In this section of my website I will discuss alternative treatments, from supplements to meditation that I have tried and have helped me. For Breast Cancer patients it is advisable to check with you oncologist or breast care nurse that it is ok to take anything that I mention. Some supplements can in stop conventional treatment from working to its full capacity.
In January 2011, I started a new chemotherapy treatment, which is in pill form and given on a 3 weekly cycle that I have to take morning and evening for 14 days and then have a 7 day rest period before starting again. Along with this new chemo, I also have to take huge horse tablets of Lapatinib everyday without any rest periods. The Lapatinib is another treatment that is now used other than Herceptin, which is for HER2 receptive breast cancers. So after going through hard IV chemo twice before, I thought by taken tablets at home, this treatment was going to be a doddle…. Ooh was I wrong.
Onthe 2nd day of taking this new treatment, I started with terrible headaches, and diahrea. By the evening the headaches had got so bad that I couldn’t even lift my head up and it progressed to severe eye and ear ache. By day 3, I was so bad that by the evening I refused to take anymore. Thehospital gave me extra strong morphine pain killers to combat some of the side effects, and they would assess the situation after I'd finished my first cycle. The side effects that I had was Diahrea, Vomiting, Stomach Cramps, Tiredness, Sweats, Headaches, Ear Ache, Eye Pressure, Dehydration, Chest Pains, Dizziness to the point of almost passing out, really dry scaly skin. spots and endless crying. I had no quality of life. 16 out of 21 days of the cycle, I was in bed. I wanted to stay on this chemo so that one day I could say that I beat the odds of this so called incurable cancer, but how do i get my body to be able to tolerate it. This is where; I decided that I needed to do something, and so far it has worked.
