It is difficult to believe that I was diagnosed with advanced invasive breast cancer - and given a poor prognosis - back in April 2000. Eight months later, having followed a different treatment path, I went into remission and have never looked back.

At the initial diagnosis, the consultant informed me that the cancer was too advanced for surgery, and that chemotherapy should be started straight away. Although I felt rather apprehensive, my husband encouraged me to start the therapy after I was informed that I would die if I did not start conventional treatment immediately.

After receiving my first chemotherapy treatment, the side-effects were devastating and I had to take to my bed. Following the second treatment, I felt that enough was enough. My husband and I both agreed that it was the quality of life that mattered and, if I had only a few months left in this world, we both wanted them to be comfortable ones.

Although I had always eaten a reasonably healthy vegan/vegetarian diet, I made sure that it was now strictly vegan, and gave up tea, coffee, wine and chocolate.

I found a clinic where I could receive intravenous infusions of nutritional supplements, and I also underwent hyperthermia therapy, which uses therapeutic heat to destroy or reduce cancer tumours.

To rebalance my oestrogen-progesterone levels, I used a cream containing wild yam, a precursor of progesterone. Filtered water had already been part of my diet, yet I wasn’t aware that the high levels of oestrogen in our drinking water could only be removed by reverse osmosis, so our filter system was changed accordingly.

As time passed, my inner feelings told me that I was prepared to face the truth, stand up to the consequences and make the necessary changes in my treatment. As a result, I made an appointment for a thermograph. The results proved that both breasts were totally cancer-free.

Needless to say, I find these results rather overwhelming and feel it has proven that there are less-invasive treatments for cancer. - Hazel Scade, via e-mail