TREATMENT

When faced with a breast cancer diagnosis, the only treatments offered are radiation, chemotherapy or mastectomy. These treatments are either toxic or invasive and all are life-changing. In making my own treatment decisions I explored all of these treatments in depth. In Empowered, I share with you the information and facts I discovered that you will not hear from your doctors. The research I share will help you make a fully informed decision about the treatment that is best for your specific type of breast cancer. It will help you avoid toxic treatments that may offer no long term benefits and instead may create other health problems, including cancer. It will provide you with an understanding of how and why some changes in diet and lifestyle may actually offer better results.

In writing Empowered, I surveyed many women with breast cancer. The one finding that stood out most, was the fact that those women who relied solely on information provided by their doctor, and did no extensive research on their own, knew the least about their specific type of breast cancer. They also received incomplete information on the risks and side effects associated with the treatments they underwent. While they said they felt fully informed, in fact they were the least informed. From my own experience I know how important it is to be able to read and understand your own pathology report. In Empowered, I show you how to read your pathology report, how to research medical studies and how not to be mislead by deceptive "percentages" quoted for the efficacy of many treatments.

It is also important for all women to understand the control the pharmaceutical companies have in medicine today. This control begins with your doctor's education and continues through every prescription and treatment recommended. Many oncologists actually receive bonuses called "kickbacks" for every chemotherapy patient. Some groups are trying to make this practice illegal. In September of this year (2009) Pfizer made it's fourth settlement of the decade with the US government for healthcare fraud. This $2.3 million settlement (the largest in US Justice Department history) was for Pfizer's illegal marketing of drugs to doctors for unapproved uses. The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and the US Food and Drug Administration also have direct ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I want women to understand these deadly links so that they can make sure to get the right treatment, not just the most profitable one.

Newly detected forms of "breast cancer" called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) are routinely being treated with radiation. This was my initial diagnosis. I learned that this treatment is controversial. DCIS is a pre-cancerous condition that does not necessarily progress to invasive breast cancer. Most women are not told this fact. Empowered will explain the controversy and connect you with the research and information to help you determine your risk of DCIS progressing to invasive cancer. Once you know your risk factor, only then can you make the best treatment decision.

Radiation and chemotherapy are both toxic treatments. Neither can kill all cancer cells as many women are led to believe. Both of these standard treatments have serious long and short term side effects and complications: some life threatening. Before agreeing to either of these treatments, women should know all the facts. Empowered dedicates a separate chapter to each treatment option and along with presenting critical information, provides many resources for further research. Mastectomy is also covered in detail. Find out when a mastectomy is clearly the best treatment.

Many women are afraid to question their doctors--especially when it relates to a complicated subject such as breast cancer. Empowered will change your mind. By hearing my story--- of how one simple question kept me from receiving a treatment that would have prevented my invasive breast cancer tumor from being discovered until it had spread--- you will understand how important it is to do your own research and to question your doctors.

My goal is to provide women with a clear understanding of all topics related to breast cancer. I explain how to do research and what information is important and what is not. In Empowered I give you the Web sites, books, magazines, medical studies and Google searches to expand your own research on all topics covered in the book. I provide you with information you need to know, but are unlikely to find elsewhere.

Here are just a few things covered in Empowered that you will not learn from your doctor:

Taxanes (a widely used and very toxic chemotherapy drug for breast cancer) has now been determined by the National Cancer Institute to be ineffective for certain types of breast cancer. These drugs are still continuing to be prescribed by most oncologists.

Specific foods containing growth hormones should be avoided by all women with hormone receptive breast cancer.

Did you know that in order for chemotherapy drugs to be considered “effective” they only need to create some change in a tumor for 28 days?

One class of anti-depressant drugs doubles a woman’s risk of breast cancer. Another class of anti-depressants renders Tamoxifen ineffective (Tamoxifen is given to women with hormone receptive breast cancers)

Radiation and chemotherapy cannot kill all cancer cells and the damage they cause to healthy cells may cause another cancer to start.

Radiation to the breast causes tissue damage which makes a recurrence harder to detect.

Many personal care products contain substances known to cause breast cancer.

Specific supplements have been identified and studied showing an ability to prevent metastases.

Taking Vitamin D can decrease your risk of Breast cancer by 50%.

Both radiation and chemotherapy can cause heart damage.

Breast cancer doesn’t just happen. By understanding the causes, it can be prevented. If you’ve already been diagnosed with breast cancer, fully understanding your specific type of breast cancer is crucial. That understanding will allow you to make appropriate treatment decisions. Knowing the risks and benefits associated with each treatment is also necessary in making treatment decisions. Radiation, chemotherapy or mastectomy alone may not prevent a recurrence. Determining what health factors may have caused your breast cancer, and correcting those that you can, is the most effective defense against breast cancer.