A lump in the breast in 2023. A lymph node inflammation in the armpit in 2020. Steps to natural healing

One Woman's Report of her Experience

May 14, 2024

One in seven women in the UK will experience breast cancer.

A Dharma friend mentioned to me briefly of her experience in her successful treatment of lumps through diet and fasting instead of a biopsy and conventional treatment.

I invited her to write an anonymous account of her experience to encourage others to explore natural ways before medication and surgery. There are risks involved in either direction and it is important to be clear about this, whether having a biopsy or not,

The end of the report includes links to Youtube to know more about fasting/diet for health,

A Woman’s Report on Natural Healing

For many years now, I have tried to heal everything from minor fevers to more complicated maladies as naturally as possible, letting the body and natural therapies do the work of healing and recovery.

Minimising recourse to hospitals and allopathic medicine comes from observing that allopathic medicines often address the symptoms of a condition rather than the underlying condition itself (think of blood pressure medicine, or insulin for diabetes). So, I would go to a hospital for an operation, and I chose to be vaccinated during the pandemic. Opting for the natural way whenever possible comes from having been exposed to science and the life experience of many, many people.

The natural way relies on knowing about nutritious food and paying attention to the body … It may take longer than usual to heal, and often needs much patience. On the flip side, one doesn’t seem to fall sick that often.

In a number of countries this approach to health is called Nature Cure or Complementary Medicine or Functional Medicine or Integrated Medicine.

Here’s a personal example:

There is a history of breast cancer in my family.

In 2015, I found two lumps in my armpit. They were sore and hurt when pressed. I decided not to get a biopsy but to try a natural way instead. Over the next few days, more lumps appeared, red and achy, and then over a week or so, after careful treatment, it went away.

In 2020, there was another lymph node inflammation, in the same armpit. More than one appeared over a week. I did the same treatment.

In July, 2023, I felt a lump on the underside of the left breast. It was in an odd position that couldn’t be felt while sitting or standing up. It felt like a mass of muscle tissue or a thickening. Mayo Clinic and other reputable hospital sites online said that most such lumps are not cancerous. If it had not gone away in three months, I would have gone to a mainstream hospital.

The treatment took close to a month to work, but the length of time could be because it was disrupted by having guests in the house at various times and so not being able to do everything that needed doing (or confide in them).

Practices to consider

There were condition-specific therapies that I did, which are not included here. These are general practices to consider.

If you eat meat, drink alcohol, drink coffee, eat sugar, then please study their effects on the body, and consider a cutting back of these things. It may take time, especially sugar, liquor and coffee withdrawals which, if done too quickly, can cause severe headaches.

It helps if you already eat a lot of fruit and salads, and have done different lengths of fasts. If your body is used to fasting.

Other activities that may enhance your physical well-being include:

Walking or gentle yoga
Exposure to nature/trees/flowers
Laughter with friends or children :)
Good sleep at night (wake up without alarms)
Meditation -- make peace with the health condition, the change in life, and the possible outcome.
Derive insights from the state of being.

Eating regimen

There is a four-day regimen that is worth trying and can be repeated periodically, whenever you feel in need of invigoration.

First, as mentioned earlier, reduce your consumption of things that are not good for the body. Then eat as follows:

Cooked food day: no-spice meals. Light like a small bowl of brown rice and boiled or lightly roasted veggies for every meal. No dairy or eggs.
Fruit day: As much fruit, with as much variety for every meal
Fasting day: Water-only fast. Nothing else. This works more easily if you already have the history and knowledge of fasting
Liquids day: Light, clear, vegetable soups

This cycle can be repeated while ill, or done once in three months or so.

Fasting

Have you explored fasting?

There is now scientific evidence suggesting that cancer cells need more glucose than normal cells. (Our healthy cells survive and can thrive when the body is in a fasting stage.) Of course, if the cancer is too far gone, the cancer cells may triumph. (Please do your own medical literature search. To get you started, here are two articles: one from Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and one from Frontiers in Oncology.)

Experiment with different lengths of water-only fasts. In the longer, multi-day fasts, the body does a lot of internal cleansing and cleaning. It is called therapeutic fasting.

Books and medical practitioners to learn from

A number of mainstream doctors are exploring different areas, here are some links if you would like to learn more:

Dr Andreas Michalsen

Head of internal and complementary medicine at the Immanuel Hospital Berlin, and Head of clinical complementary medicine at the Charite Medical Centre, Berlin.

He has two books in English: Nature Cure, and The Fasting Fix.

Dr Pradip Jamnadas

Leading cardiologist in Florida.

His YouTube videos are long but worthwhile. This one has been viewed by 9.5 million people: Fasting for Survival

Dr Jason Fung

A nephrologist in Canada, he has done a lot of work with fasting and low-income people in diabetes and PCOS.

He has many Youtube videos like: Fasting can reverse type 2 diabetes

And books like the Diabetes Code.

Attachments area

Preview YouTube video Fasting For Survival Lecture by Dr Pradip Jamnadas

Fasting For Survival Lecture by Dr Pradip Jamnadas

Preview YouTube video Fasting can reverse type2 diabetes | Jason Fung