Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She had undergone 106 radiation treatments besides taking a variety of supplements.
1. I found a small lump in my breast in 2003. I ignored it. In 2009, the lump grew bigger and I felt it while lying down. I went to see a doctor who told me to do a biopsy. I declined. I did not want to do chemo or radiation.
2. Why did you go and see the doctor then? Le: Just to know if the lump was cancerous or not!
3. The doctor confirmed it was a cancer. I declined medical treatment and opted for supplements and alternative therapies instead.
4. I took “something.” I did not what the concoction was. This cost me six million rupiah per month. The tumour grew bigger.
5.After taking the concoction, the tumour grew bigger – didn’t you realize that you were not on the correct path? Le: No, I never thought of that!
6. I didn’t know where else to go. I bought all kinds of products to take. One supplement that I took for a year cost me 700,000 rupiahs per day – each gulp of this supplement cost 700,000 rupiah.
7. The tumour grew bigger and eventually burst.
8. I had no choice. I agreed to go for radiotherapy.
9. After the radiation the tumour shrunk. But four months later another tumour recurred at the collarbone. It was a small lump and then grew bigger until I had a very big lump around my neck.
10. Why did you wait for it to grow so big before going for another round of radiation? Le: I was hoping by taking the supplements the lump would shrink.
11. Since the lump grew bigger and bigger when you were taking the supplements, why did you continue taking them –even when they didn’t seem to help? Le: I just continued taking them. I waited and waited until the lump grew bigger and bigger.
12. Then I went for more radiation (in total I had 106 radiation treatments). Later they radiated my ovaries for six times.
13. Before the completion of all my radiation treatments, another lump recurred in my abdomen.
14. While undergoing the radiotherapy, I was asked to take Tamoxifen. Ten days on Tamoxifen my wrists swelled and I could not bend my fingers. After a month on Tamoxifen I could not walk.
15. I had to use the wheelchair and my husband had to carry me.
16. My good friend from Makassar called. She told me my body could not take the radiation anymore. I should stop the treatment. But where do I go? I have tried all the alternatives and failed. My friend to me, “Go to Chris Teo. You can check him out on the internet.”
17. Let me ask you this question – if you were to start all over again from 2009 when you felt the lump in your breast – what would you have done? Le: I would come to see you. I would not want to go for medical treatments.
18. When you had that small lump, you went to see the doctor but why did you not want him to do something for you? Le: I went to see a “sinseh”. He told me I had this disease because of my sins. What kind of “sinseh” was that?
19.What I wanted to know is, do you know that if you have a cancerous lump in your breast, the best option is to have it removed by the doctor? Le: If I were to have met you then, it is most likely that I would follow your advice and have the lump removed. Because after that I can take the herbs, okay – that I would agree. But I don’t want to go for chemotherapy or radiotherapy after the surgery. Unfortunately, I did not know about you then.
It is with sadness to learn that Le had to be hospitalized after her return to Surabaya because the cancer had spread to her liver. She died on 6 January 2012
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She had undergone 106 radiation treatments besides taking a variety of supplements. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. Bodily movements were difficult. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
After four days here, how do you feel now? Le: Healthier. I feel better.
When you came here last Friday (four days ago), compared to to-day, do you feel you are better? Le: Yes. I can walk faster now. I have more energy. It is like I was before I had cancer. When I came here I was still tired and lethargic. But yesterday I could walk from the apartment to the market. My husband took the wrong turn and we missed the market. We had to walk up and down everywhere. But I was alright. I had no problem walking. And I also walked fast. Before I had to drag my feet when walking and my back was hunched.
What about your sleep? Le: Before I came here, I had to wake up five times a night to urinate. I coughed. So my sleep was not good and disturbed. I often had dreams of my loved ones who had died. They came to invite me to “go home”. After I took the herbs and did the e-Therapy I could sleep well. I had no more dreams.
In terms of bodily movements, are you more agile now? I realized the first day you were here, you had difficulty moving your hands, etc. Le: I am back to being a normal person now. I can do the following (demonstrate all the actions):
Raise my arms up high and straight up.
Put my hands behind my heads to tie my hair. Before when I had long hair my daughter had to tie my hair for me.
I can hold the broom and sweep the floor. I can swing my arms.
I can make my bed and fold the blanket.
I can bend down and touch the floor with my hands.
I can bend my wrists.
I can undress and wear the bra by myself.
I can fold my legs and cut my toe nails.
I can climb in bed right away without any having to slide in slowly.
I can fold my arms and use my little finger to clean my ear.
I can clap my hands – no pain.
I can use my hand to smack the mosquito – no pain. Before it was painful even to touch the skin.
I can snap my fingers and make this clicking sound.
I can grasp something and bend my fingers.
When I breathe deeply, there is no more tightness in my chest.
This morning I walked faster than my husband.
Now you seem to have regained your movements and quality of life. Are you happy? Le: Yes. This is what I have been hoping for. When I was unable to walk I told my pastor that I wanted to die. I have lost all hope. This is because
Movements were so difficult.
I can’t even scratch my buttock when I felt itchy. My husband had to help me scratch.
I could not button my trousers – my husband had to do this for me.
See now, I can twist my body to the right or left without any pain, I can stand on one leg and I can eat rice with my hand.
Now do you still want to die? Le: No, no more.
I really don’t know why I did what I did that Friday night (four days ago). Usually I would only ask you to take the herbs first for a few weeks or months before going into the e-Therapy. However, that night I sensed that you were having much difficulties and so we decided to put you on the e-Therapy right away. I did not know why I did that. Perhaps it was God who was helping you!
Okay, four days on the Therapy. Did you feel good? Le: Absolutely good.
Are you confident now? Le: Absolutely confident. When I came here, I knew that this is God’s answer to my prayers.
When you go home, take the herbs as instructed. Then you must take care of your diet as we have taught you. Exercise. Don’t think too much – relax and take it easy. Don’t stress yourself too much. What is important is to try to live a normal life. Le: My facial appearance looks good now. More “glow”.
Okay, I am real happy. Please take care when you are at home. Remember what we have told you. Do not do anything that is not right. And above all, remember that healing takes time. Have patience.
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She had undergone 106 radiation treatments besides taking a variety of supplements. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. She could not bend her fingers. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
My Dreams
Before I came here, I used to have dreams everyday when I slept. My sleep was not good and disturbed.
What did you dream about? Le: My relatives and loved ones who have died visited me. They told me they have already built a house for me there and invited me to come “home” with them.
Are you sure? Le: Yes. So according to religious belief, I would have to put flowers at the road junction to make peace with the spirits so that they don’t come back again. I did that.
You dreamt of your loved ones asking you to come “home” with them? Le: Yes. But I told them I didn’t want to go. We even sat down together to have a feast – eating together but I told them I did not want to stay there. In one dream, my husband and I visited the “Garden of Eden.” He was carrying a big luggage containing all my clothes.
Oh, it seems your time is not up yet! And after you came here, you took the herbs and did the e-Therapy for four days. Did you still dream? Le: I could sleep very well and soundly. I did not dream anymore.
My Near Death Experience
One night in March 2010, as I opened the dressing of my breast wound, blood suddenly “shot” out from the wound – one hole was on top of my breast and another below my breast. The blood spurt out rather far off. I had to use eight towels to soak up the blood. I tried to use ice to “cool” it down and stop the bleeding. It did not work. Then my son suggested that I only use the bandage and nothing else. I pressed on the wound and the bleeding stopped. My ears made a “hissing” sound and my vision became blurred and withdrawn. I started to float away – far, far away.
Like you went through a tunnel? Le: Yes, yes. Then I found myself on a white vehicle but there was driver. I was alone on the vehicle. It drove pass the clouds and I floated around, among these clouds. It was all white. I did not feel any pain or anything. It was just absolute emptiness – total blank with no feelings.
When or how did you come back? People around me were singing hymns. Then my daughter tugged my arm and said, “Mama, please do not leave me.” I then woke up. When I regained consciousness, I felt dizzy. My vision was blurred and I saw multiple images.
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She had undergone 106 radiation treatments besides taking a variety of supplements. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. She could not bend her fingers. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
You did radiotherapy – how many times of radiation did they give you? Le: One hundred and six.
Are you sure? Is that correct? Le: Sure, correct. I received 25 treatments on my left breast (a), then another 25 times below my collarbone (b). Another lump appeared on my right breast and I again had 25 treatments for my right breast (c). Then they radiated my ovaries – that was done for six times. The cancer spread again to my left breast and I again had 25 treatments (d). Actually I have just completed the 106th treatment a few days ago. Then I came here.
You got one treatment a day, so this means you have been going to the hospitals for at least 106 times then? Le: Yes.
Do you want some more radiation? Le: Oh no. I don’t want anymore. That is why I came here. Every time I went for radiation, I prayed, “O god please help me to stop this radiation treatment”.
While undergoing radiation, you were told to take Tamoxifen? Le: Yes, before they radiated my right breast. Husband: About three months ago, around August 2011.
So in August 2011, you started taking Tamoxifen and at the same time had radiation? Le: Yes and ten days after taking Tamoxifen my left wrist swelled. It was a soft swelling – not hard. Then my right wrist also swelled. This was bigger than the one on my left wrist. I had pain when I bent my wrists.
Did you ask the doctor why this swelling? Le: The doctor said the cancer had spread to my wrists. Husband: No, the doctor said the cancer had spread to all her bones.
