interferes with their normal communication and growth-control mechanisms, so the cells grow uncontrollably. To rid the body of cancer, we must shut down this process by removing the conditions that support it.
Cellular malfunction is what disease is all about; it’s what causes all symptoms, whatever disease you may have. There are only two causes of cellular malfunction: deficiency and toxicity. Either cells are getting too little of what they need or too much of something they don’t need.
The human body is a truly magnificent self-regulating, self-repairing, and self-healing machine. It knows how to get well and stay well—if only we would provide the support it needs. Rather than attacking symptoms, we have only to assist the body by supplying cells with all the nutrients they need and keeping them free of toxins that can interfere with their proper functions.
We have much more control over our health than is widely believed, and we don’t need to fear cancer or any other disease. It is possible to prevent and reverse most disease simply by supporting “the doctor within” and allowing the body to do what it already knows how to do.
To learn more about how to prevent and reverse cancer, read Never Fear Cancer Again.
In 2000, I found detailed descriptions for many alternative treatments in the book titled Options: The Alternative Cancer Therapy Book. The author, Richard Walters, compiled a comprehensive list of treatments by doctors, scientists and other health care professionals. He included the theorists and their theories as well as protocols, research and outcomes. A few of the treatment options that I reviewed and considered 11 years ago are summarized at the end of this chapter on page 27. These brief descriptions are inadequate to describe the protocols and theories by the experts who developed them.
The newer book, Outsmart Your Cancer, by Tanya Harter Pierce also describes many of these treatment approaches and some new ones. Suzanne Somers’s book, KNOCKOUT, includes interviews with prominent doctors who use innovative approaches to treating cancer. Research continues to support the effectiveness of alternative and integrative cancer treatment approaches (used independently or in conjunction with conventional treatment).
Time to Take a Stand
The world of alternative cancer treatments had to be explored and evaluated in a short period of time. A woman on a mission, I had to find the best way to treat my cancer. I kept my feelings in check while I immersed myself in the research. I really could not accomplish this task in a few months, but I gave it my best shot. If ever I needed a divine intervention, it was then. I put forth my plea for help as I faced this mountain of life-enhancing therapeutic approaches. Each treatment approach appeared to have something of value to offer. A picture was forming in my mind about how emotions, thoughts, nutrition, spiritual practice, physical environment and lifestyle influence the body’s biochemistry. I learned that the medical establishment labeled many alternative approaches as quackery. They threatened and closed down doctors who were getting too powerful outside of the established procedures and theories. They forced some doctors to go underground or leave the country. A few fought back and won.
Because of all this controversy, I had to be on this journey without much guidance and support in 2000. I felt like I was dealing in the “cancer black market.” Some of the time I felt sad about this situation, and other times I felt really angry. Too many people were dying of cancer, and no one seemed to have the answers. I would have hoped that for the greater good of healing cancer, the two worlds could merge and learn from one another. But it was not happening then and still is not happening now. I approached my own healing with the desire to understand how my body broke down to produce cancer and how my soul and lifestyle may have contributed to this dilemma. I chose to take myself out of the box imposed on me by the medical power structure and find treatment options that made sense for me and my finances.
Alternative Treatment Statistics
•According to the National Cancer Institute’s 2007 Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Cancer Treatment PDQ®, a large survey of cancer survivors reported 38.3% of adults (about 4 in 10) used complementary and alternative medicine.
•This 2007 PDQ® reported 61% used prayer and spiritual practice, 44% relaxation, 42% faith and spiritual healing, and 40% nutritional supplements and vitamins.
•According to a 2005 study conducted at Ohio State University, about 70% of adults fifty or older used some kind of alternative medicine, such as acupuncture and herbal medicine. This is higher than the general adult population.
•According to The World Health Organization, an estimated 65% to 80% of the world’s population (about 3 billion people) relies on holistic medicine as their primary form of health care. (Reported by Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Holistic Health Care Facts and Statistics, www.disabled-world.com, January 16, 2009).
•Newsweek (December 2002) reported that Americans make more visits to holistic health care providers (some 600 million a year) than to MDs and spend more money out-of-pocket to do so, about $30 billion a year.
With a commitment to find my own answers and chart my own course, I intended to discover how I could improve my health. The messages of fear and control within the medical establishment would not stop me. I spent six weeks before my surgery learning all I could from people, books and magazines. Whenever I could speak with someone who had success with an alternative treatment, I listened and learned. One of my former clients with breast cancer chose not to have any traditional treatment. She went to a doctor who treated her cancer naturally. Her tumor and cancer disappeared. When I met her ten years after her diagnosis, she told me she was still cancer free. The truth that cancer is a systemic problem took root in my awareness. Her story inspired me to take some risks and follow my gut instincts.
Along with my research, I contacted Nicole, an intuitive, who was excellent at picking up clues about the future and giving me wise guidance. In the past she had been right about many important life decisions. If I ever needed her to be a guiding light for me, it was now. I was inundated with information and had to decide how I wanted to deal with my cancer. Nicole came through for me again, but when I hung up from our one-hour consultation, I was laughing out loud and walking around the house repeating, “Oh my God!” She described a short, male, bald-headed doctor about 200 hundred miles from my home. OK, I was living in the southeastern San Francisco Bay area. I could not drive that far west, but north, south and east covered a lot of possibilities. She saw me driving three to four hours to his office. He would help me, and that was all the information she could provide.
Wow! How on earth was I going to find this man? I could not even comprehend how to begin. This felt like a treasure hunt to me. A few days later, I decided I could not do it because it would require finding “a needle in a haystack” of possibilities. So, I told the Universe: “You need to bring me the information that will lead me to this doctor who will play a major role in my healing.”
Nicole also saw a female Hawaiian healer that would be helpful. Well, that one was a little more tangible. I knew who she was, but I had no idea how I was going to track her down. It was Auntie Margaret on the big island of Hawaii. I had read a magazine article about her 12 years prior to my cancer diagnosis. The article described her internal cleansing program for cancer patients.
After speaking with Nicole, I began to get more clarity. All my investigating was paying off. My three-step healing program began to emerge in my mind. I began to develop “Sandy’s treatment plan,” which had three distinct phases: have a mastectomy, boost the immune system with an integrative cancer specialist, and participate in a deep cleansing program to detoxify my body. Of course, I would do the deep emotional, mental and spiritual cleansing as
