<div>Hi!
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<div>If you're reading this, you probably know me, but just in case you don't, I'm Tiffany Kersten, a 39-year-old professional birding guide based in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. I've led an incredibly active and healthy life, a runner and cheerleader in high school, dancing in college; more recently performing with a few latin dance teams, training for the show American Ninja Warrior, shooting competitive archery, and regularly completing 20 mile day hikes in the mountains of Montana just last summer. Being active is the core activity that brings me joy in my life.
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<div>In February of 2024, at age 37, I was diagnosed with stage 2A, triple-negative breast cancer. Following surgery and radiation, I was monitored with a very sensitive blood test called Signatera, which monitors for trace amounts of cancer cells remaining in the body.
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<div>After my procedures were finished in June 2024, my Signatera was 0.00! It remained that way through early 2025. In early May 2025, I received blood test results that confirmed that there is a trace amount of cancer once again somewhere in my body. The amount decreased in July, went up again in August, and up a bit more in December. The numbers are rising much more slowly than expected, hopefully signifying that my body is attempting to fight it. Standard of care, at this point, is to "watch and wait" for it to grow enough to show up on scans.
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<div>I don't want to wait for that to happen. I also don't want to expose my body to all the toxins of chemotherapy, if there is any chance I can avoid it. My active lifestyle is much too important to me.
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<div>I have connected with the Cancer Center for Healing in Irvine, California, where I will seek two months of holistic, health-affirming treatment, using cutting edge technologies which will assess my overall health at the cellular level, what deficiencies may be present in my body, and use many protocols to enhance my natural immune system, the goal essentially being teaching my body to eradicate the cancer on its own.
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<div>My treatment at this center is flexible on timing; I  will be completing initial testing from February 9 - 20, and will be able to organize the estimated 6-8 weeks of treatment around my current work schedule. Since the treatments will be life affirming, rather than toxic, I will have the energy to work through my entire treatment plan.
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<div>Cost for treatment varies between $5,000 - $8,000 per week, front loaded with testing costs and bloodwork which will likely run about $20,000 for the initial two weeks alone. The treatment plan will be determined by the results of testing, plus the costs of the initial testing. I will be in treatment five days per week, for four to six hours per day.
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<div>It is difficult for me to ask for help, but after much reflection over the enter second half of this year, this is the treatment option that feels right to me. The Center is not in network with my insurance. There are, of course, no guarantees, as there aren't with chemotherapy or any other cancer treatment. I will continue to be monitored with Signatera to track my progress.
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<div>I plan to openly share my integrative cancer journey with everyone, including the testing and treatments. 
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<div>Here's to a better 2026 than the difficult weight that 2025 has carried for me.
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<div>Thanks for reading.
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