A client walked in today and asked for a half hour massage. When she told me what was going on with her, I was reeling. It caused me to write this...
I am a holistic healer and holistic healthcare professional. I believe in natural cures whenever possible. But I also believe in modern medicine and although I like natural remedies, whenever I have a really bad headache, I head for the bottle of ibuprofen.
Now each method has its own place, and I feel they work best together, or complimentary. But I saw something the other day that sent me reeling.
A young lady walked in and asked about a massage. She had been to the hospital for pre-op testing and was looking to relieve tension in her back and shoulders. She told me that she was getting an operation in a couple of days. I asked her what operation that was if she didn't mind telling me. She told me that she was having a mastectomy and then reconstructive surgery. (I've seen enough people deal with this to know how horrible an experience this can be.) Then she told me something that made me reel. She said that she did not have cancer, but she had the gene that causes cancer. According to her doctor, she had an 87% chance of getting cancer, so it was not just a matter of if, but when she would get it.
I was a bit flabbergasted. Being a holistic healer, and knowing someone that beat breast cancer through natural means, I started asking questions. I'm sure these were questions that she had been over herself before coming to the agonizing decision to have the operation, so she decided not to get a massage and left.
But this is shocking to me. "Hey you've got an 87% chance of getting cancer, so let's cut those puppies off now before it happens." Is this what medical science has come down to? I believe in preventative maintenance, but isn't this going to the extreme? That's like telling someone that their hand will eventually become arthritic and useless and they should cut it off now so they don't have to go through that. This sounds a lot like the dark ages where someone would cut their eyes out so they would not see the demons.
This person could have kept a close watch, getting regular checkups, maybe as regularly as every two to three months. Then if anything showed up, then they could have had the operation. But to cut off two healthy breasts on an 87% chance sounds extreme. But my guess is that this is what the doctors pushed at her. The sad part is that according to one of my clients who is a nurse, just because one has the gene that causes cancer, it does not necessarily mean that it will manifest in the breasts. It could appear in any other part of the body. So she could get this done and still end up with cancer, and have gone through this for nothing.
I do know someone that had stage 1 breast cancer. She was trying other remedies which may have worked had she stuck with them. But the doctors did a scan and told her the lump was getting bigger and that she needed to have a mastectomy NOW. Afterwards, they looked at the scan again and said they were mistaken about it getting bigger. In the meantime, they scared her into getting it done.
Is that what medical science has come to? Are they frightening people into getting operations they may not need? Is this how they make their money?
Like I said, I believe in modern medicine, and that it has its place. But that is only true when the doctors are not prescribing fear.