The Cancer Returns
June 1, 2016
I was watching TV on this night, when my hand happened to brush against my left breast. I recall it feeling painful, but attributed it to that afternoon’s exercise session. The pain persisted that night and when I felt that area to determine exactly where the pain was coming from, I felt a distinct lump. A surge of panic went through me. NO!!!! IT CAN’T BE!!!!
Yes, it could . . . and it was. I knew immediately what it meant. It had come back. I had ignored a number of symptoms over the past four years, rationalizing them as signs of aging rather than as something dangerous: changes in the shape of the areola and very dark blue veins running through my left breast. No, I had not had mammograms or clinical exams of my breasts over the years. I chose to put my past experience with cancer in my rear view mirror, thinking it couldn’t happen to me again because I had dealt with the issues that caused it.
It took me four days to get up the courage to call a gynecologist to get an appointment to request a referral for a mammogram. The nurse/midwife that saw me tried to be optimistic, but with my past history of breast cancer, it didn’t look promising. The following week, I went for the mammogram appointment, where they found not one, but two lesions. I snuck a peak at the image on the computer screen and noticed two solid white circles just like the one on my very first mammogram 18 years prior. I knew what that meant: cancer. An ultrasound was done right afterwards and I got out of there as soon as I possibly could. The nurse/midwife called me with the official results and gave me the names of two surgeons that I could consult. I made appointments with both of them to see which one I liked better.
The first doctor, Dr. X, was very friendly and introduced himself by his first name. He was very personable and explained everything in easy-to-understand terms. He told me if only one lesion was cancerous, he could do lumpectomies; however, if both lesions were malignant he’d have to do a mastectomy as that was the “standard of care”. I froze at the word “mastectomy”. I didn’t want to be mutiliated. I thanked him, told him I had another consultation and would then make my decision.
The second doctor, Dr. Y, was much more businesslike. But I appreciated the fact that he would agree to do two lumpectomies to spare my breast. BUT, I had to agree to radiation afterwards. I agreed knowing full well that I would back out of radiation later. So this was the doctor I would go with to do my surgery. The nurse took me to the desk to arrange my biopsy and told me that after the biopsy we would go downstairs for a mammogram. I was puzzled by this and asked why a mammogram would be done after the biopsy. She said it would be to make sure that the metallic markers that the doctor would insert would be properly placed for future mammogram tracking. This threw me into a complete panic! The thought of something metallic being left in my breast did not sit well with me at all!!! I had to get out of there!! I lied and told her I had another consultation with another surgeon before making my decision. I think I left skid marks in there. I’m still not sure why the idea of those metallic markers in my breast left me so panic stricken considering the fact that I have titanium dental implants. It was just something about them being in my breast and the problems and/or pain they might cause down the road that caused me great anguish.
Since surgery was now out of the question for me, I decided I would heal the tumors holistically, with herbs and nutrition. I went on a raw food vegan diet for six weeks and took a number of anti-cancer supplements (curcumin, Co-Q10, Essiac tea, green tea extract, etc). I then consulted with a naturopath on the staff of a famed Master Herbalist whose office was nearby. I was put on a diet of all grapes and many expensive herbal formulas. After 6 weeks I was losing weight much too rapidly, which really alarmed me. I stopped this protocol as it did not seem to be affecting the tumors.
I then learned of the work of the late Dr. Emanuel Revici and his great success in healing cancer patients with his formulas. I worked long distance with a physician who worked side-by-side with Dr. Revici for a number of years and practiced his protocol. After a number of expensive tests and supplements, I began two of the Revici formulas. Unfortunately, after a fair amount of time and the maxing out of my credit card, I realized the formulas effected no change in the tumors and I stopped the protocol.