recurrent ovarian cancer

i was in remission for 6 months. Then in November 2007, my blood test for cancer markers went up to 25. So in December 2007, I had a PET scan, CAT scan and an MRI. The tests showed two new tumors, one in a very bad place. It was 4cm. It was in a lymph node located between my lower vina cava my lower aorta.
My blood count was up to 134. (it should be less than 30) I looked to my doctor for the next step. He was very gentle, but basically told me that i would have to take chemo for the rest of my life. (However long that would be.) In addition, the chemo would not ever get rid of the cancer. The best we could hope for would be to keep it at bay for a while, and when one form of poison (chemo) stopped working, we would find another way to put poison into my body.
He compared it with Diabetes. However, with diabetes, the medication you take attempts to restore the bodies balance, not destroy it. With Chemo, not only does your hair fall out, but everything in your body that contains fast growing cells is destroyed. Including viral organs, like your liver and kidneys. The ugly little secret is that people are not dying from cancer, they are dying from liver, kidney, heart, or lung failure. They are catching some minor infection that their bodies can't handle because their immune systems are so badly compromised by the chemo destroying their white blood cells. Ask your doctor, and he will confirm this. But Chemo does kill cancer cells too. Well, so does ginger, cummin, and turmeric. (See University of Michigan study 2002)
I began searching the web for answers. Initially, the answers I found were bleak. About 70 percent of patients who had reoccurring ovarian cancer were alive 5 years later. The patients who took chemo lived an average on 3 or 4 months longer than the patients who didn't.
I made my will, visited my family and tried to decide how I would pursue treatment. I prayed for guidance. Should I accept my fate gracefully, or should i fight it? i feel that God wants me on earth for now, and funny thing happened to me on the way to my funeral, I met cancer survivors, and began to listen to their stories. Most of them either had not gone the chemo route, or had used chemo until it was no longer effective, and were left to go home and die. One breast cancer survivor of over 20 years said that after her surgery, the doctor wished her good luck, and never saw her again.
A man I met at the Wellness center told how he had been given a 1% chance to live seven years ago. (This was after he had had endless rounds of Chemo.) It was at that time I stopped eating meat. and in January 2008, I decided against chemo therapy. My neuropathy was so bad, i was just learning to function. I was afraid I would not be able to walk if i took chemo with more nerve damage.
I started reading about studies survivors, I took charge of my own treatment. Many many people prayed for me. I decided a world become a vegetarian--a Vegan. (Meat, and milk have all kinds of growth hormones, plus there is so much acid that the body cannot handle while it is fighting cancer. My doctor gave me a prescription for tamoxifen. I stopped eating meat. My blood count went down from 134 to 114 in three weeks. I was on a roll. I thanked God for the guidance, and asked for and got prayers from people I did and didn't know. I took this time to reaffirm my spiritually. I started Yoga at the wellness center.

Cancer Survivor

Here I am with Missy. I am still wearing my hat because my hair is gone. I was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer, stage III, in October 2006. By November 2006, I had been split open (surgically speaking) and had all of my female organs removed. Since the cancer had spread, I also had part of my intestine removed, and was fitted with a bag to collect my wastes.
Next, in the middle of December 2006, I begin Chemotherapy. (Which is a medical term for paying for the privilege of slowly putting poisonous chemicals directly into your veins.)
The poor nurses, who must deal daily with these lethal chemicals, must be very careful not to touch any of these chemicals. They are bio hazards and dangerous. It is unreal to think that cancer patients unwitting agree to take these dangerous chemicals into their bodies with the attitude that it is medicine. (A word to the wise, anything that makes your hair fall out, isn't doing the rest of your body any good either, and it cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered medicine.)
For the next six months, I became one of the living dead. The chemicals not only made me sick, and caused me to lose my hair, they also affected my brain. I couldn't remember things, I drooled, I experienced neuropathy in my hands and feet.
Although I went into remission after the 2nd month ( January 2007), of chemo, the treatment remained the same. I went every month and sat in a room with other cancer patients. I passively sat and allowed poison to be pumped into my abdominal caviety, my veins, for 6 hours at a time. I went home, came back for more the next day. Then, home again and experienced the reaction of my body, which considering the way i was betraying my survival mechanisms, was a foregone conclusion. ( They had even given me a list of possible "side effecrts" , I could expect.) The next week, i would go back for a few more hours of poison, then home to allow my poor body to attempt to repair itself. Then back again to repeat the cycle.
At the end of six months, (May 2007) I was still in remission,still alive, but barely able to function normally. I still had the reconstruction surgery for my bowels to go through. After two months to recover, I went under the knife again. (July 2007). I was reconnected, and sent back to the world of the living.
I began to rebuild my life. My hair came back. I went back to school, I'm a teacher. Because of my neuropathy, I needed a cane to walk. I had a hard time typing because my hands were numb. I couldn't button my own pants. But I was alive. I had beaten the cancer, or so I thought . . .