Dr. Lorraine Day
Dr. Day was one of the first women I researched for this series. She is also probably the most famous and controversial. She beat a complicated and gruesome breast cancer diagnosis, and her pictures speak for themselves.
Alternative Breast Cancer Survivors: Marilyn
Marilyn Brent
Today’s survivor story is an absolutely uplifting and detailed narrative. She discusses her Stage II/III diagnosis, her kids’ reaction, her family’s history with breast cancer, her alternative protocol of choice, and her remission! Marilyn’s attitude of optimism is contagious and a perfect read for someone who is currently pursuing alternative therapies. Like my own story, her faith took a front row seat to everything else.
Alternative Breast Cancer Survivors: Ann
Ann Fonfa
I became strongly interested in Ann after reading her story in the book, “I Beat Cancer: 50 People Tell You How They Did It.” It turns out she is from my home town in South Florida and is very active in the Anti-Cancer community all over the world. She founded the Annie Appleseed Project, a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness to alternative and complementary cancer therapies.
Alternative Breast Cancer Survivors: Gayle and Gloria
Gayle Cranford and Gloria Applegate
The two women you will read about today each chose various forms of conventional treatment to start their cancer fight with, but along the way they began to become aware of the effectiveness of alternative therapies and shifted their focus towards natural healing. These are their stories.
Alternative Breast Cancer Survivors: Susan
Susan Stevenson
I found Susan through the Cancer Control Society’s list of survivors and gave her a call. She was so welcoming and we had a wonderful conversation, relating over our survival stories. After chatting with her for a while, I told her I was particularly impressed by her age when diagnosed, 54. It is well known in the alternative cancer “world” that age is a big factor in making a decision to forgo conventional treatment. Typically, the older we get, our immune systems weaken further and it becomes more difficult to fight illness. Even at 54, Susan responded very well to her alternative protocol and continues to be cancer free after 13 years.
Alternative Breast Cancer Survivors
Alternative/Holistic Breast Cancer Survivors
As pink ribbons pop up all over this month, I want to give special tribute to those breast cancer survivors that took a road less traveled. After being diagnosed with cancer, terrified patients turn to their doctors for guidance and reassurance that things will be okay. What you do next is what will set your journey apart. The women in this series are different because they challenged the standard recommendation of just surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation and dug deep down inside for what they needed to do to beat their cancer. These are their stories.
My Aunt Toni “Belinda”
Toni Hurd Dowdy, 1958-2011
My Aunt Toni would be embarrassed if she knew I published her middle name on the internet. She was my mom’s identical twin, both born on April Fool’s Day, 1958 in Miami, the 6th and 7th of 8 children born to my grandparents. Named Toni “Belinda”, for her “Twin B” status, we would always joke about my mom’s less glamorous middle name, “Ann” and for her luck of being “Twin A.” Aunt Toni was so beautiful in both her spirit and body. I want to honor her by telling her story.
Online Alternative Cancer Support
When I posted my “A Day in the Life: “Facing the Critics” post last week, I know it must have left some of you feeling unsupported by the online cancer community in your holistic cancer endeavors. However, fear not! There are several excellent online support systems out there that are accepting and supportive towards Alternative/ Holistic Cancer protocols and more conservative treatments…
A Day in the Life: The “3-Day” Cancer-Fighting Meal Plan
PART 5: THREE DAYS OF CANCER FIGHTING FOODS
I know many of you have heard of the “3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer” also known simply as “The 3-Day.” Well, this is my own “3-Day”: The 3 Day ‘Eat’ for the Cure!” When I was fighting my cancer I tried excessively hard to eat ONLY foods that had cancer fighting abilities. It became obvious to me that the foods that DO fight cancer are the ones we don’t eat much of.
Eating to BEAT cancer was a huge wake up call. I had to tune in to foods that I had never eaten before or had eaten and decided didn’t taste so great, for EVERY MEAL OF THE DAY. There were days that I would stare into the open fridge and shut it several times before finally deciding on something to chew on. This experience inspired today’s post, designed for anyone who is eating a raw-vegan diet along with other alternative therapies to beat their cancer.
A Day in the Life: Facing the Critics of Alternative Cancer Treatment
PART 4: FACING THE CRITICS OF ALTERNATIVE CANCER TREATMENT
I NEVER want my blog to be about negativity towards conventional cancer treatment, but I ALWAYS want people to be aware of the option for and the efficacy of alternative cancer treatment.
I had always known that alternative cancer treatment was looked at as “shady”, “unproven,” or “snake oil,” BUT I had never experienced a mine field of skepticism like I did earlier this year when I went on a popular cancer support forum to offer my support and share my experience by sharing my newly created Green Drink Diaries blog. Immediately after leaving my post, several pages of angry replies followed, resulting in my post being banned from the support forum by the moderator. Eventually the entire thread was deleted. Do you want to know what I posted to get this response from people? Read on for the full conversation…