Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and marin
An Explanation of Breast Cancer Staging
If you have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, you will be anxious to learn in which stage your surgeon considers you to be, because that will more than likely determine the treatment protocol suggested for you. Your pathology report will discuss staging
The term “staging” refers to the extent of the disease and this is based on several factors – the size of the tumor, whether any lymph nodes are involved, whether the tumor is considered to be invasive or non-invasive, and whether the cancer has spread beyond the breast.
I found a great You Tube video explaining this in detail and the animation is interesting and helpful. It seems there is a You Tube video for everything these days!
Breast Cancer Staging
Stage 0 – The cancer cells are non-invasive, such as Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS), and there is no evidence that the cancer cells have spread into neighboring breast tissue or beyond the lobule or duct.
Stage I – This is an early stage of invasive breast cancer, divided into two classifications, IA and IB:
IA – the tumor is up to 2 cm and the cancer has not spread outside the breast and no lymph nodes are involved.
IB – there is no tumor in the breast but there are small groups of cancer cells, larger than 0.2 mm but not larger than 2 mm, found in the lymph nodes; OR there is a tumor in the breast that is no larger than 2 cm, and there are small groups of cancer cells, larger than 0.2 mm but not larger than 2 mm, in the lymph nodes
Stage II – Invasive breast cancer, divided into two classifications, IIA and IIB:
IIA – There are three scenarios in Stage IIA:
- no tumor is found in the breast, but cancer (larger than 2 mm) is found in 1-3 axillary lymph nodes (the lymph nodes under the arm) or in the lymph nodes near the breast bone (found during a sentinel node biopsy); OR
- the tumor measures 2 cm or smaller and has spread to the axillary lymph nodes; OR
- the tumor is larger than 2 cm but not larger than 5 cm and has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
IIB – There are also three scenarios in Stage IIB:
- the tumor is larger than 2 cm but no larger than 5 cm; small groups of breast cancer cells, larger than 0.2 mm but not larger than 2 mm, are found in the lymph nodes; OR
- the tumor is larger than 2 cm but no larger than 5 cm; cancer has spread to 1-3 axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastbone (found during a sentinel node biopsy); OR
- the tumor is larger than 5 cm but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
Stage III – This is considered locally advanced cancer (where large tumors have involved the breast skin, underlying chest structures, changes to the breast’s shape, and lymph node enlargement that is visible or that your doctor can feel during an exam) and is split into 3 classifications, IIIA, IIIB and IIIC:
IIIA – There are three scenarios in Stage IIIA:
- no tumor is found in the breast, or the tumor may be any size; cancer is found in 4-9 axillary lymph nodes or in the lymph nodes near the breastbone (found during imaging tests or a physical exam); OR
- the tumor is larger than 5 cm; small groups of breast cancer cells (larger than 0.2 mm but not larger than 2 mm) are found in the lymph nodes; OR
- the tumor is larger than 5 cm; cancer has spread to 1-3 axillary lymph nodes or to the lymph nodes near the breastbone (found during a sentinel lymph node biopsy)
IIIB – There are two scenarios in Stage IIIB:
- the tumor may be any size and has spread to the chest wall and/or skin of the breast and caused swelling or an ulcer, and may have spread to up to 9 axillary lymph nodes; OR
- may have spread to lymph nodes near the breastbone.
IIIC – There are three scenarios in Stage IIIC:
- there may be no sign of cancer in the breast or, if there is a tumor, it may be any size and may have spread to the chest wall and/or the skin of the breast, and the cancer has spread to 10 or more axillary lymph nodes; OR
- the cancer has spread to lymph nodes above or below the clavicle (collarbone); OR
- the cancer has spread to axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastbone.
Stage IV – The cancer has spread (metastasized) from the breast to other organs and other parts of the body.
Inflammatory breast cancer is generally considered to be Stage IIIB, at least. Symptoms of IBC include:
- reddening of a large portion of the breast skin
- the breast feels warm and may be swollen
- cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes and may be found in the skin.
Information courtesy of breastcancer.org
The most important thing to remember is not to panic, regardless of which stage you are considered to be. YOU CAN COME BACK FROM THIS AND BE PERFECTLY HEALTHY. I have a friend who brought herself back from Stage 4 breast cancer, so I know it can be done. Will it be easy? No. You will need to be extremely proactive and involved with every stage of your healing process. But it can be done.
