In Search for Alternative Treatment for Breast Cancer

"We think, 'this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.' But it turns out to be the best thing because it starts off a series of events." SILVER LINING - Kim Tinkham has worked to find the positive in her experience with breast cancer, a journey which has led her to an alternative form of treatment. THE PROOF - Kim Tinkham studied the photo of the tumor in her breast on the way home from the doctor's office visit that confirmed she had stage three breast cancer.

PART ONE OF TWO Holistic Healing In a search for alternative treatment for stage three breast cancer, Kim Tinkham chose to let her body and soul do the work She can still feel the tumor just underneath the surface of her skin, where it will probably remain for a while. But she knows it's harmless. Now, it's simply her badge of honor - the reminder that she, Kim Tinkham, defeated cancer without any surgery, invasive procedures, radiation or chemotherapy. "It's not killing me. I could have this for the next 15 years," Tinkham said. "I'm cancer free by all medical terms." A recent blood test proved that the stage three breast cancer diagnosed in February is absent from her body. But she really didn't need a blood test to tell her that. Just hours after she had her blood taken for the test, and days before she knew the results, she was confident that her new lifestyle had allowed her body to fight the cancer. "I really feel like they aren't going to find anything," Tinkham said. Tinkham, of Boyd, was diagnosed with breast cancer Feb. 14, just days after her 50th birthday on Feb. 7. After a mammogram and a biopsy, Tinkham's doctor told her that she has stage three breast cancer. That moment, she said, was one of the rare times in her life that she broke down and didn't know what to do. "My 50th birthday was a milestone. I started thinking, 'What am I going to do for the next 50 years?' I never, ever planned for this," Tinkham said. "I'm not someone who breaks down. It was a scary time for me and it wasn't a situation I wanted to deal with, but it wasn't going to go away. I had that feeling of hopelessness and that feeling when you finally realize, 'I'm not immortal.'" Her doctors wanted to perform a partial mastectomy immediately, as well as remove her lymph nodes. She had 15 minutes to call her husband before going through more tests and discussing a combative plan. "I don't work like that. I needed time to think about this," Tinkham said. She called her husband as she got dressed, then went home, giving herself the two-hour drive to figure out what her next step was going to be. "I've always been a spiritual person, and I kind of snapped back into it after about two hours of thinking, 'Oh my God, what am I going to do.' My moment only lasted two hours. I went through depression, I went through shock. I went through all these emotions in the time that it took me to get in my truck and drive home." At the end of the drive, she found solace in her thoughts, deciding she was going to find the silver lining in this particular storm cloud. "I told myself, 'There is a reason for everything.' When things happen to you, you can choose to make it a positive or a negative. I thought, 'You can make something good out of this'," Tinkham said. "Being the positive person that I am, I always thought that I was someone that God would use to help other people. I think I can help people through this." Tinkham had many questions and needed answers before she decided how to fight breast cancer. She started by talking with a number of specialists across the nation. "Everybody I came in contact with in the medical field told me that I couldn't fix this on my own. That scared me at first, and I don't get scared," Tinkham said. "It was my body, and all of a sudden it was a situation where I had to get someone else involved. There are people out there like me - they are always the one people look to for help. And when it comes time for them to do some leaning, they have no one to lean on except themselves. "I was not afraid to ask questions of doctors. These are doctors that are specialists in their field. The question that I asked every one I talked to was, 'What causes cancer?' They all looked at me and said, 'We don't really know'," Tinkham said. Hours and hours of research followed, and Tinkham realized that an alternative solution would be best for her. "I knew, for me, the best route would be alternative. I don't like surgery. I guess I don't like the loss of control," Tinkham said. "After thinking about it, there's a quality of life that is involved. It's not about just existing. For me, the quality wouldn't be there if I had the surgery and went through the other things. I decided not to do it. That was a big step." In deciding to treat cancer without surgeries and chemotherapy, she had to tell her husband, Scott, son, Garrett, and her family and friends. "I already had the next 50 years planned," she said. "I told them, 'I cannot die from this, and I won't. You are just going to have to trust me.'"

