Breast Cancer Survivor

I haven’t posted for a few weeks as I’ve been busy with my MSc and I also went to New York. I’ll be posting about one of the restaurants I visited next week, but in the meantime here is an incredible true story I’m sure you will enjoy reading. 

During my travels and visits to various health retreats and conferences, I have met so many people who have inspired me with their stories of healing and transformation. I met Malini at a health conference in London when I was buying some LifeGive supplements from her company Antidote Health. We talked about our experience at Hippocrates Health Institute, which we have both visited at different times. Her knowledge on health, nutrition and supplements is vast and I have learnt a great deal from her. Here is her remarkable story in her own words.

Malini’s story

“Don’t worry you won’t die tonight”, said my oncologist, looking down at the results of my biopsy and avoiding eye contact.

I was 32 years old and had just been diagnosed with breast cancer with a large secondary lump under my arm. I could see that the medical staff believed my prognosis was poor and their effort to hide this was minimal.  With no history of cancer in my family and at only 32 years old, the news was a complete shock. 

But I had armoury with which to fight the cancer: I had been passionate about nutrition since my early 20s and had just sat my 3rd year finals of a nutrition diploma at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition.  With my background in natural holistic health I was able to make my own informed decisions and decided that I did not want to embark on conventional treatment.  The conventional treatment that had been recommended consisted of immediate lumpectomies, as the form of cancer I had contracted was deemed very aggressive and non-hormone specific.  After this, I would undertake 6 months of chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy.  Was this cure as aggressive as the disease?  I believed it was.

Malini at Hippocrates Health Institute in 2009

After an initial period where I dealt with the intense shock and fear that most women in that situation would recognise, I began to digest every relevant book on breast cancer I could find.  I read books that were informative, inspiring, motivational and, if I am honest, a few that were more than a little scary.  The more I read, the more I was convinced that for me the conventional route was not the one on which I wanted to embark.  The more I learned, the luckier I felt to be au fait with the field of natural medicine.  I began to believe that I could overcome my diagnosis using natural means.  A belief in one’s treatment is an important factor in recovery.  For me it was the only way.

I encountered huge resistance from my oncologist, from my doctor and most vehemently from my parents.  My parents had been repeatedly told that I would die without chemotherapy. I was diagnosed by my oncologist with stage 3c cancer – there is no 3d, the next stage is 4 which is regarded as terminal. This was the hardest time for me.  I didn’t really care about the aggressive reactions that I was receiving from the medical establishment; I understood that they believed that the conventional route was the only “evidence based treatment” for cancer.  They were only doing what they thought best.  However, my parent’s attempts to persuade me to follow conventional doctors’ advice scared me and I found it overwhelming.  I believed in what I was doing, but I could not convince them of my beliefs, and I began to become frightened that I was making the wrong decision and I would ruin their lives by aiding in my death.  This was the most challenging time for me.

I agreed to have the lumpectomies, because the tumours were already large and growing particularly aggressively.  I did not realise at the time that this may spread the cancer.  After returning from hospital I embarked on a high plant based diet with lots of green juices.  It was a little like the Gerson diet except more realistic in execution and without the high fructose vegetables.  I had always been interested in the latest and most cutting edge nutritional supplements, and had worked as a buyer for the leading health shop in London.  I am a supplement nerd, and this was the time to draw extensively on my knowledge to put together a cutting edge protocol for myself.

Rows and rows of wheatgrass grown in the Hippocrates Health Institute greenhouse.

During my research I found the Hippocrates Health Institute, founded in 1953 and now based in Florida.  Their approach seemed the most comprehensive and well thought out approach to cancer.  I felt relief at being able to share the burden of my recovery with a time tested and constantly evolving holistic approach.  I was lucky enough to be able to visit the institute for 3 weeks where I learnt, and re-learnt the secrets to recovery.  It is an amazing place and I highly recommend their 3 weeks living food programme.  Lots of raw plant food, sprouted foods, green juices and wheatgrass form the basis of their treatment, which I continued when I returned home.  In fact, the raw food movement, now fashionable, was really developed in large part by the Institute, and wheatgrass therapy was invented by their founder, Dr. Anne Wigmore.

A few days after my lumpectomies I experienced a shockingly high fever which lasted for about 4-5 days.  I did not know at the time, but I am convinced now that I experienced something called tumour necrosis.  Tumour necrosis describes the bodies attempt to overcome and clear out cancer cells by raising the temperature of the body to maximise the effectiveness of the immune system.  This, I believe, went a long way to saving my life.  I spent the next few years following the Hippocrates approach to fight my cancer.  I also worked with Dr. Callebout and Dr. Eccles, who are based in London and use natural therapies singularly or in addition to conventional treatment, both of whom I found invaluable in different ways.

I cannot feel that my diagnosis was a blessing as I have read some survivors believe.  I can understand why it is the perfect time to take stock and assess ones’ life.  I take offence from those laymen and professionals who say that developing cancer is a result of overflowing bitterness or something that is caused from a negative aspect of the patient’s personality.  This was said to me and only resulted in self-recrimination, additional worry and wondering at how bitter I must be to have developed cancer at such a young age.  Emotions and attitude certainly effect health, but not in the way suggested.

For me my journey has been a long one; undoubtedly traumatic and frightening at times, but ultimately enriching, life-expanding and empowering.  It has brought into my life exciting new ventures and new people.  While at the Hippocrates Health Institute I was introduced to the LifeGive range of supplements which really impressed me. I am now the importer and distributor of the LifeGive range and several unique supplement ranges in the UK.  I am living my passion, working with the best cutting edge natural supplements available today and through them I am helping others.

It has now been more than more than 5 years since my diagnosis and I am delighted to report that I am cancer free!

Categorised in: Nutritious Roots Blog, Real Life