It's most definitely a very personal decision, but if I had a choice of trying a natural alternative that could improve my quality of life versus standard of care that weakens our immune system and keeps us medicated, there is no doubt in my mind I would be all over natural alternatives (and am). Chemo, radiation and medications under standard of care undermine our immune system The natural alternatives work alongside our immune system and help it thrive. I wouldn't even bother getting my doctor's opinion because they're not taught in medical school to focus on diet and healthy eating which I find infuriating. Cancer is a trillion dollar industry and there is no doubt in my mind they have a cure. It will never come out because they would lose out on a lot of money. Don't ever be fooled into thinking doctors are out for our best interests

I should have added I went thru this all 18 years ago and did the 5 years of estrogen blocker. I was miserable every day. I only agreed to it this time cause they told me because I am 70 now it would be different. I have been on 3 different blockers and they all make me feel the same. It's not the kind it's that they all block estrogen which my body is very sensitive to. I am not anti medicine ,I had a5 hour surgery to remove my implants and some cancer in my chest muscles. Then I had 30 radiation treatments.

@A MyBCTeam Member, I supposed we all have our opinions and what we will allow to be done to our bodies. Many of us think our cancers are over treated. Some of us do whatever the doctor wants with no questions asked. I am personally against mastectomy because if radiation is meant to kill any cells that got away then it should be able to kill cells that might have gotten away from just a lumpectomy. I think women act too quickly when they ok Breast removal.

And radiation, some women get 30-40 treatments. I am 100% against that.
I would agree to half, if even that.

And how many times have we read women who have had mastectomies have recurrences? None of this is guaranteed. It's hard for me to put myself in another position like stage 2. Wondering what I would allow at that point.
We can all remember when we were first diagnosed, finding this site and we knew nothing.
For years, a friend and me talked about the 'what ifs' if we got cancer. I always said my age would come into the decision, but I also said I would never approve of chemo. I haven't changed on that.

Women need to take charge, control the reins and not let a doctor have that control.

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A MyBCTea...

I agree with Liz. While WebMD has a lot of useful info, let’s not forget it focuses and represents the classical Western approach of medicine: kill kill kill.
Treatments (Chemo and radiation) indeed are VERY carcinogenic. If you Googe their names, the first thing that shows up is “known carcinogen “. They don’t cure mets. Some may stabilize those, but at what cost ?? Do you want to extend life while suffering miserably from the treatments (sometimes it kills you actually faster than if you didn’t use them), or do you want some quality of life left and enjoy whatever your time you have? It’s a very personal question of course for everyone.
The key to understanding diet and alternative approaches is that they don’t focus on the “kill” strategy of cancer. If you read a few books, such as The Gift of Cancer, those people (and the majority who cured themselves) testify that they didn’t view cancer as a “foreign “ invader of their bodies. Instead, you can look at cancer as part of your body. When you take “responsibility “ that you created this (not in a punishing way but in an empowering way), you can also believe that you can “uncreate” it. A natural approach focuses on switching those cells back to their healthy state, not killing them, since this was created within your body. That’s the huge difference in philosophy. When you give your power over your body over to doctors and the pharma industry, you make yourself disempowered. And the mindset makes a huge difference in the healing process. Many studies actually have proven this.
And if you have “nothing “ to lose, wouldn’t you instead try a natural approach that restores your body as opposed to one that poisons and weakens your body? Those two routes are at odds with each other, hence the many failings of Western medicine that focuses on killing only (and not restoring) something to think about. There’s a reason why so many people have “spontaneous “ remissions. In reality, there’s not much spontaneous to it - they just healed and restored the natural way and balance of their bodies.

Yes, Barb. I realized I should’ve been more specific about the “treatment “ definition. I’m just against barbaric treatments. And I do believe a lot can be done with diet and exercise. Each person has their own path and listening to intuition is key to choosing what to do, I think.