I send my love to everyone taking this journey right now. If you would like my help with getting through breast cancer in an inspiring and ultra-healthy way, please sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
Brittany Wenger
Diverted this afternoon by an online article about this bright young mind, I decided to introduce you to her. Her name is Brittany Wenger from Lakewood Ranch, Florida. She’s only 17, but she recently won Google’s Science Fair Grand Prize for her breast cancer diagnosis app.
The Breast Cancer Diagnosis App
Brittany wrote a computer program, called a “neural network” which she designed to mimic the human brain. In her words for her summary of the project: “Artificial neural networks detect patterns too complex to be recognized by humans and can be applied to breast mass malignancy classification when evaluating Fine Needle Aspirates (FNAs). This project teaches the cloud how to diagnose breast cancer by implementing a custom-crafted neural network that consumes FNA data collected by the University of Wisconsin to answer the question – is a mass malignant or benign?”.
The problem with the FNA is that it’s often one of the least precise diagnosis tools. It’s quite easy for the needle to miss the mass or tumor and thus the cancer cells the technician is trying to detect. Often, if FNA results are not clear, the patient has to undergo a second biopsy with a larger needle or even much more invasive surgery. Brittany’s plan was to boost the less-invasive test’s success rates.
If Brittany’s information about her app is correct, her program will be able to quickly and correctly identify 99% of malignant tumors and improve breast cancer diagnosis results. That’s pretty darned exciting.
You can read her project summary here (and make sure you see the video on the “Step 1″ page. Brilliant.
What is an Artificial Neural Network?
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are programs built to model the brain’s neural syntax structure. They have the ability to learn, to understand the meaning of complicated data, and can be used to detect patterns too complex for a human or another computer program to notice.
Young people like Brittany give me hope for the future.
If you would like my help with getting through breast cancer in an inspiring and ultra-healthy way, please sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com). It is my honor to help you through this.
Photo courtesy of pat138241, stock.xchng
How To Tell Your Child You Have Breast Cancer
A few of my newly diagnosed readers have intimated to me that they need help with how to tell their children they have breast cancer, so I’ve done a bunch of research and my heart goes out to everyone concerned.
To Tell Or Not To Tell…
Experts recommend that the sooner you tell your children that you have breast cancer, the better. Mothers may not want to distract their children from their daily activities or make them worry, but they deserve to be told.
Children are very perceptive and know that you are not feeling well, so not talking about your breast cancer may bring on anxiety and fear for them. Telling them shows your children that you have confidence in their ability to cope and decreases their feelings of being useless during your breast cancer treatment.
Also, by not telling them, you risk that someone else might tell them and in so doing, might not have the sensitivity of telling them all they should know in a kind and loving way.
Age Is A Factor
Age is an important factor when deciding what to tell a child about a breast cancer diagnosis. The articles I read all agreed that the child should be told the truth in such a way that they are able to understand and prepare themselves for the changes that will happen in the family. All kids thrive on routine – it helps them to feel safe. When life becomes unpredictable, they will need help adjusting to the changes.
All children need the following basic information:
- The name of the cancer that you have
- The part of the body where the cancer is
- The treatment you will receive
- How their own lives will be affected
Telling Younger Children – Up to 8 Years
Young children won’t need a lot of detailed information but they do need to understand the family’s concerns and be told the above 4 things. Younger children can also be told that the body is made up of lots of different parts and that when someone has cancer, it means that something has gone wrong with one of these parts and it has stopped doing what it’s supposed to do, that part of the body is no longer normal.
They are able to understand that a bunch of bad cells started to grow and that’s called a tumor and that the tumor (or the bad cells) should not be there. Cancer can spread and grow into other parts of a person’s body, so the person needs treatment to either take out the tumor or stop the bad cells from spreading to other places. Some children may not have any questions at first, but invite them to ask you later if they think of any.
Telling Older Children & Teens
Older children (8-12 yrs) and teens will need to know more. Teens, who are busy testing their independence and pushing their limits, will have a very different set of concerns from a 5-year-old who needs parents for basic care giving.
Older children may be able to understand a more complex discussion of cancer – they may want to see pictures of cancer cells or read about cancer treatment. Again, encourage them to ask questions and answer the best way you can. If they ask something you can’t answer, promise to get them the information they requested. They will appreciate this.