And you still continued to take the Tamoxifen? Le: Yes. Then within a month, I lost my strength. Husband: The swellings in her wrists were “hot”. Le: Every joint in my body felt “hot”. After a month of taking Tamoxifen I was not able to walk.
You couldn’t walk? Le: Yes, I could not walk (demonstrate her physical disability).
Before you took the Tamoxifen, were you able to walk? Le: Okay, no problem. I could exercise and do the “Thian Kung”. Husband: After taking Tamoxifen, she could not walk.
Then what did you do? Le: I took supplements and drank coconut water. The situation improved.
Did you become normal again physically? Le: No, not until I came here (CA Care Penang). After I took your herbs and did the e-Therapy, I can now stand up straight. Before this I could not do this.
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. She could not bend her fingers. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
1. My 42-year-old friend with breast cancer died after chemotherapy
Le: My friend also had breast cancer like me. She died after two years. She went to Singapore to find the best medicine for her breast cancer. It started with just a tiny tumour. She had it removed and then underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She was okay. Then the cancer spread to her bones. They installed a chemo-port in her and she continued to receive more chemo. She took the best “bird nests” to help her cope with the side effects of chemo. After this chemo, there were spots all over her skin.
Are you sure? Was she you friend? Le: Yes. Even with such effects she continued to receive more chemos. In total she had 38 cycles of chemotherapy. After that she looked okay, okay but her nails were all dark. Then the cancer went to her backbone and spread to her brain. Then she continued with radiotherapy and more chemo in Surabaya. She died.
How old was she? Le: Forty-two.
I fully understand, I understand.
2. Four of my friends already died after medical treatments
Le: Four of my friends already died of cancer. Two of them had breast cancer, one had colon cancer and the other one had cancer of the uterus.
They were all your friends? Le: Yes, they died. They were all below their 50s. And they all had operation and chemotherapy.
They all died, and because of this you decided not to go for an operation and chemo? When did this happen – while you had your cancer? Le: When I had my breast cancer and they also had their cancers.
Oh, at the same time. They took a different road and you took a different path? Le: Yes, exactly.
I understand. I fully understand you. That is the reason why I did not want to push anybody who come here to go for chemo or radiation. The stories you have told me are being repeated over and over.
3. Uncle died after spending 6 Billion Rupiahs
Le: My uncle had lung cancer. He went to Singapore for treatment. In all, he spent 6 miliar (billion) rupiahs. He also died. After so many chemos, even the veins in his arm seemed to disappear. He did not take care of his diet. He ate anything he liked. At the same time, I also had my cancer. He told me to eat what I liked but I refused to listen to his advice.
And your uncle died? Le: Yes, died after three years.
And at the same time, you also had your cancer. And is it because of this that you did not want to go for medical treatment? Le: No, no. There is a feeling inside me wanting to reject chemo. These people did not die because of their cancers. They died because of their chemos. Their haemoglobin, platelets and white blood cells were all down and gone!
I understand you, I truly understand. But what I want to say is we should not totally reject medical treatments. At times we need the doctors to help us. We can use certain things that doctors do to help us. And we can reject those that are harmful to us. This is what I would tell patients.
4. See what happened to me now when I believed the doctor!
Le: I would agree to go to the doctors to check where my tumour is. But if they prescribe medication, I would not take it. See this is what happened to me – this is the evidence! This is the first time I believed the doctor and this is what I get (figures unable to bend and later unable to walk after taking Tamoxifen for a month).
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. She could not bend her fingers. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
You found a tumour in your breast in February 2009. Did you ever felt the lump before that? Le: I went to the Cancer Organisation for a Pap smear in 2003. At the same time they also examined my breasts and told me to come back for check up a year later.
What did they say about your breasts? Le: There was a small lump in my breast but the doctor said it was not cancerous – only something suspicious. I was asked to come back to a reexamination after a year.
You did not go back to see them again? In 2004? In 2005 and 2006? Le: No, I did not go back to see them. I received a letter from the Cancer Organisation in 2007, reminding me to come for a check up. I also did not go back to see them.
What did you do in 2008? And what about 2009? Le: In 2008, I did nothing. In 2009, I felt a lump in my left breast while I was lying down in bed. I used to examine my breasts while bathing. I did not feel any lump.
Was there any retraction of the nipple? Any discharge? Any pain? Le: No, nothing.
What did you do after you found this lump? Le: I went to consult an oncologist. After an ultrasound he told me there was a 80 percent chance that the lump was a cancer. The possibility of it being a benign tumour was 20 percent. I was asked to do a biopsy. I refused to do anything at all.
You were told that the lump was cancerous and you declined medical treatment – then what did you do?
Husband: She started to take vitamins and supplements. Le: I took supplements and stopped eating meat but I still ate organic chicken.
Oh, chicken is not meat? Right? Le: (no reply, quiet and embarrassed).
After you took supplements, did the tumour not grow bigger and bigger? Husband: Yes, it grew as big as my fist.
When you discovered the lump, what was the size? Le: Size of my thumb.
Okay, after taking the supplements, and supplements and supplements … did the tumour grow bigger and bigger? Le: Yes. It grew to the size of a duck’s egg.
Oh, you took supplements and the tumour grew bigger – were you not afraid? Le: I was afraid. Husband: Afraid to die.
Le: In November 2009, I came to Kuala Lumpur for a check up. The oncologist told me he was 100 percent sure that the tumour was a cancer. He asked me to do a biopsy and then go for an operation. I refused and returned to Surabaya.
Why did you ever come to Kuala Lumpur in the first place if you didn’t want to follow the doctor’s advice? Le: I just went for a check up.
What is there to check up? In Surabaya you were told the lump was probably – 80 percent cancerous. And in Kuala Lumpur you were told it was probably 100 percent cancer. What is the whole idea of coming to KL? Waste of money? Le: In Februay 2011, I went to see an alternative practitioner. Husband: She also took other types of capsules besides the supplements.
What did the alternative practitioner do? Le: He tapped the area around my breast. He also gave me some herbs to drink. I did not know what these herbs were. After one month on his treatment, the tumour grew bigger and it eventually burst.
When he saw the tumour growing bigger, what did he say to you? Le: He asked me to go for radiation. But I refused.
Did he warn you that the tumour might just burst? Le: Yes, he did tell me that without radiation the tumour could burst. But I refused to go for radiation.
What happened after the tumour burst? Le: The alternative practitioner wrote me a referral letter to go to the hospital for radiotherapy.
And you still did not want to go for radiation? Le: This time I agreed for go for radiation.
Cost of Alternative Therapy
How much did you have to pay for all these alternative therapies? Le: A lot of money.
How much is a lot? Le: I took a lot of supplements. Husband: For taking this supplement alone it cost 700,000 rupiahs per bottle per day. Le: That is RM 250 per bottle per day.
How many bottles have you consumed? Le: Hundreds. Husband: She was taking this for about six months. Le: No, I took it for about a year. For one month this supplement cost me twenty-one million rupiahs.
You spent twenty-one million per month for this supplement and you took this for a year? Le: Yes.
Acknowledgment: Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
It all began with a small lump in my left breast. I ignored it. Some years later, I went to see an oncologist. He asked me to undergo a biopsy and later operate. I declined. I opted for alternative therapy. I took all kinds of supplements (See Part 2: Alternative Therapies – My Twenty-One- Million-Rupiah Per Month Treatment).
The lump grew bigger and eventually burst. It was then that I went to see a radiologist and underwent radiotherapy. I had my first radiation treatment in November 2009. I received 25 treatments for my left breast. The tumour shrunk and eventually disappeared.
Three months later, another lump grew just below my neck. It grew bigger and bigger. I again received another 25 radiation treatments for this. The lump also disappeared after the treatment.
Four months later, two more tumours appeared, one on each of my breasts. I again received 25 radiation treatments for each of my left and right breasts.
I also received 6 radiation treatments for my ovaries.
While on radiotherapy, another lump appeared just below my left collar bone but this eventually disappeared after I completed the radiation treatment for my two breasts. However, now I have another lump in my abdomen.
While undergoing the later stage of radiotherapy, I took Tamoxifen. After two weeks on Tamoxifen my fingers became stiff and it was difficult and painful to bend them. After a month on Tamoxifen I was unable to walk. Also, my neck muscles became stiff. Before the Tamoxifen I was agile and had no mobility problems. I could exercise. I stopped taking Tamoxifen after a month. My doctor told me the cancer had gone to my bones.
Early this month, a good friend in Makassar called me. She advised that I have had too much radiation already and my body would not be able to accept it anymore. I should look for other alternative treatment. But all this while, I had been on alternative treatments. I took all kinds of supplements. My friend suggested that I go to Penang and meet a Chris Teo.
The above is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She presented with aches and pains throughout her body, especially the joints. She could not bend her fingers. She could not sleep well and she had coughs.
Le was prescribed Capsule A, Breast L and Breast M teas, Pain tea, Lung 1 and Lung 2 teas besides Cough # 10. She was put on the e-Therapy with Detox #2. That was on Friday evening.
On Sunday night (two days later), Le came back and reported as follows.
I went back to my apartment and slept through the night, from 7 pm to 6 am. I woke up just to eat and drink the herbal teas and then went back to sleep again.
Before this therapy, were you able to sleep? Le: Difficult.
On Saturday (no e-Therapy but only on herbs) did you sleep through the day? Le: Yes. I slept, woke up to eat and then went back to sleep again. I ate corn and fruits.
