To have the op or try alternative

Many thanks to everyone who has replied to my piece. 

Some have been severely negative but then I expected that (as its hard to understand someone who wants to deviate from the conventional route) and some have helped to stop me to re-consider the conventional route.  However, my head still cannot come to terms with the side effects of the conventional treatment though.  Why would anyone choose to go this path! when the alternatives on this Macmillan site show another way.  What also keeps pushing its way into my head is this route was chosen as it is cost effective to the NHS.  Is this the cheaper of the routes!?! leaving your immune system to deal with the after effects? - if it can!

Leaning, at the moment, to Photodynamics - looks 'chuddy-blood'.

Hi Cloe

I am so sorry that you are very conflicted and very confused. Gosh we've all been there dozens of times! Everyone here is really trying to help you. But I have found some of your remarks very upsetting and undermining so I need to comment.

I am one of those woman who at this moment in time who has chosen the very tried and tested, conventional route and is trying to "come to terms" with the side effects plus the loss of a breast and my hair.

WHY go down this path? Because I want to live. I want the best chance I can get for myself and my family. I'll fight for that and go through the hardship of leaving my "immune system to deal with the after effects , if it can".

I turn to this site as I know I am not alone.There are some lovely ladies here who have given me some very helpful advice as I travel down this route. They all mean well and have every ones best interests at heart. 

When I sat with my breast care team and oncologist to discuss my treatment not once did I feel that they were giving me the cheaper, cost effective version. Thank goodness for the N.H.S. If I had to pay for all of my treatments I would be dead!  

Hi dealite

Received my copy of Dr Susan Love's Breast Book.  Many many thanks for recommending.  I've started it and can't put it down but need to get some sleep now.

Hi Kay

Thanks for the comments.  As you are aware we all hope for another treatment that looks good and can do the 'business' without the side effects but we also know that there can come a time when we have to go down the conventional route.  Everything about my case screams a good outcome on this route and to my benefit there is a little bit of time for me to think things through and do the research.  Not too long though and I have given myself, and in agreement with my consultant, one month before I decide (only 2 weeks in).  Additionally I have today talked with the Breast Cancer Nurse at my hospital and she is going away to do some research so that she also is up to date on the new treatment/s I have mentioned to her.

The book dealite recommended, 'Dr Susan Love's Breast Book', is truly enhancing my knowledge and I have individually thanked her on this discussion.

I never meant to offend and probably put into words what each and everyone one of us has thought at one time or another.  I'm just not conventional and have to find out as much as I can before making a decision because in the end it is my decision and I have to live with it.  I have a large family and circle of friends who now understand this and are willing to accept my final decision.

I send you all the love I have and wish you a speedy recovery.

Proper medicine all the way for me.  Alternatives have not proved themselves in sufficient clinical trials.  Mainly they seem to feed off the fear people have of side effects from proper medicine.  That fear is understandable, the treatment is not pleasant and in some cases the side effects can be long lasting, but I don't think I'd want to trust my life to quacks instead.

However, it is your choice.

You might want to google Kathy Acker whilst you're making it.

Hi Linda,

No I wasn't - Anastroloze I thnk is more commonly known as Arimidex, and I would consider it to be very much part of the conventional, medical route.

I think for a lot of us, when we're first diagnosed, we are horror-struck at the idea of submitting ourselves through the conventional treatments with all their side effects, and I did spend a week or so researching into possible alternatives, but nothing was convincing. I have just finished reading Gloria Hunniford's book about her daughter, Caron Keating, who walked away from conventional treatment and went chasing all sorts of so-called alternative cures instead, and I just found it incredibly sad, and it also made me quite angry that there were so many charlatans virtually queuing up to make money out of a very vulnerable woman .I would recommend that anyone thinking of alternative treatment should read this first to see just how careful you really should be in protecting yourself and your bank balance.

