Acid Deficiency

Bedroom Environment

Breathing Practice

Cancer

Celiac Disease

Chronic Infections

Circadian Rhythm

Detoxification

Digestive Issues

Electronics

What To Do After You Get Diagnosed With Breast Cancer?

Breast Cancer Breakthroughs Summit

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ldAbBARLbFEl2rN4OTmynLlw5z66qHzb/view?usp=drive_link

Make sure that you're measuring your white blood cells and they should be above five if they're not above five. You need to figure out why because if they're not above five, your immune system isn't what it should be. And I would be concerned about having a recurrence. Now, the things that cause the white blood cells to drop are chronic infections and heavy metals. And for those two, I always think about what's happening in the middle. And if you have not visited a holistic dentist yet, you ought to because mouth infections and the mouth is directly tied to the breast along the meridians. And so it's really, really important to make sure that you have a healthy mouth. So the other things that will drive down a white blood cell count are toxins. One of the biggest toxins that I see people encountering is wheat. So many people think that they don't have gluten sensitivity or wheat sensitivity because they don't have gastrointestinal complaints. And I just want you to know that 40% of people with celiac disease have no gastrointestinal complaints. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where the gluten protein or glidden is something that triggers an autoimmune response.

In these people, though, there is something called molecular mimicry where those antibodies to gluten antigliadin and are then attacking the cells of the intestine. And this creates a full inflammatory cascade. And I have seen several women whose first presentation of their celiac disease was their breast cancer diagnosis. If you do have gluten sensitivity or celiac disease, remember that there's going to be a ton of cross-reactivity with other grains because all grains are the seeds of grass. So, if you respond to one of them, you're probably going to respond to many of them. And so for those people, it's very important to take grains entirely out of your diet. And I would argue that people do better in general with grains out of their diet grain to verify glycemic. Again, they are inflammatory to a lot of people. So I am a firm believer in taking brains out of the diet. But if you have known gluten sensitivity or you have celiac disease, you must remove grains from your diet. The other thing that has a lot of cross-reactivity is dairy. And because dairy comes from the same protein, so cows eat grass and then they turn that into dairy. And so you are indirectly consuming grass when you eat dairy. So these proteins are very similar. So if you are someone who is gluten sensitive or you have celiac, it's important to remove grains and it's important to remove dairy because those are huge sources of inflammation.

Now, what are the other sources of inflammation that can lower your white, white blood cell count? These are things like herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, all of the zino estrogen. And these will have very detrimental effects on your gut. Another big source of lowering of the white blood cells. It is people who are having digestive issues in that they're not making enough acid. They're not making enough pancreatic enzymes. And because they're not and they're struggling to break down their food, these people are using their white blood cells to break down their food. And we hardly ever talk about that. So it's so important for you to work with someone who knows how to investigate your gut. And who knows if you're having an acid deficiency, if you're having a pancreatic enzyme deficiency, because if you're having those, you're using your white cells to break down your food. So it's so important to look at that and make sure that that system is functioning properly. And if it's not, it's important to supplement so that your white count comes back. 

Now, the other thing that we haven't touched on yet that has a very ill effect on your white blood cells is stress. Now, stresses are ever-present. It is everywhere. It's always going to be there. We're never going to get rid of the stress. And stress comes in so many different ways. And this is mostly about our fight or flight system. So we are only meant to be in that sympathetic fight or flight system for a very short period of time. So if you think about it from an evolutionary standpoint, when you walk out of the cave in the morning and you encounter that saber tooth tiger, you are meant to either run away from that tiger in seconds or get eaten and never where we meant to run away from a saber tooth tiger for minutes or hours or weeks or months or years. And yet, in the modern day, we are surrounded by saber tooth tigers all the time. They are in the form of work, bosses, difficult relationships, deadlines, toxic friends, and toxic relationships. Or they can be things that you didn't even perceive could be harmful like people who overexercise because again, marathon runners are running for hours and hours and hours at a time. 

We are not meant to run away from saber tooth tigers for hours and hours and hours at a time. We're not cut out for it so that those mini stressors, when they're added up over and over and over again, keep us in this stress state. And if you are running away from a saber tooth tiger, why do you need an immune system? Why do you need to fight off a cold? If you have a tiger on your tail. So the more tigers we have around us all the time, the more our immune system gets turned off. And it's that turned-off immune system that allows for the expansion of breast cancer populations. So the first thing we all need to prioritize when we want to make sure that our breast cancer doesn't come back is we need to prioritize our immune system and we need to do the things that build our immune system. So that means getting out of that parasympathetic state that means having really healthy ways to deal with our stress, right? Not drinking, not pot but meaningful ways, healthy ways to deal with our stress. That means that you're going to have a breathing practice, a meditative practice, a prayer practice, something that allows you in that moment to not let that stress affect you. And we do have that power. We do. We have the power to deflect it. But it's a skill that you need to build. And everyone needs to do that. 

