I understand that the August issue was about alternative treatments for cancer. I was diagnosed with endometrial adenocarcinoma in December 2002. I declined the offered hysterectomy, considering surgery a last resort, not a first-line intervention. My acupuncturist and I collaborated on the therapy according to a set of guidelines I devised. I have been monitoring it regularly with an anti-malignan antibodies in serum (AMAS) cancer test and ultrasound. AMAS, borderline in June 2003, has been normal ever since. An ultrasound in December 2004 showed decreased size of the uterus. The most recent ultrasound, December 2005, showed "a 4-cm mass with a thin rim of normal-appearing myometrium." "I don't know what this means," my gynecologist said.But since bleeding is negligible, energy is better, and I haven't been anemic since June 2003, I am continuing my original course.

What we did not do at any time is make any effort to kill the cancer, unless you count a Chinese herbal formula designed to "dissolve tangling blood stasis." Since I have been bleeding in varying quantities since September 2000, I have had ample opportunity to observe the tumor; "tangling blood stasis" is an accurate description of what I saw. During the worst of the flooding, it was bright red to black in color, stringy to rubbery in consistency, much thicker than normal menstrual blood; more recently, it is pale bloody mucus, sometimes thin, sometimes thick. The main symptoms were bleeding, low-grade fevers, and fatigue. Anemia, a result of flooding, was resolved by April 2004 via herbs, supplements, and increased red meat intake. I continue to do a Coulter Blood Count (CBC) and chem screen every six months.

My aim was to devise a therapy that would be tailored to me and the resources available, would be inexpensive, and would require no involvement with insurance, except to pay for diagnostics (which sometimes the insurance company did, and sometimes they didn't). The mainstays were a version of Essiac, castor oil packs to improve liver and digestive function, and carrot and apple juices once a day. I use a good multiple vitamin, calcium/magnesium, and an assortment of Chinese and Western herbs, as seems appropriate. I have also been eating seaweed daily since spring 2000 and local, organically grown greens in quantity in the summertime, as well as some weeds from the back yard. Except for three or four months in 2003 and two months in 2004 (when I broke my leg), I have continued to work as a chiropractor, although I have cut the practice in half. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs have been incredibly valuable in balancing hormones and dispelling heat, which in the early days was a considerable problem. I continue to address body, mind, and spirit issues.

I am coming to the conclusion that sometimes it is less important to reach a definitive diagnosis than to have a sense of what in the body (and in one's life) is malfunctioning and go about fixing it. Hysterectomy would not have corrected the systemic (liver and digestive) issues that gave rise to my cancer, and the surgery is traumatic and expensive, so I decided there was no point in undergoing a hysterectomy, especially as the long-term hormonal effects are unpredictable. One of my original questions asked if the anemia be reversed, even as the flooding continued? The answer was yes. Does the body know how to heal the cancer on its own? Again, the answer was yes, although it is a fiendishly expensive process from a nutritional standpoint, and a great deal of support is necessary.

I would like (and don't expect) to see allopathic medicine stop thinking in terms of "battling," "killing," or "destroying" cancer and focus on rebuilding and supporting a weakened, traumatized body instead of tearing it down further with toxic or destructive "therapies." It seems to me that a great deal could be accomplished with a simple paradigm shift. That's what I did. It also may be less important to focus on the differences between the two hundred or so different forms of cancer than to look at their similarities.

I would welcome correspondence on this subject. I have copies of all the lab reports and also a copy of the guidelines I wrote and added to throughout the healing process (which is not yet complete). But all I needed to begin was the knowledge that someone had succeeded at healing cancer naturally.

Nancy Offenhauser, DC
P.O. Box 583
4912 Route 22
Amenia, New York 12501-0583
845-373-9220