Twins Beat Cancer
Twin sis and me; We tell our cancer victory story.
This is us in a video conversation. Twin sisters with the same breast cancer, including the percentage of estrogen and progesterone (95% and 90%)
We were blessed to both heal from breast cancer without chemotherapy. Not everyone will. Yet, not everyone will beat it with chemotherapy.
We talk about the emotional journey and coping with fear. Our conversation in this video is not about listing treatments we did. It is about the emotional impact when being twins and going through the emotional part of each other getting a diagnosis and, for me (A death sentence)
My story of diagnosis, treatment, and eventual healing began in Seattle, WA at the University of Washington in 2006 with stage 3 breast cancer, then onward to Simi Valley CA in 2009 with symptoms for 9 months, misdiagnosis, and finally with a recurrence of stage 4 from UCLA Medical Center. I was at a new crossroads with stage 4 and failed treatments behind me. I had a bilateral mastectomy in 2006, radiation in 2010, and staph infection complications throughout it all. In 2010 UCLA gave me 3-12 months to live with no other treatment options available to me in the US. Conventional was too harsh for my very compromised immune system. I even got shingles.
Faced with a final big decision that I never thought would be my last and lead to healing was finally the last leg of my journey. I decided to leave my country and go to CMN Hospital in San Luis, Sonora, Mexico, for advanced alternative cancer treatment. I felt like I was free-falling. Dr. Payan and the CMN medical team succeeded in getting me well. So each day is a gift now I do not take for granted. I never thought my twin sister would be facing the same tough decisions.
When diagnosed with cancer, you have many new crossroads you will face on your journey where decisions must be made, and loved ones will intervene with opinions, love, conflict, etc. It's your life you are fighting for, and we need to remember that listening to our intuition is better than anyone else we could listen to. No one in my family supported me in going to CMN in Mexico because they loved me so much that they were afraid. The truth is, they were afraid of what chemo would have done too. We don't have the luxury of 100% success with any cancer treatment.
Me and my twin sister both beat breast cancer at CMN Hospital. I am in my 9th year of being 100% cancer-free. I remember continually staring at options and listening to our intuition; we never know where our journey would take us or how long it would take. We never gave up, and I never blamed doctors' efforts to do what they could do within their medical, legal practice parameters.
Each of us stands at a crossroads deciding which new road to take, and we know each decision is personal and quite frankly intense! I had hope and FAITH because to live without it would create darkness around me that sent me in a downward spiral that made cancer more powerful and terrifying.
Without promises—more than I can emphasize, there is still hope. Even with my twin sister and me, we faced different obstacles, which shows how unique we were in how our bodies responded to any treatments.
Doctors see that in their everyday "practice." Medicine is not a perfect science but a practice.
All my prayers and best wishes of hope and faith to all who listen to our video and who are on the cancer journey trying to heal their bodies.
~Love Shannon Knight
