Mammograms—Who
Needs Them?
by Susun S. Weed, Women’s Health Expert
author of Breast
Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way
"The perfect antidote to fear." Carolyn DeMarco,
MD
Foreword by Christiane Northrup, M.D. 380 pages, index, illustrations.
ISBN: 0961462078
available at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com
Perhaps no aspect of breast cancer is more
widely publicized than screening mammography. Ads on television,
in magazines, and in the daily paper urge women to deal with
fear about breast cancer by having a yearly mammogram. We’re
even told that doing this is a way to “really care for
yourself.”
But screening mammograms don’t prevent breast cancer.
A mammogram is an x-ray and x-rays cause cancer. The ads promoting
regular screening mammography are paid for by those who stand
to profit from their widespread acceptance and use—the
manufacturers of the equipment and x-ray film. Whose health
does this technology really benefit? Women’s health?
Or corporate health?
Should women have screening mammograms? At what age? How frequently?
Science hasn’t agreed on answers to these questions.
Weed believes that her anti-cancer lifestyle (see page xv
in Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way)
will decrease risk of dying from breast cancer in a way that
regular mammograms won’t. She cares for her breasts
with infused herbal oils, regular loving touch, organic foods,
and healthy exercise—and forgos regular screening mammograms.
If you decide to have a mammogram, Weed offers advice on how
to protect yourself and get the most out of it.
If You Decide to Have a Mammogram
• Get the best, even if it means a
long journey.
• Go where they specialize, preferably
where they do at least 20 mammograms a day.
• Be sure the facility is accredited
by the American College of Radiology.
• Insist on personnel who specialize
in mammograms. (Taking and reading mammograms are skills that
require intensive training and a lot of practice.)
•
Ask how old the equipment is. Newer equipment exposes the
breasts to less radiation. A dedicated unit (one specifically
for mammograms) is best.
• Ask how they ensure quality control.
When was their unit calibrated?
• Load your blood with carotenes by
eating a cup of cooked sweet potato, winter squash, or carrots
every day for a week before the mammogram to prevent radiation
damage to your DNA.
• Expect to be cold and uncomfortable
during the mammogram, but do say something if you’re
being hurt.
• The more compressed the breast tissue,
the clearer the mammogram. (But pressure may spread cancer
cells if they’re present.)
• If your breasts are tender, reschedule.
During your fertile years, schedule mammograms for 7–10
days after your menstrual flow begins.
• Don’t wear antiperspirant containing
aluminum; it can interfere with the imaging process. (Those
clear stones do contain aluminum, as do most commercial antiperspirants.)
• If you want another opinion, you’ll
need the original mammographic films, not copies. (X-ray facilities
only keep films for 7 years.)
• Get your doctor to agree, in writing,
before the procedure, to give you a copy of your mammogram.
The U.S. Public Health Service advises women to ask for written
results from a mammogram.
• Given the high percentage of “false
normal” mammograms, if you think you have cancer, trust
your intuition.
• Remove radioactive isotopes from
your body with burdock root, seaweed, or miso.
Remember: Mammograms don’t
promote breast health.
Breast self-massage, breast self-exam, and lifestyle changes
do.
Breast
Meditation
Sit comfortably in front of a large mirror in a warm, private
space. Bare your breasts. Look in the mirror. Tell your breasts
something like: “I love you. You are just the way you
are supposed to be. I see your perfection. I know your beauty.
I honor your power.” Use your own words. Repeat as many
times as you like.
When you are done, close your eyes. Slowly
bring your hands up and cup them under your breasts. Say:
“My breasts are healthy. My breasts are powerful.”
Open your eyes and look at yourself in the mirror, saying,
“My breasts are my strength. My strength nourishes me
and others.” Close your eyes and let your hands return
to your lap. Sit quietly and breathe as you visualize glowing
pink clouds within your breasts spiraling in toward your nipples
for a minute.
Continuing to breathe, let this sparkling
pink energy spiral out for a minute. As you breathe, imagine
the energy doing figure-eights from breast to breast for a
minute. Finally, imagine that you are plunging your hands
into vibrant pink energy. Feel it flowing up your arms, through
your armpits and out of your nipples. Open your eyes, smile
at yourself in the mirror, and come out of the meditation.
About the Author
Susun Weed is an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit,
a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs
and health. She is the voice of the Wise Woman Way, where
common weeds, simple ceremony, and compassionate listening
support and nourish health/wholeness/holiness. She has opened
hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations for
three decades. Ms. Weed's four herbal medicine books focus
on women's health topics including menopause, childbearing,
and breast health. Visit her site www.susunweed.com for information
on her workshops, apprenticeships, correspondence courses
and more! Browse the publishing site www.wisewomanbookshop.com
to learn more about her alternative health books.
