Judy's Story

I always had very dense breasts and had my first biopsy in my middle 20s which was benign. I had regular mammograms from then on. I had my last benign biopsy in 1987. In 1990, I had a complete hysterectomy and started taking Premarin 1.25. A year later I started feeling a thickening under a previous scar.

The doctor and I took a wait-and-see attitude thinking it was probably scar tissue. In 1991, I remarried after being divorced for 10 years. About four months after the wedding, the thickening was noticably larger. This time it was cancer. I had a lumpectomy and eight weeks of radiation. The few lymph nodes that were tested, were clear. I was taken off Premarin because the cancer was estrogen dependent. I

t was a terrible year. I had hot flashes almost constantly, night sweats, and couldn't sleep. At that time I discovered my new husband was an alcoholic. The marriage went from bad to worse and we were divorced in 1995. I would not have survived without my faith in God, my church family, my father and friends.

I heard about Dr. Patrick Quillin, who was Vice President of Nutrition at Cancer Treatment Center in Tulsa at that time. He wrote a book called "Beating Cancer With Nutrition." I read his book, then started reading everything I could about nutrition. I found a doctor who would give me a smaller dose of estrogen and began to feel like I had regained my sanity. Several years ago, I started taking plant-based estrogen.

I will be cancer free 16 years in April, 2008. I joined Curves for Women this passed summer. I will be 64 in February, 2008. I thank God daily and give Him the credit for my extraordinarly good health. Breast cancer is no long a death sentence. We will survive and thrive!

Blessings,

Judy