May 2012 – Page 2 – CANCER STORY

Tony was a 49-year old male. A CT scan of the abdomen done in November 2002 indicated mild dilatation of the biliary tree and pancreatic duct, likely due to a peri-ampullary neoplasm.

Tony went to Singapore and underwent an operation on 15 November 2002. A part of his stomach, duodenum, proximal jejunum, head of the pancreas and gall bladder were removed.

The histopathology report indicated moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma at the ampulla of Vater with ulceration of the duodenal papilla. After the surgery, the doctor told Tony that everything was removed clean. It was all clear. The operation was very successful. This made Tony very confident when he came home to Penang.

On 3 January 2003, Tony came to see us and was started on the herbs. On 14 January 2003, he went back to Singapore again for a review. A CT scan of the abdomen showed no evidence of local recurrence or metastases.

As a base line for monitoring his progress, I requested that Tony carried out blood tests regularly. The first test was done on 8 January 2003, five days after he first started to take the herbs and thereafter every three months. The results are as follows:

Parameter	8Jan03	10Mar03	6Jun03	2Nov03
ESR	40 H	40 H	30 H	49 H
RBC	4.5	4.7	4.2 L	4.2 L
Haemoglobin	12.5 L	13.0	13.4	12.9 L
Alk phosphate	97	107	106	186 H
AST	31	37	27	56 H
ALT	36	42	34	58 H
GGT	21	24	52 H	171 H
CA 19.9	3.1	1.8	1.0	417.4 H

The results for the first six months after taking herbs had been most encouraging. In fact we would say Tony’s condition improved with time. Then a bomb shell fell on 2 November 2003. Tony, his wife and sister-in-law came and presented the results of his blood test (see column 4) and wanted to know why everything suddenly had become bad. Can anybody explain that? I often tell cancer patients: I am not god and I do not know everything. Worse still, I cannot fix everything when things go wrong! You have to pay the penalty for what wrong you have done!

I drew the graph below on a piece of paper:

This was what I told Tony, point by point:

a) Engineers (and Tony was one of them) were taught that 2 + 2 = 4. Take x buckets of sand, y bucket of pebbles and z kilos of cement, they can make a building according to the engineer’s specification. Unfortunately, this thinking does not necessary work in biology – when you are dealing with the science of life. Good blood test result does mean cure. It does not mean there is no cancer!

b) Look at the graph. In January, March and June, the CA 19.9 was almost zero. But from June to November, the value had shot up to 417. Why? How could this happen? I asked Tony: Can you tell why? You are a professional. An educated man.

c) We all can agree that the graph does not tell a lie. Honestly, tell me, what you did differently in July, August, September and October? I did not know what you did, so I cannot guess. Tell me honestly what happened in those months.

Reluctantly, Tony told me that in August 2003, he moved his job position from Penang to Kuala Lumpur because he has just won a project. In January to July he lived in his home in Penang with his family. His wife took care of him and kept an eye on his diet. In August he had to live in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur and needless to say, he was living on hotel food. Although he did not tell me, I came to know that he also traveled to some countries in Europe on business trips. All this happened after August 2003. And in November – barely three months after that, we could see the damage done.

Many cancer patients told me that it takes about two to three months after their misbehaviourbefore they suffered serious relapse.

As much as we would like to help, there was nothing much that we could do for Tony. The last time I saw him was on 2 November 2003. Tony died in March 2004.

Comments: I am often faced such situations – patients coming to me and asked why their condition had deteriorated. My standard question is: What “sin” have you committed? Go back and think about what you had done – what you ate and what you did that you were not supposed to do – the answer is there. There is no need to pretend or try to play innocent.

For the record, let me tell you my impression about this patient.

This is a man who kept everything close to his chest. He would not tell you anything unless you pry it out of him. Even when he came for consultation with me, his favourite remark was:My doctor said there was no more cancer. He had taken it all out and I am now clean. Sadly, Tony was lulled and was living in a fool’s paradise.

The feeling I got after talking with him was that I did not expect him to keep to his diet. I don’t believe that he was totally committed to his healing. He wanted healing on his own terms.

