Cancer happened one morning--far from the sunset of our years. It came to my younger sister, Kristina (and to all who love her), as a lump in her breast.

She sought immediate medical attention and had as much of the malignant tumor removed as could be detected during her mastectomy. Apparently, it wasn’t enough.

They treated her with chemotherapy “just in case” and then found out it had spread.

I am one of those people who believe chemotherapy can actually encourage cancer to metastasize to other organs, since it kills both healthy and malignant cells, but more often than not, it works its way directly to the blood becoming leukemia or to the bones. In Kristina’s body, the malignant cells chose her bones.

She didn’t lose her long, light brown tresses from the chemotherapy poisons right away. After her first round of treatment, she met a gentleman who was using aloe vera on his scalp to “remove excess oils and stimulate growth”. Biologically speaking, I can’t explain what happened or if the aloe did anything, but I liked the fact that it made her feel good. Ultimately, the luxurious, dark curls you see framing her face have given us all a sense of vitality and possibility—especially now.

After a second round of chemotherapy, Kristina contracted a viral infection, which landed her in the hospital for over a week. She was so ill she couldn’t eat, but vomited more (much like what she endured with chemo). She lost over 20 pounds (always joking and knowing the pounds she had gained would “pull a lot of weight”…one day). During that time, I cleaned everything I could get my hands on, packed her belongings, negotiated a number of things and moved her, our elderly mother and her bewildered clan into a healthier environment where smoking wasn’t allowed. Much to my dismay, Kristina was a smoker, which in my mind contributed to the attack on her body. Now everyone breathes much easier. Though settled into a new place where the temperature was better regulated than before, she was sweating and freezing more throughout the night and suffering terrible headaches, which became worse every day.

Kristina’s doctor ordered a full body scan. Initially, the news was devastating. The cancer had spread further into her neck and her skull. Her oncologist ran tests on her blood count and finally said, “No more chemotherapy!” Instead, she set up 15 days of radiation to shrink some of the tumors. The doctor gave her a month to live prior to becoming a paraplegic when the bones in her neck would either crumble or snap.

Meanwhile, I had returned to my family here in Idaho after five long weeks of helping Kristina, but when I got the news, was on the earliest possible flight out of here courtesy of our last free miles.

Kristina met me at the airport in New Orleans where we just sat and talked. Through tears, I begged her to stop smoking. I begged her to seek alternative therapy. While she couldn’t quite bring herself to put the cigarettes down just yet, she realized with chemo no longer an option, she had little choice.

I took her to a true gentleman, who has helped people survive cancer after the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas(www.mdanderson.org)) sent them home to “get their affairs in order”. Dr. Chuck Mary of Mary Medical Clinic (www.maryclinic.com), has just begun seeing Kristina so I don’t have specifics I can relay just yet—except that she has quit smoking, is no longer ingesting caffeine and is eating healthier overall.

What I can tell you, however, is that through him, the healthy cells she has left, and my own research of naturally occurring cancer fighters in relatively inexpensive foods available, she may still have a chance to recover or, at the very least, go into remission—even at stage IV.

If you and/or someone you love is facing this challenge, please do extensive research. Learn why cancer frequently metastasizes, particularly after chemotherapy. Understand the effects of radiation. Discover other possibilities beyond what has been approved by the FDA. Know that smoking doesn't just cause lung cancer; it robs your body of much needed oxygen to fight cancer.

There are many things you can do to help your body fight cancer. Perhaps the easiest is changing your diet to rid your body of toxins. Alkalize your body/blood. Enzymes reduce/remove the fibrin (a protein) around the cancer cells so the healthy cells can naturally attack them. Seek a qualified physician to administer vitamin C and oxygen therapies; this builds up your immune system. Learn and practice deep breathing techniques. These all help destroy the cancer cells from the inside out.

In addition, some believe that a specific mixture of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda—without aluminum) and 100 percent pure maple syrup may help you since cancer loves sugar. (Google it if you don’t believe me.) According to Dr. Tullio Simoncini, a roman doctor specializing in oncology, this combination “can act as a Trojan horse to deliver the sodium bicarbonate to the inner cancer cell”. Other than this mixture, however, you should stay away from sugar since it "feeds" cancer cells 15 percent more, thus causing them to grow faster than healthy cells. Ditch the sweetened sodas containing phosphoric acid, which have been hypothesized to strip your body of much needed calcium. Heck, ditch them even if you don’t have cancer—for healthier growing bones.

To those given time: No matter which path you choose after consulting with a trusted physician, begin with research and a knowledge that this journey will prove to be spiritually valuable on levels you could previously only have imagined. May you find an inner peace amongst the chaos, experience true forgiveness, visualize and come to know real beauty, embrace more than the porcelain throne with every fiber of your being--and heal daily throughout the seasons of your life.

Disclaimer:The information in this article is provided as an opinion and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use this information for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, and particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.