Cancer is not my personal boogeyman.
Jul. 31st, 2010 02:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elionwyrIt really isn't.
And yet sometimes I forget that it's made more than its fair share of appearances in my family.
My mother was born with skin cancer. She writes:
...I was due in September but crashed in early at 5 lb 6 oz - and sickly - and with some cancerous growth on my side that it took them a while to get out of me - still have the scar 62 years later...
As I understand it, the cancer was burned off of her with radiation. This is one of those factoids I keep on trying to forget.
My grandmother also had skin cancer (if my memory serves me correctly), I assume from a lifetime of gardening.
My mom's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. It manifested as a lump nearer her arm pit than her breast, which was something I hadn't realized was possible. She lost her breast and a handful of lymph nodes, and opted to not undergo "slash and burn" treatment.
"Well, then, we can't help you," she was told by her doctors.
She decided to try a holistic approach to her healthcare, and they changed their lifestyle dramatically, from the foods they ate to the place they called home. (One of the treatments she recommends is, I believe, essiac tea, grape seed extract, and flax seed. I am **NOT** a doctor and am **NOT** telling y'all that this is the magic bullet. I do think it's worth investigating.)
She's been (thank goodness) cancer free ever since.
Lesson learned: There's always more than one treatment option. You don't necessarily have to choose radiation and chemo therapy to fight off cancer. Do your research - ask questions - figure out what's gonna work best for YOU. That option may not be what western medicine tells you is best.
And yet sometimes I forget that it's made more than its fair share of appearances in my family.
My mother was born with skin cancer. She writes:
As I understand it, the cancer was burned off of her with radiation. This is one of those factoids I keep on trying to forget.
My grandmother also had skin cancer (if my memory serves me correctly), I assume from a lifetime of gardening.
My mom's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago. It manifested as a lump nearer her arm pit than her breast, which was something I hadn't realized was possible. She lost her breast and a handful of lymph nodes, and opted to not undergo "slash and burn" treatment.
"Well, then, we can't help you," she was told by her doctors.
She decided to try a holistic approach to her healthcare, and they changed their lifestyle dramatically, from the foods they ate to the place they called home. (One of the treatments she recommends is, I believe, essiac tea, grape seed extract, and flax seed. I am **NOT** a doctor and am **NOT** telling y'all that this is the magic bullet. I do think it's worth investigating.)
She's been (thank goodness) cancer free ever since.
Lesson learned: There's always more than one treatment option. You don't necessarily have to choose radiation and chemo therapy to fight off cancer. Do your research - ask questions - figure out what's gonna work best for YOU. That option may not be what western medicine tells you is best.