Cancer treatment

It is with deep appreciation to Dick Schwartz for his development of the Internal Family Systems model that I submit this article. I will briefly outline the basic tenants of the IFS model. First and foremost is his belief that every human being has an essential Self that knows how to guide the individual with compassionate wisdom when not overwhelmed by parts that manifest as conflicting thoughts, beliefs and feelings that may evoke feelings of vulnerability and internal turmoil. Dr. Schwartz speaks of three general groups.

Managers, (roles) that run our everyday lives, these parts endeavor to keep the individual in control of every situation and relationship to “save face” so to speak. Firefighters, these parts take over when vulnerable feelings threaten to surface or to flood the individual with feelings. Common firefighter behaviors can be over-eating or drinking, defenses such as dissociation or hurting oneself, any reaction or behavior that attempts to calm down internal feelings. Exiles, vulnerable parts or old wounds that are trying to protect themselves and/or the entire self-system from further wounding such as being seen as weak or needy.

As synchronicity would have it, I was in the middle of the Seattle IFS advanced training (2003-2004) program when diagnosed with breast cancer. The diagnosis was scary enough but nothing compared to the terrifying recommendations of a lumpectomy, a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy treatments. These treatments are administered via a port that would be surgically inserted under the skin in my chest topped off by a seven week daily course of radiation. It seemed at first, that nothing in my spiritual experience prepared me for this ominous journey. Moreover, childhood parts that had been physically and sexually abused were threatening to overwhelm my entire system just thinking about the protracted treatment process.

The exiled parts (wounded parts) that experienced the early abuse have had many opportunities over the years to unburden via telling their stories, retrieving parts through psychodrama and being witnessed. These parts, for the most part, have developed a trusting and cooperative relationship with the overall internal family system. Because my self system no longer experiences flash backs, intrusive thoughts of the early abuse, dissociative episodes, unwarranted shame and guilt or continuously drain emotional energy from me, I was unprepared for the force with which an exile part or parts threatened to overwhelm the Self and other parts by situations that approximated earlier feeling states.

For example, as a very young child, I was often locked in a tiny room for long periods of time, which frequently culminated in physical abuse. So, when I underwent a type of nuclear bone scan (how scary does that sound) floods of familiar anxiety and fear came over me. I was placed into a tube-like machine and was physically restrained unable to move my body or arms. I could feel the panic rise in my throat. Instead of dissociating, as I would have done in the past, I began to cry. The technician actually stopped the machine and asked why I was crying (this whole episode happened in about 30 seconds). I KNEW that he could not comfort me and that it was up to me to calm myself down. I thanked him for his concern and asked him to please give me a minute. I was able to gently remind the terrified parts of my current age, to reassure them that I was strong, tall (just kidding) and able to attend to them. I could feel the warmth begin to pour through me as parts slowly started to relax with assurance that they were safe and not alone.

In the past these exile parts would have been polarized with managing parts that would aggressively restrict all feelings and body sensations believing them to be dangerous to the entire system. Moreover, I felt disgusted with these parts for being weak and acting stupid or for needing anything. As a result, I have struggled with several reactive and addictive firefighting parts. While manager parts would constrict feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations, firefighter parts would defend the internal system by dissociating. Consequently, every single experience that I have “gotten through” by restricting myself or dissociating has ultimately resulted in feelings of shame and guilt for the inability to act vs. react. By restricting myself so tightly, I was unable to respond to a new situation from a position of creativity or spontaneity. Who would have thought that a scary bone scan procedure that elicited tears would ultimately leave me with feelings of satisfaction and well being? I understood at a deep level that as long as my internal family system is working together we are a unifying force that can deal with life on life’s terms.

What a tribute to the IFS model that throughout the long treatment process, concurrent with tremendous feelings of fear, I was simultaneously blessed with a type of “inner knowingness”. While I very much wanted to live, it would be ok if I did not continue to live. I KNEW that a much larger connectedness prevailed. At times, I had profound feelings of gratitude, clarity and compassion for everyone around me. It was as if I fell in love with all of them, including strangers, as I watched both their personal struggles and their endeavors to support me through my process.

The following is another example of how Self intervened with a compassionate and creative solution to fears of the impending chemotherapy treatments. Scared parts wondered how to incorporate the recommended visualization without “blowing up” the “evil” cancer cells. Guidance came in the form of a dream the evening before the first treatment.

