MRI's May Not Be Good Test for Monitoring Breast Cancer

Up until recently, I supported using MRI tests to monitor for breast cancer, perhaps even getting yearly MRI tests if you find a lump or have a concern and don't want to get a mammogram. Well, now even that test is apparently not without risks.

Just recently I had a pelvic MRI to evaluate my multiple uterine fibroids (8 total and 12 week pregnancy sized uterus). I was hoping to qualify for Exablate. I asked if I could get the MRI without the contrast dye. They said they needed it. I asked that because I had become more concerned about the risks of the contrast dye but I went ahead with the test and nothing bad happened.

However, I started acupuncture treatments recently and the Chinese doctor said my kidneys were "weak".. Could that be from the several MRI tests I have had in the last 5 years? I think I have had 4-5 altogether.. as well as a CAT scan thrown in there...

Well now it seems the value of an MRI test is not really as good as I thought it was and could result in over-aggressive treatment. I am now wondering if, the MRI that triggered my entire slide into breast cancer scare hell, was because of this phenomenon? If so, I feel like I escaped this over treatment... But now you just have to wonder - what is a woman to do to monitor her health???

Excerpt:

A number of randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer who are treated with conservative therapy (consisting of a simple local excision and radiotherapy, if indicated) have the same survival rates as women who are subjected to the major surgery and trauma of total breast removal. However, in recent years the medical industry has pushed for MRIs to be used more and more in the preoperative staging of the affected breast in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. The reason? MRIs supposedly can detect additional areas of cancer that do not show up on conventional imaging such as mammography and the imaging technique helps surgeons plan for breast tissue removal.

However, after reviewing the data, Dr. Houssami and Dr. Hayes concluded that using the MRI approach to local staging of breast cancer changes surgical management from breast conservation to more radical surgery without evidence of improvement in surgical outcomes or an improved long-term prognosis. In a statement to the media, the researchers called for well-designed, randomized controlled trials to find out any potential benefit of MRIs versus the harm they could be causing, including harm to the quality of life of women who may be having unnecessary radical mastectomies.

Full article

On another note - I can highly recommend finding a doctor trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine. I am getting the herbal treatments and acupuncture from a Chinese doctor and I am really feeling good overall. I sleep better and feel better in general. I've cut down on coffee. Now if I can just see a reduction in my abdominal size to show that the fibroids are shrinking.. I will be a total TCM convert! I'm in week 2 - about 6 treatments of acupuncture and close to 10 days on the Chinese herbs. We shall see!

Health Update

I realize that I have neglected to check back with this blog and provide health updates but that is because I have not been preoccupied with cancer and caner treatment for a while which is GOOD.

My health is pretty darn good I'd say. It's not perfect, but I'm always adjusting things to work towards optimal health. I still have a small lump in my right breast - and the pucker on the outside to remind me. I don't worry about it now like I used to - I truly believe it has turned to scar tissue.

With that being said I still am careful about what I eat - although not AS careful as I was during my initial all out assault on a breast cancer lump. I still take a good mix of whole food supplements - as many of them as I can which are whole food and not laboratory blends of isolated vitamins.

I recently got what is called a SpectraCell blood test which revealed that I needed more B vitamins, more Vitamin D and more Glutamine. So now I am taking 5000 IU of Vitamin D per day - unless of course I get a few days of sunshine exposure which gives me FREE Vitamin D. Of course I also added B vitamins but I'm not too consistent yet on the Glutamine.

My current health concerns, which are fairly minor compared to breast cancer diagnosis, are uterine fibroids (ugh) which have enlarged my uterus as if I am many weeks pregnant. They do not cause me pain or bleeding - just an enlarged abdomen which is simply annoying. I started taking daily DHEA and some natural supplements that will reduce my estrogen dominance situation which contributes to them. Some of those are Passionflower and Wild Yam. Also licorice. So far (fingers crossed) it seems these are shrinking them but I can only say that from how it feels (and from measuring my abdomen).. I will update in a few months on this as I know there are many women with this problem. I will NOT consider any kind of surgery or cutting, burning etc or even the treatment with the beads blocking up the blood supply. I simply want them gone naturally without any invasive methods period. End of story.