When you were at home, could you sleep like this? Le: No. At home when I woke up from sleep, I would feel pains. Now, I have no more pain. I could sleep in any position or posture, I had no pain. I was unable to do such a thing when I was at home.
Did you really sleep well – soundly? Le: Yes. I also passed out a lot of “gas” … boot, boot. I would walk to and fro from Kenny’s apartment to the market. I did not have any problem walking. I could not do such thing at home. I would become breathless if I walk like that.
Now, when you walk, did you become breathless? Le: No. Now, I can also hold the broom and sweep the floor. I can now make my bed and fold the blanket. I could not do that before. I could not even lift the blanket let alone fold it. This morning, I even “hit” the pillows.
Now, what other problems do you have? Le: Coughs. Before, I was not able to twist my body around – to the right or left. I would have muscle pull or cramp. Now, no more cramps. After taking the herbs for two days, there are no more body pains.
No more pain anywhere? Le: No more.
So, for the past two days, do you really feel well? Le: Yes. Strong (taking a deep breath).
Do you have any other problem? Le: Only cough now.
The e-mails below do not need further comments from us. They speak for themselves!
11 October 2011
Dear Dr Teo,
I have been reading about this e-therapy on your blog and also receive some info about this from your good friend Hanafi.
I am very interested to try this machine and hope it can help me with the pain that I have been experiencing on my right shoulder and upper right arm. I only experience this pain when I am going to sleep. The pain will disappear in the morning and throughout the day. However, if I raise my hand half way and try to move backward, then I can feel some pressure on my upper arm.
Another reason for wanting to try this e-therapy is because I also have some blood pressure issues.
Since early June, I have been taking your Capsule A, C-tea and Thyroid tea.
Thank you.
Reply: Where are you from? KL? If KL then susah, you have to come to Penang. You need to do a few days to know if it works.
13 October 2011
Dear Dr. Teo,
I am very keen in purchasing the e-therapy machine. After reading the testimonials from people who had use the machine on your blog, I also feel that I can benefit from the use. As the price is also quite high, I agree with you that I need to try first to see the effect on me.
I have spoken to Hanafi and he is willing to let me try his machine. I would probably be able to try this machine this weekend. Please assist me in giving the instruction as to what type of treatment I should do.
FYI, since the past two days, I had been having this lower back pain that started rather mild on Tuesday afternoon and gets worst yesterday. The pain seems to radiate from the back and I can also feel inside my body on the right side near the hip sometimes. The pain is more on the right side than the left. The pain also becomes more pronounced when I move, walk or change position especially doing all these when I lie down.
The pain is also restricting me from moving or bending. When I need to bend, I have to do it slowly to avoid feeling the sharp pain. The pain is more like a dull muscle ache. What puzzled me is I did not so anything strenuous, had a fall or bumped into anything. In the past I would probably had taken a few pain killers to solve this situation.
Reply: First you must do Detox #2 —that will take 34 minutes. Drink a lot of water, if your face feels tight or if you feel heaty. Next day do Detox #3. Third day do Lumbago #98. After you are done with it, continue with another program Backache #57. Let me know what happens after you do the program.
16 October 2011
Dear Dr. Teo,
I managed to use the e-therapy machine yesterday at 6.30pm. Kak Inin started on a moderate intensity just to get me have a feel of the treatment. After doing the Detox #2, I did not feel any changes to my health initially.
When I went to bed last night, I did feel some difference from the previous few nights. I do not feel the pain on my lower back and inside my abdomen. And I can roll from side to side with no discomfort. Also there was less discomfort on my upper right arm and shoulder. The pain on my lower back seemed to be less on Friday but got worst on Friday night (day before starting e-therapy).
Another difference that I observed was when I woke up in the morning, It is easier for me to get out of bed. I can spontaneously sit-up and get up as opposed to a few days back when I have to move my body slowly before I can get off the bed and after 10-15 minute all the body ache will disappear. I only experienced this backache since last Tuesday (about 4 days back), I did not have this back ache before this.
I also slept well. Normally, I woke at least once during the night. On bad nights, a few times. So last night I managed to sleep close to 5 1/2 hours straight.
Today, I will try Detox #3. With just 1 session, I am happy that there has been improvement on some of my health issues. Will do this Detox #3 and will let you know the outcome.
Thank you and regards.
17 October 2011
Dear Dr. Teo,
I managed to use the e-therapy machine again yesterday at 3.00pm.
Again I had better sleep last night and pain in my lower back is no longer there. Pain on my upper right arm and shoulder is also getting better. Generally, my whole body feels ‘lighter’.
As for my blood pressure, the readings are still not below 120/80.
Acknowledgment: Permission to use these video clips without having to close the patient’s face is granted by the family.
The gist of our conversation:
1. Breast lump, ten years ago and she did nothing about it.
She discovered a lump in her breast more than ten years ago but did nothing about it. The lump grew bigger. In 2008, she went to Kuching, Malaysia for a full-body check up. At that time she did not experience any serious discomfort. However, the check up revealed a stage 4 breast cancer since it had probably spread to her bones.
Did she suffer any pains before the check up? Yes, she had pains around the shoulder blade. After a massage the pains disappeared.
2. Trips to China to find the cure.
The doctor in Kuching suggested chemotherapy. She refused. The family decided to bring her to China for medical treatment. She received treatments such as chemotherapy, cryoablation and radioactive seeding in the Chinese hospital.
She stayed about one to two weeks in China during each trip there. She returned home feeling “alright” only to go back to China again for more treatment each year.
Did they teach you to take care of her diet? No, she was told to eat anything she likes. They did not teach her anything about the diet.
3. A Minor Fall
In January 2011, she had a minor fall. This cause one of her legs to become swollen. But even before the fall, she always had pains in her legs. She consulted a doctor in Kuching about this problem and was told that nothing was wrong with her leg but she probably had cancer in her colon.
4. Leg Operation
Since February 2011, she was not unable to walk and remained immobilized at home. One of her leg was in pain and the other was swollen. She was unable to place her feet on the ground and stand up because of pains.
She went to Jakarta for further consultation. Subsequently she underwent a surgery intervention for both of her legs.
Two months after the surgery she was able to walk. There were no more pains in the foot when she stepped on the ground. But the pains in the lower parts of her legs persisted.
5. Did no return to China anymore
Did she go back to China again after this? No. We made a total of six trips to China. In 2008, she went to China thrice, in 2009, twice and in 2010 once. No use – at every visit they asked us to do PET scan, chemo, etc. She became tired, vomited, etc.
6.Hospitalization – September 2011
In late September 2011, she had pains in her abdomen and was unable to walk again. She had to be hospitalized. The oncologist suggested a PET scan to find out what was wrong with her. The family declined. By this time she was taking a variety of medications prescribed by the oncologist, bone specialist and neurologist.
3. CA Care Penang – 9 October 2011
She was wheel chair bound. She had to be carried up into the airplane. She was unable to stand up by herself.
She was unable to sleep and had pains in her legs throughout the day and night. After listening to her story that 9 October night, we could only say this to her family, I really don’t know what I can do to help you. But I shall try my best. It was indeed a hopeless and helpless case.
After five days on the e-Therapy and herbs, her conditions improved. The pains in her legs were almost gone. She was able to sleep and above all she was able to stand up by herself with minimal help.
Update: On 26 October 2011, her daughter-in-law called to say that patient (now at home in Jakarta) is able to walk by herself with the help of a walking stick. On the day when she returned home, she was able to slowly walk into the airplane – no need to be carried into the plane like the week before.
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 Subject: Neuroblastoma – Stage 3 (from Singapore) – Need help!!!
Dear Sir, I have read your successful story of how a baby of stage 4 neuroblastoma was saved from the terror of chemotherapy. It is only if I could have discovered you and your web site earlier that I might not have sent my son who had been diagnosed with stage 3 neuroblastama for his first round of chemo 3 weeks ago.
My son of 3 years old was discovered to have a mass near the left side of the kidney on the 29th April 2011. Immediately, he was sent to hospital and after all the scans and biopsy, it was confirmed that he had a tumour. But it was not confirmed if it was a ganglioneuroblastoma or a neuroblastoma. However, an operation was scheduled on the 9th May to take out the tumour. After which, dissection of the tumour has discovered that 7 out of 15 lymph nodes are positive for metastatic tumour. It was confirmed that my son was having neuroblastoma, Stage 3.
As a parent, I was totally depressed, lost and confused at that moment, and tried all ways to save my son. Left with limited choices and no perfect knowledge, my son was sent to the first round of chemo therapy on 1st June 2011. My son was admitted to the hospital for a MIBG scan again last week. It was good news that the body is clean. However, I was also told that the MIBG can only pick up images that are visible to the eyes. We are back at home today. The next chemo is scheduled for 29th June.
Yes, my son is currently seeing a Chinese physician. He is taking some Chinese medicine and herbs. I cannot really tell but my son seem to still able to eat a good meal and no fever so far. I can bring along the Chinese herbs list by the TMC because I cannot read Chinese.
Chris, I really need your advice and please help me. If possible, I would like to make an appointment with you by flying down to Penang from Singapore. I will bring along all the necessary medical reports of my son for your perusal. Best Regards. DK
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for your reply. In the meantime, I shall send my son’s medical report for your perusal. He has stage 3 neuroblastoma. I hope that you are able to help him. Also, I hope that you are able to help him to prevent the “poison” of chemotherapy. However, my son scheduled to get into the hospital again on 29th June again for 2nd chemo. I will try my best to push them again. I look forward to see you in July. Thank you so much. Good day! DK
15 Sept 2011
Hi Chris,
How are you? If you remember that in June this year I sent you a letter that I intend to visit you, but you were in USA. You told me that you will be back in July but unfortunately that my son is in and out of the hospital, and also my wife had given birth to our second child that I was really not able to make it.
