MY HEALTH EXPERIENCE/Angelina Kelly:I WAS 40 when I first discovered a lump on my breast during a normal check in the shower. I immediately went into surveillance mode and had a mammogram which came back clear. The doctor assured me all was well, even though I suspected all was not well because reflexology was showing up a problem. I went to all my complementary therapists for treatments. I also did regular yoga and t'ai chi.
The lump seemed to go away but then I found a second lump. I went into overdrive. I went back to my doctor who sent me for another mammogram which also came back clear. I ranted and raved and said I don’t believe this. I want something more. In May 2001, I was sent for an ultrasound scan and the lump showed up on that. They were amazed I knew it was there. It was tiny – classified as grade one – but when tissue was sent for biopsy, it came back as cancerous.
I think I am one of the few people who greeted such news with relief. The doctors suggested a treatment plan and I immediately asked them to bombard me with information so that I could remain in control and make my own decisions. The idea that my body would need to be filled with crazy chemicals was abhorrent to me. I felt super healthy and clean, and I clung on to the belief that my own knowledge and experience of alternative therapies could help me.
The doctors gave me a 50/50 chance of survival with surgery alone. This would increase to 70 per cent if I also had chemotherapy and it would increase to 80-85 per cent if I also had radiotherapy. The oncologist told me that the fact that I was already in warrior mode and ready to use complementary therapies as well, my chances of survival would be 90-95 per cent.
I asked for four weeks to decide and in that time, I had cellular healing, spiritual healing as well as regular yoga, t’ai chi and meditation. I came to the conclusion that the conventional way gave me the best chance of survival if I backed it up with yoga, meditation and weekly reflexology. I figured that the conventional approach would deal with the physical while I dealt with the emotional, mental and spiritual side of things through these complementary practices.
First off, I had surgery which was a positive experience on all levels. Almost immediately, I was back doing yoga and returned for reflexology three weeks after surgery. There was a two-month break between surgery and chemotherapy. Then, I had eight chemotherapy treatments – one full day every 21 days for about five months. I continued to have reflexology on a weekly basis the whole way through this treatment.
The first four weeks of chemotherapy went well, but during the second four weeks of treatment, I became really ill. I was hospitalised three times within a month. My immune system collapsed. I had to cancel all my appointments and close down my private clinic. I became too sick to care about anything and at that point, I was really close to welcoming death. Alcohol became a crutch on which to lean temporarily.
The skin was peeling off my feet and my fingers and toes were too sensitive to touch. In hospital, I was given antibiotics and monitored on an hourly basis. I lived minute by minute, making no decisions other than medical ones. In essence, I became my own patient.
I completed my chemotherapy treatment in February 2002 and at that point I was given the all-clear by my oncologist. I decided to go for radiotherapy for extra insurance and had 25 treatments over a month.
Things changed for me in June 2002 and although the aggressive treatment was over, I was put on a hormonal medicine for five years to keep the cancer at bay. I found this medication very difficult to bear. I felt weak, tired, emotional and unable to cope with life. Exercise was out of the question for the first time in my life because it made me feel even sicker.
I continued with the medication on a daily basis and backed it up with reflexology treatments and Bach Flower Remedies. I have been a Bach Flower Remedy practitioner for many years so I knew what to take.
Hormonal medication is prescribed to women in their 40s until their bodies are ready to go into the menopause naturally. During this whole time, I didn’t experience the classic menopausal symptoms, but I became super sensitive to household chemicals, perfumes, essential oils, cleaning agents and over- the-counter medications. To this day, I still have to be really careful. I can’t use bath and shower gels or perfumed soaps. I can’t eat fruit or drink fruit juice. My clothing has to be 100 per cent cotton or silk.
In terms of work, I had to start back from the very beginning at my own pace. The biggest side effect of the whole experience of having cancer was that I lost friends and colleagues. I had to weed out people who were dragging me down and exhausting me. It’s a lonelier life, but I am happiest in my own company. My husband and two daughters stuck by me even though living with me was very difficult at times.
Nine years on, I’m still here. They tell me I’m cured. I feel very strongly that I had to go against my principles to have conventional treatment for cancer – albeit backed up by complementary therapies. It makes me angry when I read that certain thought processes or breathing exercises are enough to cure cancer.
In conversation with SYLVIA THOMPSON
