A continuation from Part 1: Why Patients Refused to Undergo Chemotherapy, https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2011/04/19/why-patients-refused-to-undergo-chemtherapy-part-1/

Case 5: Mother died after the fifth cycle of chemotherapy for lymphoma

M604 is a 33-year-old male from Jakarta, Indonesia. He was diagnosed with Hepatitis B in 2005 and was put on medication. After six months on the drug, he gave up. In September 2008, he had pains with a bloated stomach. His HBV DNA (real time PCR) was 450,468,000 copies/ml. He was put on medication for three months.  In June 2009, another test showed HBV DNA (real time PCR) was 321,264,000 copies/ml. His ALT on 8 June 2009 was 71 (high). The doctor suggested weekly interferon injection for a period of 48 weeks. The total cost would come to RM 50,000. He refused further medical treatment and came to CA Care on 19 July 2009.

Why he refused interferon injection:  Mother was 55 years old when she was diagnosed with lymphoma. She received five cycles of chemotherapy. In addition, the doctor gave her “Mahtera injection” together with the first four cycles of chemotherapy. After the fifth cycle of chemotherapy, her condition “drop” or deteriorated. She had pains in her liver. The latent Hepatitis B virus in her flared up. Before the chemo treatment she was normal. Mother died while in the ICU in the hospital. The total expenses for her treatment came to about RM55,000.

Case 6:  Sister died in China after one cycle of chemotherapy

The son of M620 came to see us on 23 August 2009. His father, 63-years old from Medan, Indonesia, had difficulty opening his bowels. He also had pain in the back. The doctor in Medan said he had hypertension and prescribed him medication for  that. It was not effective. He came to a private hospital in Penang for further management. A CT scan showed nodules in the lung suspicious of underlying lung carcinoma. Some lymph nodes were enlarged. There were numerous nodules in the liver, ranging from 2 to 20 mm, suggestive of metastatic deposits. The doctor suggested a biopsy but he refused. He was given medication but his health did not get any better. His platelet count was low.

Why he refused a biopsy:  The next logical step after a biopsy is chemotherapy, which he would not want to do. Therefore, doing a biopsy is meaningless in this situation. He was indeed a wise man!

Why he refused chemotherapy: This is what his son said. “My aunty (father’s younger sister) had ovarian cancer. She underwent six cycles of chemotherapy. The tumour recurred after the treatment. She went to China for further treatment.

Before she went to China, she already had her chemo? Yes, six times done in Penang. It was not effective. My father accompanied my aunty to China. In China she received only one chemo and she died.

Case 7: Brother-in-law died after six cycles of chemotherapy

M930 is a 47-year-old female from Indonesia. She had vaginal bleeding in December 2010. There was no pain. Her menses was normal. She went to Melaka and had a biopsy done. The histopathology report dated 17 January 2011 indicated a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma.  The doctor suggested chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She was told that most patients had good results from the treatment (whatever that means!).

Not convinced and not satisfied, she went to Singapore for a second opinion. The MRI of her pelvis indicated a 7.5 x 7 x 7 cm mass bulging down the uterine cervix. It involved the lower third of her uterus and also extended towards the vagina.  The doctor offered the treatment:  thirty-five times of radiation and chemotherapy. The cancer is inoperable. She was told that with these treatments she would have 60% to 70% cure. We asked  – Cure?. Yes, cure.

She was not convinced and refused further medical treatment. Her blood test done on 7 March 2011 indicated CEA = 39.0 and CA 125 = 964.0.

Why she refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy? When asked – Why don’t you want to go for chemo? She replied: No, no I don’t want. My sister in Singapore was really mad at me for not wanting to follow the doctor’s advice. Since childhood, I was skeptical. I have friends who had chemo and they were well for the while, then their conditions “drop” and they were gone. My husband’s brother-in-law (i.e. husband of his sister) had a lump in his neck. After six cycles of chemo, he died. He received the treatment in Penang. His whole body was dark. He was bald and his skin peeled off. Oh, I have seen so many cases like this and I am very afraid.

Case 8: Uncle died six months after operation and chemotherapy for his prostate cancer

M 935 is a 54-year-old female from Sumatera, Indonesia. In July 2010, she had difficulty moving her bowels. She came to Penang for consultation. A CT scan on 22 July 2010 indicated a 4.94 cm x 2.63 cm mass in the proximal sigmoid colon with  severe luminal narrowing consistent with carcinoma. Her tumour makers were elevated: CEA = 211.1 and CA 125 = 91.5.

She underwent an operation. It was a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma, Duke Stage C. The tumour extended into the mesorectal lymph nodes. Three of five lymph nodes were affected.  She was asked to undergo chemotherapy. However, the oncologist was not able to say if chemotherapy would cure her or not. But she was told that chemotherapy would check the spread of the cancer.  She and her husband was not convinced and refused chemotherapy.

Why she refused chemotherapy:  The husband said: “My uncle, 75 years old, was dead after six months. He had prostate cancer. He underwent an operation followed by chemotherapy. Then he died after six months. He could not stand the treatments – could not eat, could not sleep and every day he had fevers. It was a difficult life for him.

How do you know all these? He is my uncle – my father’s younger brother. He lived just two doors away from my house. His life was really difficult. Money gone and then,  painful and difficult.

Quotation

If we didn’t kill the tumour, we killed the patient ~ William Moloney

Chemotherapy is an attempt to poison the body just short of death in the hope of killing the cancer before the entire body is killed. Most of the time it doesn’t work ~ Dr. John Lee, author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer.

Most cancer patients in this country die of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon or lung cancers. This fact has been documented for over a decade. Yet doctors still use chemotherapy for these tumours ~ Alan Levin, professor of immunology, University of California Medical School, USA.

In oncology, even prolonging a patient’s life for three months to a year is considered an achievement. Achieving a cure is like striking a jackpot. Not all cancers can be cured ~ A renowned oncologist of Singapore, The Straits Times, Mind Your Body Supplement, Page 22, 29 November 2006: