11/13/2025
Breast cancer: struggle to wellness
When you eat as healthy as you can, exercise, journal, take the supplements you need, maintain relationships, have a good relationship with God, breastfed your kids, get regular laboratory and medical provider visits, keep up on health maintenance and then get a diagnosis of breast cancer, it leaves you feeling fear, confusion and anger. It’s an emotional diagnosis that is wrought with controversy, misconceptions and misinformation. What now? Well, this is me. During an unexpected cardiopulmonary work up, a CT scan of the chest revealed a suspicious lesion in the right breast. MRI confirmed the finding. Biopsy was done and was positive for invasive ductal cell carcinoma, ER/PR positive. Despite having a feeling cancer would eventually be a diagnosis for me because of family history, it was a kick in the gut. The scariest thing for me was the fear of having to be “that patient” and advocate for myself for what was right for me. I knew I would be told to stop hormones, which I would refuse to do (I did compromise and decreased dose until after surgery). What would I do if they recommended chemo and or radiation? (I knew it was not needed for my type and stage of cancer). Thankfully, my surgeon was very kind and supportive of all of my decisions, including refusing pre-operative antibiotics. (This is a clean surgery)
Lumpectomy and lymph node biopsy was this week. All went well. I did do Prolon 5 day fasting mimicking diet going into this to get my body into autophagy (cleanup for the cells). I believe this helped me breeze through the surgery. I am healing quickly and trying my best to give my body the rest it needs to heal completely.
As with anything bad that has happened to me, I am asking the questions “why” and “how can I use this, Lord, to help others?” Right now, it has given me a fuller awareness of the emotions behind the diagnosis so I can now empathize with others, but it also has instilled in me a desire to empower other women to slow down and make informed, educated (not via the internet) decisions rather than emotional ones. To help give them the tools they need to be a healthier version of themselves on the other side of the diagnosis. And to be a partner and sounding board for them as they walk this road. I appreciate your prayers as I not only recover but seek to find purpose in the fire.
With love,
Dr. Consuela Alley
Addendum: just received pathology results. Clean margins and negative lymph nodes! Follow up 6 months. Praise God! Now to sit and listen to what God is telling me to do with this. Thanks family, for your overwhelming words of encouragement and support!
