Could Your Cancer Diagnosis Be Wrong?
Prevent a Cancer Misdiagnosis with the ‘Know Error’ System
Being diagnosed with cancer is difficult enough, but the thought that your biopsy sample is contaminated or mixed with another sample is a frightening thought. It can lead to a misdiagnosis that results in being treated for cancer that you don’t actually have, which puts you at further risk from the temporary side effects and permanent damage that cancer treatments cause. Or equally as bad, being told your result is benign when it isn’t and then being sent on your merry way thinking you are cancer-free, which leaves the cancer growing inside of you without your knowledge.
“This scenario happens to approximately 3,000 women who undergo breast biopsies every year – or one out of every 100 cases,” according to a recent story from Fox News. Even though a misdiagnosis is rare, it is alarming to know it happens! Especially if you’re the 1 in 100 that it happens to. I always say the statistic I’m most concerned with is the statistic of ONE: me!
In the past year-and-a-half, I have had four biopsies for breast cancer. The first result came back as pre-cancer (atypical lobular hyperplasia, bordering lobular carcinoma in-situ). The next biopsy was a surgical biopsy removing what I thought was just pre-cancerous tissue. Surprise! The pathology on it came back as invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) — my devastating cancer diagnosis in January of 2012 — mixed with previously diagnosed pre-cancerous tissue.
The last two biopsies, in September of 2012, were recommended after I had a post treatment follow-up MRI that showed three areas of concern in my right breast, which is the same breast that I was treated for breast cancer in early 2012. The result of these two biopsies were negative for malignancy (huge sigh of relief) and were diagnosed as benign conditions. Of course, that third spot wasn’t biopsied due to the doc saying that they don’t need to unless the two they did biopsy come back as cancer, which they didn’t.
Most likely my four biopsies were my tissue and these diagnoses are correct, but because I was unaware of the ‘Know Error’ system at the time of each of my biopsies, I have no way of really knowing for sure if I was properly diagnosed and treated. The ‘Know Error’ system has the ability to match your DNA to the DNA of your tumor/tissues samples being biopsied to provide 100 percent accuracy that the biopsy sample is indeed from you and therefore results in a correct diagnosis. All it takes is a simple cheek swab at the time of biopsy to get your DNA and then it’s matched with your biopsy sample to confirm that your tissue is indeed yours.
The Know Error System — How It Works Video
Unfortunately, my most recent MRI follow-up this past May resulted in two areas of concern and a MRI-guided biopsy was recommended. I declined the MRI-guided biopsy because, at this time, I didn’t want to risk going through another invasive biopsy only to have it turn out as benign. Of course, it could be malignant, but given the high-false positive rate of MRIs and the fact that my last two biopsies were benign, I’m hoping the same is true this time around, so for now, I’m holding off.
Unless what’s going on in my right breast resolves itself on its own, which is possible especially if it’s more inflammation and damage caused by radiation treatment, then most likely there’s another biopsy in my future. Of course, I hope it resolves itself and another biopsy is not needed, but if it doesn’t and I do opt for a biopsy this next go around, then I am certainly going to request that the ‘Know Error’ system be used.
To learn more about the ‘Know Error’ system, visit: http://knowerror.com/
Read MoreDetoxification and (Crazy Sexy) Cleanse
I’ve been wanting to do a cleanse for more than a year now. Sadly, I haven’t done one yet. But today that’s all changing. Today, I put the stake in the ground and embarked on my first cleanse!
The reason it’s taken me so long is, first, I didn’t think I could give up my daily morning ritual of coffee or my nightly dose of sugar. After dinner, I loved eating cookies or other sweets. But I gave up these two vices on January 10th of this year when my breast surgeon said to me those three frightening words you never want to hear “you have cancer.”
I also wasn’t sure I could go a whole day without eating solid food and only consuming liquids (I’m still worried about this portion of the cleanse so I’ll most likely limit it to once a week or maybe only twice through the cleanse).
There’s also the detox portion of feeling ill due to the toxins being released and eliminated from your body. Hopefully, it’s not too bad for me since I eat a pretty clean diet now and do my best at keeping chemicals and toxins out of my home and yard.
However, since heavy metals and other toxins accumulate over years we all have toxic build up in our bodies. My toxic metal test showed that I have elevated levels of lead and mercury. The latter most likely due to the silver dental fillings I had since childhood (I’ve since had them removed).
And lastly, one of the other challenges to starting this cleanse and detoxification was picking which one. Since there are so many different types and ways to cleanse and detoxify, it was a bit overwhelming for me to know which one was right for me. Enter, Crazy Sexy Cleanse…
Kris Carr’s 21-day Crazy Sexy Cleanse
I’ve decided to do Kris Carr‘s 21-day cleanse from her book Crazy Sexy Diet (it’s a MUST-READ for any wellness junkie). But I’m doing it with some additional detoxification elements that my naturopathic doctor prescribed to me. They are as follows: Two drops, twice a day of a tincture he specifically prepared for me (based on my needs); drinking BioCleanse Plus (provides liver support to aid in the detoxification process) from BioGenesis; and alternating between Bikram Yoga twice a week and far infrared sauna, also twice a week, to sweat out impurities and toxins, which further helps detoxify my body.
I’ve never done far infrared sauna, so that should be interesting and I’ve only done Bikram yoga once before. I loved it, but I thought I was going to die! It certainly is an experience. Even though I loved the experience, I think it scared me a bit because I haven’t done it since that first time, but I’m going to commit to twice a week starting today.
What I really love about Carr’s cleanse is it’s flexible and not rigid. I love her spirit and guidance. She knows how to give you the info and the tools; but at the same time, she teaches you to embark on the cleanse with openness and forgiveness. The forgiveness part is a huge help. Especially for me since I’ve always been an all or nothing type of gal. Do it perfect or don’t do it at all. Yep, I was all about “work hard, play hard,” which I’ve since realized is so unhealthy. It’s that mentality and stressful way of life that most likely was a contributing factor in me getting cancer (IMHO).
During this cleanse it’s my hope that I’m able to try out some of Carr’s recipes in Crazy Sexy Diet. My challenge is that I really don’t like to cook and have never really been a recipe person, but I need to expand my oh so limited menu and embrace new and healthy dishes (preferably plant-based dishes). And if I’m successful then I’ve decided to reward myself at the end of the cleanse and treat myself to Carr’s new book Crazy Sexy Kitchen. It will be a real treat because she’s my wellness hero!
“Crazy Sexy” 21-day cleanse and detoxification, here I come!
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