By Marcia Dorris (beloved Thrive Yoga Family member) Forward by Jennifer Dixon MBA ERYT 500 – Ok you guys, have you been keeping up with all of Marcia’s posts? This is part 7 in a series of posts, Marcia has been sharing as her family goes through the process of battling the “C” word via alternative medicines. One thing I was completely shocked about was the fact that it is so incredibly hard to do just that! To be given this sort of diagnosis, and then given such incredible difficulties for making informed, independent decisions regarding its treatment is nothing short of….shall I say dictatorial? In an era where we have fought so long and hard for rights and freedoms, it makes me so angry to have to continue to fight…with our doctors..to do what we think is best.
I am so proud of Marcia and her Family. I pray for them daily and I am forever encouraged by their grace and strength. No one wants to go through trials and tribulations, but we do know that by these fires, like gold, we are made finer and finer. Suffice it to say, I think the Dorris family is gonna be 24k indeed.
Check out the latest update and make sure you keep checking back here to see how they continue to grow.
Cancer: A Survivor’s Story Part 7
In mid-October Kelsey told me she found a lump in the same general area as the tumor was originally located. This set off so much stress and anxiety within me. We made her an appointment with our holistic doctor who recommended she get a biopsy. Dr. Cally put in several calls to our surgical oncologist to try to get her scheduled. She ended up talking to his nurse who told her more than likely the surgeon would not see us since the oncologist said we never followed up with him.
We knew we had to have a surgical oncologist on board in case the cancer does come back. We decided to take Kelsey to see our family doctor and hoped he could recommend a surgeon who would work with us despite the fact we refused traditional medical treatment. I talked to him about what the surgeon’s nurse had told our holistic doctor. He told me, unfortunately, you generally either have to go 100% with conventional medicine or alternative. He said you generally don’t find doctors who will work with you if you are refusing medical protocol. He scheduled an MRI for her first before we made an appointment with a surgeon. She got the MRI on a Friday and we wouldn’t have the results until the following Monday.
When Monday rolled around I got the call from our family doctor and was told the MRI showed it most likely wasn’t anything to be concerned about but he did want us to follow up with a surgeon anyway to see if she needed a biopsy. The next day I got an unexpected call from our surgical oncologist to schedule an appointment with him. Dr Cally had sent him detailed information about our choice of treatment.
By the time we had the appointment, the lump had vanished he couldn’t even feel anything there. She had told us it had shrunk but I was shocked to learn it was completely gone. This was just a little over three weeks after she had first told me about it. The surgeon told us he is unfamiliar with alternative therapy and honestly I believe our choices make him a bit skittish but he respected our choice and understood our objection to chemo and agreed to partner with us on this journey. He called Dr Cally our holistic doctor here and told me was would discuss Kelsey’s case with Dr. Garcia our oncologist from Mexico. We are more than happy to have such a kind gentle wonderful man to join us on this healing journey.
For the time being, all her bloodwork has been great and all her tests have been positive as well. She has to get a chest X-ray and a full blood work up later this month. The X-ray is to monitor some spots they saw in her lungs this summer. Every doctor we have talked to has said it’s more than likely nothing even the original oncologist told us he really didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about that was until we began bucking the system then his story changed. She also has to have another MRI in February before we go back to Mexico and another round of bloodwork then as well. As for now, everything looks great!