My Alternative Cancer Diary : sue insole

Cured?

Sue Insole — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:39:00 GMT

I have thermo scans periodically and my blood continues to be tested at 6 monthly intervals. The trend has continued towards the normal pattern. As I have mentioned previously, the tests are for two enzymes in the blood.

Active Telomerase is a key enzyme that helps a cell to replicate. An increase in the number of cells with active telomerase reflects the destruction of cancer cells. My levels have always been upwards – which is beneficial and shows that cancer cells are being destroyed at a good rate.

Tumour Marker – 2 Pyruvate Kinase (or PK): Some abnormal cells have an increased level of PK. The normal level is between 5.00-15.00. My level has fluctuated a little at times: for example, the PK level was between 10.3 (my lowest and best level last year) and 37.00 (the highest level in 2005 ) but an adjustment in the diet has set it back down towards normal again.

I have usually been within the normal range. My last blood test was 28.67 – which shows a slight metabolic disturbance, according to the consultant – and my supplements have been reviewed again to account for it. There is an explanation for this, however.

I have recently discovered that I am gluten intolerant and had an infection, which caused my scan to show some “hot spots” indicating changes in temperature that remain after the body has cooled. My diet has been changed and I am now avoiding bread, oats, wheat, and barley. Although the infection did not cause me to feel ill, I was finding it difficult to digest wheat, yeast and gluten, and it was interfering with how the nutrients were being absorbed.

My current diet will ensure an alkaline environment in the body, and things should then settle down again.

The cancer remains in remission, it has not spread and I continue to feel fit and well. I have caught a few infections – about 3 in the past 3 ½ years, including the last one, which is far less than average.

It just goes to show that providing you keep fit and well by the use of a good diet and supplement program, cancer cells cannot survive. This is a lesson that I hope others will follow rather than submit to the risky strategy of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, none of which can tell the difference between healthy tissue and cancerous tissue, and causes so much harm to the body.

I hope you have enjoyed my alternative diary and found it helpful.

This is the final post in a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her other posts.

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.

Being in Control

Sue Insole — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:00:00 GMT

All in all I much preferred being in control of all my treatment rather than being helpless and reliant on doctors to reassure me about what was going on. I remember that when my daughter Emma was in hospital, she had a similar experience.

Nurses and medical staff were often too busy to give us any time to reassure us about Emma’s symptoms.

One time when she was being sick – yet again – I grabbed hold of the nearest nurse and said, “How can you say she’s getting the right treatment when she hasn’t eaten anything she can keep down for nearly a week?” She said she’d get the doctor to speak to us, but nobody appeared.

Not long afterwards, Emma caught a virus she’d had no protection against whatsoever. I am grateful and relieved that I didn’t have to put up with the same scenario when my own health problems started.

Just before she was rushed to intensive care unable to breathe, the doctor had visited her and pronounced that the tumour was shrinking. That did not comfort us much as she had a high temperature and was getting no nourishment. She also had a bad infection that no amount of antibiotics could shift.

She had to go on a ventilator and entered a comatose state, so the cancer did not actually kill her, but her treatment did. Her death was recorded as an acute respiratory failure and septicaemia – and so was not included in the cancer statistics. I have since found out that cancer-related deaths are often attributed to other causes, to make the statistics appear better than they actually are.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

Becoming a Practitioner

Sue Insole — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:48:00 GMT

My decision to become a nutritionist was directly related to my own experiences using nutrition to cure my breast cancer.

The dietary changes I made following my diagnosis arguably saved my life, and my decision not to have surgery was perhaps the most important I ever made. I wanted to get the message out about how much I was helped by nutritional therapy. While combatting my own cancer I had learnt a lot about nutrition and the limitations of conventional medicine, and I wanted to use my knowledge to help other people.

In November 2006 I passed my examination for nutritional therapy with over 80 per cent, which I was really pleased with. After Christmas I took the first steps towards starting my own practice – I put leaflets and business cards in the local health shops, and gained a few clients as a result. The practice has been gradually building since.

In February I started my website, Natural Health Benefits, to help me get the message out. I dedicated it to my daughter, who was my key reason for setting it up. If just one family didn’t have to suffer as we had after following medical advice, it would be worthwhile.

The trouble with doctors and cancer treatment is that they see cancer as a localised malignant disease – and so they set out to “fix” it by reducing the tumour using drugs, surgery and radiotherapy. Unfortunately none of these methods can distinguish between what is healthy tissue and what is cancerous tissue.