THE DREAM

She began her journey to the hospital as she climbed into the small car. She was startled to see hundreds of starfish-like creatures. They displayed exquisitely vivid multi colors. They were friendly, cheerful and fun albeit noisy as they were all trying to communicate at once, each wanting her to know them. The woman felt overwhelming compassion for these odd, beautiful little creatures. They made her laugh. She beseeched the driver not to move the car until she could get the little ones to depart. They were everywhere. They were on the seats, under the seats, in the glove compartment, hanging on the doors both inside and outside of the car. They were even under the tires. They had not a clue of their impending danger. They would be smashed to bits if the driver moved the car. The woman felt deeply connected to these curious little creatures and intuitively knew that they meant no harm. They were simply and totally self-absorbed in the maintenance of their own life force. The woman awoke feeling strong and refreshed.

When I awoke, I pondered the nature of cells and recalled reading somewhere that cells are the building blocks of the body. In fact there are some 50 trillion, give or take, a million here and there. Inherent in the life of a cell is an intricate process known as cell division. It is somewhere within the cycle of cell division that a cancer cell runs riot. The precise precipitation of a breast cancer cell (always present in the body) to proceed to both MUTATION and INVASION of neighboring cells remains a mystery to be solved by the medical/scientific profession. All possible heretofore explanations aside, we now have a cell with a behavioral problem. A cell that does not play well with others, in fact, mutating into a type of aggressive gang member mentality that rapidly MUTATES and CLONES itself into more gang members Their adventures eventually lead to invasion of neighboring turfs.

Part of this “gang” mentality is to ignore all of the normal, agreed upon social rules which govern their old communities of cells. They totally disregard cooperation and how a “community” should be formed and maintained for the highest good of the entire system. They do not understand the impact of their choices on neighboring cells. Dr. Lewis Thomas says that “Disease usually results from inconclusive negotiations for symbiosis, an overstepping of the line by one side or the other, a biologic misinterpretation of borders”. (pg. 76. The Lives of a Cell). I was struck by the similarities of the invading cancer cells and some of the impulsive and often frantic nature of firefighter parts when they reach their reactive and destructive states.

At the hospital the next day, as the nurse prepared to administer the medication through the catheter-type device, I visualized angels standing just to the right of me. They were holding large soft nets made of silk. I explained to the beautiful starfish like creatures that they were in great danger of being killed by incoming chemicals and they had to leave my body at once. I would mentally show them the way out of my body into the loving arms of awaiting angels.

Dawn Novotny LMSW, MTS, CDP, is a breast cancer survivor. She is a psychotherapist in private practice. She specializes in groups and workshops using a combination of Internal Family Systems therapy and psychodrama techniques. Central to her work is the belief that “The soul among all creatures is generative like God is.” Meister Eckhart. 6/15/2006. E-mail address july4@tenforward.com

Breast cancer happens when cells in the breast or a tumor, grow out of control and damages nearby tissue. In women, the most common and fatal type of cancer is breast cancer.

Detection

There are often no symptoms in the early stages. Women should be aware of the screening recommendations and follow them. There are varieties of symptoms that may appear as the tumor grows such as:

- The breast changing in size or shape

- Breast skin becomes pitted or ridged

- Thickening or lump in the underarm or breast

- Discharge from nipple or the nipple turns inward

- Skin on the breast becomes red or scales

If you have any of these symptoms, have yourself examined by a medical professional. This does not mean you have cancer but you defiantly want to have this checked.

Before the age of twenty, is very rare to get it and not often diagnosed in women less than twenty-five years old. The chances of contacting climbs steadily after 25 and peaks around menopause age in women. It increases less after menopause but as they age, the risk to older women gradually increases.

Risk Factors

Nobody really knows what causes this cancer. Some of the elements that are thought to increase the risk are:

Gender: There are more cases of women than men

Weight: Overweight women are at higher risk

Age: From 25 to menopause, the chances increases.

Children: If a woman has not had a child, or had a child after 30

Family History: Women that have a family member that have or had it are at risk.