11 Tips For Telling Your Child You Have Breast Cancer
- Set up a quiet time when you won’t be disturbed. If you have more than one child, you may want to talk to each child alone so that information can be tailored to each child’s age and understanding. Be aware that each child will respond differently – by telling them separately, you can pay close attention to how each child responds. Each child may also be more willing to ask questions when away from the other children and possible distractions.
- You may also want to include another family member that your child is close to, for support.
- Turn off phone, put the pets outside, and don’t answer the door while you are having this talk. If you stop to answer the phone, turn off the stove, or let the dog out when your child is opening up to you, the child may find it more difficult to try again.
- Plan ahead of time what you want to say and how to answer questions on a level that each child is able to understand. It’s good if you can lay the groundwork for an open line of communication with the child, a way for the child to come to you with their concerns, needs, and fears. If you can start this and keep it going by regularly checking in with each child during and after your cancer treatments, it can be a great comfort to them and help them to feel you aren’t hiding anything.
- Make sure to stress that you will be getting good care and treatment and that new and better cancer treatments are being discovered every day.
- Help your children know what to expect during your breast cancer treatments so they will not be surprised about your lack of energy or your hair loss if you are having chemotherapy. You don’t have to tell them everything at once. You can give the information in small doses so that they will not be overwhelmed.
- Make sure your kids understand that cancer and chemotherapy treatments are NOT permanent conditions! There will come a day when you will be done with your treatments and that you and your doctors will do everything possible to help you regain your health.
- Because children tend to feel that they are the center of the world, they might feel that something they did or didn’t do might have caused your cancer. Studies show that most children believe this at some point during the cancer experience. It’s a good idea to reassure them by saying something like, “The doctors have told us that no one can cause someone else to get cancer — it’s nothing that any of us made happen.” It’s better not to wait to see if children bring this up because they could be feeling guilty without saying so.
- Make sure your kids know that cancer is not contagious and they cannot catch it. They also need to know that not everyone dies from it. It’s a good idea to correct these ideas before the child has a chance to worry.
- Let your children express their fears, confusion, anger or tears. Comfort them and let them know that you care, and allow them to express their feelings so that they will be able to move through this journey with you.
- Try to keep a positive outlook. However, there will be days when you might not cope so well. You could explain to your kids that you might have difficult days with pain from surgery or medication, but tell them those are the days when you will need them to be extra helpful.
A Beautiful Book – Butterfly Kisses and Wishes On Wings
There is one more wonderful resource available in the form of a beautiful book titled “Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings” by Ellen McVicker and Nanci Hersh. It uses clear, candid text, the illustrations are yummy, and it is a touching resource that can be used to educate and support children who are facing the cancer of a loved one. The book is available in both English and Spanish and you can purchase it by clicking on the link. There is a lot of information on the website, I highly recommend you pay it a visit.
Sources of information:
American Cancer Society
About.com
Parents Magazine
I send my love to everyone taking this journey right now. If you would like my help with getting through breast cancer in an inspiring and ultra-healthy way, please sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
The Paralysis of Analysis
When you are first diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, it is easy to be overwhelmed by all of the decisions you have to make.
Sometimes you might make the conscious decision NOT to make any more decisions until you have more information, or until you’ve talked to that friend who has been through it. Sometimes you feel absolutely frozen in fear and can’t make any decisions at all, what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King termed “the paralysis of analysis”. Good turn of phrase!
Getting past that immobilization can sometimes be difficult. I would encourage you to do just that, however, because there is nothing worse than paralysis in the face of a threat. You must have a plan for dealing with the threat. You will notice, in the coming weeks and months, that as you face the fact of your diagnosis you begin to observe that life goes on, even with this threat hanging over you.
I have some recommendations on getting through the decision making time.
4 Ways to Help You Move Beyond the Paralysis
- If a lack of information or understanding about the path you need to take is holding you back, talk to your doctor. Talk to me. Discuss it with that friend who has been through breast cancer. Do some searches on the Internet, or have a friend do the searches for you. Don’t let lack of information hold you back – we live in the age of technology when information is in abundance.
- If fear is holding you back, talk to a therapist. Discussing your plight with a neutral party can often be extraordinarily helpful.
- If anxiety is keeping you from making the necessary decisions, and if you don’t know how to meditate, learn. There is nothing more calming, more grounding, and more helpful than meditation to calm anxiety. It will also help you with your treatments for the disease. Meditation will help you focus on the problem at hand and help you make your decision for the right reasons and when you are calm and thoughtful.