Meanwhile, alternative therapy sees the whole body operating as a system and a tumour as a sign that something has gone wrong with that system. Alternative medicine sees the person as the total of body, mind, emotions and spirit. Treatment is aimed at the whole person: the approach is holistic and helps the body to heal itself by stimulating the body’s own immune system.

Unfortunately, modern medicine’s approach to cancer is at loggerheads with the alternative approach, which I think is really sad. Surely ANY possible cure should be looked at – no matter where it comes from?

My Healthy Life

Sue Insole — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:20:00 GMT

We had put our house on the market earlier in the year and at the end of November 2005 we sold up in Cardiff and moved 45 miles away to Swansea. It was a very stressful time as most moves are, especially as we had booked up a holiday to go away for Christmas again to Fuerteventura, and the time of the completion was likely to clash with it. However it all went ahead OK in the end – but not without mishaps and delays and we didn’t have time to sort out the house we had moved to a great deal so had it all to face when we got back in January.

When we got back, I caught a really bad flu type virus, which seemed to hang around for ages. I think it was a combination of the stress of moving, the hard work we were putting in and coming back from a warm climate to the wet and cold – which left me feeling low. I have learned since then to get rid of viruses by taking vitamin C every couple of hours. Any virus that I’ve picked up since then has lasted just 1-2 days.

As I was ill, I had to cancel my scan in January and went at the end of February 2006 instead. I remember that there was snow on the ground the day we went and it was freezing cold. This scan was not quite as good as the last one: the nipple area difference was now 2.9 degrees and the blood test PK had gone up to 37.00. However, when I explained that I had been ill with a viral infection for 3 weeks, had moved within the last few months and had been overdoing things a bit, he said that my immune system being lowered was probably the reason and I was not absorbing the vitamins as much.

I went back on to the apricot kernels four to five times a day, and got plenty of rest. It was a good summer and we used to go to the beach quite a bit to take advantage of the weather. We carried on doing the work in the house, but at not such a frantic pace. By June it was more or less finished, so we took a short holiday to Turkey where the gloriously hot weather really lifted my spirits. The food was great there too and it was really easy to eat healthily. I was eating salads a lot as it was so hot and I tried my first ever Turkish bath and massage which was great, as it really got the toxins out and made me feel fantastic. All in all we had a really relaxing time.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

Creating Healthy Habits

Sue Insole — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:35:00 GMT

In July 2005 I went for another scan. I was advised to stop wearing under-wired bras as it was blocking the flow of lymph fluid, by “hot-spots” around the underarm area and under breast area – which showed up clearly on the scans. Soft bras are much better and don’t restrict the flow.

The scan was fine – almost the same as the time before – and the blood test for PK had gone down to 12.7. My supplements were reviewed and I cut out some of them, and replaced some others.

I got into a routine with the supplements and apricot kernels after a while but it was difficult to remember not only to take them, but also at the right times.

Some had to be taken on an empty stomach whilst others had to be taken with food – some every two hours and some with juice – and at times I used to get into a muddle.

Going out and remembering to take them with me was something I forgot to do on a few occasions, and sometimes I used to get really fed up, thinking I was getting nowhere. However, I only had to think of what the alternative medical treatment was to feel grateful that everything was going so well and I was feeling – and looking – so well.

Eventually I got myself a small pillbox with compartments and doled all the tablets/kernels in there the night before for the next day if I was going out, and during the morning if I wasn’t. I also put labels on reminding me when to take them. It’s become second nature to me now and I no longer have to do this.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

The Obstacles to Eating Healthily

Sue Insole — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:26:00 GMT

I carried on with the diet and supplements. When I had been away at Christmas I ate really well and found that I could still enjoy a lot of good food without feeling that I was “depriving” myself of anything.

However, having to watch what I ate all the time did get to me at times. I’m not the kind of person that responds well to a strict diet - I remember spending a weekend in London, and planned to go to a Greek Restaurant after a show – only it was closed by the time we got there. There was nowhere else around to eat other than burger bars, fast food places and steakhouses and so we ended up back at the hotel restaurant, eating chicken kiev (there was no other realistic choice – and it wasn’t very nice) – and I was mightily ****ed off!

Another time we were in Bristol and scouted high and low looking for somewhere to have lunch and we couldn’t find anywhere to go which had the kind of food that I could – or wanted to eat. Even the sandwich bars didn’t have any wholemeal bread. So I ate some fruit and some nuts and went without.

