| Author | Message | ||
     Eulalia |
Hello, Today I received a card from an old friend in Massachusetts who is very dear to me, and she tells me that she was diagnosed last October 2001 with breast cancer (in both breasts, but no methasthasis yet). The doctor advised her she should undergo radical mammary surgery, followed by radiation and chemotherapy. She decided against it all and decided instead to go only for alternative medicine treatments, a combination of reiki, acupuncture, tai-chi, macrobiotic food, nutritional changes, etc. I called her and asked her why didn't she rather follow conventional medical treatments plus alternative medicine, and she told me that she was born with 2 breasts and she will die with the two breasts no matter if diseased, rather than going through the most horrible experience of conventional treaments. I was sad and really surprised by her decision but I highly respect it. Her family is devastated by her decision too, but supports her. I mentioned to her your web site and invited her to take a look at it, but she told me she doesn't have a computer and asked me to find out for her which alternative treatment options she could have with herbs, syrups or whatever is good in her case. Could you give me an idea? I will print your reply and forward it to her immediately. Will appreciate emails too. Thank you. Eulalia | ||
| Ingrid |
Eulalia, This is a most interesting question, but you have to realize that it would be completely irresponsible to tell someone what to do. . . even if I had the answer, which I don't. This said, I would like to share from my experience. If a patient is adamant, as she seems to be, life for the patient is more difficult if people criticize her choices. In the chaotic world of medicine today, lots of people think they know what is best and lots of other people know they don't know, including many doctors. Obviously, I am often in the position of being asked to comment, but if you read the highly personal parts of this site, the parts under "Ingrid" and "Sacred Medicine Sanctuary," you will see my healing philosophy. There may be good and bad reasons for wanting to die with one's breasts. If the decision is made because of attachment to one's body, that is a choice and it may or may not medically sound. If it is made because there is implicit faith that natural methods will work in her case, that is a choice that must not only be respected but evaluated by those who question her intuition and research. I could go on and on. I lecture at conferences and make a point of attending the talks given by other practitioners. No one is claiming 100% success, but you can listen carefully and see that many are having significant successes. I feel to comment in depth here because it is a source of so much confusion. The Contreras family has done more with laetrile than anyone on the Planet, but Papa Contreras says only 3% of people are cured by it but 11% are helped in some way by it. Nevertheless, thousands of people have gone to Oasis for laetrile. On my site, I quote Dr. Kelley in saying that chaparral is very effective in 7% of malignancies. What is then unclear is whether there is a way to determine in advance who the lucky 7% will be, whether there is any reason for the other 93% not to try it, whether there are reasons for using it besides "cure." I.e., what if it does chelate toxins from the body? Wouldn't it be worthwhile finding out if this supports wellness? I don't "recommend" chaparral nor do I discourage anyone from trying it. I present as much information as I feel warranted and let people make up their own minds. I do know people who have been cured of cancer with chaparral, but I also know people for whom it didn't seem to make a difference. If it doesn't make a difference, it is important to recognize this fact and go to the back up plan. You see, there is a lot to the healing process and you friend seems to have realized that because she is exploring energetic medicine, nutrition, and acupuncture. Healing is not always a purely scientific process. Patients who write books about their healing journey often describe the insights that awakened them to parts of themselves that had been dormant. So, what is most helpful in a good friendship is the willingness to listen with one's heart and to hear what the person is saying. Many patients tell me it's difficult to discuss their situations because when they tell people they are dealing with cancer, people become awkward, catatonic, or judgmental. They make gestures that are interpreted by patients in such a way as to suggest that the person is not comfortable talking about cancer or that someone is not open to treatment strategies that have been chosen. Wouldn't it be a lot better to ask, "How have Reiki and Tai Chi changed your life? I've always been curious but never known who to ask." In such a case, you leave room for the patient to talk and explore the path of healing. So, while I have written a lot on cancer, two published books, two as yet unpublished, and 200 pages on the web, I do not know a one size fits all answer to questions. Even if I were the patient, I would still ask myself questions that seemed relevant to my situation and if I felt that I was blind to my own issues, I'd ask my best friend or a psychic or two or three for input. I wouldn't necessarily fall hook, line, and sinker for any one opinion or insight, but I would evaluate what I heard and make my own decisions. This is the process that I support, and I am very clear that the shoe has to fit or no one will walk the path in those shoes. It's so important for people to realize that even if the 80% cure rate discussed by many of the people I researched for the book were to hold up in the 21st century, the approach would not be satisfactory for the 20% for whom it did not give the desired results. No one I know