Breast Cancer Awareness: An Alternate Perspective From A Cancer Survivor

I would like to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month a little differently than most others. I have a different perspective. You see, I had breast cancer nine years ago. I rejected conventional medicine and went with an alternative approach.

I'm quite cynical about Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Throughout October I see stories about brave cancer survivors who survived their toxic treatments and went on to run marathons. I see stories about new, expensive cancer breakthroughs on broadcasts lucratively sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. These are the same multinational corporations that manufacture plastics, pesticides and fragrance chemicals that actually cause cancer!

Whether you count by dollars or numbers of people employed by it, Cancer is one of the largest industries in the country. How is it that the companies that cause cancer also manufacture the cancer drugs? When it comes to Big Pharma, news stories aren't so much news as propaganda. Watch carefully this month: How many breast cancer stories will show women being healed by natural, non-patented medicine? None.

Why is it that the research we're asked to fund looks for new treatments (as long as they can be patented), but never at the carcinogenic effects of plastics, pesticides and fragrance chemicals? Because it would rock the industrial boat that funds the research. Their definition of "prevention" is earlier detection. My definition of "prevention" is not getting it in the first place!

So why did I choose to risk my life with alternative medicine?

Two women whom I loved very much died of breast cancer not long before I got it. More accurately, they died of their cancer treatments. One was like a mother to me, the other, like a sister. They were both seemingly healthy when the cancer was discovered. Indeed one had no tumor site at all. At her annual physical, the doctor found some cancer cells trapped in a lymph node. That's what lymph nodes are supposed to do. Her immune system was working well.

They gave her every test they could to find the location of the cancer, to no avail. Then they proceeded to bombard the poor woman with "as much chemo as we can give you without actually killing you." After that, they gave her radiation therapy.

Once she had no immune system left, the cancer that her body had been keeping at bay took over with a vengeance. It spread to her hip bone. More radiation. Oops! Too strong. The radiation killed her hip bone so she needed a hip replacement. More chemo. No more visits from her beloved grandchildren because she had no immunity to germs.

The bone cancer spread to her arm. She had a painful surgery for that. Then to her skull- exactly where her mobile phone antenna had touched her head. The last three years of life for this once-vital, beautiful woman were spent in pain, wretched illness and isolation. She never complained once. She just accepted it as her fate. I held her hand as she died.

My other friend was only in her late 30's when they found the lump. She was a healthy vegetarian who practiced yoga, meditation, and alternative medicine. One day when she was getting a chiropractic adjustment, the doctor said her thyroid felt a little strange and suggested she get it checked.

She did, and it was fine. But the new doctor felt a breast lump and prescribed a mammogram and biopsy. Yep, take a little sealed-up tumor, crush it, radiate it and poke it repeatedly with a needle. Then act surprised when it suddenly metastasizes like crazy. The doctor actually told my friend that she had likely had the tumor for at least ten years.

My friend wanted to do alternative cancer therapies. Her oncologist said she should only do them as an adjunct to conventional treatment. Within a year she had lost her breast and was almost killed by chemo and radiation. The natural medicines, which are much more gentle, had no hope of working on a body that was so ravaged and sickened. Within another year she had lost the other breast, had more rounds of chemo, and died shortly after that.

The next year I found my lump, and within six weeks I had six lumps. I consulted with an M.D. and several alternative doctors. I read a bunch of books they recommended. I prayed and fretted, then decided that, live or die, I was going with non-toxic alternative medicine.

I called my late friend's husband and told him the news. He said, "Whatever you do, don't let the doctors get their hands on you. My wife told me before she died that she was sorry she ever listened to them. I believe that if she had gone a natural route she would be alive today."

So here is my advice for Breast Cancer Awareness:

1. Question Authority- Don't automatically believe the doctors, or anyone else. That includes this article.

    

2. Take Responsibility for Your Life- People who will spend weeks researching the pros and cons of a new car, carefully studying the fine print on a contract, will never study their medical options! Your doctor doesn't have to live or die with the consequences of your treatment, you do!

    

3. Learn About Your Options- They're out there, but your medical doctor has not studied them. Even if she has, she is forbidden to suggest them! Educate yourself before you're ever in a health crisis.

    

4. Be a Difficult Patient- Demand thermography instead of, or at least before, a mammogram. Thermography uses no radiation, does not crush the breast tissue, and can detect cancers months or even years before a mammogram can.

