As a metastatic (breast + brain cancer conqueror!) says, “Do NOT let this diagnosis dim your LIGHT! SHINE ON!”

Before her diagnosis, Vera was “the picture of good health.” She taught yoga and lived the lifestyle of eating healthy, meditating, moving her body, and viewing her life with a sunny lens. From an outsider’s perspective, Vera was not a person who should get Stage 1 & 2 bilateral breast cancer and then metastatic brain cancer. But it did happen to her, and she decided to take it on like a conqueror. Moving with grace and ease, she carefully looked at her behaviors, chemical usage, nutrition, and stress levels. Not to get down on herself, but to rise up and profoundly grow mentally, physically, and spiritually. Next time you go for a walk, please listen to my encouraging and motivating podcast episode with Vera Ventura.

This blog post is an extension of the podcast episode on rising up and filling up on education, support, action, and love. We are going to take out the scaries and confusions around the “M word.” Keep on reading to learn more about genes, toxins, medical practices, and more that can lead to metastatic breast cancer—and ways to prevent and reverse it! You are NOT your diagnosis!  

More On Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC)

If you or anyone you are close with has MBC, then you know it can be incredibly frustrating and overwhelming. There are rivers flowing with misinformation, and many people, even your close family, may not understand what you are really going through. On the outside, you may look better than when you first began breast cancer treatments (especially if you added in conventional treatments) at your early stages of cancer.

Right here—right now, we are going to take a moment to clear things up: Metastatic breast cancer does not have to be viewed as death sentence!

In fact, here is an email I just received from one of our clients:

“Working with my BCC coach was a game changer for me. I had a recurrence for multiple reasons, but a big one was not getting a handle on understanding, optimizing and managing my hormone levels, as well as not knowing good options for monitoring in general. Working with De’Ann gave me the so much peace of mind and confidence, and helped me understand previously confusing info. 

I’m now healed from Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer with no chemo. The support was priceless!” 

1. There are many different types of MBCs. They are determined by whether or not certain proteins are found in or on cancer cells. These proteins are Hormone receptors (HRs) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) found on or in cancer cells. HR+ breast cancer can also be referred to as ER+ (estrogen receptor-positive) or PR+ (progesterone receptor-positive). HR+, and HER2+ account for about 73% of all MBC.
2. Marvelous amounts of integrative treatments (conventional and natural) can help you live a vibrant, healthy life!
3. It’s your time to experience wildly amazing growth instead of just doing the same things that brought on the diagnosis. 

Now that we got that out of the way, I will briefly sum up metastatic breast cancer for those who need a refresher. Metastatic breast cancer is when cancer cells have spread beyond the breast and regional lymph nodes and to other body parts. These cells usually include the brain, liver, lungs, and bones. MBC classifies as advanced (stage 4) breast cancer. It can be diagnosed via blood tests, x-rays, bone scans, CT scans, MRIs, and other forms of testing.

De Novo metastatic breast cancer refers to someone receiving a metastatic breast cancer diagnosis initially. This happens to about 6% of women and 9% who have breast cancer. Distant Recurrence is the most common among people diagnosed after the original breast cancer treatment. A recurrence refers to cancer returning and spreading to a different body part, which can happen even years after the initial diagnosis and treatment.

 

How Can Metastatic Breast Cancer Happen?

Disclaimer: This section briefly summarizes a few ways metastatic breast cancer can show up. Please always talk to your medical team before trying anything new. 

As a collective society, we still have loads to learn about the body and healing from metastatic breast cancer. That being said, it is still an incredible time to be alive and thrive! You have access to brilliantly powerful tools such as genetic testing, open-sourced studies, anti-cancer herbs, and numerous types of innovative therapies.

A few ways metastatic breast cancer can occur:

Unnecessary surgery.

Of course, there are times when surgery is 100% necessary to save a person’s life. However, we have all heard those horrific stories of someone undergoing surgery to remove a simple tumor, and months later, cancer spread around their body. Removing tumors surgically can be harrowing and eye-opening. Here are a few reasons:

1. Surgery induces immunosuppression while initiating an inflammatory cascade that allows cancer cells to propagate. 
2. Cancer cells spill into the bloodstream from the surgical margins and may establish metastatic colonies in other parts of the body.
3. In response to the trauma of the surgery, the body secretes growth factors to facilitate healing. Unfortunately, these same growth factors also stimulate tumor cell growth. 

Not knowing your genes.

You can now HACK YOUR GENETIC CODE! Thanks to The DNA Company, you no longer have to rely on generic health advice, supplements, and treatments that are not tailored to your body’s unique DNA. This is my constant reminder to you –  “Test, test, test—don’t stress and guess” in action! To learn more about hacking your genetics for prevention and what doctors are still getting wrong about breast cancer genes, please listen to this podcast episode densely packed with genetic insight.