I have stopped my first child for chemotherapy as he could not take it anymore. I really need to talk to you as I knew you have successfully treated a child with neuroblastoma before. As such, I intend to fly to Penang next Wednesday to meet you up. Please highlight to me how can I arrange to meet up with you.Will appreciate very much.
I will bring along all medical reports and CDs . Also, just to inform that my son is presently also under Chinese TMC medications. Hope to hear from you as soon as possible. Thank you very much. Best regards. DK, Desperate parent.
Dear DK,
Since your son is already on TCM medication, I suggest that you continue with it. No use coming to see me. Let him rest from the destructive effect of the chemo. Even if you come and see me, I am not sure what I can offer you. Your TCM could be just as good as what I am doing. It is also very, very hard for me to care for little children. Chris.
16 September 2011
Hi Chris,
Thank you so much for your kindness to give me the chance to meet up with you. At least I am more at ease. I shall book a fright now to Penang and try to reach on time in the Wednesday morning. If I cannot reach on time on Wednesday (21.09.11) morning due to flight schedule, I will see you on Thursday (22.09.11) morning, staying one night in Penang on Wednesday. Thank you very much. Best regards. DK
6 October 2011
Hi Chris,
Thank you for giving me the chance to see you in person two weeks ago. My son has already been taken your herbs for about two weeks. I can see that he has good energy improvement except that the first few days, he has “rough” voice, could be due to heat, I don’t know.
Thank you very much of everything. Finally, just want to refer you to a blog below by a mother whose daughter is having a neurobalstoma for 2.5 years, and fighting for her last moment now. I totally drop on the chemo treatment, partly after I read this blog. The blog: http://ourfeistyprincess.blogspot.com/
Her daughter is suffering tremendously after the chemo. I am pointing you to this blog because you have success in treating neuroblastoma case before. I just hope that more children will be able to be treated successfully by your herbs rather than the killing chemo. So, please continue to review any medical cases of baby and young children referred to you. God bless. DK
Medical Records
3 May 2011: A well-defined, lobulated mas – 5.0 x 7.6 x 4.8 cm in the left retroperitoneal / paraventerbral lumbar region, likely a neuroblastoma. There is no extension into the spinal canal.
5 May 2011: Image-guided biopsies – ganglioneuroblastoma, intermixed. Bone marrow, trephine biopsies – no metastatic neuroblastic tumour.
DK came to see us on 22 September 2011. The following is our video-taped conversation that morning.
Comments
This is a case of a desperate father who has to live through the agony of seeing his 3-year-old son undergoing surgery and then chemotherapy. The treatment plan was 7 cycles of chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy and BMT (bone marrow transplantation). The parent was told, Without chemotherapy the cancer will come back within 6 months. With this intensive treatment the chances of cure is 40 to 50 percent.
The treatment sounds excellent if your son is alright, but what if you have to see your son suffering from the side effects of the chemo? As parent, you have to decide if the agony is worth it. There is this often quoted phase, The treatment is worse than the disease!
Dr. Jerome Groopman of Harvard University (in How Doctors Think) wrote, Understandably, people want the home run. But often in oncology what we achieve is less than that. And the risk is, by going for the home run, you can strike out. In crude simple language it just means this – Yes, all patients hope to achieve a cure, after spending so much money and having to endure all the sufferings, but how many realized that in the quest to find that cure you might just die half way?
Specifically in this case, let us assume that the aggressive chemo, radiation and bone marrow transplantation was a success (note – 40 to 50% chance only) the question that has never been addressed is, What could happen after that? Will the child grow up normally? How much would the trauma that he had undergone undermine his well being as he grows up? Will he get another cancer again sometime in the future? It cannot be denied, the likelihood of another cancer striking him is real.
What Others Say
Prof Raymong Tallis, in his article, The ultimate aims of medicine and the future of old age, http://www.hkag.org/Publications/AJGG/v1n3/p157-SP-27.pdf, wrote, Medicine, it seems to me, has two broad aims: to postpone dying due to disease and to mitigate the suffering (pain, disability, anguish) disease may bring. Despite the continuing remarkable triumphs of science-based medicine, some recent developments have prompted questions about whether these two aims may be coming into conflict.
From the perspective of a Buddhist, Eric Tsang, (in an article, Prolong life = prolonging pains http://www.etsang.net/article/art013.htm) brings into focus some hard truth we need to face. He wrote, Advancing technologies and medication may be good, but not good enough to conquer maturity and death. New drugs create hopes, but at the same time they create suffering and frustration as hopes vanish. As hospitals are increasingly bureaucratized, the patient is no longer a person in the hospital but turning into a case, a number or a file. In other words, hospitalization has become a process of dehumanization. Dehumanization, however, rationalizes the dilemma of prolonging life of the dying patients at the expenses of extra unnecessary pains and suffering … drugs and equipment can only prolong the life of the terminal patients artificially, rather than curing them … prolonged life promises nothing but endless pain and suffering, not only to the patients but also the loved ones, the friends, families and the health care personnel.” Tsang further added that, “The endless strife on new technologies and novel drugs, at the end of the day, reflects human greed and ignorance. The greed is for knowledge, desire, controls, powers, glories, admiration, satisfaction, etc., and the ignorance of the mystery of life and nature.
From a professional perspective, Dr. Bernie Siegel (in Peace, Love & Healing) wrote, Our profession can be incredibly cruel in its relentless focus on keeping people from being dead no matter what the consequences. We have to learn that death is not pathological; it’s a natural part of living, which we doctors have rendered as unnatural.
Dr. Jerome Groopman of Harvard University (in How Doctors Think) wrote,
When a physician and patient make decisions about treatment, they should be mindful of the benefits and risks, the needs and goals they share. Their choices should be free of the influences of financial gain and the biases introduced by corporate marketing.
Occasionally people with advanced cancers are “flogged,” a distasteful term used in clinical medicine to describe continued toxic therapy with no real point. There are some oncologists who seem to believe that it’s wrong for someone to die without receiving every possible drug.
People really wouldn’t want to be treated this way if they truly understood what the likelihood of benefit was.
If you do an experiment two times and you don’t get results, then it doesn’t make sense to do it the same way a third time. You have to ask yourself: What am I missing? How should I do it differently the next time?
… because it is much easier both psychologically and logistically for a doctor to keep treating a serious disease with a familiar therapy even when the disease is not responding.
How an oncologist thinks through the value of complex and harsh treatments demands not only an understanding of science but also a sensibility about the soul – how much risk we are willing to take and how we want to live out our lives.
Let me close by quoting Dr. Robin Kelly (in Healing Ways – a doctor’s guide to healing),
It is understandable that many cancer specialists are truly concerned when patients, especially children, forsake orthodox therapy in favour of alternative therapies …. Because of the overwhelming side effects, despite of the doctor’s prognosis of a possible cure from such treatment … As a parent I tried to place myself in his patients’ position; how would I react to watching my child suffer as a result of the side effects of this powerful treatment?
The crying, the hair loss, the nausea. How much would this conflict with my own instincts to protect my child from the toxic effects of the world? Who would I really be doing this for? How much was this to do with my own fear of dying? These are questions born out of love.
There is, I’m sure, a better way. Fear of dying must not dominate over the love of living.
Baby is a 2-month-old female. Sometime in May 1999, the doctor felt swelling in her abdomen. She was however, not in pain or showed any symptoms. On 27 May 1999, an ultrasound was done and the radiologist report was as follows:
There are multiple hypodense lesions in both lobes of the liver of varying sizes. The liver is enlarged.
Conclusion: This features are suggestive of multiple metastasis. Patient would need further CT abdomen or an MRI examination.
A blood test was done and the report dated 28 May 1999 is as follows:
Total protein
58
Albumin
33
Globulin
25
A/G ratio
1.3
Total bilirubin
22.5
Alkaline phosphatase
272 H
SGOT
134 H
SGPT
176 H
Alpha fetoprotein
187.0 H
The MRI report done on 28 May 1999 is as follows: The liver is enlarged measuring about 9 cm. Multiple rounded lesions measuring 0.5 to 2 cm are seen involving both lobes of the liver. These lesions appear hypointense on T1W and hyperintense on T2W images. This indicates that the lesions are unlikely to represent haemangioma or cysts. There appears to be a 2x3x4 cm hypointense mass seen anterior to the left kidney. There is a 1 cm lesion seen in both suprarenalregions. These probably represent adrenal masses.Impression: Multiple rounded lesions are seen in both lobes of the liver which are not typical of haemangioma or cysts. These are probably metastatic lesions. A possible mass is seen anterior to the left kidney. Smaller 1 cm masses are noted in both supra-renal regions. Neuroblastoma is a possible daignosis. Suggest a biopsy of the liver lesion to assess these.
A biopsy was done on 29 May 1999 and the report is as follows:
Specimen consists of several slender cores of brownish tissue measuring in aggregate 19x5x1 mm. Interpretation: Liver biopsies show metastatic small round cell neoplasm with feactures suggestive of metastatic Neuroblastoma. On this report is scribbled: Stage IV. Prof S … (S’pore).
The doctor suggested that Baby undergo chemotherapy. The mother was told that she only has three to six months at most to live. The mother refused and the doctors scolded her, You money or your baby’s life?
