More Women Are Finding Their Voices After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Bonnie Annis is a breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in 2014 with stage 2b invasive ductal carcinoma with metastasis to the lymph nodes. Catch up on all of Bonnie's blogs here!

In many cases, after a diagnosis of breast cancer, women choose to follow their doctor’s advice regarding treatment. But it seems over the past few years, more and more women are discovering their right to try other health care options. I am one of those women.

When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my doctor recommended the “gold standard” treatment plan, which included the top four items: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and antihormone or adjuvant therapy. Since I was very new to cancer, I had no idea what treatment plan was best for me. On the way home from my oncologist’s office, I talked things over with my oldest daughter, who had accompanied me to my oncology visit. As a proponent of natural health care, she encouraged me to do some digging before making my final decision.

Over the next several weeks, I studied a lot. I didn’t want to disregard all my doctor's plans, but I wasn’t about to go forward blindly. I read everything I could find on each treatment option he recommended. I was especially concerned with information I found on side effects related to chemotherapy. Many of the side effects were irreversible, and I decided those risks were not something I was willing to accept for my body.

My doctor wasn’t happy when I told him I wasn’t willing to go through chemotherapy, and he wanted to know why I'd made that choice. I explained my reasons to him, and he basically said, “It’s your body. Do what you feel best for you.” And I did.

I felt radiation therapy was relatively safe since it had been used for years and years. I’d read radiation was first discovered in 1896 by German physics professor, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. His discovery led to the use of radiation in the form of X-rays, which helped diagnose various forms of disease, but it wasn’t until three years later that radiation therapy was used to treat cancer. Since that time, many advances have been made in radiation therapy, but there have been some negative discoveries which concerned me. Radiation was being widely used to help cure or to slow down cancer development, but the treatments themselves could also cause cancer.

When I met with the radiation oncologist for the first time, I asked her about this information. She assured me she’d do everything within her power to make sure I didn’t suffer any radiation-related cancers, but she couldn’t guarantee it. She was very open with me, and I appreciated that. She explained carefully that the linear accelerator, the machine that would be used to direct and administer the radiation to my body, would be carefully programmed according to her assessment of my specific needs. That gave me comfort to go ahead with the treatments. I was initially supposed to receive 33 radiation treatments with three boost therapy sessions at the end of my program. My oncologist, radiation oncologist and several other medical staff had met during a “tumor board” to discuss and plan my treatment before completing even one session. Though I wasn’t privy to the information they discussed during that meeting, I imagined they’d gone back and forth between themselves doing all they could to give me the best chance at a long life.

Before my first treatment, I met with the radiation team and went through a series of pre-treatment scenarios. They placed me on the table beneath the linear accelerator and did a simulation, so I’d know what to expect. They drew dots on my torso with a Sharpie pen to help line me up correctly before my first treatment so the laser beam would send the radiation to the exact quadrant every time. Eventually, they placed six permanent medical tattoos the size of a large pin head on my body. That way, I didn’t have to worry about accidentally washing the marker off and them having to reapply them during each session.

Thankfully, I only ended up needing 28 radiation sessions and did not need the boosts (extra strong rounds of radiation) afterwards. I did suffer severe burns halfway through treatment, but the doctor had warned me that was a possibility, and I was prepared for it. When my skin began to break down, the doctor stopped treatment for several weeks until I healed. I also suffered damage to the lower lobe of my right lung. Once again, I had been forewarned this could happen. The doctor said, at my first visit, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t completely control the radiation’s path. It was a science and though they did the best they could, there was always a chance of organ damage. I was willing to take that risk to have a better chance of living without cancer.

I found a lot of good information in traditional Chinese medicine that included dietary changes that helped fight cancer. Those would be easy to do, so I adopted them first. Then, I spoke with a naturopath at my cancer treatment center. He helped me discover the value of vitamin and mineral supplements proven to fight cancer. I asked for his recommendation on reputable companies, and he gladly pointed me in the right direction. I was surprised, as we neared the end of our conversation, when he also recommended CBD. He’d done a lot of research in that area and though I knew medical marijuana was an option for people with stage 4 cancer, I didn’t know much more about cannabidiol. The naturopath explained medical marijuana was slightly different from the CBD products he was recommending. The ones he recommended, CBD, CBG and CBN contained traces of THC whereas medical marijuana contained higher doses and often provided users with a different experience, especially in pain management. These options, he explained, were part of integrative cancer care, a new and controversial way of treating patients with cancer.

After 10 years of following my own treatment plan, which included many of the things I’d read from books and absorbed from talks with the naturopath, I’m finding I’m not the lone ranger. Many women are making the choice to add secondary treatment options to their health care plan. Their choices are normally in addition to standard treatments but some women, like me, opt for traveling down the alternative health care road.

Most recently, famous model Elle MacPherson, shared on an interview that she’d disregarded her doctor’s advice after a cancer diagnosis. She’d made the choice, after learning all the negative aspects of chemotherapy treatment, to opt for integrative medicine and was happy for it. 

I had the love and support of family members when I chose my own treatment plan which included dietary changes, supplements, the use of CBD products, chiropractic care and various other forms of nontraditional care. Macpherson shared in her book, she did not. Her family was concerned about her choice and didn’t understand why she wasn’t going to go the conventional route.

As more and more well-known women, like actress Elle Macpherson, choose to speak out about alternative breast cancer treatment, regular folks like you and I take stock in what they’re sharing and get that little boost of confidence that says, “It’s okay to buck the system and choose your own road to recovery.”

One thing to remember though is that everyone must weigh their own situation. Not all breast cancer cases are alike. Always consult your doctor before making any decision regarding your health. I’ve found most doctors are willing to listen to the concerns of their patients. They may not always agree with them, but they’ll usually listen.

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