My Story and Diagnosis- Why I decided to say NO to chemo and radiation

My name is Kate Taylor. I was born in 1955. I am blessed to live in the mountains outside Fort Collins, Colorado. Before my diagnosis, for over 15 years I published a local holistic magazine that I founded and created. For 5 years, until his death, I provided care and support for my father after his devastating stroke which left him completely paralyzed and voiceless. He taught me the power of mind over body. In 2008 I took over the primary care of my brother who is completely paralyzed and voiceless due to ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease). I still manage his care. He inspires me to treat everyday like an adventure. One year before my diagnosis, I cared for and lost my mother to colon cancer. She taught me about unconditional love. My adult daughter (who is not my biological daughter) has beaten cancer twice using chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. She is my inspiration for "kicking cancer's butt" and she taught me that everyone has their own "best" way to heal themselves. My son taught me to look inside myself and believe in my own inner wisdom. I am enjoying my second marriage to a loving and supportive man.

Most of my adult life I have had lumps in my breasts. Over the years I learned that eliminating sugar, caffeine and stress would cause the lumps to reduce and disappear. But the September after my mother's death the quarter-sized lump in my right breast would not go away. It hurt and I knew it needed to be checked out. My doctor stated the AMA party-line- "Get a mammogram." I thought this was silly as mammograms only tell you if you have a lump. I knew I had a lump. I also knew that if your lump is cancerous, sometimes a biopsy will spread the cancer. I wanted a lumpectomy, so the lump could be removed and analyzed. Five months later, I was able to find a doctor who would refer me to a surgeon IF I had a sonogram (ultrasound) first. The radiologist doing the sonogram sent me directly to a surgeon for a lumpectomy. By then it was March of 2011.

Scheduled for an outpatient lumpectomy and removal of 2-3 sentinel lymph nodes, I told the surgeon to use his best judgment on how much of the breast and nodes to remove. When I awoke I found my entire right breast had been removed plus 15 (2 chains) of lymph nodes. The surgeon knew he was dealing with a lot of cancer, and in spite of my shock, he followed my instructions in hopes I would not need further surgery. (See"What I Wish I Knew BEFORE the Mastectomy.")


Pathology on the tumor and lymph nodes showed
a 3.7cm invasive ductal carcinoma was removed
7 of the 15 lymph nodes were positive for cancer
The cancer is
Estrogen Receptive
Progesterone Receptive
HER-2/neu negative A PETscan revealed the cancer was in more lymph nodes still in my body. Because these cancerous lymph nodes were not located in my right breast area, it was determined the cancer had metastasized and I was labeled "stage 4." Prognosis-- a 12% chance of living 5 more years. Further testing suggests the cancer is not in my bloodstream or bones, nor are there more tumors in my body.

I visited two oncologists. The first one was a "my way or the highway" kind of doctor with a top-notch reputation. She said as a stage 4, I could not be cured, but could increase my chances of living past 5 years by 20-30% with a full course of chemo, then radiation, then at least 5 years of chemo-pill estrogen inhibitors. Had I been diagnosed stage 3 she would have given me 75-85% chances. She would not agree to work with me if I chose any natural, holistic, or alternative treatments during her protocol. The second opinion doctor (now my current oncologist Dr Miho Scott, MD) encouraged me to do the chemo and radiation, but was willing to work with me to monitor my progress while I investigated more natural alternatives.
I immediately found a local holistic doctor who would monitor my "body terrain" (using nutritional tests etc). Then I began my research into what kind of treatments made sense for me.

I could not get onboard with the medical philosophy of trying to out-poison the cancer. It seemed to me that I stood a 70% chance of dying from their treatments. And the treatments are dreadful. My own belief system encouraged me to reduce toxins and poisons, while supporting my body to heal and manage the cancer itself. My own theory is that having cancer in your lymph nodes is a good thing as it allows the lymph to do its job of removing bad things from the body. I just need to support it in doing that.

With the help of my holistic doctor (Dr Jacqueline Fields, MD), a botanical practitioner (Jonathan Treasure), and nutritional/hormonal blood testing SpectraCell and Berkeley), we developed a nutritional/nutracuetical protocol. In addition, I learned to manage my stress, put my self-care first, refine my diet and supplement intake, live life like I might lose it and do the stuff on my bucket list. My oncologist (Dr Miho Scott, MD) keeps a close eye on my progress with exams, blood tests, cancer markers, and PETscans. Eventually the evidence of cancer in my lymph nodes lessened until only a few "suspicious" areas remain. My cancer markers are low and stable. The CTC (Circulating Tumor Count) shows a consistant ZERO for any cancer in my bloodstream. Estrogen is measuring consistantly lower than 20 (my goal).
I believe I am healthier now than before my diagnosis. I am certainly happier.