It was one June morning of 1999, when Chris received a phone call from one desperate lady who wanted to see him. Chris said this to her: I don’t know what I can do to help you … especially if she is only two months old … but if talking to you will be of help … then, come to my house immediately. Baby’s mother, father and grandmother came. Chris was stunt and numb-folded to see those liver lesions shown by the MRI. The mother was full of tears and as we talked for almost two hours. Things got better after that. At the end, every one smiled. Chris suggested taking AB powder and no oil, meat, milk, salt, sugar in the diet. Live on carrot juice – even for this two- month old baby. It is a hard advice to swallow. But what else can we do? The parents decided to leave Baby alone without any further benefit of medical intervention.
17 November 1999. The mother told us that the doctor did an ultrasound and said that there was no more swelling of the liver. The liver was softer and it had shrunk in size. Chris expected the worse and this was real great news.
23 August 2000. Baby and her parents came to our house. She is now 1 year 5 months and has not given any problems up to this day. She is a very active baby – and smart too! It is indeed a great joy to see her so well.
We can not understand what had happened – or do we need to understand what had happened? Do we need an answer? To us, we lift up our eyes to the heavens and give thanks. The Almighty is Great and Merciful and He has blessed this baby — why? We don’t know that either, and we may never know. So, be it – let His will be done.
The mother told us that Baby’s head smells of carrot! Yes, friends let the carrots go into your head and let you smell of carrots – so what, for as long as you are well. As for Baby’s family, everyone is happy and Baby now has a younger sister!
EXACTLY ten years later, a lady and a young girl walked into our centre! It was Baby and her mother.
Watch this video of Chris presenting this case. He was was invited to speak at the 2nd International Nursing Conference organized by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 2 August 2010: What It Takes To Heal Cancer
Message 3: The use of commonsense in decision making is just as vital as the treatment itself.
Baby was only two-months old when she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, Stage 4. Chemotherapy was recommended but her parents declined. She was put on our therapy. Exactly ten years later, her mother brought Baby to see us – with tears of gratitude rolling down her eyes for this miraculous healing. Would you subject your two-month-old baby to chemotherapy?
The questions to ask: What could have happened to Baby if she was “chemoed” when she was at two months old? What could have happened if her mother did not go against the doctor’s advice? It is not a poor judgement on the part of the doctor to insist that Baby undergo chemotherapy – even for a 2-month-old?
What is Neuroblastoma?
It is the second commonest childhood cancer. About 75% of such cancer occur before the age of four. This curious tumour arises from a group of cells called neural crest. Their development is related to the following:
A certain kind of nerve tissue anywhere in the body. But more generally it is associated with the nerves in the chest or abdomen.
Most commonly to the adrenal glands, located above each kidney,
The other sites of development can be: lymph nodes, skin, liver (in which case it causes an enlargement) and rarely does a neuroblastoma originate in the brain.
The tumour can spread widely giving rise to secondaries in the bone, bone marrow and liver. Rarely does it spread to the lungs.
Diagnosis & Symptoms
According to Dr. Victoria Dorr, the diagnosis of neuroblastoma can be difficult. The most common symptom of neuroblastoma is the swelling or presence of a large mass in the abdomen area. This may be accompanied by some pain or is painless. In cases where the cancer has already spread and affected the bone marrow, it may cause the reduction of the red blood cells, causing the child to be anemic. If the platelets are affected it gives rise to easy bruising, and in case where the white blood cells are lowered, the child has lowered resistance to infection. The cancer can spread to the skin and in which case it produces nodule. If the cancer has spread to the spinal cord it can cause a rare combination of symptoms such as sudden, uncontrollable eye movement, poor coordination, rigidity, spasm and weakness of muscle in the body, arms and legs.
About 90% of neuroblastoma produce hormones such as epinephrine, which can increase heart rate and cause anxiety.
Prognosis & Medical Treatment
Children under one year old and with small tumours have a very good chance of cure. If the cancer has not spread yet, surgery offers the best option of cure. If the cancer is large and has already spread, then chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy are indicated. The chemo-drugs that may be used are vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and cisplatin. Relief of symptoms can be obtained by the use of corticosteroids, such as prednisone.
Over the past weeks many things happened that prompted me to write this article about Death. To many people, especially those with loved ones who have cancer, to read or talk about death is probably the last thing that they ever want to do. The subject about death is a taboo – they want to only hear how to cure their incurable cancer.
A father wanted us to help his 3-year-old son who had neuroblastoma, Stage 3. After surgery the boy received three cycles of chemotherapy. The side effects were so severe that the father wanted to stop medical treatment altogether.
A son from Eastern Europe wrote about his 61-year-old father who had lung cancer that has spread his liver, lymph nodes and bones. He wrote, I was directed to you by a Malaysian colleague of mine whose relatives you have helped. Please don’t turn us away.
A lady from Indonesia wrote, I want to ask the best hospital for cancer in Penang. My problem is cancer in my right breast. Record from Dharmais (Cancer Hospital) since 4 July 2011 was to operation. I don’t want. I’m very afraid. What shall I do? Please I’m in trauma because my mother passed away with cancer in 1972. I have one son. Please help me.
A young lady wrote,I’m planning to go to your center in Penang regarding my sickness. My leukemia relapsed very recently and my doctor told me I probably have less than six months to live if I choose not to have anymore chemotherapy. And he said further chemotherapy can only buy me some time (probably two additional months) unless I have bone marrow transplant.
I jokingly tell patients – we are your last one stop. The cases that come to us are usually beyond us to cure. We trust and pray that God will do the miracle – this is His decision not ours. This is our motto – Our hands but God heals. When we first started CA Care, some critics say we are giving the dying false hope. Over the 16 years that CA Care is around, we are happy to say that many miracles did happen at CA Care. Make no mistake, we are under no illusion. Neither are we a religious fanatic. Over the years we always call a spade a spade and we face reality without any pretence. Death is a reality – it can happen to you or me, anytime – irrespective of whether you get cancer or not. Perhaps with cancer, the journey to the grave seems somewhat shorter!
Our struggle and responsibility is obviously beyond us to bear. We derive much comfort in Reinhold Neibuhr’s often quoted prayer,
God grant us the serenity to accept things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things we can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
For those who are more conscious, perhaps they might have read the small poster put up at our centre. This is what it says,
“No one lives forever,
Therefore, death is not the issue.
Life is.
Death is not a failure,
Not choosing to take on the challenge of Life is.
Someday, when you’re tired, bored and sore,
And you want to leave your body,
Your death will be a healing ~ Bernie Siegel, 1990.
On 6 October 2011, Steve Jobs — the genius of Apple Computer died of pancreatic cancer. I have never heard of his name before, in spite of his fame. My son probably did because he is an iPad and iPhone fan. This time I was a bit curious why a man so endowed with wealth could ever die of cancer? Is it because of lack of chemo-drug, good oncologist or good hospital? If this happened to a common person, we can always shift the blame to something like no proper medical care, or health care professionals who are not competent enough, etc. etc. But these excuses do not apply to Jobs.
As I surfed the net, I stumbled onto what Jobs said at the Stanford University commencement speech in 2005. Let me quote what he said that day.
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.”
What Jobs said impressed me indeed. These words came from him a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – a serious and incurable disease. He did realized from the very beginning how Nature operates. Like a big, growing tree – as new branches and leaves develop, the old branches and leaves will drop off to make way for the new. It is only in this way can the tree grow bigger and bigger.
Dr. Robin Kelly (in Healing ways – a doctor’s guide to healing) wrote, Fear of death is seen as a necessary part of modern medicine. All that can be perceived is loss and failure.
Those who have been spiritually awakened can appreciate the view that death is a natural process and is not a failure. Dr. Bernie Siegel (in Peace, Love & Healing) wrote, It is how we face up to our illnesses and how we take on the challenge of our mortality that determine whether we are successes or failures.
Reality
Professor Raymond Tallis (in Hippocratic Oaths) wrote, Birth remains a one-way ticket to the grave. If disease does not destroy us, external events – accidents, war, natural disasters – will bring about our demise. The best we can hope for is harmonious decline.
Dr. Bernie Siegel (in Peace, Love & Healing) said, It is important that we realize that we can never cure everything. We will never find … cures for all diseases. Dying can be a healing, ending a full, rich life for someone who is tired and sore and in need of rest.
Human Attitude
Some of us live our lives as if life is forever. We hear of others die – relatives, friends and celebrities, but how many of us ever thought or believe that it could be our turn the next time?
Writer William Saroyan humourously made this remark during the final hours of his life, I always knew that everyone dies, but I really thought there would be exception in my case.
Dr. David Simon (in The Wisdom of Healing) wrote, As I board airplanes these days, I have the thought that every person who died in an airplane crash did not believe that his or her life is about to end. Although we all know there is the possibility of our dying on any given days, we are fairly certain it is NOT today.
Professor Raymond Tallis (in Hippocratic Oaths) wrote, Death will always be premature – at least for the one who is dying. A late death is never late enough.
Dr. Jerome Groopman of Harvard University (in How Doctors Think) wrote, Understandably, people want the home run. But often in oncology what we achieve is less than that. And the risk is, by going for the home run, you can strike out.
What Do We Really Know About Death?
The above question is posed by Dr. David Simon (in The Wisdom of Healing). He attempted to give his answers.
