Surviving Cancer and other Potholes : Cancer journey continues

I AM no stranger to beginnings or endings; in fact I always find myself somewhere in the middle, still standing but never standing still. I would love to end this series by declaring myself cancer free but the reality is my journey continues.
The next step of prescribed treatment after Chemotherapy is radiation, as is the protocol for treating the majority of cancer in Guyana; for breast cancer patients it is a given. Here’s where it gets controversial for me and I declare this is an opinion I have reached off my own research and while I am free to share it, I am not encouraging anyone to deviate from their doctors’ orders.

Everyone is different and so is their cancer; each cancer responds to treatment differently even if seemingly the same. No two cancer cases are ever alike. That being said and understood the “Lets treat all cancers the same approach” by leading health institutions in Guyana does not make sense to me.
Some cancers such as mine can become even more aggressive after chemo and radiation, a chance I knew I was taking when I did eight rounds of Chemotherapy. Unfortunately, my chemotherapy was not successful in stopping the spread of my cancer. More Chemotherapy and Radiation, recommended as the next step to do what the first set of treatment could not do. Radiation is something we are told is harmful to our bodies, “don’t stand in front of the microwave”, “ Don’t do CT scans less than 3 months apart” so it seems ironic that the very thing that causes cancer would be used in cancer prevention and treatment.
Obviously, more research went into this than what I’ve mentioned and that’s where I encourage readers to seek their own information, I will never tell someone to do xyz because my foundation of understanding is based on and limited to my own experiences and enlightenment. I have decided to forgo radiation in exchange for a complete diet and lifestyle overhaul– nutrition being something local oncologists never discuss with patients; instead they will tell you to eat what you want possibly in the hope to keep your patronage…perhaps?

The local medical climate in my estimation is one lacking in ethics and empathy, cancer is big business for pharmaceutical companies and bigger business for third world doctors. Yes, I dare to say what most of us already know. Now if we could only get our mediocre public health care up to scratch, then the private health care wouldn’t make such a killing. A three-month waiting list to have an ultrasound done at the GPHC is just not good enough. Doctors do not seem to work with Nutritionists. Advising cancer patients on dietary and lifestyle changes is very important to keeping us in good health and this component is clearly lacking in our local medical approach to oncology. A comprehensive approach to dealing with cancer (and health generally) is what we are lacking in Guyana.
Eat organic, laugh daily, stay fit and most of all keep learning and keep growing mentally. Knowledge, in the ethos of misinformation, is the best weapon against cancer and other deadly diseases. I end this series in my third year of cancer diagnosis thus: I continue to thrive and not just survive.

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