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Mother says her son is her "guardian angel" after cancer uncovered during birth

In May 2014 Zahra Rehmtulla's life changed in many ways when she was blessed with the birth of her son, who she says turned out to be her "real life guardian angel".

Quinn was born four weeks early by cesarean section, and while his mum was lying in the operating theatre following the birth, her obstetrician told her they were going to remove a growth on her fallopian tube.

They told her not to worry.

At the time Ms Rehmtulla, who is from Western Australia, couldn't wait to hold her new son and didn't think about the growth, but two days later came the heartbreaking news: it was cancer.

"My heart dropped. This can’t be real. How could this be? I just had a baby. This must be a mistake," Ms Rehmtulla wrote on a gofundme page.

During the following three days Ms Rehmtulla, who didn't have a family history of cancer, had numerous scans to determine how far the cancer had spread.

When the tests came back she was told she had breast cancer, which had spread to spots on her bones and liver, and her fallopian tubes.

She was told it was non-curable, and that she needed chemotheraphy and injections so her ovaries would shut down.

"I am in a terrible nightmare I cannot wake from……I just wanted to go home," Ms Rehmtulla wrote.

"The only positive I could draw from this entire situation was that if Quinn hadn’t decided to come into this world a month early, forcing me to have a cesarean, the outcome would have been very different."

Ms Rehmtulla asked if changes like altering her diet would help her chances when she was leaving the hospital.

"I was told that it wouldn’t help slow the cancer, only the chemotherapy would do that," Ms Rehmtulla wrote.

Source: Zahra Rehmtulla Facebook
Source: Zahra Rehmtulla Facebook

On the gofundme page Ms Rehmtulla writes that she began researching other healing options and decided to take herself off the chemotherapy drugs after around five months into her treatment.

"It was destroying all the good cells in my body that were meant to help me heal," Ms Rehmtulla claims.

Ms Rehmtulla then began Ozone and vitamin C injections but while she believes it was helping her, it was too expensive so she began looking for another treatment, changed what she ate and began taking supplements.


"I changed my diet to vegan, gluten free and soy free, I eat 95% organic and cut out all sugars from my diet, which is a mission, because sugar is found in everything. I have a concoction of supplements I have to take, all at certain times of the day," she wrote.

"The alternative treatments that I have tried so far include vitamin B17, shark cartilage, natural herbal formulas, hydro colonics and enemas, bio resonance therapy, medicinal oils, essential oils, and parasite cleansing along with emotional healing, sound therapy and breath work, meditation and physical exercise."

"I have now had this dreadful disease for more than 2 years, and have been off chemotherapy for more than 1.5 years."

While Ms Rehmtulla has spoken of the benefits of her decision, many health professionals warn against foregoing conventional therapies, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, in order to use alternative therapies.

Cancer Council Australia says conventional therapies are "evidence based and scientifically proven to be safe and effective," and can be used in conjunction with complementary therapies such as aromatherapy, reflexology, music therapy.

However, it warns that alternative therapies, which include practices like naturopathy, immune therapy, and homeopathy, "may cause harm or suffering to those who use them instead of conventional medical treatments".

Ms Rehmtulla says at her diagnosis her cancer score was over 300.

While she says it fell to as low as 66, it has since risen to 86 so she is trying to bring the number down again and find the best option to heal herself.

"I wake up everyday, and for one second I believe it has all been a nightmare. But then the reality sets in and I feel sick."

She's hoping to raise enough money to travel overseas to Mexico for treatment and is asking for help via a gofundme page.

Ms Rehmtulla says one clinic offers conventional treatments but also nutritional medicine, less invasive alternative treatments, while the other includes options such as IV therapies, Virotherapy and bio-immunotherapy.

News break – August 28