Do you know the difference between BCRA1 and BCRA1 variation K1 183R? There are dozens of different kinds of BCRA gene mutations, some of which can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Sadly, BCRA genes are incredibly feared and taken at face value because of the lack of education about all of the types of BCRA variations and the control you have over your health. Therefore, knowing your specific genetic code can help you and your private coach create a vibrant health plan that is completely tailored just for you.

Going back to your toxic ways of living.

The words “You are cancer free!” doesn’t mean you can just go back to eating junk foods, drinking too many beers, and letting stress take over your soul. Those words mean you are just starting to live a new life guided by your north star of vibrant health!

For example, women with BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 gene mutations are at a higher risk for MBC. What you eat, put in your body, and surround yourself with can lead to damaging cells and mutating your genes.

One of the chemicals you should stay far away from is dioxins. They are dangerous chemicals found in things such as female products, meat and dairy that is not organic, and plastics. According to the World Health Organization, “dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones, and also cause cancer.” For instance, TCDD (dioxin) can cause BRCA-1 by stimulating breaks in DNA strands. 

My book, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally, and blogs under Essential #2: Reduce Your Toxic Exposure go into depth about practical things you can do today to reduce your exposure to gene-altering toxins. Drastically reducing your consumption of red meat and dairy is a fantastic way to let the healing and prevention begin.

Another thing that many women don’t think about is the dangerous chemicals in their female products, such as panty liners and tampons. It’s abysmal that these products are filled with dioxins. However, there are plenty of safe, practical, and affordable solutions. I wrote all about them in this blog post. For example, chronic exposure (AKA the 3,652 days you spend menstruating AND the post-menopausal years/decades you use a pantyliner) increases the risk of cancer, causes oxidative stress and metabolic changes, and disrupts your endocrine system.

Moving Forward With Metastatic Breast Cancer

Another disclaimer: Again, this is just a very short list of ways that may help support MBC. By no means is this list comprehensive since new research and studies are continuing to make new discoveries! There are countless other therapies to try, and please do not take anything without the supervision of your Integrative Oncologist or Naturopathic Oncologist. 

As I always say: YOU HAVE OPTIONS! So many of them! Here are a few ways to potentially conquer metastatic breast cancer:

2MEO (2-methoxy estradiol) 

It is the final product if your body is metabolizing estrogen properly. Until recently, 2MEO was thought to be a metabolic “dud” with no action or purpose at all—but that never happens in nature. Everything in your body and nature has a purpose. 2MEO is anti-proliferative, anti-angiogenic, and anti-tumorigenic. In a clinical trial on a patented form of 2MEO, 15 patients with MCB took 200-1,000 mg per day with a cancer drug for 4-6 weeks. The patients showed stabilization, and some even had remission! Your body’s ability to produce 2MEO is adversely affected by antibiotics, junk food, and other things that shouldn’t be in your healing world. You can also get 2MEO via bioidentical hormone replacement if needed.

Blood Root 

The power of this herb is a special compound called sanguinarine. This plant alkaloid weakens the survivin protein that keeps cancer cells from dying. Nature really knew what she was doing with this herb because it has powerful anti-metastatic properties that inhibit and suppress breast cancer cells, all while boosting your immune system! Learn more in this study. 

CBD

Several studies have found that CBD is a powerful anti-cancer agent affecting metastatic cancer and aggressive tumor cells. CBD oil significantly decreases the expression of metastatic breast cancer. Before you go to bed,  massage CBD oil on your breasts and apply magnesium oil to the soles of your feet, lower back, and neck as it inhibits carcinogenesis—and will prep your body for an incredibly deep and restorative sleep!

Quality sleep is equally essential as it is one of the best ways your body can heal because a lack of sleep can silence cancer-protective genes. If you want to learn more, I thoroughly discuss CBD and countless ways to naturally heal cancer in my book, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally. 

HBOT & HOCATT

I write all about these brilliant biohacking machines in this blog post. Cancer growth can be triggered by cell hypoxia, a lack of oxygen on the cellular level. This can be caused by different kinds of permanent chronic stress—mental, nutritional, environmental, and physical. While there are many things to do to prevent chronic stress (which is at the core of my 7 Essentials System®), these machines are sequenced to gently but powerfully detoxify and restore the body at the cellular level, working on all major systems simultaneously! This study found that HBOT  reduced metastatic lesions.

My goal is to help you never fear any type of breast cancer again! We are all here for YOU! Please send over your questions and thoughts to our Caring Assistant Form (scroll down). We WILL get back to you!