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CDC:
Marilyn, nice to have you here.
MT:
Thank you. Glad to be here.
CDC:
You look very happy today.
MT:
Oh, I am so excited. I am going home.
CDC:
Oh, you are going home!
MT:
Yes.
CDC:
All right. This is very good news for us, too. And why are you going
home now?
MT:
Because the doctors released me and they said that all my
tests came back cancer free. So I’m back to my 100% good self.
CDC:
I wanted to ask you some questions, like when you were diagnosed, what
did you feel, or when did you realize that you had a health concern?
MT:
Well, in July, I was just kind of taking a shower and realized that I
hadn’t had -- hadn’t examined myself in a while. And so I did, and I
felt a really big lump in my right breast. So immediately -- this was
on a Saturday and the following Monday I called my doctor and the ball
started rolling from there.
CDC:
And what did your doctors tell you?
MT:
I did some tests and they came back saying that it was positive with
cancer. Malignant -- I’m sorry, I don’t know the name of it.
CDC:
That’s okay. And what options did they give you?
MT:
Chemotherapy, surgery and high dose radiation. And I didn’t want any of
those.
CDC:
But you didn’t want it from the beginning?
MT:
Correct.
CDC:
All right.
MT:
I didn’t know any other options out there. I was really just shocked
that I even had it, because I have three older sisters and I thought out
of all of us, it wouldn’t be me. But apparently, being the baby, I did
get it. My mother does have cancer and she did through the chemo and
radiation and surgery. And she’s had a very, very rough time of it.
So I just kind of started looking for alternative things and came up
with VCI.
CDC:
How did you find us?
MT:
How did I find you? Well, I was looking into the high dose C and low
dose radiation, and I knew that the low dose radiation was what I
wanted, which is what VCI does. And came across a lady that helps
you with insurance and was talking to her and she recommended VCI to
me. And I was real excited. And that same day she gave me Nash’s
number and I called and from there it just -- I looked on the Internet
under VCI. I checked into it. I went to my husband, gave him all the
reports and everything. The next thing I knew, I was on the plane out
here.
CDC:
All right. And how long was the treatment, for you?
MT:
I’ve been here about five months.
CDC:
Five months?
MT:
Mmm-hmm.
CDC:
Even though it was a long journey, was it worth it?
MT:
Oh, definitely worth it. I was concerned about the apartment, where I
was going to live and whatever.
MT:
I was concerned about where I was to live, and VCI provided the
apartment. And so I’m paying rent and stayed over there. It’s a really
nice apartment. Not luxurious but, you know, it’s adequate. It helps
you. And actually it’s cheaper to come here and rent the apartment than
it would have to stay home and drive to my treatments there. So I was
excited about that and it’s been a very wonderful experience. The
people here are just wonderful. And they helped me along and of course
they tease me about my Texas accent, but, okay, you Californians have
accents, too. So when I came, I started the treatments right away. I
had some preliminary tests done and that’s about it.
CDC:
Very good. And did you have any side effects?
MT:
A little bit. Just losing a little bit of hair, but I knew I was going
to. Not anything really drastic. I didn’t get sick. I didn’t get
nauseated. I didn’t have any of the bowel syndromes. So every once
in a while, I would have a headache, but that’s because I forgot to
drink my water. So as long as I get my water down and do my walking and
eating properly, I was great.
CDC:
And was the treatment itself uncomfortable or at least manageable?
MT:
Oh, no, not uncomfortable at all. You just lay down on the table and
let them heat whatever part of the body you needed. And you just have a
little nap. The radiation took, what, 10 minutes or less and that’s
it. Minimum hour and a half to two hours and you’re out of here.
CDC:
And besides hyperthermia, did you do anything else, like any special
diet?
MT:
Not really. I’ve always been a healthy eater, so I -- you all
recommended no dairy, a little bit of meat. So I cut that out. And the
cheese, cutting out that cheese was very hard. So I didn’t really do
any special diet except for the exercise and the water. Oh, I did do a
high vitamin C with it, but that’s about it.
CDC:
All right. So how would you describe, if you had to talk to someone
else, how would you describe your experience at the Valley Cancer
Institute?
MT:
Oh, I would try to convince them 100% to come here.
It’s just awesome, because you don’t have to go
through the surgery, you know, all the sickness, the hair loss, the
nausea. And just to be able to enjoy it, and relax, have
your treatment, go party. Oh, and, you know, sightsee, go to the beach,
do whatever you want. Your two hours once a day for the Monday through
Friday and you’ve got to the weekends to yourself and just enjoy
yourself. It’s been really relaxing.
CDC:
I’m happy to hear that. Anything else you would like to add? To say?
MT:
Oh, man, if they could come, anybody who has cancer, I know you all
treat any and everything. And mine was right breast cancer. And I’m
100% cured. It was Stage 3 when I came and it was a 4.5 centimeter
mass. And it is now less than 1 centimeter. It’s dead. And I know
that over time it will dissolve and go away, the lump. But if you could
come, that would be great.
CDC:
I thank you so much for the opportunity of talking to you.
MT:
Thank you. I enjoyed it.
CDC:
Thank you |
