survival rate of breast cancer when treatment is nutritional and fitness oriented?

Hi - While chemo is devastating, it's usually not as devastating as death - which can be the result of cancer, when left untreated by standard means. The best way to live longer, IN MY OPINION (and i'm not a doctor), is to take the medicine (surgery, chemo, radiation, hormone therapy), and go forward with your life. You can certainly refuse treatment; but you will also certainly increase your risk of recurrence. That said, if you don't do treatment, please be sure to avoid alcohol, follow a low-fat diet, and exercise. This is just a common sense healthy lifestyle; please follow it. Good luck - PJH

I woudn't even take tylenol for a headache. Im a prius driving, recycling, organic food bying, phosphate killing hippy...

Chemotherapy was a struggle for me... IS a struggle for me. I hate it with everything I have. It's frustrating and counter intuitive to how our immune system responds to cancer. It's a crap shoot in my opinion. I feel like its a miricle that people survive the treatment.

I followed a raw food macrobiotic diet when I found out... went to see 4 or 5 certified natropaths and talked to a LOT of women who've had cancer and beat it "naturally". I mean really talked to them... first hand. Myself... I couldn't make that gamble. Im pragmatic.

My conclusion? A book I live by called "Natrual Cures for Caner Patinents", a butt-ton of research and utterly tormenting my oncologists with questions and bringing in stacks of medical journals. It all comes down to options. As women with cancer... we have 2. Die or try and beat it with whatever is avalible. I would love to think that sprouted lentils, Quercertin and alkaline water are going to save my life... but chances are, they probably will not. I put my life in the hands of oncologists I sometimes I think I am smarter than... and I do what I can on my end to stay as healthy as humanly possible. I try and eat vegetarian. It's hard. Changing your lifestyle is the most difficult thing of all to change... but change is must. Cancer is a systemic disease. There is something happening in your body that isn't supposed to. We eat like crap here in the USA. We are fed chemicals at every juncture. That stuff is BAD.

Try and find a balance... (in everything right!?) combine what is avalible from the medical community (chemo) and supliment it with the wealth of knowledge that natropaths and zen masters have to offer. You will not get nutritional information from your oncologists. They say things like... "a sensible diet" and the cancer pamphlet they hand out says eat healthy snacks like cake and cookies (presumably for the calories) but cancer feeds exclusivly on glucose (sugar). Your body converts everything to sugar for energy anyway but don't throw gassoline on the fire! Cancer cells have a protine coating that enables them to sneak past our immune systems undetected. Removing animal protines from your diet (books say) the protine coating around the cells starts to break down thus letting your immune system attack it. Presuming you HAVE an immune system which you won't after a few rounds of chemo. 

Try the best you can to separate fact from myth and keep that balance.

For me I chose both the natural (supplements, diet, and I know I should be exercising but haven't gotten that far yet) and the standard treatment (chemo, radiation, Femara, etc.