Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Woman's Guide to Healing from Breast Cancer
"I am committed to educating all women that there are natural and effective healing actions they can take to help prevent breast cancer, as well as prevent a recurrence," writes Nan Lu, a specialist in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). TCM is a 5,000-year-old medical system based on the concept of internal vital energy (Qi) flow to maintain or restore our organs' normal function and harmony. According to TCM theory, "you absolutely cannot get cancer if your organs work in harmony and Qi flows freely throughout your body's meridian network."This book explains the philosophy, history, principles, and theories of TCM; how these relate to breast cancer; and how a woman can restore harmony with TCM self-healing practices. The practices include movement, dietary recommendations, herbs, emotional balance, and mental messages. However, the book is more theory than self-help. For example, Lu suggests "a combination of TCM herbs and special herbal teas to help relieve the side effects of breast cancer treatment," but doesn't give any specifics, instead saying to write to the TMC foundation.  However, on the next page, he gives a recipe for producing breast milk (is this really what a woman with breast cancer is longing to know?) consisting of peanuts, soybeans, and pork feet. Later in the book he gives some herbal recipes and food recommendations. He recommends gentle exercise only (not even brisk walking), and notes that "too much sex will cause liver and kidney Qi deficiencies" or even eye problems, recommending restricting sex to once or twice a month if you're undergoing chemotherapy or radiation.