Why did I choose CMN Hospital in Mexico for Alternative Cancer Treatment.
I was diagnosed in March of 2017 with a Her2+ grade 3 tumor in my left breast and they wanted me to begin treatment right away with chemo, surgery, and then chemo and radiation after surgery. I was not ready to hear this let alone begin treatments.
The previous five years of my life were spent recovering and trying to rebuild my immune system after a medication error by a facility, mold poisoning, and formaldehyde poisoning. The last thing I felt my immune system could handle was chemotherapy. Imagine being overdosed and almost dying from the medical community. Then I am suppose to automatically trust what these medical professionals are telling me what would best for my body to beat this form of breast cancer.
I already had tons of fear just going to get bloodwork done after receiving the medication error. I was very sensitive to many medications. How would I know they would know what to do to help me? I was well aware of the Fear and PTSD I had due to this experience. So I didn’t want to make any decisions based on fear. I knew I had to research to find what would be best for me and my body.
I had done some research on Dendritic and Bone Marrow Stem Cell therapy and there were studies and clinical trials that have worked for patients with HER2+ breast cancer, like me. I continued to do additional research and knew this is what I wanted to focus on for my healing journey.
After being diagnosed and knowing I needed to build my immune system the fear was beginning to leave because I had a plan. That is when I found CMN Hospital in Mexico. I called so many clinics in Mexico and other areas of the USA but there focus was so much on the patient and emotional healing. I knew this was necessary in my journey. They offered the Dendritic Cell therapy and the Bone Marrow Stem Cell therapy plus had an emotional support system in place for their patients. I knew I needed this in order to begin to heal and continue to heal.
So let me start with my diagnosis.
Let me start by filling you in on when I was first diagnosed.In March of 2017 I was on a trip with my family in Dallas, TX. The morning after we arrived in Dallas I awoke to my left breast being hard. The only way I could compare this is when I was breast feeding my daughter 15 years ago. If I was unable to breast feed her enough or pump my breast would get really hard and be painful.
I went right into my gynocologist when I returned home and she felt the lump, too. She sent me right in for a diagnostic ultrasound and mammogram. They knew right away it was breast cancer. You can read more about it on my blog post about how this was missed for more than a year.
They moved me rather quickly through their processes and wanted me to have surgery, chemo and radiation. This was just all too much and I was not just jumping into something without my own due diligence. So lets start with what concerned me the most, my immune system.
Immune system
After I was overdosed with Benadryl, we then found out after replacing our windows in our home that I was being poisoned by mold in our home, and then found high levels of formaldehyde in our home. So you can definitely say my immune system was severely compromised. After the Benadryl overdose I was diagnosed with CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome) due to such a high chemical exposure. You can read more about that in my post from Benadryl overdose post.
I was also very chemically sensitive and reacted frequently to medications, herbs, and supplements that they were trying to use to help boost my immune system. The chemical sensitivities all worsened after mold exposure. When meeting with the cancer specialists they too were concerned about my reactions and were a bit skeptical about how I would even react to the Benadryl that they use for reactions to the chemo drugs. There are no known cases of anyone receiving the amount of Benadryl I received in an IV and surviving to tell about it. So no one knows the long term ramifications I will have from this. I felt good that they too were concerned.
I was very overwhelmed and wound up meeting with a Cancer coach that helped me sort some things out and she too was diagnosed with the same breast cancer only hers was at early stage 0 and I am Stage 3. However, she shared with me about a Dr. from Penn State that is now at Moffitt Cancer Center that has studied dendritic cells for Her2+ breast cancer. I was immediately connected with him through a wonderful surgeon I was already working with in my local area.
However, the only way that I could get accepted into the clinical trial was to first go through chemo and surgery. They too expressed concern with chemical sensitivies,etc.
So I was still not convinced this was the way to go. I continued the research on dendritic cells and looked up research on them and how this was already being done in other countries like Germany and Mexico for 15 years without chemo.
So, why is this still in clinical trials in the US? I truly can’t answer this question. I want to hope they just want more data, but why not collect the data from these countries already doing it with success and move this along faster for those of us in the USA and other countries without this availability.
I knew I was moving in the right direction but I was still so filled with fear and distrust because of PTSD from the Benadryl overdose.
Fear
Let me tell you about the fear I felt. I felt like if I did chemo I would die because my immune system would not be able to handle it. I wasn’t totally crossing off of my list of options but I knew I had to make my decisions based on knowledge and based on what aligned with me. What is good for one person isn’t always good for someone else. This is what truly lacks in traditional medicine, in my opinion.
