Quote:
Originally Posted by easygoingfemme
Hey Dapper,
Your memory is mostly correct- well done! I've worked for years as a holistic health counselor/nutrition educator. I went vegetarian at the age 12 (I'm 42 years old now) and have spent a lot of my life as vegan. However, as a recovered anorexic I live a life where I eat what I want when I want it and sometimes that means I eat chicken, turkey or fish. I don't really like sweets/sugary things so that cancer feeding food has never really had a frequent place in my diet.
I was diagnosed in May 2015, surgery June 2015, then 4 months chemo and 6 weeks radiation. My initial diagnosis was stage I so I thought surgery was going to be it but it turned out stage II so I went further with treatment. I also did an alternative chemo on weeks when I didn't have traditional chemo- with my naturopath. We did Vitamin C chemotherapy and acupuncture treatments throughout my "other" cancer treatments. Since my cancer was 95% estrogen positive (fed by estrogen) I take a drug that works to essentially prevent any other cancer cells that could develop in my body from absorbing estrogen. I'll be on that for another 9 years.
(I also want to say that my diagnosis stemmed from self exam at home, 6 months after I had a "clean and clear" mammo and ultrasound. So all of you here with breasts, please check them monthly! If I wasn't checking mine this could have been much worse)
I have most always kept a very clean healthy life. Eating well, exercising, keeping to a healthy weight for my body (Since I was about 20), not using toxic body products or chemicals in my house (not obsessively but living a mostly natural life) I followed all of the protocol for "preventing breast cancer" due to extensive family history of it.
So, it was a very traumatic feeling, betrayal, to after all of that, be diagnosed with cancer. Even though I knew my genetics would make me at a higher risk than most, I thought I was doing everything I should do to prevent it.
I went to a naturopathic oncologist for answers. She took about a gallon of my blood to check for reasons, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation markers, etc. When the results came in, she told me that I had the best biological terrain she had ever seen and didn't have any answers for me, other than genetics, on why I had developed cancer, especially at such a young age.
In my own searching for "why" I had to set my mind on some emotions that were stuck in me and I feel in my gut that was what allowed my cancer to grow. A dear friend of mine had died unexpectedly a year and a half before and I did not process my grief well. I stayed on my knees for a long time after that and am still processing it. I also had some unhealthy relationships (friends, family, etc) that I was accepting in my life and they kept me bottling up some hurt feelings and anger that I wasn't letting go of or dealing with. So that's the area I've changed the most I think. I'm sharper with checking in with my emotions. I've cut off toxic people who were in my life and keep a sharper check on fresh relationships that I develop and I keep stronger boundaries up with people who I think could threaten my emotional well being.
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Thanks so much for your extensive response!
Although prior to cancer I didn't eat well, I was always at a healthy weight and pretty active. Hearing what you said about emotionally where you were makes sense to me. I have been fighting gender dysphoria my entire life. Part of me didn't even realize it was that and just placed it into other boxes (being stone, just having issues having "breasts", my social dysphoria was actually just social anxiety, my anger was because of ?, etc).
I am quite different since I got on testosterone and transitioned. I don't want to take the time to ramble on about it...which I could...but just suffice it to say that my emotional health and relationships is much improved since I got on testosterone, and got through the initial humps. I believe that if I had transitioned earlier, I may not have gotten the cancer. I believe that stress is such a huge factor.
I do want to clarify what you said...you mentioned vegan, vegetarian, and then said you will eat meat.
What did you eat for the 5 years prior to your cancer?
Does the fact that your cancer was estrogen based mean that your biological terrain didn't matter?
Do you mind sharing with me/us what you take for inflammation in the body (since that is the key to all)? Since you have this kick ass biological terrain, I don't want to miss any and I need to get back on supplements.
Thanks!