Of all the advice I received at this time, I specifically remember something one lady said to me that really hit a nerve.
“They don’t know what they are messing about with,” she said. “They should sometimes just leave things alone, as all they do is spread it around more when they operate.”
I also read that mammograms can sometimes do more harm than good, and I remembered the sharp pain in my breast during the second X-ray I had, and the biopsy needle puncturing the skin straight afterwards while my poor breast was still throbbing. I wondered then whether it could have triggered something off that perhaps had been dormant up until then.
I started taking the apricot kernels anyway, and also started to improve my diet by eating more salads and fruit, and began to feel better in myself. I also read that what doctors call a “recovery” is just being alive five years later, no matter what state of health you're in.
Just a week away from the operation, we were walking around the city centre, trying to work up some positive feelings about it. We were on our way to buy some extras to go into hospital, as I had kept putting it off, when I suddenly turned to Peter and said, “I’m not going to go through with it.”
He looked at me and asked, “Are you sure?” When I said that I was, I could tell he was worried, but he could also see how determined I was. But then he just said, “Come on then – let’s go home.”
I telephoned the breast care clinic the following day and spoke to the nurse, telling her about my decision. She was sorry I felt like that, she said, but it was up to me what treatment I went for. She also told me to write to the consultant explaining that I wanted to cancel the operation indefinitely. She wished me good luck, and said I could always rearrange the operation if I changed my mind.
Once the letter was written and posted, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here
to read her earlier posts. Next week, Sue explains what she learned from her nutritionist.
Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.
SUSAN INSOLE, BSYA (N Th.) is a former NHS nurse and is now a
nutritional therapist in the field of natural health. She worked in a
health care setting for 16 years, firstly in the field of
rehabilitation and then as a welfare officer and secretary within a
hospital setting. She was also an advisor for weight loss in 2001 -
2003. She achieved a diploma in 2006 for nutritional therapy. She is
the author of a downloadable eBook,
What Works in Health. Her website is:
www.naturalhealthbenefits.com.