Dear True,
Avoiding breast cancer may seem like being at the mercy of shell game hucksters. Sadly, it is Just life. The more we find out about this disease, the more baffling it can seem. But really, lots of new meds and advances are lowering the death rates after breast cancer diagnoses and raising the odds for survival.
In my case, for example, I received and am still receiving Herceptin infusions because I was "lucky" enough to have the HER2 receptive cancer cells in my breast tumor. The downside, those types do grow fast. The upside, Herceptin doubles the odds of survival. Herceptin has even been shown to be effective against non-HER2 receptive cancers. My oncologist calls it one of the handfuls of "miracles" he has seen in his decades of practice. And if that didn't make my day, there now is another drug that will zap the HER2 receptor cells should Herceptin not do a 100% job.
That is my story. For every type of breast cancer, there is another.
All differ slightly, but all have similarities. For one, there are things anyone can do to improve their chances - things that cost nothing but time. Last month I took a two-day workshop in the Chinese activity called Qigong (pronounced Chee Gong) at the Cancer Center at the Duluth Clinic. This activity may do as much as Herceptin in keeping cancer at bay. It is easy and makes me feel calm and yet energetic. Check it out by Googling Qigong cancer clinics.
I have the DVD and would like to form a weekly group in the county if anyone is interested. (free of course!)
As for True's frustration over MRIs not being routinely done to screen for breast cancer, I just don't have an opinion as to whether or not they should be done, even if free. For it is a fact that this disease can and will occur even if you throw every diagnostic device and method known to man and dog at it. Vigilance - meaning breast exams monthly and baseline mammograms, plus insistence on an ultrasound should one suspect a doctor's assessment of a lump - is the best defense against breast cancer. Still, you might get it.
If you do, stick with the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins web sites, do what your doc tells you, be yourself (and that does NOT mean being little miss sunshine) and be amazed at how quickly you will heal and be done with the treatments. I was and am.
And I even got naturally curly hair out of the deal!
Love to all transcender-survivors
Vicki Biggs-Anderson
Grand Marais
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