Cancer patient who tried to cure disease with juice diet and holistic therapies almost died after refusing chemotherapy
22 April 2024, 14:07
A cancer patient who almost died after trying to treat her illness with a juice diet has warned others against 'cutting out' traditional medical advice.
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Irena Stoynova said doctors tried to encourage her to use conventional cancer treatments after she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2021. She instead "shut them out" and instead sourced alternative information online.
The former model said she took medical advice from a social media personality who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media who made claims that the human body can "heal itself" with help of a radical lifestyle and diet changes.
Ms Stoynova, 39, from Crondall in Hampshire, followed various diets and holistic therapies for two-and-a-half years, which left her emaciated with fluid on her lungs.
Doctors, however, urged Ms Stoynova to go ahead with chemotherapy, which she initially ignored.
But after undergoing her diet and holistic therapy - which included a juice diet, a raw diet, intermittent fasting, boiling herbs, and special teas - doctors said Ms Stoynova was on the verge of death when she was taken to Frimley Park Hospital by ambulance in May last year.
Dr Clare Rees said the former model said she would likely die without treatment for her cancer, which had already advanced to stage three.
Ms Stoynova maintained her refusal for a number of days before finally agreeing to receive chemotherapy. She then spent 50 days in the hospital's acute dependency unit.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Ms Stoynova said she decided against traditional treatments after "reading about and watching many doctors and professors talk about the success rate of alternative therapies online".
Speaking about her initial diagnosis, the former model told the PA news agency: "I was devastated, the whole world just closed around me and I felt really alone."
She said that she was advised to start chemotherapy, but she turned to the internet to find alternative advice and "everything started from there".
"I found an American guy who has millions of followers who promoted holistic treatment," she said.
"He had a podcast where he interviewed very knowledgeable doctors and professors who are talking about holistic treatment and they called standard treatment 'outrageous'.
"They said that people who had chemotherapy are 'lazy' and don't want to put in hard work of holistic treatment."
She continued: "The guy has three or four books on how to heal cancer holistically - how to make salads, use different herbs, juicing, intermittent fasting - there were so many testimonials, so many people that did it.
"I spent £2,000 on juicers - one for smoothies, one for carrots, one for citrus and one for everything else. I spent two to three hours a day making juice for the next day. I was a fanatic. It was like tunnel vision."
The former model said: "I didn't stop (when I should have), I was just so weak, I had sleep deprivation and hallucinations. I didn't even have the strength to open the door for the delivery man.
"I couldn't breathe because there was fluid on my lungs, I lost about 20 kilograms because of the dieting."
Ms Stoynova was admitted to hospital in May 2023. This did not deter her from refusing medical treatment however.
Medics described "frustrating" conversations with her, but eventually after 10 days in hospital she agreed to start chemotherapy.
Dr Rees, consultant haematologist at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: "It took about 10 days since Irena's admission until she started chemo and there was some very, what I found, very frustrating conversations during that time.
"About five days into Iran's admission, I genuinely thought that, despite what we were saying, she was going to say 'no' and as a result die in the very near future, which I found quite devastating actually."
Ms Stoynova, who is now in remission, added: "I now say to people that the side effects from chemotherapy are a piece of cake compared to the side effects that I got from trying the holistic treatment.
"When you have Instagram, Facebook, or even Google there are going to be millions of people who are going to say that they healed cancer holistically with organic carrots and parsley and celery.
"What I would say is it's great to have beliefs, it's great if they're backed by science, and please don't cut off your consultants.
"I cut off consultants and everything connected with standard medicine and I almost lost my life."
The doctor said: "If you have cancer, you need something much harder than organic carrot juice and celery.
"This is an extreme scenario and genuinely in the first 24 hours of Irena's admission, I was unclear whether she would survive this or not.
"But the problem is that misinformation often spreads faster than the truth and obviously, if someone's given the option of juice versus tablets or chemotherapy and injecting drugs into their bodies, you can see why they would prefer to do some it if it will give them the same outcome - but the problem is that is not evidence-based practice.
"We always encourage people to go to Lymphoma Action or Macmillan Cancer Support for genuine information."