I have learned since then to take my own food with me when going to an unfamiliar place – as you can’t always rely on restaurants serving what you can eat. It also makes you realise how many fast food places like burger bars, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza huts there are around compared with cafes and restaurants that serve good wholesome food!

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

Further Digestion Problems

Sue Insole — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:38:00 GMT

In September 2004 I visited my GP as I was suffering from bouts of diarrhoea and was worried that I was not absorbing my supplements enough. He told me to take Imodium to stop it, but the symptoms persisted along with other IBS symptoms I had not experienced for a long time.

During this time I lost a lot of weight, developed a high temperature and, worst of all, I was too ill to eat very much or take my supplements for several weeks. For a time I was convinced that my cancer had spread to my bowel and I was wasting away.

I consulted a local alternative therapist recommended by a friend, who temporarily took over my health care. I am so glad he did! He told me exactly what my health problem was – my own doctor didn’t have a clue, and the prescribed medicine was useless – and treated me with a combination of homeopathic medicine, a special diet, health supplements and fasting, until I recovered.

It was a nasty illness – a yeast infection complicated by a virus that affected my bowel – but it had nothing whatsoever to do with cancer! He also gave me emotional support when I really needed it – especially when he supported my decisions about treating breast cancer, and gave me a lot of useful advice.

If I hadn’t had this vital support, I may have given up on my treatment plan altogether. Luckily, that didn’t happen, but I can understand the pressures some people are under when they go against medical advice.

After my recovery from the infection, I gradually returned to a normal weight, and in December I went away to the Canary Islands for Christmas, where we had a fantastic time.

I came back feeling really well, and went for an appointment in London to have a thermograph. This is totally non-invasive and picks up changes in breast tissue long before mammograms can. My scan showed a slight difference in temperature between one breast and the other (less than one degree), and the consultant was very pleased with my progress.

My blood test in January was a lot better and the second tumour marker was now down to 13.7 – a lot better than the previous result of 21.00! Things were going really well.

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How My Health Regime Affected Me

Sue Insole — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:47:00 GMT

The new health regime I had introduced to beat my breast cancer had two particularly noticeable effects.

My reaction to B17

I was taking large doses of B17 in the form of up to 50 kernels a day plus two tablets twice a day. The nutritionist was surprised I could tolerate so many, and certainly I felt a bit nauseous from time to time, usually for about half an hour after eating breakfast.

I also had to drink several litres of water a day (and had to go to and from the loo a lot!) as my blood pressure used to drop suddenly during the day, and at times I felt quite light-headed.

As soon as the results of my blood tests improved, I gradually reduced my B17.

My blood pressure tends to be quite low anyway, so although B17 is known to reduce blood pressure, it might not affect everyone as much as it affected me.

Other illnesses gone!

Before starting my new diet, I used to suffer from back pain, acid indigestion and asthma. After a few months on the diet, I realised that I could get up in the morning without the initial pain and stiffness in my back and right leg.

What’s more, I was breathing more easily and didn’t suffer seasonal symptoms, despite the warm dry summer. I could also sleep at night without the acid indigestion I used to get.

These symptoms have not returned to this day.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

Why I Was Right to Refuse Surgery

Sue Insole — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:40:00 GMT

The results of the blood tests gave me even more conviction that surgery was the wrong route.

When doctors take a tumour away, they cannot take the cancer away completely as it is not a local disease but a symptom of a disease. If cancer is a rogue healing process, as many experts seem to think, taking healthy tissue away at the same time as some cancerous tissue will not cure it! All it will do is start off the healing process yet again: the immune system T cells flock to the operation site, along with cancer cells that are still in the blood.

Before she died, my sister in fact had three operations for her breast cancer. If they had “got it all” the first time around, then why did she need to go in for a second breast removal later, and then a removal of a tumour in her shoulder? Considering this along with the fact that she also had reconstruction surgery, it’s no wonder the cancer had spread throughout her body before she died.

I told my daughter of my diagnosis after I had seen the nutritionist, so I was able to give her encouraging news at the same time. She is a terrible worrier and I wanted to reassure her that I was going to be OK.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Click here to read her earlier posts.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

How I Learned About Alternative Cancer Treatments

Sue Insole — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:28:00 GMT

After a bit of searching on some Internet sites, I found the article about apricot kernels that I vaguely remembered from before. I read avidly, and needed to find out more. I sent for books, and that weekend I started to chew apple pips (which contain B17) and ordered apricot kernels, thinking that it could only help if I started taking them too. If nothing else, it might help me recover from the operation.