Chloecat,

I don't know where you get the idea that the NHS provides cheaper treatment. Cancer treatment is phenomenally expensive, and I wake up every morning so grateful to live in a country where I can get the very best of cutting-edge medical treatment without having to worry about the cost of it.

Yvonne

Hi chloecat45,

I felt compelled to respond to you. whether it will help or not i dont know.

I am a 35 year old Osteopath diagnosed in June this year with IDC. As an osteopath my life is about letting the body heal itself by putting it in the best possible place to do so. I worked very hard for 5 years to qualify. I know ALL about research, statistics, conventional medicine and alternatives. I have read sooo many papers now on all treatments available, and all the side effects of each treatment. Your choice is basically choosing between proven,  researched methods or not yet proven alternatives. It is your choice. I will say that in 5 -10 years time the choices will be different, and for example even how they target radiotherapy will probably be different, but believe me they didn't get to where they are now lightly. My grandma died in her 40's, 30 years ago through not having the research we are privileged to have now. 

I would have happily chosen alternative methods if i believed that would be enough to keep me alive in 10 years time. I personally decided I was not willing to take that chance. The alternatives then become complementary instead of alternative. The research is there for a reason. As it happens the "slice and burn" has not been too bad. In fact for me it was "slice and slice and burn" but i have changed my diet completely, taken up yoga and meditation everyday, got rid of all people in my life who drain me and with a few minor glitch days along the way I have sailed through. So i know conventional seems horrid but really its not the NHS fobbing you off.

No-one can make the decision for you.

Ali x

The cost of treatment does not make any difference. I was treated privately and had EXACTLY the same treatment as those on the NHS.

Best wishes

KateG

Hello there Chloecat

I'm sorry that you are in this place where you have to make such decisions.  It's a horrible thing to have to do.  When I had my treatment, I went down both routes and had all the conventional allopathic treatments plus some complementary ones, and I am very happy that I did so.  I did a lot of research, most of which escapes me now I'm afraid.  There was one thing in particular I read - I wish I could remember the name of the book, but it was by Dr Rosy Daniels, who was head of the Bristol Cancer Centre for a long time (now the Penny Brohn centre, I think) and an exponent of holistic treatment for cancer.  She said that she advised patients to never refuse surgery, no matter what other treatments they opted for, because surgery is the single most effective treatment you can have for cancer.  

Now, I am hoping that I'm not overstepping the bounds of what I can say on here (I've just been to read the community guidelines and I think I'm OK, but I'm sure a moderator will help me if I'm not).  When I was first diagnosed, I spoke extensively to a lady called Ginny Fraser, who is a close personal friend of a great friend of mine.  If you Google Ginny, you will find out a lot about her and her personal journey through cancer.  I think you might be able to relate to her story, and perhaps it might give you some avenues to explore.

I totally believe that we get the best treatment available from the NHS - and the soaring survival rates testify to this.  I also believe that if you think that route's not for you, then you should be able to go down a different one.  At the end of the day, it is our choices and our bodies.  It's also, I believe, a valid choice to say no to treatment altogether (knowing that I could actually say no to any or all of the treatments made it easier, in a strange way, to agree to have them - I hate being forced into things).  But it is an individual path that we follow, and it is not for us to question what others have chosen.  

Chloecat, I wish you well.  I wish you didn't have to go through all of this, of course - I wish that for all of us here - and I know you'll make the right decision for you.

All the best

I have read all your posts with great interest.   I did not take the time to consider alternatives because I'm not sure that I had very much confidence in them.  A number of family members have died of cancer including my father 50 years ago and I am grateful that I live at a time when treatment is so much more advanced that I have a chance of an accurate diagnosis and good prognosis.   

I recognise that some posts have been upsetting to one or other person looking for validation of a personal preference.   However, I have been relieved at how this thread has been allowed to develop so that each protagonist can recommend an avenue to be explored.

This sort of approach does mean we can genuinely explore our options and come to a conclusion that is right for us or our individual view of life.

Lilybeth