Male Breast Cancer

Yes, it really does happen. It is certainly not as common as in women but approximately one to 1.5% happens to men. Older men most often diagnosed with it and are between sixty and seventy years old. If a man has had previous exposure to radiation, such as for cancer treatment, their risk increases. Approximately 20% of men with a mother, sister or other close female relatives with breast cancer are certainly at higher risk. Some of the symptoms in men includes swelling or a breast lump, retracted nipple or discharge and scaling or redness of the breast skin or nipple.

Statistics

The statistics are frightening. Each and ever year, over 182,000 women and 16,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer. Over 400 men and 43,300 women will die from this terrible disease. During their lifetime, one woman out of eight has or will get breast cancer. Most people have family or friends that have or had breast cancer. Always give them your support and encouragement.

Epidemiology

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second most common (after lung cancer) cause of death in this group. However, to some extent, it concerns men as well.Different countries in the world have varying incidence of breast cancer. The West Europe countries and the USA have the highest incidence rates, adequately 35-60/100 000 and 65/100 000, whereas the Far East countries have the lowest rate (i.e. in Japan it is five times lower than in the USA).

Risk factors

Risk factors point to increased risk, that is at higher probability of falling ill among specimens of a given population. The most important risk factors include:

1. Woman’s age

Incidence of breast cancer increases with age.

2. Ethnic/geographical factors

These factors, although they have been taken into consideration for years, are extremely difficult to interpret. High breast cancer incidence occurs in the USA and in West Europe, low - in Asian, Far East and African countries. Breast cancer is usually developed in Caucasian women living in a quite cold climate in the highly developed countries. It is dependent upon the influence of the following factors: race, climate, nutrition style, types of the undergone diseases, lifestyle and culture style, family planning, age of the first pregnancy, number of children, breastfeeding’s popularity, etc. Black and yellow women become ill more rarely.

3. Family factors

The more affected relatives and the closer degree of kinship to them, the bigger probability of suffering from cancer. The risk increases, if these tumours occurred in one’s mother and sister under the age of 35 . Genetically determined breast cancer, which amounts to 10% of all the breast tumours, most often being the result of BRCA1, BRCA2, p53 and ATM genes mutation. Breast cancer can also occur in the course of some inheritably associated syndromes, among others in Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Lynch II syndrome, Cowden’s disease, Peutz-Jaeghers syndrome, ataxia-teleangiectasia, Klinefelter syndrome

4. Age of first menstruation and menopause

Appearance of first menses before the age of 12 significantly increases (by about 40%) the risk of breast cancer. Natural menopause appearing after age 55 increases risk of breast cancer twofold. Thus, the most important factor is the total number of years of ovulation activity.

5. Age of first pregnancy and delivery

Women who give birth to their first child in the age of between 20 and 30 have a lower risk of breast cancer. Nulliparous women are more exposed to breast cancer, by almost 50%.

6. Breastfeeding

Women with much lower risk of falling ill protected from breast cancer development by breastfeeding. Even relatively short time of breastfeeding gives some protection

7. Ionising radiation

High doses of X radiation (applied during routine “X-rays”) can cause breast cancer. It is worth to stress that the contemporary mammography apparati expose a woman to a minimal dose of radiation.

8. Alcohol and diet

Excessive alcohol consumption for a long period of time increases the risk of breast cancer development, because the liver damage impairs estrogen metabolism (high estrogen concentration increases the risk of falling ill). It is suspected that one of the factors, which increases the breast cancer risk, is food with high content of saturated fat

9. Obesity

Obesity increases the risk of breast cancer development, as it is more difficult to find breast changes in obese people . moreover, fat cells produce estrogens

10. Exogenous hormones (hormone contraceptives)

It is believed that oral contraceptives (which include mainly estrogens), even if they are connected with breast cancer, act as a factor facilitating and accelerating the development of the disease, which has already appeared, rather than a factor causing genetic mutations and evoking disease. It is also believed that pills that are made only of progesterone and so called „minipills” don’t increase the breast cancer risk. The pills may increase the risk in genetically loaded women or women using oral contraceptives for at least 8 years until first pregnancy. It is believed that preparations which include progesterone alone, don’t affect the risk for breast cancer appearance. However, preparations that include progesterone and estrogens may influence the tumour appearance. The risk is growing for women taking hormone medications longer than 8 years.

