I did no surgery, chemo, radiation, medication. I did start hormone blockers after PETscan Feb 2020, but stopped in May 2020. No conventional treatment, but I did do conventional testing and monitoring.

Diagnosed September 2016 with multi-centric invasive ductal carcinoma ER + PR + HER2 - by mammogram and MRI. Biopsied: 1 area by stereotactic biopsy and 2 areas by MRI biopsy. (Nothing showed up on Ultrasound). Titanium clips marked 3 areas where the tissue was removed, which all tested positive and it was assumed all other connecting similarly suspicious areas also cancer. Mastectomy was recommended because it was not one lump, but multi-centric throughout the breast. Went to the German cancer clinic. Signed up for Square 1 and changed diet to plant-based. Eliminated dairy. March 2017 I did the preliminary MRA of the abdomen required for the DIEP Flap reconstruction surgery. This MRA indicated liver lesion in the pathology report, thought to be unremarkable. Mammogram before scheduled surgery showed no spreading. 2 areas with titanium clips did not show up at all, but the mammogram was being compared to MRI so inconclusive if actually gone. Opted to continue my own protocol. Canceled mastectomy. Had the optional experimental type of Photo Dynamic Therapy. (CHLORIN E6 TRISODIUM SALT 30 mg Powder for injection). Blood work, cancer markers, thermography were normal a little over a year later and remained stable 1 year later. July 2019 markers up out of normal range. February 2020 PETscan confirmed liver met with recurrence, but less, not more, than the original diagnosis.

I was relieved when they had made improvements to mammograms with less radiation, less false positives, and immediate feedback. I had had excessive follow-ups, always in the right breast and requiring additional and more frequent mammograms when younger, but had since had many “free and clear” drives home, checking off another year like getting a season ski pass that allowed me to sail freely down the slope to safety without a mishap. Much better than the previous ups and downs, waiting for results followed by the inevitable 6-month, follow-up. Or worse, the three surgical biopsies I had had, starting in my early 30’s. Memory blurs them together but they remain separated by the faded scars in different quadrants of my right breast. I also had one attempted (but aborted) stereotactic biopsy back when it was a new procedure. The area in question was difficult to reach, so they did X-ray after X-ray trying to reach the right spot. After many unsuccessful attempts, I had to have it done surgically after all. Years later a friend told me that I had casually mentioned that if “I ever get cancer, it will be on my right breast because it has been so over-radiated” since all of the (too many to accurately count) false positives were always on my right breast. The irony is that in “playing it safe” and being extra cautious (because my mother died of breast cancer) I will always wonder if the overzealous screening led to the diagnosis. Yet, it was ultimately an annual mammogram that alerted me that this time it was for real. As a side note, Switzerland has abolished mammograms.

My mother got breast cancer in 1974 and after metastasis to the colon, was told she had one month to live. We found a doctor who left Sloan Kettering to do whole-body hyperthermia, laetrile along with other unconventional treatments. She lived another 4 years. Just before she passed away my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. In 2005 my husband Phillip went in for a hernia operation and at the pre-op exam was told he was too anemic to have surgery. Instead, he had a colonoscopy and familial polyposis and colorectal cancer were discovered. He knew from the unavoidable eavesdropping that he would be having his colon removed which he did in 2006 and brain surgery in 2011 for one of five metastisized brain tumors. He passed in 2012 after our 30-year marriage.

So, I had felt like I had been through cancer many times before I was diagnosed four years later, and this personal and direct experience informed my choices. I went to Arcadia clinic in Germany where I was given the book Radical Remission to read. I spent three weeks having hyperthermia, Mistle toe injections, Vitamin C infusions, PEMF, and a lot more.

The stories in Radical Remission became like the 4-minute mile—demonstrating what was possible. When I came back home, I looked at everything in my life—diet, supplements, thoughts, habits and emotions. Still feeling pulled to follow my gut, yet preparing for the mastectomy in all ways. I found Chris Wark and Square 1.

Curious, I requested one more mammogram a month before the scheduled surgery, thinking my breast was being removed anyway, so the radiation didn’t really matter now. They couldn’t see cancer in two of the areas where the titanium clips had been placed during the MRI biopsy, but said those were areas did not show well in previous mammogram compared to the MRI. They would confidently say though, that there had been no spreading. That was enough for me to delay the surgery while I continued all of the changes in my life.