Hamlet calls death “the undiscovered country” – and how can we describe a landscape that lies off the edges of our maps and beyond the reaches of our telescopes? For most of us, only one fact is certain about death … someday we will indeed die. Fear is that one certain fact – we know that we’re afraid of death. But again, what do we really fear from something we understand so little about? It’s certainly true that nobody know what’s going to happen. But whatever we may believe … each of us is going to face it alone – and I believe that this utterly solitary quality of the death experience is one of the most important sources of our fear.
A second component of our fear of death derives, I think, from a sense of impending powerlessness. At the last moment… what if there are still a lot of things we want to do? Almost all of us live with, “If only I had …” or “ I should have …” or “I could have …”
Just as a blazing fire can burn a log to a fine ash, by really experiencing everyday to the fullest we can eliminate regrets and residual guilt-ridden emotions from our consciousness. If we can fully process the events and relationships of our lives – really digest them – we can leave the table without hunger when the feast is finished.
Personal Life Experience – Do you really want to live?
David Tate (in Health, Hope and Healing) shared his healing journey with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He wrote,
A diagnosis of cancer can be scary, even terrifying … I woke up the next morning. After breakfast I went to my study where I could be alone. There in the quiet, after several minutes of internal silence, a question popped into my mind. “Do you really want to live?” It seemed like a strange question. Of course I wanted to live! I was afraid of dying, that was for sure. Afraid of the pain, the helplessness, the humiliation, the loneliness. “But do you really want to live? “The voice persisted … “Did I like being alive?” “Did I really enjoy living?”
…. If I have to be honest there were a lot of reasons why life was no longer attractive to me. Did I dare admit that some part of me was disappointed? Could I admit that I might shirk my responsibility because, for reasons deep inside, I did not really want to live?
So now the truth. I was disappointed with my life. I was disappointed with myself. Sure, I loved my wife and children. I wanted to live for them. But what about wanting to live for myself? Yes. And no. I was ambivalent about life.
Depending upon the day, the mood, perhaps even the weather, I would have a different emotional message for my body. One day I would tell it I wanted to live; life was good, fun, enjoyable. Another day I was telling it I wanted to die; life was disappointing.
I told myself. Now that you know the truth about yourself, what are you going to do about it? Change, change – I whispered. Reclaim you dreams – I told myself.
A final thought – illness can be the catalyst for making deeply needed changes that results in a more meaningful and satisfying life. This has been my experience – illness is a path that can lead to inner riches.
Over these years, this is one lesson we learn – there is no cure of cancer! But there is healing and it is within you. There is no short cut. You have to work for it. Earn it the hard way. The most difficult thing to make patients understand is the need for them to change – change their perspectives about life, change their life style and habits, change their diet, change their attitude, etc. etc.
Many patients come to us with a one-track-mindset of wanting us to cure their cancer with minimal effort on their part and with the minimum of discomfort – never mind if they had chemotherapy before and suffered severely. Some even expect us to offer help via remote control and e-mail, in the comfort of their homes. If the words written by Tate above bring no deep meaning to your heart, your chances of winning over cancer is very remote indeed.
As I have told many patients. By talking to you for five minutes, my intuition will tell me whether I can help you or not. Similarly, by reading your emails to me and they way you write, I could roughly decipher to what extent I could help.
I often ask cancer patients – Do you love yourself? Of course the intelligent brain would say Yes, but I am too sure what your soul has to say. Another question would bring out the truth, Why don’t you drink your herbal tea? Answer: I have no time to boil it. How could you ever say you love yourself when you don’t even have time to take care of yourself? What do you do with all your time in this world? Of course you may have all your reasons – but where is your priority?
Take another example of a lady who wrote me these words. Her mom has lung cancer that has spread to her bones. She wrote, Per doctor’s advice, the lung cancer had spread to the pelvis in just a couple of weeks which accordingly is very fast.We will hand our mum in your good hands for us.Can we appeal for your help to assist our mum in the best way that you can please? Please do all possible to help us.
I replied, You are from Penang. If you want to take the herbs and take care of the diet, start now. Come and see me Sunday night and I shall prescribe the herbs.
Her response, By the way, we need not bring our mum over, will it be OK?
The above communication sent a chill into my spine! We can assist patients in need but to “hand over” the sick to us to care is beyond us. It has to be you and your brothers and sisters who should take the lead with our guidance. Then, another disappointment – she may have whatever reasons for not wanting to bring her mom to our centre. But is that the best thing to do? And she is from Penang. And she could bring her to the Hospital – why not to CA Care? Again, let me say, if patients or their care givers don’t understand that they have to change and work for their healings, our efforts to help others would be futile – a wasted effort.
The Challenge
Dr. Bernie Siegel (in Peace, Love & Healing) wrote, No matter how sick we are or how close to death, as long as we are alive we have the chance to make something of our lives. Those who rise to the occasion will find that no matter what the outcome of the struggles, they have created something beautiful. For we die as we live.
In another book of his (Love, Medicine & Miracles) Dr. Bernie Siegel wrote, You create your own opportunities out of the same raw materials from which other people create their defeats.
Death is always stalking us, and this is the driving force to live a life of meaning, ever alert to the miraculous opportunities available at every moment.
There is an Indian saying, When you are born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die the world cries and you rejoice. To me, this is the secret of how we can triumph and give meaning and beauty to our own death. We leave this world with a sense of pride and accomplishment knowing the we have done our best to make it a slightly better place to live for those we leave behind.
In her 479-page book, Holding Tight, Letting go – living with metastatic breast cancer, Musa Mayer wrote, Many of the people I interviewed:
Sought peace of mind through surrender to a will greater than their own. They accepted that death and pain and loss were a part of living. They let go of illusions of immortality and entitlement and found comfort in the contemplation of natural cycles of living and dying.
Spoke often of the importance of living in the moment, of how they had learned to savor time with the people they loved and to seek out experiences that had meaning to them.
Kept hope alive by defining their goals and expectations to more closely match the realities of their illness. With mortality no longer a questions – what can you hope for?
Became expert in reframing their experiences with illness as challenge. Even in the most dire of circumstances without denying or diminishing the pain and fear, they sought out the benefits that were there to be found. They opened themselves up to new insights. They saw their lives with cancer as both a journey of discovery and a struggle to maintain themselves in difficult circumstances.
One patient wrote, I have been asked how I could achieve such calm while facing death. What is the alternative? The only other choice I can think of is to cry, to scream and yell, and just give up – but all that would be a waste of this precious gift of time.
Where does my strength come from? Nature – trees and hills, snow and flowers, the little animals. All these have been a source of solace … As a kid, I often found peace and comfort in the city park … Whenever I have turned to the natural world for guidance, I have not been disappointed … The trees do not mourn their autumn as the leaves fall at the appointed time. New ones are ready to replace them. Death and regeneration exist together everywhere I look in nature. Why should I be different?
Each of us can find meaning in different ways. Have courage and try to find something that bring most meaning and joy to your life during these last days on earth. When the time comes for you to go, Go in peace.
Facing Death
Dr. Robin Kelly (in Healing ways – a doctor’s guide to healing) wrote, Working with the dying, has given me more insights into spiritual matters … in dying, healing is at its most profound. Once the dying person has let go, a peaceful calm follows. This late stage can have a wonderfully soothing effect on those privileged enough to be present. I have felt the most relaxed in my life sitting alongside the bed of a dying person – no need to talk or plan, no better place to be.
Guide to visiting the dying:
Treat the person exactly as you usually do. Be yourself. Be spontaneous.
Talk about the issues of the day. The present is still important to the dying.
If he or she is resting, sit quietly and soak up the peace.
Respect the dying person’s right to solitude, if this is his or her wish.
It is not disrespectful to smile or laugh. This can relax both of you.
If near a window, comment on the day and nature. Make sure there are healthy flowers or plants in the room.
Value each moment together. Treat each as a precious gift.
Kenneth Caine and Brain Kaufman (in Prayer, Faith and Healing) had another perspective on how to care for the dying. Someone we love is dying … or confronted with a life-threatening illness. We feel empathy, certainly, but we may also feel awkward with them because we don’t know what to say or do. Do we talk about the situation or do we ignore it?
There is a tendency to treat dying people differently. Voices are often lowered. Don’t do that, says Dr. Miller. This loved one or friend is the same person they have always been. They are as full of life as we are. Treat them as equals. They don’t want pity; they want compassion. They want to be treated as very much alive. They want to live as fully as they are able. Here are other rules of thumb from Dr. Miller.
Don’t go it alone. We shouldn’t try to be the sole caregiver and do everything ourselves. We won’t be able to. We’ll get frazzled and upset. We need to encourage others to help, and when they offer, take them up on it.
Let the loved one lead. They have needs, so we should let them make basic decisions about their care and their environment. The patient, if possible, should decide which doctors, which hospitals and what treatment they want. Those are not our decisions, they are theirs. It’s their life. Let them chose how to live it.
Draw them out. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is listen. When someone is dying or on the verge of dying, they usually need to talk to others, but they may not know where to start. We can talk about how they’re feeling, encourage them to relay memories, and let them know that we’re there for them if they need to talk. And when they do need to talk, we should let them. And at times when they do not feel like talking, it’s okay to just be there. Often, a gentle touch is also appreciated. It, too, is a form of communication.
Get advance directives. That’s the proper term for a living will. While the loved one is still able, we should help them draw up instructions for their care should they become so physically disabled that they are unable to communicate. In addition, make sure that their will and other important documents are in order and as they would like them to be.
Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Stephen Wozniak in the Jobs’ family garage. Apple’s revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology (http://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805).
In October 2003, while performing a routine abdominal scan, doctors discovered a tumor growing in his pancreas. Eight years later, on 6 October 2011, Steve Jobs died. He was 56 years old. In a brief statement, Apple announced the death but did not say where he died. You can read his full biography in this website: http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/long/01.html
I surfed the net to know more about his cancer. Everyone else is more engrossed with his inventions and successes. No much is being said about his medical history – except for some bits and pieces about his health here and there. I believe cancer patients throughout the world would want to know how he managed to “live well” after his cancer diagnosis.
His Health Problems
In a June 2005 commencement address at Stanford University Steve Jobs talked about his pancreatic cancer. In his speech, Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life’s setbacks — including death itself. It is a very good video – everyone should watch this!
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
What kind of cancer did Steve Jobs have? (http://blisstree.com/live/what-kind-of-cancer-did-steve-jobs-have-795/) In a message to his employees at the time, Steve explained: I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was). I will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
According to the University of California Department of Surgery, Islet cell neuroendocrine tumors are rare. Only 2,500 people are diagnosed with them per year in the U.S. –so researchers don’t know nearly as much about the tumors as other more common forms of cancer. But in general, they are tumors that form out of the endocrine, or hormone-producing, cells in the pancreas.
How difficult is it to treat, and what are the survival rates? The doctors initially told him he only had about three to six months to live. Steve far outlived his doctors’ initial prognosis, but the reality is that islet cell neuroendocrine tumors are malignant, which means they’re fatal for 90% of patients if left untreated.
Did his cancer come back? The rarity of Jobs’ cancer left room for plenty of room for speculation about the likelihood of recurrence. In January of 2009, Jobs announced that he was being treated for a hormone imbalance, and later received a liver transplant.
More details of his cancer
Jobs was considering not having the surgery at all. A Buddhist and vegetarian, the Apple CEO was skeptical of mainstream medicine. Jobs decided to employ alternative methods to treat his pancreatic cancer, hoping to avoid the operation through a special diet. For nine months Jobs pursued this approach. In the end, Jobs had the surgery on Saturday, July 31, 2004, at Stanford University Medical Center.
Jobs sought instead to treat his tumor with a special diet while launching a lengthy exploration of alternative approaches. “The odd thing is, for us what seemed like an alternative type of thing, for him is normal. It’s not out of the ordinary for Steve ” says one person familiar with the situation.
By the standards of medical science, it was an open-and-shut case: There was no serious alternative to surgery. “Surgery is the only treatment modality that can result in cure,” Dr. Jeffrey Norton, chief of surgical oncology at Stanford, wrote in a 2006 medical journal article about this kind of pancreatic cancer.
The case seemed closed for a while, before it surprisingly resurfaced some three years later, in 2008. He obviously had lost weight in a substantial and even frightening way.
Steven made a personal announcement on 5 January 2009: As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority. Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis. Nine days later, in an email to all Apple employees he wrote: During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.
In April 2009 Steve underwent a liver transplant. The transplant took place at the Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the nation’s leading center for such surgery. The transplant worked, and Steve went back to Apple in late June 2009.
In an article on 18 January 20ll, Steve Jobs went to Switzerland in search of cancer treatment, Doron Levin wrote, ( http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/18/steve-jobs-went-to-switzerland-in-search-of-cancer-treatment) How sick was he? Fortune reported Jobs also took an unpublicized flight to Switzerland to undergo an unusual radiological treatment at the University of Basel for neuroendocrine cancer.
In an article on 5 October 2011,Jobs’s Unorthodox Treatment, Sharon Begley, wrote, (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/05/steve-jobs-dies-his-unorthodox-treatment-for-neuroendocrine-cancer.html), Although cancer of the pancreas has a terrible prognosis—half of all patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer die within 10 months of the diagnosis; half of those in whom it has metastasized die within six months. Unlike pancreatic cancer, with neuroendocrine cancer “if you catch it early, there is a real potential for cure,” says cancer surgeon Joseph Kim of City of Hope, a comprehensive cancer center in California. In part, that is because neuroendocrine cancers tend to be quite slow growing, or indolent. This kind of cancer can be so indolent that patients often die with it than from it. Although an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed every year with neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas, autopsies find the disease in hundreds more—people who were apparently not harmed by this very slow-growing cancer.
But Jobs’s was not such a simple case. He underwent an operation called a modified Whipple procedure, or a pancreatoduodenectomy. The surgery removes the right side of the pancreas, the gallbladder, and parts of the stomach, bile duct, and small intestine. The fact that so much more than the pancreas itself had to be removed suggests that Jobs’s cancer had spread beyond the pancreas. The cancer might have already spread by the time it was discovered in 2003. Alternatively, the cancer could have spread during the nine months that Jobs was experimenting with nonstandard therapies.
Within five years, it was clear that Jobs was not cured. He underwent a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis in 2009. That strongly suggests the cancer had spread beyond the digestive system that was the focus of the surgery and into the organ that is one of the most common sites of metastasis.
Swapping out a cancer-ridden liver for a new one may buy some time, but not much. It can even be counterproductive. Transplant patients need massive doses of immune-suppressing drugs to keep their bodies from rejecting the foreign organ. A more standard treatment is to remove only those parts of the liver that contain malignant cells.
Jobs was relieved that, as he put it in that 2004 email, he did “not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.” He took that as a sign that the surgery “got it all,” as every cancer patient desperately wishes to hear. In fact, any surgeons who say they “got it all” should be slapped: no existing technology can detect micrometastases, let alone a few million rogue malignant cells floating in the bloodstream or lymph fluid and just waiting to invade some vital organ.
One of the few bright spots when it comes to neuroendocrine cancer was the Food and Drug Administration’s decision, in May 2011, to approve two new drugs against the disease. One, called Sutent, from Pfizer, was previously approved for the treatment of kidney cancer. The other newly approved drug, Afinitor, from Novartis (See CA Care experience with these two drugs at the end of this article!).
Marilynn Marchione of the Associated Press, (http://www.ajc.com/health/doctors-say-cancer-likely-1195337.html) in Doctors say cancer likely killed Steve Jobs, wrote, Steve Jobs managed to live more than seven years with a rare form of pancreatic cancer that grows more slowly than the common kind. But his need for a liver transplant two years ago was a bad sign that his troubles with the disease probably were not over.
Medical experts unconnected with his care say Jobs most likely needed the transplant because his cancer came back or spread. They said his death could have been from cancer, the new liver not working, or complications from immune-suppressing medicines to prevent organ rejection. A liver transplant can cure Jobs’ type of cancer, but “if it were to come back, it’s usually in one to two years,” said Dr. Michael Pishvaian, a gastrointestinal cancer specialist at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Jobs would not say why the transplant was needed, though doctors said spread of his cancer to the liver was the likely explanation. Usually transplants aren’t done for people with cancer, but “there is some support for the idea that a liver transplant can be curative” for a neuroendocrine tumor as long as the cancer has not spread beyond the liver. Average survival for people with neuroendocrine tumors that have spread is seven to eight years, and some patients have survived 20 to 30 years, said Dr. Martin Heslin, cancer surgery chief at Vanderbilt University. It was not to be for Jobs.
Alice Part, in her article – The Pancreatic Cancer that Killed Steve Jobs, (http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/05/the-pancreatic-cancer-that-killed-steve-jobs/#ixzz1ZyGUwyUf) wrote, Pancreatic cancer is one of the faster spreading cancers; only about 4% of patients can expect to survive five years after their diagnosis. Each year, about 44,000 new cases are diagnosed in the U.S., and 37,000 people die of the disease.
According to experts, Jobs’ was an uphill medical battle. “He not only had cancer, he was battling the immune suppression after the liver transplant. Most patients who receive liver transplants survive about two years after the surgery.
Because of the poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer, many patients elect to try alternative therapies, including a popular therapy known as the Gonzalez regimen, which involves fighting pancreatic tumors with pancreatic enzymes. Patients on the Gonzalez regimen also take a large number of nutritional supplements, including vitamins and minerals such as magnesium citrate, along with coffee enemas performed twice a day.
The treatment’s developer, Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez of New York, has claimed that the use of pancreatic enzymes is a powerful way to suppress the growth of advanced pancreatic cancer cells. Jobs is not reported to have tried the Gonzalez regimen, but he is known to have suscribed to alternative therapy. Whether these treatments helped to extend Jobs’ life or improve the quality of his last days isn’t clear. But cancer experts expressed surprise that Jobs survived as long as he did, continuing to fight his disease. Other pancreatic cancer patients typically aren’t as fortunate.
Watch these videos in the Voice of America website of 30 August 2011, (http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Jobs-Pancreatic-Cancer-Led-to-Numerous-Health-Issues-128670148.html) Jobs’ Pancreatic Cancer Led to Other Health Issues. Oncologists say pancreatic cancer is hard to treat because it is difficult to diagnose. … since the early stages have no visible symptoms. Dr. Khaled el-Shami, a cancer specialist at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C said, “Neuroendocrine tumors tend to spread from pancreas to the liver. Liver transplant is a radical way of removing cancer in the liver.” But el-Shami warns a transplant is not a guaranteed cure. “It’s a balance between removing a big chunk of cancer in the liver and the risk of having a weakened immune system, which can encourage not only the original cancer to come back but also emergence of other cancers.”