Treatment

Breast cancer is treated locally or generally, although some patients may undergo both types of treatment. Local treatment consists in surgical removal or destruction of the lesion. General treatment (chemotherapy, hormone therapy) aims at inhibiting the tumour process or decreasing the size of tumour before operation and it is also applied in significant disease progression instead of surgery. Surgical treatment is the most common way to treat breast cancer. Patients in I0 and II0 clinical progression are qualified for the surgical treatment . The most often performed surgery is the modified breast amputation by Patey’s way (excision of the breast gland together with the axillary lymph nodes, without removing the breast muscles). Some patients are qualified for breast conserving treatment.

Such possibility exists in the following cases:

- TisN0M0

- T1N0M0

- T1N1M0

- T2N0-1M0 (tumour not bigger than 3cm in a mammographic measurement)

- Possibility of removing the tumour with a margin of healthy tissue

- Satisying cosmetic effect foreseen

- Patient’s consent to breast conserving treatment

- The lack of contraindications

The absolute contraindications include:

1. Multicentric cancer

2. Cancer relapse after the previous breast conserving treatment

3. Previous undergoing of breast irradiation

4. No possibility of getting the margin of healthy tissue

The relative contraindications include:

1. Pregnancy

2. Foreseen unsatisfying cosmetic effect

3. Connective tissue disease (collagenosis)

Breast Conserving Treatment (BCT) includes replacing tumour within healthy tissues and regional axillary lymph nodes. The following ways of breast tumour removal are distinguished:

- tylectomy

- removing the tumour with a margin of at least 2cm. If the margin from the muscles’ side is smaller than cm, the tumour must be removed together with fascia,

- wide excision, lumpectomy

- removing the tumour together with the bulk unchanged tissues margin of 1 cm. This margin can be smaller from the muscles side, but then fascia has to be removed.

- excisional biopsy, tumourectomy

- removing the tumour without margin, but with the intention of removing all the bulk suspected tissues. After BCT surgery, all patients are exposed to supplementing radiotherapy. Breast gland is irradiated with a total dose of 50 Gy, 2 Gy per fraction (25 fractions during 5 weeks). Additionally, the site of tumour removal is afterloaded with 192 Ir with the 10 Gy dose.

Radiotherapy - uses high energy radiation to destroy the cancer cells and to prevent them from further growth and fissions. There are two kinds of radiotherapy: exterior (source of radiation is located outside the human body) and interior (special containers with the radiation material are placed in the tumour site). Another kind of radiotherapy is brachytherapy which involves placing thin tubes in breast. The radiation is directed through these tubes straight to the tumour cells. Nowadays brachytherapy is applied after breast conserving treatment. It happens that radiotherapy is applied before surgery to decrease the size of tumour and/or to facilitate the tumour removal.

Chemotherapy involves the application of medicines that are aimed at tumour destruction. In breast cancer chemotherapy is usually composed of a few types of medicines, which are administered either directly to vein or in the form of pills. Regardless of the way of administering, the medicines get inside blood and flow with it through the whole body, which also results in negative effects for this therapy (nausea, vomiting, hair falling out, neutropenia, menstruation disorder, earlier menopause).

Copyright 2006 Radoslaw Pilarski

Next to the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of a disease is the greatest leveller there is. Overnight a person who seemingly had life under control can be rendered totally disempowered by a body whose cells have been thrown into disorder and chaos. It matters not one jot what position one holds, materially, financially or professionally. Suddenly, everyone is equal and fighting for a common cause - survival.

One school of thought maintains that the need for relinquishment of control is exactly why disease manifests in the first place - to allow people the chance to get back into synch with the more natural rhythms of life.

The belief is that when we become ill the facade, or inauthentic mask, that we present to the world is forced to crack. We feel powerless and angry at first and cry ‘Why Me’? Thankfully, however, after the shock of diagnosis, most people are able to move swiftly through the stages of grief and emerge in the polar opposite state of empowerment. Steps are intuitively taken to live a more authentic life. A cathartic process begins of discarding people, and things, which are weighing us down; true friends are revealed; events that would once have rattled us are seen for what they truly are- manifestations of the ego. We stop fighting the trivial and impersonal, and concentrate instead on living each moment to the full.

In taking these actions we feel as if we have regained control and therein lies the paradox; we may need to lose something in order to find it again. In losing our facade we gain a loving awareness of the simplicity of life and nature and we discover our connection to a greater order.