I also went back to Germany in August and did an additional experimental Photo Dynamic Therapy with Chlorine E6. I had all of my amalgam fillings removed and replaced while there. (I had tested very high in mercury).

A few months later I went to Omega to do the weekend workshop with Dr. Kelly Turner and once there extended my stay to become a certified Radical Remission Teacher. The "Strong Reasons for Living" factor became crystal clear for me. There is nothing more meaningful or that goes deeper for me than connecting with people who are going through cancer, either as a patient or a caregiver. I became a Radical Remission Workshop leader, Speaker, and Coach.

In December of 2017, all blood work from 3 different Lab tests were in the normal range, and an additional “Liquid Biopsy” test for Circulating Cancer Cells was “not performed” because no cancer cells were found. I was NED. No Evidence of Disease. This is where it gets a little blurry. When I thought I was going to have surgery shortly after diagnosis, I did an MRA on the abdominal area for the plastic surgeon in preparation for DIEP Flap. We would retroactively see that the pathology report for that showed a liver lesion and it appears to be the same one. Because that was done for the plastic surgeon and his focus was entirely different, it was never acknowledged. The mastectomy would not have been recommended if already a met, but somehow this was overlooked by all of us. This showed me it takes a combination to get a complete status, and even then best not to hold results too tightly--positive or negative. I am now in my 5th year from diagnosis and possibly 5th year of being Stage 4. I remain symptom-free and feeling well without having had surgery, chemo, or radiation.

The energy that went into decisions that needed to be researched and made, the fear around it all, the massive medical bills and paperwork, appointments, and traveling for treatments became a foundation of rooted empathy and understanding for those who were either healing or learning how to thrive with cancer and all that comes with that. I felt extensively qualified to become a resource and support for others. In July 2019 markers increased and had a recurrence and a liver lesion confirmed in 2020 that has since reduced in volume. I know that things that are in balance can become imbalanced and vice versa. I know that people can walk with me, but they can’t walk for me. No one talks to me more than me. Factors like “spiritual connection, intuition, releasing suppressed emotions” need to be experienced consciously and felt in the body. That is where the healing happens. My body, which has taken so much of my attention and resources, has given me so much pleasure and pain, now carries the story I bring to others. It is more of a thermostat that sets and guides me (often bypassing and mystifying my brain) than a thermometer that just reacts and reports. It is not my enemy that needs to be conquered, fought, or bullied. This is not a war to be won, but an experience to be understood and made conscious.

Related Events:

2021:

Omega Institute Live Weekend Workshop August 6-8

Guest Q+A: Dr. Henning Saupe via zoom

Taught 2-part Omega Institute Livestream Teacher's Studio February 9 + 17th

www.eomega.org/workshops/teachers/kathryn-doherty

2020:

Task Force and teacher on Radical Remission Livestream

www.radicalremissionlivestream.com/

2019

Feb 28 – March 2 Annie Appleseed Conference in West Palm Beach, FL-Introducing Dr. Henning Saupe

March 23 Talk at the Byram-Shubert Library in Greenwich, CT introducing the 9 Healing Factors

April 6 + 7 Weekend retreat at St. Birgitta’s in Darien, CT covering the 9 Healing Factors in-depth with Sound Healing, Energy Sessions, and Q+A with Dr. Yvette Whitton

July Radical Remission Healing Factors Introduction at Arcadia Clinic in Germany

Sept 20 – 22 Taught at Omega in Rhinebeck, NY. (This is the workshop previously taught by Dr. Kelly Turner.)

October 27 Symposium Director and Founder of Wisdom + Wellness Integrative Cancer Symposium. Greenwich, CT integrativewisdomandwellness.com

November 17 Introduction to Radical Remission Arcadia Clinic Bad Emstal, Germany

For updates, articles, inspiration, and event info:

kathryndoherty.com

www.facebook.com/kathryn.radical.remission

integrativewisdomandwellness.com

* I had several mammograms with false positives on right breast--resulting in 6 month follow-ups, 3 surgical biopsies-all on right breast, 2 stereotactic biopsies. I have had too much radiation on that breast.

* My husband of 30 years passed away 5 years ago. The stress around his long illness and then death may have contributed to a weakened immune response.

* My mother had breast cancer and my father had prostate cancer. Genetics play less of a role than once thought, but possibly was a factor.