- Seek solitude. A long walk along the beach or a river often helps because the atmosphere surrounding places with water is full of negative ions, which help you feel better. It can help to clear your mind and put things in perspective.
Psychology Today offers us this tasty little bit of advice: “You can practice confident decision-making by remembering a simple dictum over and over: You cannot have certainty and you don’t need it. By accepting that no certainty exists and that you don’t need it, you’ll instead harness intuition and, by extension, confidence.”
Decisions are an inevitable part of being human. It requires the right attitude. Every problem, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity.
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
When a person is newly diagnosed with breast cancer, the last thing on our minds is whether or not we will have the right oncologist – someone who cares about us and understands what we’re going through.
Yet it is probably one of the most important things about your journey through breast cancer because this person is part of your healing team.
What exactly is an oncologist?
Breaking the word down, “onc” means bulk, mass, or tumor, and the suffix ”-logy”, means “study of”. A medical professional who studies cancer and practices oncology is an ”oncologist”.
I know so many women who have been complaining about their oncologist lately. There are good ones and bad ones, just as with any profession. As long as you are paying attention and observant, you’ll easily be able to pick whether you have one or the other.
Honestly, this is so important. If you don’t feel like your oncologist is giving you what you need, you have every right to “fire” them and find another. Remember – they work for YOU, not the other way around.
Here’s what to look for
Are they honest and open, easy to speak with? Do they look at you and meet your gaze?
Do they answer your questions using technical jargon you don’t understand? If so, you must tell them you don’t understand. Do they then take the time to rephrase the terminology so that you do understand?
Do they discuss your lab results with you and make sure you understand them?
Do they present you with options for treatment and explain each one carefully until you understand?
Do they keep their appointments with you? (keeping in mind that sometimes they will get delayed)
Do they return your phone calls within 24 hours?
Are their office staff pleasant to deal with and happy?
Are they open to allowing you to do some things your way?
If you have to answer “no” to any of those questions, it might be time to find yourself another oncologist.
By the way, I asked that last question because some oncologists seem to think they are deities. Their word is sacrosanct. They get mad when you take vitamins or try acupuncture to alleviate some of your side effects from cancer treatments. I would respectfully suggest that you don’t want someone like that.
You have the final say here. Having a good rapport with your oncologist is really important because they are part of your healing team. You must be comfortable with them and know that they are doing their absolute best for you. If you don’t feel that way, you have every right to find yourself another doctor!
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
The Oncotype DX Test – Best Candidates
Most in the medical field would agree: early detection of breast cancer saves lives. But how do doctors really know which treatments will be best to prevent the return of your cancer?
The Oncotype DX is a diagnostic test that helps your oncologist determine which treatment plan will most effectively prevent your cancer from returning (recurrence) or help to control your disease.
In order to be considered for this test, patients must have a diagnosis of estrogen-receptor positive (ER+), or estrogen-fueled breast cancer, be Stage 1 or Stage 2 and have no lymph nodes with cancerous cells, information that isn’t available until your lump has been biopsied.
When I went through breast cancer in 2004, I wasn’t offered the Oncotype DX test, perhaps because I was PR+, not ER+. Or perhaps it wasn’t available then, I haven’t had any luck finding out when the testing first became available.
What is the Oncotype DX?
The Oncotype DX test examines samples of tissue from your tumor and rates it for a specific set of genes that can influence the likelihood of recurrence within 10 years after your original diagnosis. The result of the test is reported as a number between 0 and 100, known as the Recurrence Score® result.
The Recurrence Score
All of these test results make it easier for your oncologist to provide you with a diagnosis, but the genetic information (along with all of the other diagnostics) gives a clearer picture of whether or not your particular tumor will respond to chemotherapy to prevent any recurrence.
Your recurrence score will be based on the genetic expression of 21 genes, 16 of which are cancer-related, and 5 of which are reference genes. The genes are grouped by function: proliferation, invasion, hormone receptors (estrogen and progesterone), and growth factors. Each person’s test results will be unique, but will fall into one of three categories – low risk, intermediate risk, and high risk.
Those who have a low risk of recurrence may not need any chemotherapy and may be able to take hormone therapy as follow-up treatment after surgery. Those in the intermediate to high-risk categories may need chemotherapy as well as hormone therapy to further reduce a risk of recurrence. There are many other factors such as age, tumor grade, hormone receptor status, etc. that will be considered by your oncologist before a treatment plan will be put together, but research has shown that results from the Oncotype DX test are a very strong predictor for recurrence.