Another health concern is a return of my asthma. I had it growing up and was allergic to animals even though an animal lover which was extremely frustrating. In the 90's I got 5 YEARS of allergy shots - three injections - one for pollens, one for molds and one for dog allergy. During that time I was living with two dogs, because it seemed the dog allergy had already resolved itself.

Well, now it's been almost 15 years since those shots and I'm worried that they have worn off.. don't know. I currently need to use one puff of Serevent before I go to bed at night or I am awakened with difficulty breathing in the night. I have covered my mattress and pillows with mattress covers and I have air cleaners running on high in my bedroom.. none of that seems to matter.

Now that I have lost my large 90 pound dog (Cody - my best bud) to hemangiosarcoma, there will be less dog hair in my house so I will see if his absence makes any difference. I still have a 60 pound shepherd/beagle dog so we shall see.

I don't remember if I posted on the death of my mother last May (2008) to lung cancer also. I have to say it was extremely frustrating to watch her die and not be able to help her. She chose chemotherapy against my advice - but then again she had a large lung cancer tumor and it was difficult for her to breathe so I did not want to mess around with natural treatments that might not be good enough to fight it - and she was not one to change her eating habits - so unless I wanted to force feed her food that was good for her - it wasn't going to work.

I do have to say this however. Because of the Abraham Cherrix story - I convinced my Mom to go to the Mississippi cancer clinic where Abraham Cherrix had gotten treatment after his court settlement. They were supposed to use Immunotherapy. The doctor there is Dr Arnold Smith. It was a big mistake. My parents were not looked after duing their stay and my mother was NOT given Immunotherapy but instead put on more chemo. I believe her stay in Mississippi hastened her death and at this point I would never recommend this clinic. Furthermore, I felt because my parents were so far away we could not help them - they were on their own - even though we were assured by the coordinator that they would take care of my parents - to them they were just another number in the end and their ball was dropped. My Mom developed pneumonia in both lungs and bed sores and of course we did not know of any of this until my sister flew to Mississippi. She was med-evaced to a hospital near our home where she died one week later.

*Update*

Just today (February 17, 2019) I discovered that Dr Arnold Smith was arrested for trying to have his wife's divorce attorney murdered and he still has not gone to trial even though the attorney was tipped off about the plot and ended up shooting one of the hitmen and killing them.  Dr Smith was found not competent mentally to stand trial and ended up with OUTPATIENT mental treatment so he was able to go home and be with his wife while awaiting trial.  This guy is a nut and a fraud of the highest order. My sister and I plan to share our experience with this fraud and my mother and how it likely ended her life much earlier - with anyone associated with Dr Smith's murder trial.


Cancer has touched my life in the last four years more than I care to recount and I feel it is an EPIDEMIC and something needs to be done and there needs to be some investigation into why there is SO MUCH CANCER????

Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy Have Increased Cancer Stem Cells

I'm already against chemotherapy in general unless it is a last resort to wage a battle that one is losing by natural means. There is a HUGE cost to taking toxic chemicals to kill cancer cells and that cost is not communicated to patients when they are put onto chemo. In fact, I'd say WAY too many patients are put on chemo as if they are some kind of vitamins.

Now here comes a scientific article that shows yet another cost of chemotherapy - you may end up with cancer stem cells in your bone marrow AS A RESULT OF CHEMO, which of course means, you will probably be battling even MORE cancer even IF you win the present battle.

ScienceDaily (May 14, 2009) — Breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy prior to surgery had heightened levels of cancer-initiating stem cells in their bone marrow, and the level of such cells correlated to a tumor's lymph node involvement, according to research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

...