It was very hard for me to trust the medical community after I felt abandoned and hurt by them. Don’t get me wrong the emergency medicine team that saved my life were amazing. But, to find myself in a situation where I could be given drugs that could give me severe reactions made me very nervous. It wasn’t the reaction it was how they would prepare for a reaction without being able to give me Benadryl. That was one of the areas that still effected me with PTSD.
I continued the research and called multiple hospitals and made my decision that CMN Hospital would be the hospital I would choose for my initial treatment. I felt it was really important to re-build my immune system with natural therapies. I tended to react better to natural treatments vs. medicines. CMN combined natural therapies with dendritic cell and bone marrow stem cell treatments. All immune boosting therapies. Let me tell you about the Dendritic and Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy.
Dendritric and Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy
Whether I was at the Moffitt Center or speaking to clinics in Mexico, Germany and US that specialize in more personalized and/or integrative care when approaching they all spoke of the same thing the immune system.
The immune system protects the body against illness and infection and for me this was already not working properly. Bone marrow makes blood cells that help to fight infection. This is important for surgery and and if I was still going to have to have chemo as the body needs to have ability to fight infection. For me, I wanted to take as many steps as possible to increase my immune function. “Some cells of the immune system can recognize cancer cells as abnormal and kill them. These cells are known as dendritic cells.”{1}
Dendritic Cell Therapy
Dendritric cells have a unique function that help fight cancer. They have the ability to induce a primary immune response in the inactive or resting naive T lymphocytes. To do this the dendritic cells capture the antigens from invading bodies, which they process and then present on their cell surface along with the necessary accessory or co-stimulation molecules.
“Dendritic cells are the “general” of the immune system army. They deliver the marching orders to the rest of the immune system agents which tell those agents what to attack.”{3}
Dendritic cell therapy is not a standalone treatment, but works better when synthesized with other treatments that fight cancer cells. CMN hospital offers other therapies to include Bone Marrow Stem Cell therapy.
Bone Marrow Stem Cell therapy
“Bone Marrow is soft spongy tissue inside of your bones, it is where blood cells are manufactured. The marrow contains cells that are referred to as hemaptopoieticc stem ccells, which have the ability to turn into any type of blood cell. Sometimes, cancer prohibits these stem cells from developing normally. Meaning the blood cells the stem cells create are also abnormal. In order to make new, helathy blood cells, a stem cell transplant must take place. This proedure is the fourth most costly procedure in the US with costs coming in just below a heart transplant. Again, only available in US with high dose chemotherapy. I believe the costs for Bone Marrow stem cell transplant autogulous are around $250,000.00. Autogulous is when your own bone marrow stem cells are used. That is procedure completed at CMN Hospital.
This is why I chose CMN Hospital for my Alternative Cancer Care.
I chose CMN hospital because of the treatments offered at their hospital, emotional wellness program, dendritic/bone marrow stem cell therapies, and their other immune boosting therapies.
First and foremost I liked the fact that they were a full service hospital and if reactions occured or some other type of issue arised during my treatments they were fully equipped to handle the situation. This addressed my fear and I am not going to lie I was nervous about reactions at CMN, too. But, I knew I just couldn’t just ignore this situation because of FEAR. Fear and PTSD sucks. I spoke with many patients that were currently at CMN and had completed treatment with them. They all spoke of how wonderful the staff were and how safe they felt. I knew this just felt right for me emotionally, too.
They have an emotional healing coach that is amazing and helped me tremdously with PTSD and the emotional and stress link to breast cancer. I will have posts about what I am doing to heal from the emotional baggage of PTSD and other traumas in my life at a later date. But, this program was so helpful to me.
My overall experience was amazing. Look for my next blog post where I documented my entire stay.
Please feel free to ask me any questions and share your experience with me in the commment section below. I love to hear from my readers.
xoxoxoxo
References
{1} “The immune system and cancer.| Cancer Research, UK.
{2} Manal, Ananya, MD. ” What are dendritic cells?” News Medical Life Sciences
{3} “Dendritic Cell Immunotherapy.” Northwest Bio Therapeutics
{4} CMN Hospital. “Dendritic Cells Therapy.” CMN Hospital, CMN Hospital, December 20, 2016, http://www.cmnact.com/Blog/2016/December/Dendritic-Cells-Therapy.aspx.
WOW, what an article, I to have had breast cancer so this hit home for me. I love the way you tell your story and you hit on all the issues of fear and anxiety associated with distrust of the US health system. I love the article, it is very informative and well written.
