Choice of treatment

Nov 06 - My surgical oncologist referred me to a medical oncologist for follow-up treatment.

Due to the stage and aggressive nature of the cancer cells, my medical onco told me that I would be getting 'the whole works' - 8 doses of chemotherapy, 5 weeks of radiation, 1 year herceptin, 5 years tamoxifen and hormone therapy thrown in somewhere along the way.

At the same time, she also told me of the side-effects and long term risks of the conventional therapy. She was very frank and told me that there was no guarantee that after the therapy the cancer would not return, but that it would reduce the chances. Also, there is the long-term but small percentage of getting other cancers like bone cancer, etc.

Well, I had made up my mind, and against her advice, I turned down conventional therapy and opted for natural treatment. In the meantime, I would still go for the quarterly check-ups.

Some of my relatives and friends think I was very brave to opt for natural treatment instead of chemotherapy. Brave? Nah! They were wrong. I was afraid, very, very afraid of chemotherapy. I see chemotherapy as 'carpet bombing' - the good get slaughtered along with the bad.

Dr Susan Love, M.D., breast surgeon and author, aptly termed surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments for breast cancer as 'slash, poison and burn'.