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 Help! My mom is stage 3 invasive breast cancer. She had her left breast completely removed along with 13 lymphnodes. The oncologist said she had very aggressive cancer & wanted to start her on an aggressive chemo regiment, which my mom has now backed out of. She has decided not to chemotherapy at all & instead treat her cancer with vitamin supplements, meditation, visualization & herbal remedies. As much as I understand her fear of chemo, I am scared to death that she is giving up. She says she is just looking for a less evasive form of treatment on her body. But I can't find any evidence that alternative medicine will do anything to actually "treat" the cancer. If anyone out there that has had breast cancer & has any feedback about alternative treatments please let me know.

Thank you

 Notgiving up~ I HAD stage 3 w/ nodes involvment also. I thought I wanted alternative treatment I had looked into it and the treatment would take too long and not guarntee I would be clean of cancer....I did not go that route. I wanted to live to see my kids marry and grandkids...It is hard to take the chemo but I am glad that I did. I jest figured it was an army killing the cancer cells. I am 4 years out and counting. I have seen my son graduate, been at my daughters wedding and helped with my grandchildrens births. 

It is your moms choice and she needs to feel good about her decision. Pray for her as I will.

sending calming hugs

 There is little documented evidence available to support alternative treatment.

What is the pathology of the cancer?

ER+ cancers may be suppressed through the judicious use of hormone blockers such as tamoxifen and ai's like Arimidex.  These are not "alternative" treatments...more like "supplementary."  Less harsh than chemotherapies.

IF the cancer is HER+++, it is possible that Cox-2 inhibitors may help suppress the cancer.  The best known Cox-2 inhibitor on the market is Celebrex.

The tricky part to this is that most women (about 80%) are diagnosed with less aggressive forms of disease, and they may have to endure much less treatment...so your mom may be thinking that it's "safe" for her to forego treatment.

The problem with advanced disease is that that's exactly what it is...ADVANCED.

The lymph node involvement is "evidence" that the cancer cells have the ability to set up residence in organs and bone and there are probably circulating cancer cells in your mother's blood stream.

Frankly, her prognosis isn't all that good, given the natural history of breast cancer.  So, she really isn't in the same boat as the "average" breast cancer patient.

If she wants to live long, she may need to compromise.

Even a couple of rounds of taxotere would probably improve her odds.

This may be something that she should think about.

Tammy Lou

My HEART is in Michigan - Thank you for the input & support. Congratulations! I am sure your children are grateful for everyday!

I do think that it is important for my mom to feel good about her decision, I just want to make sure it is a properly informed decision. 

Thank you for your prayers & hugs. (You can never get enough of those). Know that I am sending some back to you. 

 Tammylou - thank you for all of your information.

I am not sure of the pathology.

Although the measures your mother are seeking may heal her holistically, they will more than likely not keep her cancer from returning. 

It is important that your mother understands that at stage 3,she can be potentially 'cured' of the cancer.  Since she has a more aggressive form, the cancer will more than likely return.  What medical professionals anticipate for recurrence can be in the same breast, the opposite breast and more often times...other organs. When that happens, the cancer becomes stage 4 and treatment becomes palliative. (meaning: treating the symptoms)

Please remind your mother that a lot of the different treatments of chemotherapy are derivatives of plants.  Of course now they are more synthetic versions, but were once very natural.

Your mother may be in shock right now which is completely natural. tO keep the cancer from recurrring, the chemo treatments usually last anywhere from 6-12 months.  This is a small amount of time compared to the rest of her life.

I urge you to ask her to meet with the medical oncologist again and let her talk to the doctor about opting out of chemotherapy.  He/she may be able to give her the statistics of recurrence and make her change her mind.

Good luck to you and your mother.

 Try looking into www.sanoviv.com, they have a full care facility and a ton of treatment options with proven success.  At least give them a call and they can answer any questions you may have.

 My prayers are with your family.  I have someone in my family that has fused the natural way with the chemo way.  The supplements, to build up the body, and then the chemo with certain supplements to help with the side effects. My sister got her supplements through www.shaklee.net/gods_earth  I believe she uses vivixx and nutriferon and optiflora probiotic.  I can double check though.  She has cut out all sugars and drinking tons of purified water.  She has had no continued growth in the last 3 months.    A blessing.  I think a combo of both ways is good.  I have lots of info if you need it.  Sending up prayers for you.

 Hello Tammy Lou,

Your post is very interesting to me as you seem to have studied alternative treatments.  I just had a lumpectomy this week on 4mm tumor with no lymph node involvement and clean margins.  So I am very much in the process of educating myself about next steps.  I know doctors will recommend radiation and hormone blockers, but I'm learning about disadvantages to these treatments and concerned they would outweight advantages at this stage. 

It seems to me I could promote wellness best in my entire body with the diet, exercise and alternative therapys - if I'm very diligent about about forming the good habits and clearning out the emotional stuff, rather than damaging my body further.

Any ideas about this?

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