Background

You are the storyteller of your own life and you can create the legend or not.
—Isabel Allende, Chilean-American writer


I have had quite a few unexpected journeys in my life but I am going to start with my current journey which is the journey to remission of my stage 4 breast cancer. Stage 4 means it has spread through the body. In my case both breasts, lymph nodes, bones and liver. The Australian oncologists pretty well write you off. They talk of slowing it down for a while or very aggressive chemotherapy with not much chance of remission. In fact the word 'remission' never even came up. Maybe some extension of life, two years was my quota.

Pre Diagnosis
I had my annual health check in May 2008 with blood tests etc. Included was a breast check and I had a lump in the usual place but maybe a bit bigger. I suffered from fibrocystic breasts so lumps were par for the course.
I had been tired for about a year. I thought I was suffering 'burn out' from work so I sold my veterinary clinic and 'retired'. I started eating more healthily, increased my meditation, Tai Chi and exercise - bush wall king with the dogs - about 4-10 kms a day. Couldn't work out why my fitness level wasn't increasing. Then in June I got a very bad cough for about three weeks and was bedridden and when the cough went so did what was left of my energy. I couldn't walk 20 meters without getting out of breath.

Diagnosis & Proposed Treatments
I went to the doctor and my blood tests were fine but the lump had grown. Was sent straight to a surgeon and he sent me to have scans. The usual X-rays and ultrasounds didn't show much as the 'normal' breast tissue was dense and couldn't be differentiated from any other sort of tissue. Ended up with a breast MRI. This was in July 2008. Results showed tumour in the right breast, left breast, lymph node and sternum. Surgeon referred me to an oncologist specialising in chemotherapy. Further scans showed liver and spinal lesions. Biopsy of the breast confirmed active cancer. I saw the oncologist on a Wednesday and rang him a few days later to make an appointment for further discussion of my options to find I had been booked in for some pretty nasty chemotherapy on the following Monday. I did some research and was not impressed with the effects of the chemotherapy on my type and stage of cancer or on the rest of my body. Keep in mind too that in less than 2 weeks I had gone from not having cancer to having cancer in numerous parts of my body. It was a huge shock for me and my family and friends. Also my energy levels were so bad I needed help getting to all my appointments. I also started having bone pain in my sternum and spine.

Firing the Oncologist
In any case, I ditched the oncologist and found another one. Further scans pinpointed bone lesions in my pelvis and a biopsy of the liver confirmed cancer had definitely spread there. Now some options were discussed. Hormone suppression vs the aggressive chemotherapy. No other options were on the table. The hormone suppression was to be used to 'hold' the cancer and then when it got going again (which apparently it would) the chemotherapy would be used. the same drugs recommended by the previous oncologist. (AC -adriamycin which is doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide). No indication of when that would be or whether or not it would be successful either in terms of cure or any sort of response.We decided on the conservative approach of hormone suppression. and I started pretty well full time research on alternative treatments and a more holistic approach.

What Next

My sister, Paula, came over from the US and helped, my partner, Glen was doing everything around the house and working full time. My other sister, Yvonne, also took me to doctors and cooked yummy, healthy meals. My best friend, Gill, also cooked. There were parents of students at the school where Glen taught who even made meals for us. Meantime I found out about alternative treatments including herbal and homeopathic supplements, diets, meditation, Chinese medicine and so on.
Glen and I attended two retreats for cancer patients run by people who had overcome cancer and who used a holistic approach. The first one we went to was with Petrea King and ran for 5 days. It was a relatively small group and the retreat consisted of yoga, meditation, lectures, interactive , nutritional information and so on and healthy food provided.
The second retreat was a larger group at the Ian Gawler Foundation near Melbourne. It lasted 10 days, had a stricter nutrition regime and more confronting (for me) interactive exercises and a strong emphasis on meditation. Massage was also available at both venues. It gave us a whole lot of information, time to catch our breath and be looked after and skills to help us deal with the situation we were in.

Finding the right GP

I needed a GP who was not only open to and accepting of a holistic approach to cancer but who actually had knowledge and experience in this area. They are thin on the ground but eventually I found a great Doctor who was up to date and experienced in dealing with cancer in a way that suited me. I started intravenous vitamin C injections. Eventually was doing them myself at home but in the end my veins were too hard to find. I had a port put in just before going to Europe for a holiday (river cruise and visiting relatives in the Netherlands) and possible treatment in a clinic in Germany. Meantime the diet focused on vegan and alkaline with lots of brown rice and vegetable juices. Coffee enemas also became part of the daily routine and I was taking about 75 tablets a day of various supplements, carefully researched and checked by the new GP. Most of the supplements had to be imported from the US. Also imported an intravenous herbal concoction called Ukrain from Austria which I was giving myself straight after the vit C injections. I had also started to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor but after about 6 months had to stop as the herbs were causing severe diarrhoea.

The Clinic in Germany

Scans done in Australia just before I left for overseas showed the cancer was relatively stable. However I soon noticed that my left breast, which had the smaller 2cm tumour, was growing in size quite dramatically. We arrived in Prague to start our tour but first flew out again to Munich for a day to go visit the clinic proposed for possible treatment. We met the doctor and were impressed by her wide based knowledge, enthusiasm and positive attitude. It didn't hurt that the clinic was in a gorgeous part of Bavaria in southern Germany just near the border to the Austrian Alps. So blood was taken and the results would be known in 10 days. So I was due back on May 11 to start treatment based on the results of the test. The idea was that various types of therapies would be tested against the cancer cells harvested in my blood and various genes would be examined for problems. This meant that instead of an off the shelf chemotherapy agent being used the treatment would be specifically tailored with chemo and immuno agents that my cancer was susceptible to. Another major benefit at this clinic was an emphasis on reducing side effects and supporting the body to also fight the cancer. Only low dose chemo was to be used.

Apparently one of the problems with cancer is that there are a whole lot of dormant cancer cells in the body that are not recognised by the body's immune system and are not affected by chemo. This is why so many people have recurring cancer years after and apparent cure. Anyway, there is a protein in embryonic stem cells that latches on to the dorman cancer cells. This enables the dormant cancer cells to be recognised by the body's immune system which can then kill them off. So I have had an injection of the protein (AS$8000) so that should take care of the longer term problems. There is a marker in the blood that shows the level of dormant cancer celss and so a blood test can be done to see if the injection worked and then regular follow up tests ensure they don't increase again. Apparently one injection is enough in 95% of cases. It is of course very controversial, being embryonic stem cells (they come from Israel) and it is still pretty experimental. Having said that this doctor has been using them for about 5 years with good results. No nasty side effects either, occasionally some itchiness at the injection site.