The Controversial Part
Medicare and several private health insurance companies will help cover the cost of an Oncotype DX test. Check with your insurance provider to find out if you are covered for this test. The current list price for the Oncotype DX is $4175.00 and it’s done by one company, Genomic Health.
This upsets me (and a whole host of others, let me tell you!). There is no way that test should be so expensive. It’s like holding us hostage – pay up or you aren’t going to know exactly which therapies you should be given. It’s absolutely disgusting. I invite your comments below.
References:
http://breastcancer.about.com/od/diagnosis/p/oncotypedx.htm
http://www.oncotypedx.com/en-US/Breast/PatientsCaregiversInvasive/OncotypeDX/Overview
http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/OncotypeDX.html
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey… and beyond.
The Best Chance to Heal Yourself
I’m seeing a trend with breast cancer patients that worries me a bit. To put it bluntly, I think that it’s misguided to put your entire healing process totally in the hands of your medical team. That gives them all the power and none for yourself and that does NOT give you the best chance to heal yourself.
Your medical team, no matter how highly esteemed or how accomplished, function largely in the role of body mechanics. They are trained in terms of body. They can operate on you, they can prescribe a treatment strategy, but they are not responsible for your life or your health!
You are.
Nobody can get well for you. You have to do it for yourself.
I think it’s wonderful to select a medical team in whom you have a great degree of confidence. That’s important to do.
But once they are in place, your attention must also focus on the role of mind and spirit in this journey with cancer.
You are a totality of body, mind and soul – to ignore the other aspects and focus only on the body I believe is a mistake.
What Helped Me
I sought out a psychotherapist to help me with stress levels, I went to a person who taught me something called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to deal with my negative thoughts about cancer, my husband and I did some relationship counseling, we learned to meditate from a group of Buddhist monks — I did all this to give my body and my mind and my spirit a chance to heal. These things might not work for you, but I would encourage you to find the things that DO work for you.
Honestly, I felt so good after taking care of all the emotional baggage – so much lighter and like I wanted to take on the world. For me, that’s when true healing began to take place.
So empower yourself. Do what you need to do to get beyond this – and be the beautiful spirit I know you can be. You deserve it and the world needs your healing. Now, more than ever.
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey.
14 Loving Ways to Support a Spouse With Cancer
Whether the diagnosis has come for a man or a woman, if your spouse has been diagnosed with cancer, you can feel like your whole world has turned upside down.
What you never expected or never even wanted to happen has just become a reality and it can be a big shock. There are, however, many things that you can do to make the process easier for both of you.
- Move through that initial shock together. Hold each other – hugs are so healing and both of you will be needing them. Cry if you need to. The most important thing you can give your spouse right now is your love, to let them know that no matter what happens, you’ll get through it together. If that initial stage of shock takes several weeks, try not to fight it. Honor where you are and how you’re feeling. It takes however long it takes. But know that your spouse needs an emotional anchor, and you’re it, whether you like it or not.
- Be there and be strong. Your spouse needs you now more than ever. Just realize that they might not be so much fun to be with all the time. Please don’t give into the temptation to hide from the situation by getting busier with work, hobbies, or other things that keep you away from them. You’re going to encounter some tough times – supporting someone who’s going through chemotherapy is not easy. But they’ll remember what you did for them later.
- At work. Look into your options for taking time off in case you need to care for your spouse. There may be different options depending on your place of employment as well as your state or local laws. Your human resources department should be able to point you in the right direction. Tell your supervisor in advance that you may need to take a leave of absence.
- Be sure to look after yourself too. Right at first you’ll be fine, but at some point, you’re probably going to feel like hell. Go get a massage, hang out with a friend for an hour – do whatever you need to do to keep yourself strong. Carergiver Syndrome is a very real thing and you don’t want it!
- Listen to your spouse. This may be the most important thing you can do for them right now. You know your spouse better than anyone else, and you trust each other. Listen to their fears, worries and concerns with love. Understand that neither of you may have the right words to talk about these things – you may have some awkward moments, and you may have to agree with each other that any words (even if they are not the “right” ones) are better than no words.