    

5. Learn About the Fungal Connection to Cancer- It can save your life.

Wishing you and yours the best of health!

Siri Amrit Kaur Khalsa is a cancer survivor. She started Tigerflag Natural Perfumery to give people natural alternatives to toxic fragrance products. She wrote a paper describing her successful battle with cancer as a resource to help others going through the difficult process of choosing their treatment.

You may print or publish this article as long as you use it in its entirety, with credit to the author and Tigerflag Natural Perfumery, LLC.

Breast Cancer

The Journey Begins

This is the story of my breast cancer journey, and how gluing magazine pictures onto mat board led me back to my spirit.

In December of 2001, breast cancer was the furthest thing from my mind. I was busy. I had a loving husband, a nice home, three beautiful stepchildren, a good job. Then my perfect little world was suddenly turned inside out and upside down.

A routine, suspicious mammogram. A phone call. Mammogram #2. A stereotactic core biopsy.

My diagnosis: breast cancer, stage 2, infiltrating, ductal, HER2.

All of the above happened within the fearful, anxious, unbelievable time span of 7 days. And my life has never been the same.

The next nine months held a most strange quality of disbelief and exhaustion. It also held two surgeries, four chemotherapy treatments spaced three weeks apart, and 47 radiation treatments (spaced daily, over the course of 9 weeks).

Fears of the Cancer Returning

It's been three years since my life was turned upside down and inside out…. Three years. My prognosis is very good. I hear this every three months depending on which doctor my appointment is with: breast surgeon, medical oncologist, or radiation oncologist.

Three years have passed. I look good. I feel good. And yet nothing has been able to quiet the storms of fear that threaten to overwhelm me from time to time. The insidious fear that the breast cancer might return. The intimidating fear of another potentially deadly diagnosis.

I have meditated and prayed about this. I have talked about it with my wonderful therapist and with other breast cancer survivors. I have tried guided imagery, journaling, and art journaling. These have all tempered the fear to some extent, but only for a very short while.

How SoulCollage® Soothed My Fears

Then I began practicing SoulCollage® and my inner dynamics began to change.

SoulCollage® is a unique blend of spiritual practice and the fun of collage. It was created in 1989 by Seena Frost (www.soulcollage.com) as she worked with friends and clients in her psychotherapy practice.

Using our intuition and imagination, we create a deck of collaged cards where each card reflects a different aspect of who we are. The cards are then used to assist us to access our own deep wisdom and help us answer life's questions. There are four suits in a SoulCollage® deck: The Committee (the inner voices in our minds), The Community (the family and friends who love us), The Companions (animal totems who lend us their energies) and The Council (archetypes who symbolize major life themes for us).

SoulCollage® cards are made using magazine images, scissors, a glue stick, and 5" x 8" pieces of mat board.

It turned out to be the best way for me to deal with the lingering fears that I was left with after my cancer treatments were over. I listened carefully inside of me to the voices that had something to say about my breasts, and my breast cancer, and I made three cards over the course of a few months.

Naming my Inner Voices

The "voices" I named and then worked with in the coming months were: I am the one who fears breast cancer returning, I am the one who hates her disfigured left breast, I am the one who survived breast cancer and walked away from it (both of these voices were Committee members), and I am the one who gave you the courage to survive breast cancer (an archetype from my Council).

After making the cards, I journaled with them, asking each voice the following questions: Who are you? What do you have to give me? What do you want from me? How will I remember?

The Healing Continues

The entire process of making these SoulCollage® cards and then dialoguing with them led me deeper into my feelings about my diagnosis and all that I had been through on my journey since then. This led me to a very deep and powerful spiritual healing that is difficult to describe, yet very real in my life.

Now, when my fears of another cancer diagnosis threaten to consume me, I simply look at my SoulCollage® card that honors that voice inside of me and I acknowledge it. This voice, this fear will always be a part of me, but I do not have to allow it to control me. I am reminded of this because I also have the other two cards which speak to me of how I found the inner strength and courage to take the breast cancer journey.