believes that everyone can be cured and some people believe that no one can be cured--ask someone in the actuarial department of an insurance company. Somewhere between false optimism and doom and gloom, there is a path for each person, a path to which the person must be true, and a path that reveals what it needs to reveal. Not too long ago, a man wrote me that he and wife went to Switzerland for treatment. Once they got there, she said she had been focused on the wrong thing; it was time to leave her body. She did this very graciously and he has been an inspiration to me. This said, I am a fighter; I want everyone to live long enough to fulfill his or her destiny. I think we have contracts with God. School does not help us to find out what these agreements are, but in crises, we often ask questions we might have asked earlier in life. A long, long time ago, a surgeon came to me for an appointment. He said, "I'm a doctor; I know how to treat my brain tumors. I came to you to ask about my soul and my purpose in life." Tears ran down my face because he was 60 and I suddenly realized it would have been a really good idea to have asked that question at 18. Still, we had a very nice time together and he wrote me afterwards thanking me for what he could not find elsewhere. This is an important part of the process. Whether you call it the healing process or disease process, sooner or later we face ourselves, the deepest part of ourselves. Hospitals do not provide this experience for patients so they have to seek it where it can be found and the people providing alternative care are usually generous with their light. God bless, Ingrid | ||
| Mandy |
My Mom has infiltrating ductile breast cancer. She underwent surgury, chemo & radiation over the last 8 months. Before treatment was even completed, she found a lump in her other breast, same type of cancer. Now she has malignant pleural effusion in both lungs, and an enlarged heart. She doesn't want to die, but is afraid of more surgery & chemo if she doesn't have much time left. She is very interested in alternative medicines, and curing herself. She would like to have more information about bloodroot, both salves and internally. Is there a way to treat multiple sites with salves or is it necessary to do internal treatment. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. | ||
| Mandy |
We have ordered your book, Cancer Salves, but it will be a few weeks before it is delivered. We have also ordered powdered bloodroot as well as tincture. | ||
| Ingrid |
Mandy, The book is generally shipped immediately IF you ordered directly from us. The problem your mother faces is one everyone has to consider at some point: in which treatment should one place one's trust? The answer may not be the same for everyone, but mixing and matching has some drawbacks, especially when mixing the more comprehensive holistic treatments with conventional treatments. My advice is to get a book that compares a lot of different treatments. Read through it as quickly as possible to see where there is resonance. Then, investigate the treatments that seem most promising. In answer to your specific question about treating multiple sites topically, most people do not attempt this. In such situations, a systemic approach is generally better than a series of local attempts. I wish you and your mother success. | ||
| Linda Groulx |
I have breast cancer with metasticies to the bones. Refused surgery - used hyperthermia and low-dose radiation for tumors in the breasts. this threatment was successful. For the bone mets, I used high dose Vitamin C. infustions for about 9 months. This was successful for a time - but very costly. When I stopped the infusions (I had exhausted my savings) the bone mets returned, slowly but surely. Now I am considering taking a black salve internally. I have not found any accounts of people using the salve internally for bone mets. Can you give me some information. I find your websie very informative. | ||
| Ingrid |
Linda, I don't know if this would work or not. Obviously, there are times when anything is worth a try and other times when you feel the stakes are so high that you only want what promises the best possible outcome. I do not work with diagnoses; I try to determine the underlying causes so that the illness can be shifted at the roots. This means that there is a different strategy for every individual. I hope you find the one that works best for you. You were doing well for a long time; maybe you can figure out what it would take to resolve this once again. | ||
| franvantoch |
My name is Frannie....I have a 1 inch lump in my left breast near the surface...it is pre-cancer, stage 0. they want to do a lumpectomy and take out a few ssentinol lymp nodes (to see if any seeped into the lymphs) I had a needle core biopsy for diagnosis after I felt it and discovered it. While waiting for surgerty I have been taking internally the black salve herbal mixture (with gangka, etc) and topically applied the salve (blood root) to my breast where the lump is. It kind of oozed after a couple days with puss and got inflamed with red. they said they couldn't operate while it is inflammed so.....I am letting it heal with air and a scab formed......Do you think I caused the DCIS (precancer cells to come out of the mammary gland and spread into the rest of the breast or elsewhere by using the black salve and now letting the scab form? Hope not? Please answer me whatever you know... thanks.....I am a bit nervous. | ||
| Ingrid |
Frannie, You seem to have jumped into this without preparation. Whoever sold you the black salve should have explained the correct use. You need to allow the eschar (scab) to detach naturally. Do not force anything. In the meantime, you should read my book so you have a better grasp of what has happened and what is likely to happen. Best wishes! |
