Positive Health Online

Patient: Joan; age: 51; Female Homeopath; Non-smoker; 3 children

History

Joan first came to see me at the beginning of March 2001. She was very anaemic because of heavy menstruation, her blood pressure was slightly high, she had a general sluggishness of bodily systems with variable fatigue and a poor ability to sleep due to the pain in her left breast and axilla. She had a large tumour in her left breast, the size of an egg, which gave the appearance of being ‘stuck’ to the ribs. Joan decided not to pursue the medical route as she didn’t fancy being ‘under the knife’, so no actual diagnosis was made by the medical profession. Being a practitioner herself, and having some knowledge of the emotional causes of problems, she has always opted for the self-help route, not without a great deal of courage. The word ‘tumour’ is the word that was actually used by herself. She did not ignore the fact that it could be cancer, but had always felt that she could overcome the problem herself.

There was also a floating lump in the left axilla the size of teaspoon, and the superficial and deep cervical lymphatic nodes were also enlarged. Joan had a very distended uterus for about half her cycle and complained about being overweight for her small build. For 2 to 3 weeks of her cycle, Joan had quite severe rosacea. Joan was using a homotoxicology remedy and some nutritional supplements. She had undergone an operation on both feet to reduce her bunions, so both hallux were very sensitive.

She was exercising only sporadically – either swimming or aerobics – but not much of either because of the discomfort it caused at that time.

Treatment

On the first treatment I found tenderness at the back of the pelvis, and tension over all the back, shoulders and diaphragm. The breast lump seemed softer after treatment and the pain was gone from the left axilla. Joan seemed to respond well to the treatment because the next time I saw her two-and-a-half weeks later, she was softer around her pelvis so that I was able to work more deeply there; same on the feet, although the toes were still painful. I got the feeling of there being a lot of stagnation in the torso and advised acupuncture to support the liver.

One week later, the uterus was very swollen and the breast very tender. The clavicle and axillary region were painful too.

It was four weeks before I saw Joan again, and by that time, she had become very sensitive. The breast tissue seemed to be changing – the lump was slightly smaller, although I felt that the congestion was spreading into the ribs below, and down the left arm slightly.

The following week, her whole body seemed much better. Joan had begun having acupuncture, which did help, although her fear of needles meant this was fairly short-lived. At this point, I suggested that Joan look at the emotional root of her problem which was closely linked to early experiences around her mother and, more recently, the loss of eight people within two years, and a lot of anger at herself.

Progress

By the end of May, the majority of Joan’s body was much less congested. Appointments had become fortnightly but consistently good progress was being made and I was able to address very deep congestion around the whole pelvic area. By the end of June, sufficient progress had been made for Joan to start swimming again, thus mobilizing the ribcage.

Through July, much of the congestion was moving, although the ankles remained blocked.

At the beginning of August, I noticed that most of the left cervical chain had hardened, the lump in the axilla was bigger and the breast looked different – a red lesion was forming just below the nipple area. I felt that the congestion around the left quadrant was backing up and needed to be released, but that the root was emotional.

By early October the new Joan had begun to emerge. She had lost a lot of fluid and weight (not by dieting), thus giving access to a deeper level of tissue. The breast lesion had become longer and reached down to the area of the inframammary duct.

By the beginning of November, the breast lesion/scab was discharging more, but the whole lump seemed smaller and was softer around the edges; the cervical nodes and axillary lump were still very solid. The uterus/abdomen was not distended anymore, and there was an occasional release of clear fluid from the uterus – Joan had begun wearing jeans a size smaller and was more relaxed in general. There had been no period although she was on day 50. The rosacea was much more superficial and sleep was better. There were no more cramps in the toes, no hardness of the abdomen and no more breast pain. Joan commented that her “whole body felt less within the skin – even the feet!”

By the end of November, the breast tissue was showing distinct differences – it had begun suppurating and bits of the scab had been flaking away. The scab had doubled in size although the size of the breast had reduced; the axillary nodes and superficial cervical nodes were bigger and pressure was building across to the sternum. The left arm remained unaffected. Joan felt that the pressure was building in order to expel the dead tumour.

Outcome

Joan came to see me as often as she could afford as she always felt the benefit of the treatment straight afterwards. I am proud of the way she has taken responsibility for continuing her treatment at home in order to keep the pressure and pain down to a manageable level. There is often a reduction in the size of women during a course of treatment as accumulated congestion is dissolved, but none as dramatic as in this case.

At present, Joan’s breast continues to discharge as the necrotized tissue is expelled and gradually the pressure on the cervical nodes decreases, and she continues to feel better within herself. She still has occasional treatment from me as she finds it relieves pressure, unblocks lymphatic vessels and helps to keep her system moving. She finds the time out, relaxation and feedback very helpful too.

It is worth noting that there has been help from other practitioners (homeopath, acupuncturist, healer) during this programme of care, all of whom have played a valuable part in Joan’s recovery.