Marlis’ story:
When I was sixty-five years
old in 1998 a doctor prescribed HRT for me.
Towards the end of 2000
during a visit by my sister from Germany, I had gone for a routine check-up and
the doctor found a small lump in my right breast. A needle biopsy attempt was
unsuccessful so I went to RNH to have a biopsy done. But I ended up having a
lumpectomy instead, which found an 11mm oestrogen receptive cancer. This was
followed by thirty-two sessions of radiation at the Mater Hospital. (X-rays done
in 2003 show that my right lung has scar tissue from the radiation.) Shortly
afterwards I joined CISS at the Central Coast branch.
In 2009 specialists again
told me that I had oestrogen receptive stage III breast cancer that had now
spread into my lymphatic system. Pathology reports revealed that both the first
lymph node removed during a further lumpectomy and the second lymph node removed
fourteen days later during the mastectomy were cancer free. Within the removed
left breast was one small node showing metastasis. Both surgeon and oncologist
recommended chemo followed probably by hormone treatment.
Did this one small node
lead to their opinion and recommendation for six months chemo followed by five
years hormone treatment? I was told that I needed the second operation because
the specialist did not realize on 21st April, that the wire marking
the breast cancer in the scan was not set in the middle of the cancer.
Apparently the many hours spent in “Imaging” on the day (when the lumpectomy for
a 15 mm cancer and removal of a lymph node were performed) were a waste of money
and time. The ultra-sound pictures would have shown clearly that the wire was 2
mm above the cancer. Like everybody else, doctors make mistakes, hence the
saying: doctors bury their mistakes,
solicitors sue them. Luckily so far I have survived several mistakes made by
specialists and now watch out for pitfalls.
Have you ever considered
why you and other people get ill? I
believe most of my illnesses are wake-up-calls; it goes cling, cling, here is
your friendly body warning you that you are doing something wrong. After last
year’s wake-up call from a 15mm lump in my left breast, I knew that I needed
help. I realized that the wake-up call affected my whole being.
At CISS over the years,
through reading the newsletters, attending some monthly meetings, and visits to
Susie in the office, I found support and confirmation of my instincts concerning
a wholistic approach to my health, and information on diet, psychological and
spiritual factors. Now I had to look for professionals who know about us human
beings and the causes for our illnesses; I wanted people who have studied the
interaction of mind, body and soul; people who have chosen to treat and care for
the whole human being by addressing the underlying causes for our illnesses.
With my well-known
determination I made it my priority to find a naturopath with years of
experience to help with my diet and supplements for a start. Fortunately, the
universe provides when one asks. Antoinette, a naturopath and herbalist, saw me
in Newcastle on the 28th April 2009.
My first consultation with
the Antoinette lasted 2 hours. She used iridology as one of her diagnostic
tools.
Her
advice on that day was:
1.
To look into what was
happening in my life approximately two years ago. (This turned out to be a
significant trigger of my health problems)
2.
To take all the
supplements she had listed.
3.
Start a rigorous,
gluten-free diet for blood type B, which eliminates pork, chicken, duck,
lobster, prawns, smoked salmon, rye, wheat, avocado, potatoes, pumpkin, and
tomatoes to name just a few.
She also said that I must have
·
2 cups of fruit
·
4 cups of salad and
cooked vegetables and
·
2 slices of fresh
pineapple daily.
Drink at least 2 litres of
water per day
Walk for at least one hour
three times a week.
Antoinette made a home visit on 25th May 2009, just eighteen days
after I had left the hospital after a mastectomy. She brought with her another
of her diagnostic tools, a machine that gives a Body Composition and Cellular
Health Analysis, which is
vital for the overall assessment of a patient’s health.
Later,
while I was trying to get a grip on my new diet, drinking all that water, doing
some exercises, trying to find a good psychologist and learning to attain a
deeper level in meditation, she comes waltzing into my home in early July with
another brief: You have to lose 7 kg fat and gain 4 kg muscles.
I would like to have a picture of me standing there,
looking up at Antoinette in sheer disbelief with my mouth wide open.
My body composition and
cellular health is improving from month to month. A full medical blood test
combined with Antoinette’s test had her say: With the results from the blood
test and the other tests, I cannot see that you can have a cancer cell in your
body.
Well folks, that is good
enough for me.
Think
about what you would do: Would you continue to eat and drink the type of food
you know is not good for your body and will lead to further illness?
Or would you have the strength and tenacity to say
no, and keep to a rigorous diet and health regime that is vital for your
wellbeing?
I have made my decisions
and know that with a practical attitude and perseverance I will continue with my
diet and health regime for the rest of my life because I really want to continue
enjoying the compliments on my apparently radiant, healthy good looks.
Ken Hillman, professor of intensive care at the University of NSW wrote in his
book “Vital Signs”:
“Up
to 70 % of people now die in acute hospitals surrounded by well meaning
strangers inflicting all that medicine has to offer, often resulting in a
painful, distressing and degrading end of life…Once, death was treated as a
relatively normal and inevitable experience. It is now a highly medicalised
ritual.”
At nearly 77 years of age,
I treat death as a normal and inevitable experience and have thoroughly enjoyed
living every day over the last twelve months and will continue to refuse offers
from “strangers inflicting all that medicine has to offer”.
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