Everyone needs to learn to do that. I will share briefly when I started on my healing journey, I told myself, I can't meditate, can't meditate. It's just not it's not something that I can do. I can't sit still. It doesn't mean anything to me. My mind was racing and then I met Emily Fletcher. And Emily Fletcher, who founded Ziva meditation, told me that this isn't something that you're supposed to do. Your mind is not supposed to be a race. Your mind is not supposed to stop thinking. The only time our mind stops thinking is when it's no longer alive. And Jenn, we don't meditate to get good at meditation. We meditate to get good at life. And once I understood that, once I understood that I don't have to be good at it right now. I just have to work at it. It's a practice like anything else. And once I understood that, I was able to get rid of those feelings of self-doubt and really still myself in that purpose. And I learned to meditate. And it's a practice like anything else. And every day it's a practice. I'm not perfect, but I sit down and I do it and it has made all the difference in the world. So having a meaningful way to deal with stress is so important. And then we talked a little bit about exercise. Exercise is so important. And we need to move our bodies, but we need to appreciate two things. Under-exercising is not good and over-exercising is not good. So find yourself that goal Goldilocks place where you are moving your body enough to lift your mood and to build your cardiovascular health and to build your muscles and preserve your muscle mass and preserve the health of your bones. Without doing too much. And then, of course, it's looking around at your environment and figuring out where the toxins are doing your best to eliminate them, having a diet, having detoxification practices that allow your body to clear what's there and to heal all of this is so important. 

Prioritizing sleep. Sleep is where the healing happens. And I can't stress this enough you have to prioritize sleep. There are a number of times throughout this summer that we will talk about sleep. And there are many, many ways to make sure that you get a restful sleep. I have a document available to all of you and we'll make sure that we posted in the notes. But just briefly. Respect circadian rhythm. Watch the sunrise. Watch it midday. And then watch the sunset. It signals to your brain that sleep is coming. Make sure that you exercise before dark so that you don't get a cortisol boost at night when the sun goes down. So too should your lights and stop using overhead lights after dark and use lamps. Use things on eye level so that you're not getting that stimulation. Try to stay off your electronics after dark. That blue light stimulates your brain and tells you that it's supposed to be awake when it's not. Cool off your bedroom. We all need to drop our temperature before we sleep. Have a nighttime routine so that you. Your body, which is a creature of habit, knows what to do every day. And respect that. Make sure your bedroom is welcoming. Make sure your pillows and your mattress are comfortable. Make sure your linens are comfortable. All of this will lead you to be in that peaceful state. If you're someone that worries and put a journal by your bed and get your worries out before you go to sleep so that you don't need to sleep on them so that your brain is clear while you sleep and it has the opportunity to process and heal. So sleep is where the healing happens. Make sure you prioritize it. 

Lastly, the thing that is going to protect you most is you. You have so much more power than you think. And the power of that mind is amazing. So make sure that you are living in a connected and purposeful way because of that. That is what's going to keep that cancer growing. Because if you tell yourself that your life has great meaning, that your life has great purpose, and that you are here for a reason, and that you need to be here, you will be here. So I hope that this summit is tremendously meaningful for you and that you can take what you learned here and build a beautiful life of deep meaning and connection for many, many years to come. And that you live, long live beautifully and live healthily. It's Dr. Jenn. Bye for now.

&nbsp;

<h6>Jennifer Simmons, MD</h6>
Hi there. Dr. Jenn here, welcome back to the Breast Cancer Breakthroughs Summit. I want to talk today about something that I feel like is on so many people's minds. And that's that I've already been through breast cancer treatment but how do I prevent a recurrence? And this is a really valid question. And I think the fear of a recurrence is so debilitating for so many people. And so it's a really important topic for us to talk about. Now, if you've already been through treatment, maybe you've had surgery already, maybe you had chemotherapy, maybe you had radiation, maybe you are currently on an anti-hormonal. I think it's really important to know where you are and if you've completed treatment, you need to know what is your what is the health of your immune system.

https://d1tnc8rqovg0h0.cloudfront.net/2024+Summits/Breast+Cancer+Breakthroughs+Summit/Transcripts/2024_BCB_Mini+Talk+Day+6+Transcript+File.pdf

Dr. Jenn Simmons was one of the leaders in breast surgery and cancer care in Philadelphia for 17 years. Passionate about the idea of pursuing health rather than treating illness, she has immersed herself in the study of functional medicine and aims to provide a roadmap to those who want to know real health.

What To Do After You Get Diagnosed With Breast Cancer?

Jennifer Simmons, MD

Summary

Content Provided By

Jennifer Simmons, MD