It's estimated that 30-40 percent of locally advanced breast cancer patients who appear disease-free after neoadjuvant treatment actually harbor undetectable, distant micro-metastasis, explained Reuben.

Reuben describes cancer stem cells as tumor cells found in the bone marrow that are capable of self-renewal, thus a potential catalyst for recurrence and metastasis.

I recently lost my 10 year old golden retriever mix dog to a nasty type of cancer - hemangiosarcoma - and I was tempted to give him chemotherapy - the vet even convinced me that "dogs tolerate chemo better than humans" but then decided against it after a single day of treatment for him. He did die but he was not sick, throwing up and miserable at all during the last two months of his life, after the initial football-sized tumor and his spleen were removed.

At this point I would have felt horrible had I sickened him through his last days with some perverted effort to keep him alive for several more months. I think all of us have to consider this for ourselves and our loved ones before submitting to chemotherapy. It is not a "therapy" in any way at all and is like burning down your house to get rid of roaches. MAYBE you can rebuild the house but then again maybe not. Is it really worth it the risk?

Genes Don't Cause Cancer Study Reveals

I've already believed this in my heart but had not had any studies to point to. Thankfully now we do. I have CRINGED when I have heard people say they "got hit with the cancer stick" or "it's in my family" and then they make decisions like removing both breasts to avoid what they think is the family disease. That doctors have supported this shocks and dismays me. Would you remove your heart if you had a risk for heart attack in your family? I don't think so!

Read the article from Mike Adams on Natural News and get familiar with the study info so you can blast anyone who repeats the lies of the Cancer Machine that it's "in your genes".. LIARS!!!

Genes Don't Cause Cancer: Exhaustive Study Reveals Genetic Links to be Hogwash

It's a clever line parroted by cancer docs everywhere: Your genes cause cancer, so you'd better get your breasts surgically removed just in case, you know, so you don't ever get cancer.

But as it turns out, the whole genetic link to cancer is 99% hogwash. A study completed at the Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece analyzed hundreds of other studies that claimed to have "discovered" genes that cause cancer, and it found that out of 240 claimed associations between genes and cancer risk, only two genes actually had any significant correlation at all. (That's less than one percent, if you're keeping track.)

Put another way, over 99% of the claims about genes causing cancer don't hold up to scientific scrutiny.

So what are they, then? Scare tactics, of course. By blaming genes for disease, doctors can disempower patients and convince them that they have no control over their own health.

Well said Mike - so many people want to believe that their doctors have their best interests in mind. I wish I could believe that.

It also diminishes the importance of avoiding smoking, boosting vitamin D consumption, increasing exercise and engaging in other smart lifestyle improvements that directly reduce cancer risk. When people are convinced they're going to get cancer anyway ("It's in your genes!"), they tend to stop taking care of their health, giving in to the deterministic brainwashing that's been fed to them by the profit-driven cancer industry.

It's no surprise, of course, that real science shows the cancer gene claims to be 99% junk science. The cancer industry has never been interested in real science anyway: It's run almost entirely on the quest for corporate profits and the ongoing use of fear mongering tactics such as scaring women into submitting to chemotherapy by using mammography equipment that routinely produces false positives.

Even the whole cancer screening process is actually part of the cancer recruiting scam: Since mammograms emit cancer-causing radiation, a woman who undergoes mammography on a regular basis inevitably ends up with cancer tumors that were caused by the mammograms! Thus, the very process of screening for cancer causes cancer!

And then, when they find a tumor in your breast, they claim, "There's nothing you could have done about it. You had the gene for breast cancer."

Nonsense. Pure quackery. Criminal quackery, even.

The truth is that you can be free of cancer regardless of your genetic code, because it is the expression of those genes that matters. And guess what controls the expression of your genes? Your nutrition, diet, lifestyle choices and avoidance of cancer-causing chemicals in foods, drugs, cosmetics and personal care products.

In other words, you have probably 99% control over whether you get cancer or not. But the corrupt cancer industry wants you to think you actually have zero control.

What a con.