Lisa Krieger wrote an article, Rarity of Steve Jobs’ cancer and treatment provides few predictions, few options (http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_18758697). She said, Like everything else about him, Steve Jobs’ medical history has been singular — an uncommon treatment for a very rare cancer — so it’s tough to predict his fate. But experts suggest that he’s run out of good fixes. If the cancer has returned, he’s not a good candidate for a second transplant. Drugs can prolong survival, but they don’t cure. The average three-year survival rate for people with Jobs’ condition who receive a liver transplant is about 70 percent, said Dr. William C. Chapman, chief of the Abdominal Transplantation Section at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. By five years, about half are still alive, said Chapman and Dr. Simon Lo, director of pancreatic and biliary diseases at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. But there’s not much data — and there’s hardly any information at all — for 10-year survivors.
“In general, it’s pretty uncommon to perform a transplant for recurrence of malignancy,” Chapman said. That’s because if it has returned to the liver, it’s more likely to return to other places, too”. “When you’re dealing with a cancer that has metastasized, it means it might be hiding somewhere else in the belly,” Lo said. And immune-suppressing drugs reduce resistance, he said, “so there is always worry that the cancer could be encouraged to grow.”
Marilyn Linton wrote in the Toronto Sun (http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/09/the-cancer-that-plagues-steve-jobs), The carcinoid neuroendocrine tumours (CNETs), or alternatively called neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) – the same cancer that has struck Jobs is a malignancy of a unique system of the body. Most worrisome is the fact that these tumours can be difficult to spot. If doctors are aware of it, they may think of it and diagnose it more quickly – something all of us wish could have happened. Most of us were diagnosed after the tumour metastasized which, in the end, brings different challenges and prognosis.”
Liz Szabo of USA Today, (http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/cancer/story/2011-08-24/Apple-CEO-Steve-Jobs-resigns-after-battling-pancreatic-cancer/50127460/1) wrote, Steve Jobs has battled a rare form of pancreatic cancer for years, undergoing a series of aggressive treatments, including a liver transplant, and surviving longer than many others with the disease. Patients with the most common form of pancreatic cancer often live less than a year. Neuroendocrine tumors typically grow much more slowly, allowing patients to live at least two or three years. Unless the disease is completely eradicated, however, the cancer eventually takes a turn for the worse, growing much more quickly. If the liver begins to fail, however, “people can go downhill pretty quickly. When you hit the wall, you hit the wall.”
Patients who receive organ transplants must take drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the new organ. But because these drugs also suppress the immune system, they can allow the original cancer to re-emerge and attack either the new liver or other organs. In rare cases, a liver transplant may cure the patient’s cancer, if it hasn’t spread around the body,
Daniel DeNoon of WebMD Health news wrote ( http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20110825/faq-steve-jobs-pancreatic-cancer), If Jobs had suffered the most common form of pancreatic cancer, adenocarcinoma, the chances are he would have died soon after his 2003 diagnosis. But as Jobs later revealed, he had an unusual form of pancreatic cancer known as a neuroendocrine tumor or islet cell carcinoma.
What is known about this kind of cancer? Can it be cured? What if it comes back? WebMD answers these and other questions.
What Is a Neuroendocrine Tumor/Islet Cell Carcinoma? When doctors discover that a patient has pancreatic cancer, the outlook usually is grim. But once in a while — about 200 to 1,000 times a year in the U.S. — it turns out to be an islet cell carcinoma. But 90% of these tumors are malignant, meaning that they eventually are fatal if left untreated.
Can Neuroendocrine Tumors/Islet Cell Carcinomas Be Cured? The first choice of treatment for islet cell carcinoma is surgery, says David Levi, MD, professor of clinical surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.”If it can be cured with surgery we try for that,” Levi says. “If not there are options: chemotherapy and a number of other options to try to control this tumor. Some of these cancers are not curable, but patients can do well for years and years.”
Why Did Steve Jobs Have a Liver Transplant? Although it’s now known that Jobs received a liver transplant in Tennessee, it’s not clear why. However, Levi says that a small number of patients with islet cell carcinoma may undergo liver transplant if their cancer has spread to the liver but does not appear to have spread elsewhere. It’s not a procedure for people who may have cancer remaining in their bodies. That’s because transplant patients must stay on immune-suppressing anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives. Without a functioning immune system, remaining cancer cells grow uncontrollably.
“The cancer can recur after liver transplant. When it does recur, it carries a pretty poor prognosis and ultimately is the cause of death,” Levi says.” We are limited in what we can do. The patient is immune suppressed. This usually means the cancer is aggressive, and once it recurs it usually is not curable.”
Facing Reality
Jobs outlived that initial prognosis by a lot, but at just 56, Jobs death still came young (the average life expectancy for American men is about 77 years old). As of now, there are few clues as to how his treatment or lifestyle really impacted his longevity post-surgery, but for patients who are diagnosed with the same type of cancer, the best hope of survival is to catch and treat the cancer early, and maintain optimal health through diet, exercise and lifestyle (http://blisstree.com/live/what-kind-of-cancer-did-steve-jobs-have-795/).
Now Jobs reminds us all of a harsh reality: even with access to the very best medical care, and even with Jobs’ reality distortion field, cancer survivors can’t always remain fine forever. And life’s change agent, as we all know and we all don’t like to remember, is merciless.
Steve Jobs was another type of survivor: a cancer survivor. And in that role, he was a model for many. Steve Jobs represented the millions of cancer survivors who pursue their dreams, live their lives, and contribute to our world every day. Tonight, sadly, we know the answers. There is finality to the life of Steve Jobs in the physical sense, although his influence will be felt long after his passing.
Comments
It seems be the norm, in the face of total hopelessness, there would be someone who would come and offer you some “magical portions” to try. In this article, one writer mentioned that one ray of hope for Steve Jobs would be the new “magic bullets”, Sutent and Afinitor. I am not sure if cancer patients need to be optimistic at all. These bullets might just turn out to be fatal bullets – to the patient and not the cancer.
TK826 was a 53-year-old male. He was diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. He received 20 radiation treatments. In spite of the treatment, the tumour grew bigger and spread to his liver, lungs and abdomen. He was started on Sutent in January 2009. He suffered severe side effects and died three months later, on 30 April 2009. This is his story: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2011/09/18/sutent-for-advanced-kidney-cancer/
Ray is a restaurant owner in Indonesia. In December 2007, at the age of 53, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer. He underwent a radical surgery. About seven years later, the cancer recurred in his lungs. Ray was put on Sutent and suffered severe intolerable side effects. Ray stopped taking Sutent. The oncologist suggested a new oral drug, Afinitor (everolimus). Ray suffered similar side effects from taking Afinitor – ulcerations of his mouth and itchiness of his head, etc. Read more of this story: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2011/09/18/everolimus-for-kidney-cancer-metastatised-to-lungs/
Many patients who had surgery and chemotherapy died soon after the treatments. The result thus far for pancreatic cancer is dismal indeed. I must say it is an achievement that Steve Job was able to survive eight years battling with his pancreatic cancer. That’s a great achievement indeed.
What Steven Jobs said at the commencement address at Sanford University ought to be a great lesson for many of us. Death… is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. It is important to realize that no one lives forever. Ponder seriously once again what Jobs said, Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition … Everything else is secondary.
Let me close by quoting Dr. Bernie Siegel (in his book, Peace, Love & Healing). It is important that we realize that we can never cure everything. We will never find … cures for all diseases. Dying can be a healing, ending a full, rich life for someone who is tired and sore and in need of rest. Facing death is often the catalyst that enables people to reach out for what they want. It makes us face up to the meaning of our existence. Illness and death are not failures. It is how we face up to our illnesses and how we take on the challenge of our mortality that determine whether we are successes or failures. No matter how sick we are or how close to death, as long as we are alive we have the chance to make something of our lives. Those who rise to the occasion will find that no matter what the outcome of the struggles, they have created something beautiful.
In this regards, Steve Jobs had lived to create something beautiful for our world.
HG is a 53-year-old male from Singapore. In November 2010, he had a slight headache. His blood pressure was elevated. The doctor prescribed him medication for a month but this was not effective. His problem developed into double vision. An eye specialist could not found anything wrong with his eyes. HG was referred to an ENT. A brain MRI was performed. There was no indication of anything wrong. A nasal endoscopy done also did not reveal anything wrong. Nevertheless the ENT performed a biopsy.
A biopsy report dated 9 November 2010 indicated a non-keratinising, undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma of the left post-nasal space.
The doctor suggested radiation or chemotherapy. HG declined the treatment, believing that this is too invasive.
In February 2011, GH consulted another ENT in private practice. A nasal endoscopy was again performed. Again, nothing was found. A biopsy was again done. The result confirmed previous finding of an undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
HG was told by the oncologist that the nerves affected his eyes, hence the double vision. The treatment would take about one year and during this period he would not be able to work. HG was also told, “The chemo would be able to cure, but you may go blind. And if you don’t do chemo you also go blind.” HG asked himself, “What kind of a quality of life is that?”
HG was in a real dilemma when he came to see us on 22 July 2011. He wanted to try the herbs. HG was prescribed Capsule A, deTox tea, NPC 1 and NPC 2 teas, Brain Tea and Pain Tea. For his frequent urination he was given A-Kid-6 tea.
We reminded HG that we would not promise any cure at all. If after taking the teas for a few weeks and there was no positive indication, then HG should consider finding someone else or something else to help him.
We suggested that GH consult another doctor. He shook his head violently and said, NO!
CANCER STORY 
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