"We are not doing what God has designed our bodies to do. It will heal itself just like it will drag itself to the ground if you continue to do what we're doing." HEALTHY TRADE - Kim Tinkham traded acidic food for alkaline food in order to treat stage three breast cancer. Part of her revised diet included trading wine for lots of vegetables and five fruits, including tomatoes. Another important change was decreasing her stress level. LAUGH IT OFF - When Kim Tinkham felt she that her emotions had crossed over into negative territory, she puts on a clown nose and sings karaoke in her office. Part of her protocol to treat her cancer was to keep her emotions in check and keep stress at a minimum.

PART TWO OF TWO Kim Tinkham finds a healthy balance for cancer treatment When Kim Tinkham was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in February of 2007, she decided to take an alternative approach to treat her illness. But choosing the correct alternative was a very important, if not lifesaving, decision. After researching the alternatives, she ran across research by microbiologist Robert Young, PhD, based near San Diego, Calif. Young has focused much of his career on disease research and has determined that a common link exists in people living with disease - acid. Over the last 25 years, Dr. Young said, he has researched the effects of the food we eat on the body, particularly the effect on the pH balance and the relationship between that balance and disease. "After 25 years of research, it comes down to two premises - the body is alkaline by design and the body is acidic by function," Young said in a phone interview. "Breathing, thinking, eating, moving - all the things that we do in our life requires energy and that energy consumption is an acidic waste product that ends up somewhere in the fatty tissue. What I've been gauging is different lifestyle and diet and how that impacts the blood and the pH of the blood, urine and saliva." Young's research cites excess acid as the cause for illness of all sorts, including cancer. The ideal pH, or balance between acidity and alkalinity, is 7.365. But when people add acidic foods and stress to their symptoms, the pH dips below the ideal and the body cannot eliminate excess acid from the body, transferring it to fatty tissues and contributing to weight gain and disease. "After a while, your body can't do anything with the acid except deposit it because it's not getting out anywhere. We are not doing what God has designed our bodies to do. It will heal itself just like it will drag itself to the ground if you continue to do what we're doing," Tinkham said. "What acid does is build things like tumors. Your body seeks out the weakest part, and for me that was my right breast. My body was too acidic and that's where my body started to deposit acid." In today's fast-paced world, acidic food and drink are everywhere - cheeseburgers at the fast-food restaurant, pizza, coffee and tea, Coca-Cola and Dr Pepper in vending machines, beer and wine, anything containing artificial sweeteners, even bottled water. But it's also at home, in any meal which contains chicken, beef or pork, many fruits, dairy products, potatoes and sugar. Any kind of alcohol, most meats, aside from some fish, most dairy foods, many common condiments and most fruit are highly acidic foods, and if the acid isn't properly eliminated, it contributes to a highly acidic pH level. In order to make her body alkaline, Tinkham had to radically change her diet. "You give up everything you love - my whole social life revolved around food," Tinkham said. One of the easiest steps was trading in bottled water or tap water for alkaline water - distilled water with a couple of tablespoons of baking soda to increase alkalinity. Tinkham also restricted her diet to alkaline foods, including lots of green vegetables, tomatoes, avocados, lemons, limes and grapefruit and good grains. In the process, she eliminated the intake of meats, dairy, sugars and artificial sweeteners, food containing yeast, caffeine and coffee and fruit. She also added several supplements to her diet, such as omega fats, chromium, tryosine and clay. While eating the right foods was integral, decreasing stress was equally as important on this protocol. "One of the first things I had to do was learn how to handle stress. I take on stress internally - I don't express myself stress- wise. I was the ultimate multi- tasker, and that's not good. There's a lot of stress involved in multi-tasking," Tinkham said. While working to produce monthly magazines Wise Youth Today, Parker County Kids and Ice Times Magazine, along with volunteering for multiple civic organizations, Tinkham slept little and thrived in her hectic environment, so she thought. "One of the toughest things to learn was how to sleep. I wasn't a sleeper. I would wake up in the middle of the night and start working. I had to learn how to sleep again and take time out for me," Tinkham said. "I was going to start voicing my opinions more. I was very involved with the community, as are a lot of stressed people, and I had to go to these organizations and say, 'I can't do this.' One of the things my family did was keep me away from stress." Young describes the effect of the protocol as the reverse of cancer - by reducing the intake of acid, the body is able to flush out excess acid in the body with proper exercise and hydration. "We're putting hyper- alkalanization into the tissue. It throws the excess alkalinity in the tissue and this helps neutralize the acidity that is causing the cancer. By using the hyper-alkalanization protocol, we've seen excellent results in various cancer states, particularly in prostate, lung and colon cancers and breast cancers," Young said. "What happens is the body goes into a release or detox where the body starts releasing acid into the blood and through proper hydration and exercise, it is eliminated. I always say you have to pee or sweat your way to health. If you want to get yourself out of a cancerous state, the getaway is through urination and perspiration. We have to maintain the integrity of the fluids of the body. "For Kim, if she has a mass on her breast, that encapsulation is a mass that has been