- Go with your spouse to appointments as often as you can. Be an advocate. Though your spouse may be a strong person, a person with cancer is often in no shape to battle hospital bureaucracies, thoughtless medical personnel, or anyone else. Make it your job to take their side and ask questions until you get answers. Even the best medical care personnel get too busy or distracted, so if/when that happens, you need to make sure your spouse gets the care they need. Also two sets of listening ears are always better than one.
- Help organize medical appointments and paperwork. Do your best to keep track of doctor’s appointments, prescriptions, hospital bills, test reports, and the hundreds of other pieces of paper that is engendered by cancer treatment. Someone with “chemo brain” will definitely be relieved not to have to keep track of them.
- Communicate with family and friends. They will want to know what’s happening, even though some of them may react strangely and not at all as you expected. Don’t judge them, some people just can’t handle sickness. Since this whole process can take awhile, consider setting up a blog, an email list, a Facebook page, or some other communication network to keep friends and family informed of your spouse’s progress without having to share news repeatedly with each individual.
- Know you are not alone – most will want to help. This isn’t always the case but if you let people know that you need some help, they are usually only too willing to jump in and help however they can. Choose people you know you can trust. Try to give people something they can do even if it is something simple like bringing food to share when they come to visit or mowing the lawn or chopping up vegetables for the juicer.
- Be patient during chemotherapy. Everyone knows that chemotherapy can cause nausea, but it can also cause food to taste strange – it may taste metallic or bitter. Gently encourage your spouse to eat whatever he/she can. Ask what tastes good and find a way to cook it or get it. Don’t be troubled if your spouse’s preferences change overnight and know that this won’t last forever!
- Keep yourself well. Wash your hands regularly and carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer for use when you’re out and about. While your spouse is going through chemotherapy their immune system will be low and you’ll need to exercise extra care. Avoid people who have an illness.
- Try to carry on as normal. There is something comforting about routine, even in the midst of cancer. Cancer doesn’t mean the world has to grind to a halt. If you and your spouse have normal routines and things you enjoy doing, try to keep them up as much as possible. But always be sensitive to fatigue, emotional stress, or other reasons for not doing things you normally do, and give into the needs of your spouse when you need to.
- Don’t leave. Regardless of the state of your relationship, this is the absolutely worst thing you can do to your spouse at this vulnerable time. A person can get over cancer, but they will never get over the deep and lasting emotional injury you will inflict if you abandon them now. And neither will you. Don’t do it. Stay, even if you’re not that happy with the situation. Once your spouse is well again, then you can make that heavy decision.
- Reconnect with your spiritual beliefs. Whether you believe in prayer or meditation, your spiritual beliefs are going to help you get through this. You and your spouse will need a lot of resources to win this battle, more than you can get together on your own. Don’t neglect your spirituality in this fight. It can connect you with the source of your greatest strength.
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey.
Fighting Breast Cancer with Vitamin D
Responding to research showing that vitamin D may slow the progression of breast, colon and other common cancers, some doctors have begun recommending their patients add vitamin D to their “tool kit” of cancer therapies alongside more conventional treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin. When the sun shines on the skin, the ultraviolet rays activate a form of cholesterol which is present in the skin, converting it to vitamin D1. Because the body can provide sufficient vitamin D to meet its needs simply through exposure to sunlight, some feel it is not really a vitamin, but rather a hormone.
What must be taken into account, however, is the fact that the amount of vitamin D converted through sunlight exposure varies according to the time of year, latitude and longitude where you live, the color of your skin, and whether or not you wear a sunscreen whenever you go out. So not everyone gets the same amount of vitamin D.
Recent studies have indicated that women in North America and northern European countries exhibit the highest incidence rate of breast cancer, whereas women in southern regions are relatively protected.
While not all doctors are convinced that the studies are strong enough evidence to warrant taking an extra dollop of vitamin D, those recommending it say popping the pills is a simple health strategy that has few, if any, risks and has the added benefit of also improving bone health in those with cancer.
Doctors Discuss the Data on Vitamin D
“There is emerging data on breast cancer recurrence rates and vitamin D levels that are quite compelling,” says Tracey O’Connor, an oncologist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo who treats breast cancer and is having her patients take the vitamin.
Dr O’Connor recommends high doses of the supplement to the most deficient patients immediately after they are diagnosed to quickly raise blood levels of the nutrient.
