Five Years and Counting: A Breast Cancer Diagnosis in 2001

The five year anniversary for a cancer patient is an important one. It means that if you have no evidence of it having spread to other parts of your body, you are deemed a ‘cure’. For me, this anniversary may be more extraordinary than the average because I chose to say no to the drugs and no to the radiotherapy prescribed for my diagnosis of hormone positive invasive breast cancer. This choice was against my doctors’ advice and with breast cancer being the most common cause of cancer death in women it may have seemed like a rash decision.

I was 38 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer (only 3% of breast lumps in women under 40 are cancerous) and was zero on all the recognised risk factors. The biggest shock was having my own mortality shoved so rudely under my nose at such a young age. The hardest, and first, thing I did following diagnosis, was to key the words ‘breast cancer’ into Google. Little did I realise at the time that it was to be the start of a completely unexpected journey.

The cancer process, following diagnosis tends to be very quick: surgery, drugs and radiotherapy being the mainstay of the conventional approach. Most people who have been through cancer are filled with fear as they embark on the medical treadmill and its bustle of distant professionalism and science, which provides a mixture of comfort and yet more fear. My main concern initially was that my medical treatment could be constrained by political and economic policies, so that I got what was the most politically cost-effective option for my treatment rather than what was actually best for me. This provoked a worldwide search to ascertain protocols in other western world countries.

It proved to be an eye-opening exercise as different countries have varying approaches. Soon the world-renowned MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Texas was beckoning with its state-of-the-art facilities, top doctors and world status. When you’ve got cancer how do you put a value or budget on the hope of life-saving treatment? Many people in the US sell their homes and possessions to pay for cancer treatment. Are we spoilt in the UK with our state-funded health systems? Does this system encourage us to be lazy or to stay in denial about what is happening to us? After all, often the simplest thing to do is to accept what you are told by the first doctor you see. And, who can blame anyone facing a diagnosis of cancer it’s got to be one of the most frightening experiences that anyone can go through. I don’t know the answers to these questions but this line of thought prompted me to stand even further back from my own health crisis.

It was at this point when I started to question the different approaches, evaluate the clinical studies and review the outcomes in terms of assault on the body, mind and soul. This is when the penny dropped for me! It boiled down to a simple question that I had to ask myself. Did I want what was effectively a toxic treatment that focused on ‘killing’ a disease and my role in this to be totally passive. Or; did I want a non-toxic approach that was focused on health and well-being and in which I would be totally involved and active. To me, it suddenly became a ‘no brainer’.

A mind, body and soul approach was researched and I went by what felt right for me.

• A nutritional therapy devised by the highly respected European biochemist, Dr Lawrence Plaskett. It’s a therapy based on Gerson Therapy, which was devised by Dr Max Gerson in the 1950s. The Plaskett Therapy included a very restrictive organic juice and food diet, 120 supplements a day, 4 coffee enemas a day and 4 self-administered injections a week and harder work than looking after a small baby!

• Meditation and learning the art of Reiki were part of the mental, emotional and spiritual approach. Reiki is not religious, it is known as a system of natural healing and I also researched and learnt how it is a system of personal development to the degree that I became a successful Reiki Master Teacher.

• Yoga – Bikram’s hot yoga was the order of the day. Thrice weekly sessions in a studio heated to 100 degrees F. Yoga has huge benefits across mind, body and soul and the hot yoga is also a good detox.

• Chiropractic and hypnotherapy also featured.

These therapies and lifestyle choices were based on the foundations of hormone balancing following my research of the work of Dr John Lee and Dr David Zava (world-renowned biochemist specialising in breast cancer) on oestrogen dominance. Progesterone supplementation and salivary testing of hormones was the most accurate way to achieve hormone harmony and the best way of providing me with the confidence that I was also getting to the heart of the matter. It is a practise I still have today and will continue for the general health benefits.

Five years down the line I still practice meditation, Reiki and yoga as these are important aspects of my approach to total well-being. (The research and evidence also speak for themselves.) As for the hormone balancing, that has turned into a career, using my vast health knowledge and academic background as a Hormone Health Specialist working with people all over the UK and Europe. I write regularly for a number of national publications, am the Hormone Health Expert for the Complementary Medical Association (the world’s largest professional body for qualified CAM practitioners) and Today’s Therapist, as well as speaking at national and local events.

From a personal perspective: I have changed enormously over the last five years and can truly thank cancer for visiting me. It may seem like a strange thing to say but it was a real ‘wake up call’ for me. It set me off on a journey of self-discovery and self-responsibility that has allowed me to meet some amazing people going through similar experiences as well as make some true friends. I count my blessings.

What many of us don’t realise is that a diagnosis of cancer, or indeed any other chronic illness, can turn us into a ‘victim’. The medical approach to treatment is shrouded in complex science and jargon that often disempowers us further with our health. We are often told to leave it to the professionals – I know I was. When we go through with this medical treatment, it depletes our energy and puts us through horrendous side effects that are justified by the fear of death that cancer creates.

With one in nine women now succumbing to breast cancer at some point in their life I believe that you can never start too early with taking care of your health. But, in spite of choosing the natural approach, I do not believe in pressing my opinion on others going through cancer. I believe that everyone should be free to make their own decisions as long as they are informed. What matters is that the person feels a part of the process and has some power over what happens to them. The spirit, or sense of self, plays an important role in a person’s survival of anything, especially cancer. The cancer journey can be a journey of self-discovery as we actually give ourselves the time and permission to find out, not only who we really are, but what we are really looking for out of life. It doesn’t matter what that is, what matters is that you follow your heart and share the immense creativity that we all have inside us.

As a proponent of mind-body medicine I will share some new research explaining why the ‘heart’ of a person is so important:

Neurocardiology (brain/heart medicine) has firmly established that the heart is a sensory organ and that it actually influences higher brain centres involved in perception and emotional processing. This means that your heart can influence your whole outlook on life and how you feel about it!

There is also a vital lesson to be learnt from the definitions of two verbs that are woven into the fabric of cancer treatment: to cure and to heal. Curing is done to you, it’s passive and may involve a doctor, for example, surgery. Healing comes from within and is a process that involves the mind and heart. If you can galvanise the mind and heart to honestly assess what might be wrong in your life, on whatever level, you are putting yourself on the road to true physical recovery.

You can find out more at www.bio-vitality.com.

Alyssa Burns-Hill, MSc, FRSH, MIHPE (PhD pending) is the resident Hormone Health Specialist at Bio Vitality, a leading UK hormone health company based in Guernsey. They work with people all over the UK and Europe on issues of PMS, menopause, fertility, weight management, andropause, etc with close associations with doctors, pharmacists as well as complementary practitioners.