formed to protect her tissue from cells that have been spoiled. That is how the body protects itself," Young said. "The most important thing is that if you are diagnosed with cancer, it's not a death sentence. If you know how to reestablish the alkalinity of the body, whether by using alternative or traditional treatments, you can beat this." By eliminating acid intake as well as decreasing stress, Tinkham traded her original pH level of "5 point something" to 8 in a matter of nine months. "My body was highly acidic. Most medical professionals will tell you 7.2 is where you want to be," Tinkham said. "To get from 5 point something to 7.2 is a huge, huge step." But her journey was not without doubt. During the months preceding her November blood test, she did have moments of struggle. "There were a couple of times where I thought, 'Am I doing the right thing? Am I killing myself?' There were a couple of times that I felt, worse case scenario, I die. When you start thinking along those lines, you get to the point where you're like, 'this is it.' You're never 100 percent sure that you're doing the right thing," Tinkham said. "But obviously, it paid off." During her moments of doubt, Tinkham had several cures. Her office, situated across the yard from her home, offered a place to work or think. The room is equipped with soothing surroundings, as well as a karaoke machine. "The thing that was really shocking was how depressed I could get. When I feel like I need to relax, I do karaoke. When I think I'm being too serious, I put on my nose and do karaoke," Tinkham said, as she put on a red clown nose. "Anything to get me through it. When you're dealing with cancer, you have to do something to lighten up. I think with something like this, the biggest battle is in your mind." Tinkham's change over the last year was not simply a change of diet or sleeping habits, but a complete change in her outlook on life. She analyzes items and events in her life, takes more time for herself and searches for the positives in her life. "We're here for the experience. Your life is about what you make of this experience. I don't want to have any regrets. Even if I died tomorrow, I wouldn't have any regrets. There are things I wish I could've done more, but I don't have regrets," Tinkham said. "We think, 'This is the worst thing that has happened to me.' But it turns out to be the best thing, because it starts off a series of events. "For me to think cancer was the worst thing to happen to me - well, we'll see," Tinkham said, with a smile on her face. "I had my mammogram Feb. 5, 2007, and I found out I was cancer free Nov. 6, 2007. It was nine months and one day. Think about how much I could accomplish in nine months. You can create another human being in nine months, why can't you recreate yourself. I didn't create another human being, I took the person I was and changed it and recreated it." After successfully jumping the cancer hurdle, Tinkham's new lifestyle has not changed - she continues to eat the right foods and handle stress. "For Kim, it was a matter of education. We don't need more medication, we need education. We need to empower people to understand their bodies. The key to cancer is not in its treatment, but in its prevention. This is what is going to eradicate cancer from the planet," Young said. "I think managing the pH balance of the body is a lifestyle choice. Everything that goes into the body has to be considered. Is this going to help the body, or is it going to acidify the body and create an imbalance of fluids? Eating alkaline foods and drinks is beneficial to preventing illness." "The more this information gets out, we're going to see better results in the treatments that are being administered. We're also going to see lasting results. Not only can people reverse their cancer but look at the quality of life," Young said. "These people are living their life. They're not in fear or in pain. The quality of life is so much better with this type of approach to health and wellness." Young said that as research regarding the impact of acid in the body becomes more popular, treatments and theories of cancer will change. "We've grown up with loved ones who have experienced cancer and the treatments they've gone through. The main science is based on the fact that this is some sort of infection. The current medical theory on cancer is something that is a result of the cell, through its imperfect replication, that it's something genetic. The focus has been directed toward the cell," Young said. "We need to start considering the environment. I think the tide is changing. More scientists are looking at the pH factors as a possible solution. We're seeing some universities express interest in more research. We have to reconsider not just the treatments, but even right down to the food that is being served to the patient at the hospitals. How are those foods impacting the healing of the patient, cancer and otherwise?" While Tinkham believes in Young's research and protocol from her own personal experience, she realizes this choice is not for everyone. She simply hopes that people who are diagnosed with cancer realize they have a choice in their treatment. "The one thing I would share is that you cannot make a decision based on fear. If you do, you may make the right decision, but you'll never feel good about it. If you make a decision based on fear, you will second-guess yourself when you're no longer fearful," Tinkham said. "I'm ecstatic. If one person, male or female, can grasp this idea, then it's worth it." "We're born with the gift of healing," she said. Robert Young, Ph.D., is the author and co-author of several books, including "The pH Miracle," "The pH Miracle for Weight Loss," "Back to the House of Health," "Back to the House of Health 2," "The pH Miracle for Diabetes," "One Sickness, One Disease, One Treatment" and "Herbal Nutritional Medications." He has multiple degrees, including a bachelor of science in biology from the University of Utah, a masters of science and doctorate in nutrition from the American College in Birmingham, Ala., a doctorate in science from the Clayton School of Natural Healing and he studied under Dr. Maria Bleker in Essen, Germany.