One of the most simple and comforting rhythms of life is that of the Moon. Come what may, through the darkest days and nights on the road to recovery, the Sun will appear to rise and set. The Earth will revolve and the Moon will reflect a monthly cycle of light, turning from dark to bright (full) and back again in perfect, synchronistic motion. Our bodies respond in a multitude of ways to these movements, not least with a marked thinning and thickening of the blood that mirrors the lunar phases.

Knowledge of the effects that the lunar cycle can bring to bear on the body was known to the earliest physicians. Even today the most august of medical journals will confirm that there is an increased likelihood of haemorrhage around the the time of the Full Moon, when the bloods ability to coagulate is impaired.

What has got lost in modern medical practice over the ages however, is information relating to the transiting Moon’s movements against the backdrop of the Sun’s apparent path - the zodiac. A great number of ancient texts reveal that operations should not be performed when the Moon occupies the astrological sign ruling the part of the body that requires surgery. For example, one should not have a heart operation when the Moon is in Leo, or an operation on the face when the Moon is in Aries, or to the throat or neck when the Moon is in Taurus. Some of the more enlightened surgeons still follow these rules, which can be traced back to the time of Hippocrates, today.

More recent research has shown that young women undergoing mastectomies for breast cancer have a significantly increased survival rate and recurrence-free prognosis when the surgery is performed in the luteal phase of their cycle - which is itself connected to the cycle of the Moon. (see www.breastcancerchoices.org/medartsurgery.html) Perhaps further research will show the survival figures rise even higher if surgery is avoided when the Moon is in Cancer, the sign of the breasts.

Many people erroneously equate astrology with fortune telling. However astrology is essentially the study of cycles. It can be used to reveal a grand cosmic pattern behind our thoughts, activities, inclinations and development. When cyclical patterns (astrology) are taken more seriously by the General Public, and astrological doctrine regains its rightful place in medical establishments, it may well help people to take decisions about the timing of their surgery. Decisions which could literally prove to be life-enhancing.

Green tea provides numerous health benefits and while many have not been scientifically proven, some have been. Most recently, the claim that green tea helps fight and prevent breast cancer is being researched. Interestingly, the Chinese have been using green tea medicinally to treat disease for over 4000 years.

Green tea contains the polyphenol EGCG, that is an antioxidant that inhibits cancer cells from reproducing. Polyphenol is known to kill cancer cells while not harming healthy ones. Green tea is loaded with healthy minerals among others such as aluminum and fluoride and is rich in flavonoids, alkaloids, other polyphenols and tannins. Green tea lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) and prevents blood clots from forming. Green tea has been proven to effectively help strengthen the immune system. It has also seen to be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and infection. Studies show green tea to be a helper in preventing prostate cancer and a helper in reducing the risk of esophageal cancer in chronic smokers. Popular belief is that green tea will help prevent tooth decay and will aid in losing weight.

Green tea and black tea are different despite coming from the same camellia sinensis plant. Green tea, becoming popular throughout the world, is not fermented, whereas black tea is. Oolong tea comes from partially fermented tea leaves.

Green tea has been tested in experiments with rats. The studies indicated that rats drinking green tea had tumors reduce in size and others slow in development while the rats that drank just water saw no reductions or slowing of tumor growth of any kind. This kind of result sets up great hopes for green tea as a cancer fighter, though there are no conclusive results on humans and years of study are required before any determination can be made.

Three to four cups of green tea daily are needed to be considered effective as a cancer preventor in humans, but green tea in capsule form is not seen to be as effective. You should drink your green tea without milk and sugar. Three to four cups daily seems like a lot to drink, but people routinely drink that much and more coffee and soda in one day. Green tea does contain caffeine, which can be problematic. It has less caffeine than the same amount of coffee, but drinking large quantities could cause insomnia and disrupt your sleep patterns.

Grocery stores typically carry both caffeinated and decaffeinated green tea products in a large variety of flavors. Women with breast cancer may want to consider drinking green tea to help fight the cancer.

Introduction

Breast Cancer is a form of cancer that occurs in the breast tissue. Although the breast is made up of similar tissues in both males and females, breast cancer occurs mostly in females.

Causes

Like other cancers, breast cancer is an uncontrollable growth of breast cells, and is caused due to the mutation of certain genes present in your breast cells. This mutation can either be genetically inherited, i.e. it might have come from your parents, or it happened during changes in your body, like aging or due to life in general. Breast Cancer can also occur due to hormonal changes in the body, like during menopause.