Again, I say, we at CA Care are here to help you only. Your healing is yours to seek and achieve. To those who truly need our help, we say this: Live and don’t give up hope. There is a choice and there is an option. There is a hope. But if you want healing on your own terms and refuse to learn and change, then there is nothing much anyone can do to help you.

BH (S108) is a 65-year-old lady from Indonesia. An ultrasound of her pelvis showed her cervix was enlarged with a focal bulge over the posterior part. This bulge or mass measures about 23 x 12 mm.

A chest X-ray on 13 July 2011 showed no significant abnormality see in the lungs and heart.

A biopsy was performed on 14 July 2011 and confirmed malignant cells infiltrating deep into the cervical parenchyma. BH was referred to a cancer hospital for further management.

A CT scan was done on 18 July 2011. It showed a bulky uterine cervix measuring 4.9 x 3.7 cm with a hypodense lesion seen within. This is in keeping with carcinoma of the cervix. No metastatic disease is evident in the abdomen.

BH underwent radiotherapy. She was told that there was a eighty-nine percent chance that she would be cured. BH had 25 sessions of external beam radiation and 3 sessions of brachytherapy (i.e. internal radiation). In addition BH received 2 cycles of chemotherapy. All treatments were completed by 12 October 2011.

BH said she was well after the treatment. She came back for a check up on 25 November 2011 and was told everything was alright. She “believed” she was cured.

However, barely four months later, 15 February 2012, a CT scan showed:

Uterine cervix was unremarkable.
Presence of retrocrural, hilar and mediastinal adenopathy in keeping with nodal disease.
Collapse of her right upper lung, with a heterogeneous ill-defined mass lesion at the right pulmonary hilum approximately 4.6 cm, compressing the ascending bronchus and pulmonary artery.
A 2.4 cm, irregular soft tissue lesion present in the superior lingual left lung, likely indicating metastasis.

BH was asked to undergo more chemotherapy – 6 cycles and in addition 5 sessions of radiotherapy. She declined further medical treatment. She came to seek our help on 17 February 2012.

Did you ask if this additional treatment is going to cure you?

No guarantee to cure but the treatment might shrink the tumour.

In July 2011, when you had your first treatment – radiotherapy and chemotherapy – did you ask if the treatment could cure you?

For the first treatment, the doctor said there was 89 percent chance of cure. And she was “cured” after the treatment.

How could you say she was cured when barely four months later the cancer had spread to her lungs?

But the doctor said she was well after the first treatment!

It was not a cure! My aunty’s cervical cancer recurred in her lungs 13 years after an apparent “successful” treatment.

Did you suffer from your first chemo treatment?

It was difficult. My head was pounding (bursting), my vision was blurred, I vomited (the night after the chemo). I don’t want any more chemo.

Comments

Many patients went to see their oncologists and were given impressive statistics of success. Patients felt reassured (never mind if the promise did not turn out to be true). In this case BH was told that she had eighty-nine percent chance of cure after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But the reality was, barely four months later the cancer struck back and went to her lungs.
Do you ever wonder why the cancer had spread so fast? Before the treatment in July 2011 her lungs were clear – no sign of cancer at all. The message is simple – in cancer, nothing is certain. The only thing that is the uncertainty of the nature of cancer. It is unpredictable and anyone who promises you something good may not be able to keep that promise.
When someone tells you — Your have 89 percent chance of cure – Do you really understand what he means? In this video the patient and his family believed that she was cured. She was alright for four months. Surely being well for four months does not mean cure at all.
This case reminded me of another case of a lady from Kuantan. She came to CA Care on behalf of her 88-year old mother who had inoperable colon cancer (meaning the tumour was still in her colon). Her mother took herbs for just a month. Her CEA decreased from 19.9 to 17.3, CA 125 decreased from 37.4 to 20.9 but her CA 19.9 increased from 51.6 to 313.5. The daughter, (a bank manager) wrote: I just trusted the wrong DR quack. Another relative (brother?) wrote: How irresponsible a “doctor” you claimed to be. When patients come to CA Care we never promise anyone a cure at all – what if we were to say you have 89 percent chance of cure? What would you call such a person then?