility it is a byproduct of the surgery itself and therefore completely benign.  And if it is cancerous, it’s only one little spot of it.  But to be honest, one of the things I started to do after listening to the radiologist was second-guess my decision not to do radiation therapy.  RT is supposed to get whatever stray cells weren’t removed during surgery.   It is usually considered “standard  operating  procedure”  to get radiation therapy following a lumpectomy.  Perhaps I was hasty in my decision to not go that route.  Perhaps I should have considered it after all.

I have discovered that microcalcifications often form at the lumpectomy “bed.”  In a study of 402 patients who had a lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy, 68 developed new calcifications.

The results of the study were: “In 63 cases (93%), the new calcifications developed in the same quadrant as the primary tumor. None of the calcifications initially interpreted as BI-RADS category 2 (n = 40/68; 59%) and category 3 (n = 19/68; 28%) represented recurrent disease. Nine (13%) of 68 calcifications were initially classified as BI-RADS category 4 or 5; six (67%) of the nine were malignant and three (33%) were benign at biopsy.”  http://www.ajronline.org/content/188/2/393.full

You realize, of course, that I am no expert AT ALL on any of this stuff.  The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences, my thoughts, my emotions, and the research I do.  I imagine in a few months or years some of my thoughts and conclusions will seem incredibly naive or even ridiculous, but you are getting a view of what it’s like for a woman as this stuff happens.

Anyway, after worrying a bit, I decided to pull a couple cards from some oracle decks.  The card that resonated with me the most spoke about the power of the words we use and suggested it was a good time for affirmations.  “Say it is so – and it will be so,” the author declared.  SO!  I declare that I am healthy!  (And I do feel healthy!)  I do believe that if I continue to be vigilant with my diet, I will be healthier than I’ve been for many years.  (In fact,  already I have lost weight  and have much more energy.)

Perhaps the whole reason for this one little calcification is to remind me to continue to be vigilant.  I can’t afford to get complacent.  I have to be very conscious of my choices.  My health absolutely depends upon what I feed my body and how I care for my physical, emotional, and spiritual self.

I do want to conclude by reminding myself that even though I can let myself get a bit worried, what I am experiencing is NOTHING compared to what many people on the planet are experiencing.  I am supremely conscious of my friend who only a short month or so ago discovered that her excruciating back pain was the result of cancer which had, unbeknownst to her, formed in multiple places throughout her body.  I think of her often.  It certainly helps me keep my tiny little health issue in perspective.

However, even though my health issue may be minor compared to others’ issues, I know it’s important for me to document this process so that women who go through a similar journey can learn and/or perhaps not feel so alone in their process.  Also, when I write, it helps me to process things.  Also, it’s much easier to write this blog post than to tell every friend and acquaintance the details of what happened!

Thanks for rooting for me, everyone!

May you be blessed.