TO SQUISH OR NOT TO SQUISH?

THERMOGRAPHY VS. MAMMOGRAPHY

Breast cancer can be a scary illness and I believe it is crucial that we learn ways to help ourselves
through it or to learn ways to protect ourselves through increased awareness. I never thought it would
happen in my family, but of course I am sure there are many of us who don't. At any rate it did!
I remember the exact moment when my mother called me back on October 15, 2008; it is a memory
etched into my memory. Mom was 81, having just celebrated her birthday on October 1st. As she
relayed the news, I marveled that she was more composed than I was. I was devastated for her and I
didn't want to believe what she was saying. To be honest I just didn't want to hear the words she was
speaking, and it all just filled my head as muffled noise.
Over the course of the next few weeks to come, I researched the various treatments she was likely going
to encounter. What a surprise when she announced to her three daughters that she didn't want to
undergo chemotherapy or radiation, since these treatments would kill her quicker than the breast
cancer itself. Personally, I was opposed, I worried that she would suffer way too much to leave the
cancer alone and untreated.
Alternatives to traditional treatments?
We had discussions with her, amongst us sisters, and a treatment called Cyber Knife was discussed and
then opted the compromise choice of therapy which she was willing to do. Below, I have included an
article I came across which details exactly what Cyber Knife procedure is and how it worked on a specific
patient. Apparently, not everyone is a candidate for it, but it may be an option for a loved one you
know(www.everydayhealth.com, cyberknife.com)
In 2002, the FDA approved Cyber Knife, a minimally-invasive radiosurgery system, for the treatment of
most cancers, but until more recently, it has not been used in the treatment of breast cancer. In a
small trial at Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle in 2009, led by Sandra Vermeulen, MD, doctors found
"very little in the way of side effects. There was some fatigue, there were no skin burns, there was
very little swelling, there was no injury to the chest wall or the lung, or the underlying heart."
Alexis Vanden Bos of Seattle, who received her treatment after the trial, had similarly positive things
to say about her experience: "Yeah, it took a little effort. I had a little swelling, but it is amazing the
difference. It was as though I almost didnt have radiation. Doing the CyberKnife was fantastic, I cant
even describe how easy it was."
Until Cyber Knife, partial breast irradiation had been limited to external beam radiation or
brachytherapy, a technique using either a balloon or needles and catheters to deliver localized
radiation. In comparison, CyberKnife uses gold markers as guides. Surgeons place them in the area to
be treated and use them to deliver radiation "within one or two millimeters of accuracy" according to
Dr. Vermeulen. Despite enthusiasm from patients like Vanden Bos, her doctor, Patricia Dawson, MD,
cautions, It is not an option for every single woman ... but for carefully selected patients, its going to
be a great option."
After her treatments, Mom seemed very up beat and she saw some difference, but in her case it didn't
make a significant change, so the cancer kept spreading. She had developed it in her lymph node
initially and it was the size of a apricot when she found it. That in itself blew me away, because it wasn't
a small lump, by any means, and this could have been caught earlier! My mother just didn't check
herself, nor was she seeing a Gynocologist on a regular basis. She felt that because of her advancing age,
that a regular checkup wasn't necessary. Please let me say this, it is VERY NECESSARY!
My mom didn't pursue much else to combat this disease, she was introduced to some homeopathic
treatments, but at the stage she started it, it was too far gone to again make any significant change.
Homeopathic has a place in helping us fight these type of diseases, but getting on them early enough is
important. At any rate my mother lost her battle to this disease on January 10, 2011. I still struggle with
the loss, thinking that if she had only let the doctors try harder for her, for they certainly wanted to, that
a better outcome might have ensued. In the end, since she had already outlived my Dad, its possible
that she may have just given up the fight, and once you make up your mind to not carry on, there is not
much else any one can do about it.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
I wanted to share just a little bit on how breast cancer touched my life and a few things I have been
doing for my self. First of all, I have seen a homeopathic doctor in the past and one thing that was
discovered was that I have a slow lymphatic system. To help that I can stimulate my lymphatic system
by jumping on a trampoline and if you don't have one you can also bounce up and down on the balls of
your feet.
For underarm deodorant I use mineral salts; THAI, and CRYSTAL are two of the products I have used. I no
longer put an antiperspirant on. Unlike most commercially available deodorants, the mineral salts do
not contain aluminum chlorhydrate. Our bodies do not need aluminum in our systems and it can be
harmful since we can not break it down or excrete it out of our lymphatic systems.
The salts help control under arm perspiration and mask any odor. I have been using these products for
over 6 years now. I have also since had a breast exam with a treatment called Thermography. It isn't
usually covered by insurance, but is very thorough, no pain, and cost about $200 out of pocket. Not a
huge price to pay by any means! There is controversy on this screening process, but for women 40 and
younger, it is an option since most doctors won't recommend a mammography unless you are older
than 40. I am attaching a part of an article that addresses this type of screening. My belief is that doing
one or the other or both for that matter only helps us to use all tools that are availed to us to help us
better monitor our health. (www.everydayhealth.com, cyberknife.com)
Thermography detects abnormalities based on increased heat production and detection from cancer
cells compared to normal tissues. Studies from the 1960s and 1970s clearly demonstrated the
technique as inferior in terms of specific detection for cancer and even more importantly for poor
sensitivity (in other words, cancers were missed frequently) when compared to conventional
mammograms. With new technology, however, there is a bit of a renaissance for thermography in
breast cancer detection. The studies are ongoing, and it will be interesting to see if thermography will
be added to the radiology toolbox for breast cancer as a standard technique. It is still too early to tell.
It sounds like you suspect that this technology is not pursued because of cost. I doubt it. I would
estimate that thermography is likely to be significantly more expensive than mammography, which is
relatively inexpensive to do. (I will concede, however, that nothing medical is cheap!)
One final point of clarification: We in the medical community do not screen for breast cancer in
women younger than 40 because the tests currently used are much more likely to find benign things
than actual cancer in this group of women. This is why the insurance companies dont cover the exam.
Truthfully, we are much more likely to do harm through false alarms and unnecessary biopsies
than we are to catch early cases of breast cancer. However, for women over 40 years of age, the
evidence is clear that screening tests like mammograms actually help.
Women under 40 may be screened (with full coverage by most insurance plans) in certain
circumstances: if there is strong family history, a known genetic mutation that causes breast cancer,
or a previous breast cancer. Furthermore, insurance companies will cover mammograms for diagnostic
purposes for example, if a woman actually has a mass that she has self-diagnosed.
Breast cancer has touched my family, as it as many others. We have come a long way, and thankfully
many lives have been saved because of the great awareness that has been raised. For that, I am very
grateful! There are many other articles on these two screening methods, but many still claim that
mammography is the GOLD standard. At any rate, to squish or not to squish will be a personal choice at
best. Personally, I think I may decide to alternate the two.
I am attaching photos of the two deodorants I use in case some one may be interested in switching to
this form of deodorant protection.
Thanks for your time and hope you will join me again on the topic, Cursed by Anxiety!