CISS member Bela kept daily
notes during the lead up to her surgery as her way of dealing with all the
information. As a result, she has good recall of experiences some of us forget
about after treatment. Her story well illustrates the myriad dilemmas faced by
the cancer patient, and the regrettable gap between orthodox and wholistic
therapies.
Bela’s Story
I always considered myself to be a healthy person. Freshly
squeezed fruit and vegetable juices were a ritual in my family from an early
age.
I was the child at school with the brown bread sandwiches
back in the 70s when it was looked upon as foreign.
About two and a half years ago I experienced some spotting,
which I thought was either my period playing havoc or the onset of menopause.
I made an appointment to have a pap smear and was
reprimanded for not going sooner and also for not having regular pap smears. It
had been many years, dare I say possibly 22 years, the reason being that I have
always opted to use alternative forms of treatment whenever any health issues
have arisen for my son and myself.
The doctor was concerned with my symptoms and implied my
situation could be serious.
The results came back ‘abnormal’ and I was referred
to a specialist ASAP.
After a more extensive (and expensive) examination,
a biopsy of a growth on my cervix was taken for further testing.
The specialist then started to prepare me for the
possibility of it being cancer.
She advised me that she would be away for a couple
of weeks and that if the results needed urgent attention, she would have someone
from RPA Hospital contact me.
I work in retail on my own and I received a call from a
Professor at RPA who proceeded to tell me my results over the phone. “Your
results show you have cancer” he said.
He did not prepare me or ask if I was able to talk.
I had a customer standing in front of me at the time
so it was awkward and inappropriate to have such a conversation in the presence
of a complete stranger, not to mention how they would have felt!
I guess that was a taste of was to come.
We made an appointment for me to see him.
Something inside me kicked in and I knew that I needed to
start on a path that I was more accustomed to. A way that felt like it would
help improve my situation, as when you know you need a wholehearted effort with
every part of your being, using all your ability, power, determination, positive
thinking and of course the aid of the people who are there to help you.
Through my mother’s friend I heard about a naturopath
practising near Cairns who largely works with people with cancer.
I discussed my diagnosis to date with her over the
phone. She was very helpful in getting me started in the right direction.
Fortunately one of my sisters lives in Cairns which
made it possible for me to pursue this path. I could fly up and stay with her
and meet the naturopath after I had been for my appointment at the hospital and,
hopefully, a more precise diagnosis.
The main form of diagnosis she uses is thermal
imaging, which I thought would be helpful with my treatment.
I had never been to Cairns before and was looking
forward to the trip.
I went along to my appointment with the professor at RPA
and was given an examination using colposcopy and my diagnosis at that stage was
that I had a cancerous tumor and pre-cancerous cells on my cervix and that I
would have to have a biopsy to determine the stage of cancer, followed by a
hysterectomy.
I had already started taking the herbs and changed my diet
and was passionate about continuing.
After the professor outlined his suggested form of
treatment I expressed that I wanted to continue what I was doing; that I wanted
to give it a go instead. He did not take it well that I had declined his
proposed form of treatment.
During this appointment the fire alarm went off and
we had to evacuate the building. It was like a sign saying “get the hell out of
here!” However, we arranged that after six weeks I would go back for another
check up (to prove me wrong).
Meanwhile I saw the naturopath near Cairns and I had the
thermal imaging and her diagnosis was that I had medium grade level of
developing pre-cancer. So she worked on the areas where my body was weak.
She also suggested I see a chiropractor who referred
me to another naturopath who is also an energetic healer.
I saw her on a weekly basis. This allowed work to be
done at a different level and she also told me about CISS where I started
attending the meetings.
CISS to me is a group that nurtures those who dare
to be different and have an open mind to what a difference one can make when
dealing with cancer using alternative therapies.
The information one can gain at the meetings is
truly amazing.
Thank you soo much, especially to Don & Susie Benjamin.
I was having a hard time dealing with the medical side but
continued to go to the doctors as the naturopaths recommended because they
thought that the medical diagnosis would be useful alongside their treatment.
I then made an appointment with a GP in Sydney who
works using herbs and other alternative forms of treatment.
Because she is a medical doctor, she has a clear
understanding of the medical approach and terminology.
She started me on a six-week program of herbal
remedies specifically for cervical cancer.
With her treatment it was necessary to continue
having pap smears before and after the course of treatment to gauge if there was
any change in my condition.
This was easier said than done because whenever a GP would
do a pap smear, my results were always abnormal which sent alarm bells ringing.
It seems as though amongst the GPs there is some
kind of database they use because after having a pap smear my phone would ring
like crazy.
All the previous GPs I had seen called accusing me of being
negligent. By ‘negligent’ they meant that I had not followed their prescribed
form of treatment.
Because of the abnormal results after the 6 weeks
treatment, my GP suggested I go back to the Professor for a check-up.
He booked me in for a biopsy but was dissatisfied with the
results stating they did not take a big enough biopsy and booked me in for the
second biopsy and a CT scan.
After the scan I was told I had lumps in my breast
and possibly cancer in my liver. It was starting to get ridiculous.
I had previously had acupuncture for the lumps in my
breast and knew it was not a concern, but they would not take my word for it. It
gets to a point where you are made to feel you no longer own your own body.
They were trying to find ways of scaring me into
doing what they wanted.
About a week after the second biopsy I started to
clot and bleed very heavily.
I had to go to Emergency at the hospital as I was
losing a lot of blood and becoming weak.
The bleeding was a result of the biopsy and with
great difficulty they managed to control it.
I later received a letter from the Professor recommending I
have a hysterectomy which possibly would be life threatening as I could bleed to
death during the operation.
I was also booked for a biopsy on my breast which I
managed to talk my way out of with the specialist on the day and only had a tiny
sample taken with a small syringe.
There was no cancer in my breast, something I
already knew.
I made an appointment with the Professor to clarify what he
had written in the letter he sent me, and the seriousness of having the
hysterectomy. Ultimately he tried to scare me to death literally and downplayed
the risk factors.
Even though the professor never conclusively found
there was cancer, I decided with the advice of my GP to have a hysterectomy as a
precautionary measure.
According to the Professor apparently I “no longer have
cancer and the chances of it recurring are almost impossible".
I feel so fortunate to have achieved such a positive
outcome.
Not knowing what’s around the corner we can but continue on
our journey doing our best.
As my sister would say, “It’s the process not the
end result that counts”.
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