Types of Breast Cancer

Breast Cancers can be divided into four types based on the location they occur and whether it is a local one or not.

1. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ, or DCIS

2. Lobular Carcinoma in situ or LCIS

3. Invasive Ductal Carcinoma or IDC

4. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma or ILC

Breast Cancer normally occurs either in the milk duct (Ductal), or in the lobules (Lobular) or glands that make milk. Both can either be “in situ”, meaning it remains where it started and does not spread, or it may be “invasive”, meaning it spreads into the surrounding tissues. Carcinoma is a word used for any cancer that begins in the skins or tissues covering internal organs.

Early Detection

There are no ways to prevent breast cancer. However, breast cancer can be treated effectively if it is detected in an early stage. Self Breast Examination for lumps and unusual changes should be carried out each month, preferably at the same time each month to minimize effects of menstruation. A clinical breast examination should be done once every year from ages 29 – 39, and once every year from the age of 40.

Diagnosis

Primary diagnosis is done using mammography, an x-ray of the breast. If breast cancer is suspected or diagnosed, this is followed by MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and PET Scans.

Treatment

The main form of treatment used for Breast Cancer is surgery. Depending on the size of the tumour, it can be lumpectomy, also known as breast conserving surgery, where only the tumour is removed, or mastectomy, where the entire breast is removed. Both forms of surgery are usually followed by radiotherapy, which is a form of treatment by exposure to radiation, to stop the cancer from spreading. Another major form of treatment is chemotherapy, where treatment is done through various forms of drugs. These drugs interfere with the growth of cancer cells, and thus help curing cancer. Breast cancer can also be treated using hormone therapy, using chemicals to stop activities of certain hormones. Hormone therapy can only be used if the cancer cells are responsive to hormones, and have varied side effects, ranging from vaginal dryness and weak bones to infertility. Even after effective removal of Breast Cancer, patients should be in constant touch with the physician to make sure that the cancer does not return.

Breast cancer is a cancer that affects the breast tissue. The primary victims of this type of cancer are females. Statistics show that approximately one out of 11 to 12 women of the Western world are affected by breast cancer. Medical researches have tried aggressively to find a solution to detect the problem earlier or to treat the problem. About 20 percent of the women affected by breast cancer still fall prey to it and eventually die. In fact, breast cancer ranks second in cancer deaths for women.

Most breast cancer starts in the cells that line up the ducts. There are occasions where the cancer cells originate from the lobules, and then spread to other tissues.

Many breast cancer diagnosis starts in the checking of lumps I the breast. Although most cases of lumps are benign, meaning they are not cancerous, but doctors often ask a patient to undergo biopsy to make sure that cells are not malignant. Most of the lumps are caused by cysts. These lumps may cause pain and swelling of the breast accompanied at times by clear or cloudy discharge in the nipple which happens before the menstrual cycle period is about to begin in a woman. The symptoms may lead to the person to seek a medical check-up.

Male Victims

Breast cancer is not limited to women though; male victims are present as well. The breast of both male and female have identical tissues, so a man is also prone to acquiring the cancer. It is believed that females are more prone to men because the breast of a woman constantly goes through growth changing hormones, thus the cells are more exposed to cancerous change.

Breast Cancer Awareness

As more and more people fall ill to breast cancer, the month of October has been deemed as breast cancer month, to commemorate those who passed away from the cancer, the family and friends survived by the deceased. A pink ribbon is the symbol that a person is joining in the commemoration.

Breast cancer is the presence of malignant cancer cells in the breast area of a patient. It is ranked as the second cause of death in females suffering from cancer. There are several treatments available such as surgery; radiation therapy, and systemic therapy.

Surgery

In certain stages of breast cancer, undergoing surgery and removing the lump may be enough to stop the spread of cancer. The process might include taking a larger chunk of the mammary gland, making sure that the affected area and a substantial margin is surgically removed. If the tissue removed is believed not to eliminate all the cancer cells, a follow-up surgery may be required.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a process where high powered X-rays or gamma rays are used to accurately pinpoint the cancer cells. This method is very effective in eliminating cancer cells that threaten to recur in the body of the patient.

This option is taken usually only after surgery is performed. Radiation therapy is administered to eliminate the chance of the cancer cells to come back again.