"We think, 'this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.' But it turns out to be the best thing because it starts off a series of events."

MORE INFORMATION Holistic Healing 2007 was a big year for Kim Tinkham - in February she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, in March she appeared on Oprah to discuss her decision to treat cancer by alternative means and in November she found out the cancer was gone. Along with these big events, Tinkham also experienced a lifestyle change. She has dramatically revised her diet and her working routine. She has found ways to better handle stress and express emotions. While these experiences may have been difficult, they all added up to her main goal of 2007 - get to know Kim better. "This year (2007) was great for me - what better way to get to know yourself than get cancer," Tinkham said. "You can always get to know yourself better." As for 2008, Tinkham has laid out three main goals for herself, as well as a few items on her to-do-list. "My first goal is to love myself more. I think a lot of people think that loving yourself is selfish," Tinkham said. "The amazing thing I learned in 2007 that will help me in 2008 is that you have to realize that you are the sky, not the clouds. The clouds are the events and people that come into our life - we're the sky. You have the capability of doing anything and everything. You can sit and watch the clouds go by. Be the watcher and see what happens. So many feel like we need so much control - control causes stress." Tinkham's second goal works hand-in-hand with her first goal - love others more. "I can't do that without loving myself more. I also means I can't give advice - I'm bad about that," Tinkham said. Her third goal comes with a long list of supporting items, including a book and support group. "I want to be a positive spokesperson for living a balanced life," Tinkham said, referring to the protocol that has allowed her to have an alkaline body. "I am currently working on my book, "Cancer Angel." It's a fictional take on my true story. I also want to start a support group for people who've been diagnosed with cancer, or really any disease." Tinkham hopes to have times and dates scheduled at the Decatur Public Library and invites those who want to talk about their disease to come. "It will be very informal. It's going to let people vent," Tinkham said. Throughout the year, Tinkham will look at her decisions and make sure they are contributing to one or all of her three goals. "Everything I do I will put up against those goals," Tinkham said. "If they don't match that, I'm not going to do it. It's not important."

Story by Mandy Bourgeois | Photos by Joe Duty | SoundSlide by Joe and Cody Duty