Venture into the NEW Menopause site www.menopause-metamorphosis.com
to learn all about the Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way.
Breast
Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way
Finally, a non-threatening book about breast cancer.
Can women do more than submit to a yearly examination to insure
the health of their breasts? According to Susun Weed, the
highly-regarded author of Breast Cancer? Breast Health!
The Wise Woman Way, there are many simple ways for women
to increase the health of their breasts. Unlike most other
books on the subject of breast health and breast cancer, which
are clinical and frightening, Weed speaks from a place of
warmth, sensitivity and compassion, giving comfort, reassurance
and extremely practical advice. She gives the positive message
that every cell of a woman's breasts can be nurtured, rejuvenated
and healed by the energies of touch, pleasure, love, whole
food,
and green, healing plants.
Ms. Weed suggests a two-fold approach to
breast health: increase the foods and lifestyle choices that
are known to prevent cancer, and decrease or eliminate those
things that are known to increase cancer risk. Breast
Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way, explains all
the risk factors for breast cancer, from excess hormones (especially
estrogen) to tobacco smoke, radiation to poor diet. She sets
out simple, pleasant, affordable ways to create your own anti-cancer
lifestyle, including the best foods and herbs to add to your
diet.
But what if a lump is found or, worse yet,
if the diagnosis is cancer? Ms. Weed's book gives thorough
information that helps women move through the tangle of possible
options. She offers advice that deals not only with the physical
aspects of treating lumps and cancer, but also the emo- tional,
relational, and spiritual factors involved. Weed argues against
taking action
immediately, offering strong support for her opinion that
women must give themselves time to make wise decisions that
are not based on fear.
After a woman has chosen her treatment options,
Susun continues to offer her support through the use of complementary
medicines -herbal and home remedies that are proven to moderate
the side effects of surgery, radiation, tamoxifen, and chemotherapy,
without interfering with their effectiveness. For instance,
she cites statistics showing that women who attend regular
support groups double their survival time after diagnosis,
that women who exercise regularly similarly increase their
longevity, and that standard Heroic cures, including fasting,
enemas, and high-dose supplements, actually increase morbidity
and should be avoided.
Ms. Weed does not avoid the difficult questions
surrounding breast cancer, but discusses them without engendering
fear and guilt. She writes, "So many of our modern healers,
alternative and orthodox alike, fear death. When a diagnosis
of cancer is made, death becomes the enemy. Fear of death
-- rather than love of life -- then becomes the basis from
which treatments are chosen." Ultimately, Susun urges
women to find ways to love their life without clinging, and
to learn to honor their death. Doing so can open many doors,
including those to a longer and richer life. Metastic breast
cancer, she acknowledges, is curable only by "miracles"...which
definetly do happen!
Christiane Northrup, author of the best selling
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, writes in the introduction
that she learned the importance of breast health fourteen
years ago when she developed a large breast abcess while nursing
her first child. Due to her demanding schedule of work and
devotion to the healing of others, she neglected her own self-care,
resulting in the complete destruction of the structure of
her breast duct. From that experience she bacame aware that
we cannot nurture others fully or well unless we also nurture
ourselves. "Our breasts know this. And they will not
be silenced in their attempts to bring this to our attention,"
she states.
Susun agrees. She writes that women have
a wise healer within that has been silenced, ignored, and
ridiculed for the last several millennia. Breast Cancer?
Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way gives explicit instructions
for reconnecting with this inner wisdom, as well as detailed
information about the herbal remedies mentioned in the book.
An Herbal Pharmacy section contains instructions on making
specific preparations (such as infusions, tinctures, oils,
and vinegars) for those who want to do it themselves. All
of Weed's recipes and suggestions are extremely easy to find,
buy, make, or do, and do not require the fanatical extremes
that are often recommended in other cancer treatment books.
Her advice and wisdom can easily fit into the life of every
woman who is concerned about good health.
Supporting women and their body wisdom unconditionally,
Weed makes the process of maintaining or regaining breast
health into a magical journey of transformation and offers
women the opportunity to become healthy/whole/holy. Breast
Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way guides the
reader through her fear, to a place of action where she can
honor her own integrity, and choose the best course for her
life.
Learn more at: www.breasthealthbook.com
For permission to reprint this article, or to schedule a
radio interview, contact us at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com