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Debunking the Myths, Part 1

Kelly Tooman

Updated: Jul 22, 2024

This is my first posting in a long time. All is well. I'm 3.5 years into wellness and incredibly grateful. But this journey was never just about me~I knew that from the beginning. My work isn't finished yet.


In knowing people with cancer and those having already gone through it, there is a common passivity that deeply concerns me. Let's begin.


  1. "I trust my doctors to make the right decisions for me." Listen to the opinions of your doctors. However, the only person who should make decisions for your life is you. There will be pressure to do otherwise. Respect their knowledge but ask lots of questions. Your life may depend on it. If your questions or concerns are dismissed, see that as an opportunity to shut the door. You are paying for a service, one where you are to be treated with respect. A physician can only offer the standard treatment protocol or risk losing his or her license. They cannot (and in my experience, care to) discuss alternative treatment methods when solely trained in pharmaceuticals. Do your own research. Just yesterday, I was speaking with someone I know who is going through intense cancer tretaments~her second bout with cancer in 15 years. I felt saddened when I saw the physical difference in her from just a few months ago. She told me in her most recent treatment they really pumped her hard with the chemo. Too intense and truly awful. I asked, "Did you tell the nurses to turn the treatments off?" She was shocked. "I didn't know I could." Yes, you can. It's your body and it will tell you when it is hurting. Respect it enough to listen. Even with the immunotherapy, there were a few times when I told the nurses to slow the drip or just turn it off it its entirety. My body didn't want anymore. You will likely get pushback, but remember who is in charge-YOU. NO to the Protocol I did not follow the protocol for HER2+Stage 3 breast cancer. Rather than chemotherapy treatments, I took immunotherapy treatments alone, namely Herceptin and Perjeta. I walked this path (one that few patients followed at the time) to show that this could be done. I wanted to be an example to help others. I know that not making my body sick with chemotherapy drugs was one of the main factors in why I healed so quickly. An onocologist agreed. I was able to rest, boost my body's immunity, and embark on a healing journey that encompassed emotional release. The body can only hold onto emotions for so long. God was with me along the way. Always. As you will read in my past posts, healing happens on multiple levels and I sought alternative healing modalities such as Chinese Medicine/ Acupuncture and Reiki. Cancer has deep emotional roots. I had my own work to do to fully return to health. More on that later. FINALLY Changing All of this was in 2019 and 2020. Yet nothing changes in mainstream Western medicine without extensive trials and the accumulation of data. (How many die in the meantime?) Almost 4 years later, based namely on the results of the PHERGain study (look it up) for the first time oncologists are moving toward the elimination of chemotherapy and instead using immunotherapy alone (Herceptin and Perjeta) for patients like me. While positive news, these wheels move far too slowly. In 2019, I was told by a surgeon that the future of cancer care was immunology but they didn't yet have the data to support it. This planted a seed. My story could have ended very differently had I not followed my gut and had an oncologist who respected and understood me.

  2. Chemotherapy will cure my cancer. Chemotherapy drugs can shrink tumors, and reduce the number of cancer cells in the body. That's not a cure. According to Chris Wark of Chris Beats Cancer (an excellent source online and in book form) the most common cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon and lung cannot be cured with chemotherapy. Oncologists know this. Ask. The stem cells, which started the cancer in the first place, are often resistant to chemotherapy. The percentage left after chemo (whether 1% or 20%) tend to be more aggressive after treatments. To reach the stem cells, I relied on a natural powerhouse called sulforphane found in broccoli, broccoli sprouts, and other cruciferous vegetables. See my post Super Sulforphane (I still eat the spouts!)


Dying from the Treatments


Additionally, you must understand the side effects of cancer treatments. In a recent interview regarding how cancer treatment deaths are not counted as cancer deaths, Dr. Jenn Simmons of Real Health MD shared how some women are dying of heart disease from breast cancer radiation treatments. They survive the cancer but later die from the treatment's side effects.

Please don't walk blindly into any type of cancer care without fully understanding the whole picture. I cannot stress this enough. Patients are often rushed into starting treatments when they are in a state of diagnosis shock and fear~not the time to make major life decisions. Even with an aggressive breast cancer and four tumors, I waited weeks before starting treatments. At the time, I thought I had no choice but to do chemotherapy and was preparing my body with adequate rest and nutrition.


3. I can eat whatever I want. No. You need to do everything your power to boost your body's immunity and natural killer cells. I write extensively in this blog about the power of food as medicine and how I incorporated food and suppliments into my healing. When I found out about the cancer, I empowered myself with information. I refused to feel sorry for myself. There was no time. One of my go-to books was "Cancer Free with Food" By Liana Werner-Gray. I recommend it to everyone with cancer.


I immediately elimated gluten, white sugar, and dairy- all imflammatory. According to the National Cancer Institute, inflammation is considered a hallmark to cancer. We are so fortunate to live in a world with so many alternatives.


I shudder when I see people, who once had serious cancer, drinking super-sized sodas and returning to unhealthy diets, stressing the body. Complacency can have its risks.


The power of what we eat can not be understimated. In PET scans, a radioactive subtance containing sugar is used to detect cancer in the body. Why? Cancer cells have larger amounts of glucose. Sugar helps fuel cancer cells to grow. I'm not speaking of the natural sugars in pure fruits. Our body needs those. Anything with high-fructose corn syrup should be immediately eliminated. It's in more than you think.


A link to one of my posts, Foods that Helped Me Heal here.


For me, healing is a life-long process We're always evolving and shedding old ways. I'm not the same person I was 5 years ago at my original diagnosis. Cancer is a wake-up call to change if you allow it to be.


Stay awake.



































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