Breast Cancer Stories
Dr. Keith Block
Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment

The breast cancer stories on this page are excerpted from those patients with advanced breast cancer that received customized cancer treatment from Dr. Keith Block at the Block Center for Integrated Cancer Therapy in Skokie, IL.  We have included these breast cancer stories because we know and support the kind of integrated treatment these patients have obtained at the Block Center. 

The Block Center is one of our recommended Cancer Centers and Dr. Block is  one of our recommended Cancer Doctors.  A more detailed discussion of standard of care chemotherapy and of the customized and personalized care provided to cancer patients by Dr. Block can be found on our Cancer Centers, Cancer Doctors and Cancer Therapy Options pages.

And now for the Breast Cancer Stories.

Breast Cancer Stories-Amberlea
Stage III

It was July 3, 2010. I was 36 years old, unemployed (therefore, uninsured) when I was diagnosed with Stage 3B breast cancer. Having recently relocated from Florida to Milwaukee with my then-fiancé, I was visiting family back in Florida when I woke up one night with intense pain in my breast. Intuitively, I just knew something was wrong and as soon as I got back home, I went for an exam. A mammogram, ultrasound and 3 biopsies confirmed my worst fears: I had breast cancer that had already spread to 12 lymph nodes. My cancer was on the move.

My (now) husband and I went on lockdown for a couple of days. We cried, we screamed, we put our thinking caps on and came out as a team. I knew no good would come from staying stuck in my fear that would only cripple me. I needed to focus on healing.” Which is what I did. My husband and I got busy. I’d heard Dr. Block speak a few years back in West Palm Beach, Florida, and thought to myself, ‘If I’m ever facing a diagnosis, that’s where I’m going.’ Which is what I did.

I drove from Milwaukee to the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Skokie, and found exactly what I was looking for. I knew my treatment had to be personalized. I couldn’t go to a doctor where nobody knew who I was. I needed to be heard, to feel understood.

I truly believe that if we have a doctor who we don’t feel is listening to us, it will hinder our healing, and ultimately, our success. The Block Center not only educated me on my disease, they emotionally supported me. When I tell people what I did while I was receiving my chemotherapy, they don’t believe me!

Every day I wake up I get to choose what kind of diet I eat, whether or not I exercise, and how well I handle stress. When you’re first diagnosed, you feel like cancer has taken away your power. But now I know better. I still have choices, and every day I do my best to make choices that will support my health and improve my chances of remaining disease-free.

In February 2011, I had a bilateral mastectomy. Four months later, I had radiation and in September of this year, I finished breast reconstruction surgery. I’m cancer free and very happy! I have so much to look forward to. Next January, I’ll be off of the Tamoxifen and my husband and I are looking forward to starting a family. If women take anything from my story, let it be that this: You have choices. Take control of your health, be an active participant in your own well-being. Self-exams are important, regular screening is important. And there are options out there available to everyone.
 NOTE:  The above account was excerpted and summarized from BlockMD.com

Breast Cancer Stories-Karyn
HER2 Positive Breast Cancer-Stage IV

In September of 2007, I received a call that I did not want to receive. My breast cancer had returned. A growth was found in my liver along with a small growth in a lymph node near the original site of my breast cancer. I was also HER2 positive which is a more aggressive type of breast cancer. My diagnosis officially made me a Stage IV cancer patient. I knew the full meaning of that diagnosis and set about my course to finding superior treatment. I was sure about one thing. I would do whatever it took to heal and rid my body of disease. I rejected the limitations of conventional medicine along with its statistics and classification systems. It was necessary to think “outside the box” to regain my life. I knew I must find individualized and personal care. The Block Center provides a whole body approach along with chemotherapy. Cancer is a complex disease and it requires a complex approach.

I am forever grateful to the founders of the Block Center for creating a place of healing. This is also a place of hope and teaching. Hope is expressed daily by caregivers. I was surrounded with positive words and encouraged to make significant life changes. Words and attitudes can be incredibly powerful and I know they were instrumental in my healing. I cannot give enough praise to the staff. It is obvious they are hand-picked and the cream of the crop in their fields. Under the care of the Block Center, I stayed healthy during 6 months of chemo treatments and did not experience any sickness or tiredness whatsoever. Uniquely, chemo is given only after nutrition is administered. I flourished during what was described as a difficult chemo regimen. I was able to maintain a rigorous schedule as a business owner.
I have learned to make my body inhospitable to cancer. In March of 2008, just after my 46th birthday, there was no sign of cancer in my body. I will continue to study and work with the gifted Block Team to remain cancer free. Cancer can be reversed.

Finally, I thank God for all, including the Block Center.

NOTE:  The above story was excerpted and summarized from the breast cancer survivor stories at BlockMD.com

Additional Cancer Stories

For additional breast cancer stories see Breast Cancer Survival Stories-Patients of Dr. Robert Nagourney.

For cancer survivor stores of people with other types of cancer see our Cancer Survivor Stories page.