My Cancer Story - The Background

Is there a cure for cancer? There was a cure for me. I’ll be very honest and forthright. What I did worked for me. I have the medical records as proof that in March of 2006 I had an aggressive advanced breast cancer and two months later it was gone. My only surgery was a lumpectomy and removal of two lymph nodes in August 2006 and only for the purpose of being sure the cancer was gone.

Doctors had seen me twice since my last child, a daughter born in 1982. For over fifteen years I just didn’t get sick. If I felt something coming on I checked my Louise Hay book “You Can Heal Your Life”, and worked on the personal issue connected to that ailment. Sometimes that’s all it took, other times I went with herbals and supplements to speed the process. I am one of those people who feel “Physician, heal thyself” is only logical. I was also one of those people who said I would never get cancer. I wasn’t the type to let something eat away at me.

My 80 year-old mother was living with me and had broken her hip. It was stressful; she didn’t want to exercise and never regained full mobility, which means I had to do more for her. With the exception of only two months, every single month from the time she was released from rehab (Feb 04) I had a cold that lasted ten to fourteen days. By January 2006, after two years of this my immunity was all but non-existent. It is possible for stress to kill you. The past November (‘05) I had found a lump in the right breast. Well, I’d had a lump before. The practitioner at Planned Parenthood found it in a routine exam in the ‘80s. I went home did my “issues” work and saw a doctor nearly a year later to verify it was gone. I never knew what kind of lump it was. This doctor was one of the two visits to see a physician in about twenty years. The other visit, by the way, was to check my ankle for arthritis, didn’t have it.

In late December the lump started feeling tender and inflamed. I was starting to get a bit worried. There was a red patch on the skin over the lump. In early January of 2006 after telling my oldest son about it I decided, at my oldest son’s pleading, to get checked out. My son is an x-ray tech. I contacted Every Woman Matters, an organization that helps women get mammograms, and began the paperwork process. I had no health insurance, didn’t have a job with benefits, and didn’t really have any job. I do wedding ceremonies and had to rely on referrals. Some months I have no weddings at all, some months only one or two ceremonies.

Every Woman Matters did help, and eventually I qualified for Medicaid. They got me into Contemporary Health Care for Women, a local clinic. I got the routine exam and screenings in February, and was told that I did have a sizeable lump that would have to be further investigated. Every Woman Matters set me up for an MRI and a CT scan. After those images were studied I had an ultra sound to determine if the lump was fibrous or solid. It was solid, not good news. I knew at that moment it was cancer. Sometimes you just know something at the core of your being. I was referred to a surgeon, who did a biopsy during the first office visit on March 3rd. The results were what I already knew, cancer. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma to be exact. I told him I would be actively participating in my healing. He replied I needed to choose an oncologist. I chose the office where my youngest son had gotten care a few years before when he had testicular cancer. He recovered completely and has never had a recurrence. I chose a new doctor though. I went with a woman physician, one from India. Since I am into holistic health care and natural remedies I believed that an Indian doctor would treat me the person, not just my cancer. I was surprised she didn’t know who Deepak Chopra was.

Dr. Midathada is a young woman and was very open to my supplements and whatever else I was doing as long as I kept her informed about what I was taking. At our first meeting I assured her I would take responsibility for my part of the healing process. I don’t think she was used to hearing that. I don’t feel like I sold out my beliefs, I feel like I took advantage of every resource available. Originally I was to be scheduled for eight chemo sessions over 16 weeks, rest and heal, then have a lumpectomy. Six weeks of radiation, five days a week to prevent recurrence would follow post-surgical recovery. I completed six of the chemo sessions, four before and two after the MRI in May. One more thing before I tell you how I was cured. It is important and I feel it is necessary.

One morning, I think it was near the time I started my chemotherapy I had a dream. In my dream I was helping a woman who was about to pass over. I was her coach and I was there for her to encourage her and keep her from becoming afraid, to help her focus. In the dream I was telling her it [dying] was easy. I told her to focus her thoughts on a beautiful place she wanted to go. To imagine there were loving people there to greet her. When she became afraid I told her just to relax into it. I told her death does not hurt, it is not meant to cause fear. I told her it was like passing through a door into another way of being. When I awoke that morning the dream was still very real to me. I realized then I was being given the choice. It would be easy to die. I had a chance to leave if I wanted. For three days that dream stayed with me while I considered my options.

Obviously I made the decision to stay in this life. I love my grandkids and freely admit that I want to imprint them, help guide their little psyches, challenge their minds and teach them, by example, compassion and understanding. I considered how my departure would break my daughter’s heart; she’s my best friend. From that moment I knew I would recover. Within a few weeks my daughter found out she was pregnant again. I had no doubts and when I did share my diagnosis with friends they were a bit surprised by my positive attitude. People offered me books about cancer saying I should have this information. My attitude was “why? It isn’t something I’m keeping”. I stood in my own power and made a decision; rather than invest my time and energy in the disease, I would invest my time and energy into recovery. My surgeon Dr. Tommeraasen said that making a decision was my turning point and that recovery is 90% in the mind. I also got a really neat note from an email friend. Dona said, “Don’t let the ‘C’ word scare you. It’s about like appendicitis.” That helped bolster my already thriving will and determination to beat this. I’d had appendicitis and survived hadn’t I? Using only energy therapy I had seen a fractured bone heal within a week with no evidence it had ever been broken. I’ve seen blood poisoning cured overnight with herbs, before any prescription could have begun to work.

Well, this is the background of my story. Let me post this and I will get on to the "How I did it" portion.