Anne Marie Bennett is a freelance writer, SoulCollage facilitator, and self-taught artist who enjoys playing with mixed-media collage, and all forms of color and words. She has a BS degree in Education from Southern Connecticut State University and has taught children, teens and adults throughout the East Coast. She is a breast cancer survivor and feels closest to her own soul when she is writing, creating art, teaching, and sharing the gift of SoulCollage™ with others. She lives,laughs, writes, sings (and makes her own SoulCollage® cards!) in Beverly, MA. To see her breast cancer SoulCollage™ cards and read more about them, please visit: http://www.kaleidosoul.com/breastcancer.html

 

Hypnosis Complements Breast Cancer Treatment and Breast Surgery

If you are scheduled for breast surgery (biopsy, lumpectomy or mastectomy) or you are undergoing post-surgical breast cancer treatment, hypnosis is an excellent complementary therapy that can enhance the positive effects of various therapies.* Using hypnotherapy in combination with your medical breast cancer treatment will make you feel more empowered and in control of your care, and it will help you maximize your overall wellness.

The power of the subconscious mind can be a potent ally in healing from surgery and recovering from breast cancer, for it is the subconscious mind that controls automatic body processes, including immune function and pain perception. Additionally, the subconscious mind is the source of all emotions, which also makes hypnosis a logical choice for dealing with the emotional aspects of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Hypnosis for breast cancer treatment can help with the following issues:

Pre-Surgical Preparation: Numerous studies in medical journals have shown that people who prepare for surgery using hypnosis generally have fewer complications, heal faster and have less post-operative pain. Hypnosis will help you feel calm, relaxed and positive before, during and after surgery. Usually, the hypnosis therapy is geared toward making positive suggestions to your subconscious regarding your surgery and its outcome, as well as teaching you how to effectively manage pre-surgery stress.

When we see pre-surgical clients in our hypnosis practice, we give them a CD to play before and immediately after surgery (and with headphones during surgery, if their surgeon permits). The CD contains soothing music, relaxing imagery and positive suggestions to reassure the client's subconscious mind that the surgery will go smoothly and that their body will heal quickly, with as little discomfort as possible.

The results of pre-surgical hypnosis can be quite amazing. Patients frequently report that they needed very little pain medication and that they were back on their feet very quickly after surgery. I recently spoke with a client with whom I had worked before her major abdominal surgery. After her surgery, her surgeon told her he would order a narcotic pain killer. She told him to hold off on the narcotics because she was not in much pain. In fact, she required only ibuprofen and she was up and walking around just two hours after her surgery! Needless to say, her doctor was amazed.

Any surgery can be stressful, but breast surgery that may indicate a need for follow-up breast cancer treatment can be extremely stressful for any woman. In our practice, hypnosis for breast cancer surgery focuses specifically on this extreme stress. The calmer you stay before the surgery, the more resources your body has to heal itself as quickly as possible.

Follow-Up Treatment If Cancer Is Detected: If you require follow-up radiation and/or chemotherapy as part of your breast cancer treatment, hypnosis can teach you how to feel more relaxed and manage your stress. A growing body of evidence suggests that chronic stress and the cascade of stress hormones it produces can interfere with the proper functioning of the immune system. An immune system which is as healthy as it can be (given the specific treatment) is critically important during breast cancer treatment.

When we work with breast cancer clients in our practice, we teach them relaxation, self-hypnosis and stress management techniques. We also teach our clients how to use mental imagery to encourage their immune system to work together with their medical therapies in order to maximize the benefits of their breast cancer treatment. For example, we may teach a client to visualize her immune system attacking and killing the cancer cells, or surrounding and transforming the cancer cells into something harmless. The visualization work for each client's breast cancer treatment is always tailored to her needs and the way her imagination works.

If your breast cancer treatment creates side effects, including nausea, hypnosis can help you minimize those side effects. And if your breast cancer treatment creates body image issues, hypnosis can also help you feel good about your body again. Each woman is different, both in her needs and in her physical and emotional reactions to the breast cancer treatment and its side effects. Accordingly, each woman's hypnosis sessions will need to be tailored specifically to her requirements and goals.

Whether you are scheduled to undergo breast surgery to determine if you need follow-up breast cancer treatment, or you are already undergoing breast cancer treatment, hypnosis can complement your medical treatment in multiple ways.

*Hypnosis is not a substitute for medical breast cancer treatment. Rather, it is an excellent complement to standard medical breast cancer treatment. Hypnosis works with doctors, not against them. Do not discontinue medical breast cancer treatment when you begin hypnotherapy.

Loretta Sernekos, Ph.D., is a Certified Hypnotherapist in private practice in Cherry Hill, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. You can visit her hypnosis practice website at http://sghypnosis.com for more information and audio podcasts. For additional hypnosis information and articles, both modern and antiquarian, visit http://hypnosisgateway.com.