When I saw the nurse I told her I was looking at alternatives, but she didn’t seem very positive about it or think it would help much. In the end I agreed to go into hospital in a month’s time for the surgery.

We were having good summer weather, and my husband Peter and I went down to the beach and to various other places, trying to put the dreaded subject on the back burner. I cried a lot at times and raged about it at others. I had already lost Emma, my sister Diane, and my Dad, and now this disease wanted to take me too!

I remember sitting on the beach close to where we live when the nurse rang with the actual date for the operation, which put a whole dampener on the day, as it had still seemed unreal until then.

The books arrived, and I practically devoured them. I just knew that there had to be something else besides what they were proposing to get rid of the cancer. I read about several people who had recovered from cancer using B17, and I had already spoken with several people from the place that sold me the kernels about medical treatment and its drawbacks. All of this was giving me a bad feeling about the imminent operation.

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 tells us how she made the most important decision of her life.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

What the Doctor Said

Sue Insole — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:37:00 GMT

When my appointment with the consultant came around, I went with much trepidation, but at the same time was anxious to get it over with so I could know the worst.

My worst fears were confirmed when the consultant explained that because they had found some cancerous cells that were starting to come through from the original site in the ducts of the breast, it was no longer DCIS (or Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) but Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. It was a slow growing type and was at stage 1-2. He told me that there was a good likelihood that the cancer could be stopped by removing my left breast and some of the lymph nodes would be removed for testing at the same time. There may also be the possibility of taking Taxoxifen for a while afterwards if the cancer was oestrogen dependent.

I instinctively said “NO!” as soon as he said this, and my husband asked if there was anything else they could do besides this as it seemed such a drastic step to take for such a small area that had not been causing me any bother up until now. He sadly shook his head and repeated what he had told me.

I hadn’t put much thought into it up until then but at the back of my mind I vaguely remembered something I had read about an alternative treatment involving apricots and apple seeds, but couldn’t remember what.

I said I would go away and think about it, and would give my answer in a few days. He said that time was of the essence and it should not be left for too long.

Arrangements were made for the breast care nurse to call in a few days’ time and go over what the operation would entail. “Don’t worry,” the consultant said as we left, “We’ll look after you”. Somehow I wasn’t reassured.

This post is part of a weekly series in which Sue Insole describes her health journey. Her first post, The Letter Every Woman Dreads, describes the painful process of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Next week, Sue discusses the impact her condition had on her family, and explains how she started to think about alternative treatments.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.

The Letter Every Woman Dreads

Sue Insole — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 12:06:00 GMT

I will never forget the day I received the letter that every woman who has been for a routine mammogram dreads. I was called back to undergo a further scan as they found something that looked suspicious. I had noticed that my left nipple was starting to go inverted slightly – but it had been this way for about a year and up until then had not paid it much attention. However, I now began to get very worried. I put a brave face on it for my husband’s sake, but I remember sitting in my garden after I received the letter, looking around at all the flowers in bloom and wondering if I would still be here to see them all again the following year.

I had good reason to feel so pessimistic. My daughter had died when she was only 20, just two months into her chemotherapy treatment for Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996, and this had been devastating. One of my older sisters had died after her treatment for breast cancer in 1990 and my dad had also died after he was operated on for stomach cancer in 1981. A good friend of mine had died as well after they tried to burn her breast cancer away with radiotherapy 10 years before, so I was not feeling very confident about any of the medical treatment options that were open to me.

I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps treatments had improved since then and decided to put it out of my mind until my appointment came around. On the day of the appointment, I remember very clearly that the second time my left breast was placed in the machine (they could not get a clear picture the first time), I felt a sharp pain that made me cry out when the plates squeezed together. It remained throbbing for several hours afterwards. After this, I had another scan – this time with an ultrasound – and then a needle biopsy to take some of the cells from the area.

Everyone was very caring and kind, and at the end of all these tests I was told I did indeed have breast cancer. The biopsy site was dressed and I rejoined my husband out in the waiting room. One look at me was enough to realise that the worst possible scenario had happened. We went for a walk through the park as I could not face being around people, and we talked about my appointment with the consultant in a few days’ time. I was trying to put a brave face on it and decided not to tell my daughter or anyone else until I got my head around it. I was numb at this stage, but still pinned all my hopes on cancer treatments being more advanced. After all, hadn’t I heard so many stories from the media about all the various breakthroughs?

Next week, Sue discusses her feelings as she received bad news about the treatment options for her cancer.

Click here to get an email update when Sue writes her next post.