Dr. O’Connor says that having a low level of vitamin D “is quite common” among women with breast cancer, and most patients – about 80% – are either deficient or have insufficient amounts.
Dr. O’Connor says some breast-cancer patients have such low stores of the nutrient that they need to embark on a crash course of taking up to 50,000 iu a week for several months to bring up their levels. Other patients whose starting levels aren’t so poor take a few thousand iu per day. She also monitors blood levels to make sure people don’t get too much.
International units are the standard measurement of how much vitamin D is contained in supplements or foods. Multivitamins typically have either 400 or 800 iu, and a cup of fortified milk has 100 iu.
Longer Survival Times
In recent years, vitamin D has emerged as one of the most intriguing areas of cancer research. There have been numerous epidemiological studies finding that people with less vitamin D in their blood are at a higher risk of developing cancer compared with those who have higher levels. 18 different cancers have been identified for which this trend has been observed and includes colon and breast cancer.
Other research has found that people diagnosed with cancer in summer and fall – when blood levels of vitamin D are at seasonal highs because of sun exposure – have longer survival times than people whose cancers are detected in winter and spring.
I’m not advocating using ONLY vitamin D to fight breast cancer. I truly believe, however, that it is beneficial to add to your arsenal of weapons against breast cancer. If you’re newly diagnosed with breast cancer, generally wear sunscreen or don’t spend much time in the sun, and don’t drink milk, it might be a very good idea to go and get your vitamin D levels checked and start supplementing if your levels are low. Watch this compelling video by Dr Joseph Mercola on vitamin D testing and supplementation.
References:
http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/02/12/qjmed.hcs014.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22694289
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/04/03/vitamin-d-grant.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22234628
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/ID/1377954245/
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I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but it seems like a lot of the breast cancer patients I’ve spoken to lately are really struggling with a very simple concept, that of loving themselves.
Anthony Powell once said “Self-love seems so often unrequited.” For many, a lack of self-love has left a hole inside their spirit and how can one heal with that going on?
I think that love is the most significant thing in human life. Why is it so hard for us to love ourselves?
Often, I believe it goes back to those messages received from parents during very young, formative years. We might have heard “I wasn’t planning to have another child when you came along”, or “Why can’t you be more like your sister?” Such statements can be so damaging and can set our unconscious minds to thinking we are not worthy of love.
God’s Reset Button
For me, having cancer was simply a matter of my inner healer saying “Pay attention! You’ve been stressing about everything lately. I’m going to make you hurt a little right now so you will wake up and get back on your path.”
Dr Bernie Siegel calls pain and suffering “God’s re-set button”. I like that. Going through a life-threatening disease like cancer is sometimes the only way we will make the necessary changes.
Getting Some Help
There are some self-love exercises that various mind-body medicine teachers suggest, for instance, stand in front of a mirror every morning and look yourself in the eyes and say “I love you” and mean it. Sounds like a good place to start.
You can also join a support group focused on self-love and healing.
From what I’ve learned about the mind and body, though, we need to delve deeper to change those long-standing beliefs because our subconscious mind is controlling the show. You can consciously decide to start loving yourself but if your subconscious mind believes you are not worthy of love or that you are useless, no amount of positive affirmations is going to change that deep seated belief.
One good therapeutic method is hypnosis,which is when a hypnotherapist induces a trance state in a patient whereby relaxation and heightened imagination or visualization can help bring about some real changes in beliefs. There are some very helpful YouTube videos (I like Steve G Jones and a site called hypnosistoday.com).
Another method is neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) which is a method of retraining the brain – it’s difficult to describe it more fully than that. If I had to choose between hypnosis and NLP, I believe I’d choose hypnosis, it has more research behind it and is generally employed by board certified psychiatrists.
Why Loving Yourself is Important
Vast quantities of research has been done on healing and why people don’t heal like they should and what researchers have found is that if people can be brought to love themselves, they heal not only psychologically but also physically. Love comes from our deepest essence, when we feel love it becomes a whole body experience and true healing can take place.
According to www.hypnosistoday.com, “Self-love is the great healer. It purifies and fortifies your body, mind, and spirit. It makes you stronger and softer. Self-love is magnetic: when you love yourself, you draw other self-loving people into your life.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
If you’d like to stay connected, sign up for my free e-newsletters on the right, or “like” me on Facebook (MarnieClark.com) and I’ll do my utmost to keep you informed and empowered on your healing journey.
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