Administering this form of treatment usually is done over a long period of five to seven weeks, five days a week for about 15 minutes per session. Radiation therapy cannot be a one-time thing because by proceeding with the treatment, normal healthy cells are also damaged during the process. Unlike cancer cells, healthy cells can repair themselves, and by limiting the dosage taken by the body per session, it allows the body to heal the damaged cells.

Some side-effects that come from radiation therapy are: fatigue due to the body’s repairing of the cells; reddening of the skin; muscle stiffness; mild swelling; tenderness in the treated area; long term shrinking of the irradiated breast.

Systemic Therapy

There are three types of systemic therapy: chemotherapy; hormonal treatment; and immune treatment.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy can be administered before and after the surgery. It is used to shrink the size of the tumor and also to stop it from recurring again.

Hormonal Treatment

Patients that are positive for estrogen receptor tumors are advised to receive hormonal treatment after going through chemotherapy.

Immune Treatment

Usually immune treatment are only administered to patients who have metastasized diseases, but lately studies have shown that patients in the early stages of breast cancer will have significant benefits by getting this treatment.

Breast cancer is very common in women. In fact, it is the second leading cause of death for women with cancer. There are three times more cases of breast cancer than any of the other gynecological cancers put together. Cases of breast cancer have increased from one out of 20 women, to one out of every seven women who have acquired the disease. This disease is not exclusive for females alone. Statistics show that out of 100 women having breast cancer, there will be one male patient developing this kind of cancer.

Age

A girl who starts having her menstrual cycle before the age of 12, or a woman who starts going through menopause after 50 years old are at higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Nationality

Studies have shown that certain racial groups such as European and African women tend to have higher risk of breast cancer compared to Asian women. However, studies also show inconsistencies in this theory since the statistics change once geography is included in the study, since an Asian women living in a western country showed the same risk as the original inhabitants.

Diet

High consumption of corn oil, oil secreted by meat, and polyunsaturated fats increase the risk of person acquiring breast cancer. Monounsaturated fats like canola oil and olive oil promote better heath.

Heredity

Though there is no available proof suggesting the breast cancer is linked to heredity in any way, it is still believe that patients who have a family history of breast cancer are at higher risk of acquiring breast cancer.

Alcohol

Researches showed that women taking more alcohol have 6% increased risk of getting the cancer as compared to those who do not, or consume moderately.

Hormones

A test was conducted in June 2005 where findings noted that women taking hormonal drugs, like medical estrogen, have a higher risk of acquiring breast cancer.

Other

Other factors believe to be risk factors include not having a child, or delayed first childbirth, or not breastfeeding.

IT was with a heavy heart that I left my favorite lingerer store, Victory’s Secret. It slowly sunk in that I would never again be able to wear their lovely bras. I could not have foreseen on that gloomy day that approximately one year later I would submit a proposal suggesting some innovative ways, or at least I thought so, to create fun, colorful, sexy bras designed especially for older women minus one breast. They declined the offer; nevertheless it was fun dreaming about those pretty bras in my mind’s eye. Back to that gloomy day. As I downcastedly walked toward Macy’s department store to have a look at their hats, I pondered my apparent lack of emotions since my cancer diagnoses as not one tear had yet to fall. Not when I first received the cancer diagnoses, nor during or after the lumpectomy nor the more serious second diagnoses.

Additional cancer was found during the lumpectomy and a mastectomy was highly recommended. First however, there would be more tests. For example, a nuclear bone scan plus a devise called a portacath would be surgericly inserted under the skin in my chest to accommodate the chemotherapy infusion treatments thereby protecting the small unreliable veins in my arms. These procedures would be followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. So on this particular day, while trying on hats, endeavoring to distract myself from my imagined future of being relegated to the ugly bra syndrome, a brief but delightful encounter with a perfect stranger occurred.

As I was halfheartedly trying on about the tenth hat, I heard a very soft voice say “why you look beautiful in that hat”. To my astonishment I found myself blubbering that in a few more weeks I would be totally bald resulting from chemotherapy treatments. Without a moments hesitation she stepped close to me and pulled me into her arms. I broke down and sobbed tears that evidently were waiting for just the right moment and just the right arms. Looking back on the experience, I am quite sure that she was a strategically planted angel.

Copyright©2006 Dawn D. Novotny LMSW, E-mail july4@tenforward.com