Pam
Thank you I am glad you enjoyed my post. I’m sorry you too endured breast cancer.
Wow, you are a very strong and smart person! Cancer is a huge fear of mine. It doesn’t run in the family, but it is still very scary. I applaud you for seeking out alternative care, going thru the treatments, and then coming out on top! I can feel the fear, and boy would it be tough to be brave. I am so glad that it worked out well for you!
Hello. I have recently been diagnosed. How are you feeling now in February 2018? May I ask about your ongoing at home protocols? Thank you so much for your informative post!
Amber,
Sorry for not responding sooner I was in treatment and taking care of me. This is something that I had to learn to do. I would always run around caring for others and neglect me. (emotionally) I am doing a lot of work with essential oils and emotional support to clear negative and emotional baggage that is harming my healing. ( I think this is so important) Plus, I am still taking supplements recommended at CMN and eating and enjoying my life, family, and friends.
Francine, thanks for sharing your story about you experiences at CMN hospital in Mexido. I am in stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and thinking of being treated there. While having an initial dose of chemo (oral – Xeloda) for a short time, I did not react well to it, and the onocologist discontinued treatment due to its toxicity. I am wondering if you think I can be treated at CMN without chemo? I have also refused surgery, or radiation. Any further reference for CMN Hospital would also be appreciated. Once again, I enjoyed reading you story, and wish you well.
Regards,
Miriam Rodriguez-Uyeda
Lakewood, CO
Miriam,
This has to be a personal decision on where you are treated. You have to do the research and feel comfortable with your decisions. CMN does not do chemo every bit of what they do builds your immune system. I hope this helps and sorry for delay in responding to your comment.
I’m considering alternative treatment…I’m her2 + stage 4. Did the therapies there put you in NED?
Davida,
You can check out my comments above and I have blog posts with all my follow up. You have to go where you feel led. Trust in God and pray.
Francine
Did your visit to CMN destroy your cancer or did you come back to the states and do western medicine? I am so freaked out by the thought of going the western medicine route that I can hardly function. I have stage 3 breast cancer with lymph node metastasis. I have called CMN and want to go but I am looking for more assurance it will be worth the money that will totally drain my bank account and I am 70 years old.
Any input you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have spoken to Shannon Knight and she is very positive about CMN.
Shannon,
The results are individual. I did have to come back to the states and get treatment. I was stage 3a her2+. I have three friends stage 2 and 3 her2+ that are clear after surgery no other treatment needed. I have another friend that was there with me that was estrogen+ and she is clear after surgery, no other treatments necessary. I am grateful for my time at CMN and trying to raise money to get back there to boost my immune system again after treatment. I did really well through treatment and I have noticed a lot of healing and things that bothered me before the cancer that improved from treatments at CMN. I believe it depends on what shape our bodies were in before we got there and what needs to be worked on first. Your body prioritizes healing. My scar from surgery looks amazing (everyone says, lol) I still have not looked at myself yet.
As for your fear trust me I was right there with you on that. If you go to the about section of my blog you will read why I didn’t trust traditional medicine. However, I had a lot of healing that took place at CMN, the staff is compassionate, loving, and just plain amazing. The food rocks and they truly treat you like a princess. I can’t say enough good about it.
My best advice to you is pray about it. If you feel you need to go to CMN just go and trust. I followed up with traditional when I returned home and I have a functional medicine Dr. I work with. My surgeon was excited to see results when I came back. She sent me for follow up ultrasound etc..
The surgeon that did my surgery was Dr. Brian Czernickyi look him up and his research on dendritic cells.. This is why I went to CMN. It is amazing stuff..
I will pray for you but this has to be your decision. I hope this helps but please don’t let fear lead you in any direction. You will get through this.
Hello. As we are fighting stage IV breast, our searching brought us to your site. What struck us the most was the mold you said you discovered after putting in replacement windows. Could you tell us how you knew or found out that you had the mold and that the new windows were part of the problem? We suspect we have the same as we smelled must just months after they were installed. People tell we are nuts for thinking the windows are an issue. Thanks you so much.
Heather,
I’m so sorry you are going through this as well. Our replacement windows are ok it was an older block window that had rot under it that was a problem for us. Then when we replaced the windows the mold spores spread throughout the home. Windows that have not been installed properly can be a serious issue. People always think you are nuts when there is something wrong that they wouldn’t think could ever happen. Sad, but many people wind up sick from this stuff and do nothing about it. Kudos for you for taking responsibility and trying to find answers.