Lung Cancer: An Outstanding Survivor

This case study consists of four parts:

Part 1: Tragedy struck again and again.

Part 2: Experience with Iressa & Tarceva while on CA Care Therapy.

Part 3: Side effects of medical treatment and attitude of doctors.

Part 4: Can the e-Therapy help him?

After encountering disaster after disaster, Sujo had no choice but to turn to the “cancer doctor” in his hometown for help. Initially he was prescribed Iressa, which he took for 10 days and gave up due to the side effects. He then moved on to Tarceva.

Chris:  You stopped taking all those herbs and supplements after all the problems. What did you do after that?

Daughter: We went to see a “cancer doctor” (in Medan).

Patient: Iressa was not good for me. I bought 10 tablets.

D: The doctor recommended Iressa. We tried it but it was not suitable for him.

C: You took 10 tablets – for only 10 days?

P: After I took Iressa,  I developed itchy blisters on my back.

C: Then you stopped the Iressa and switched to Tarceva – the doctor gave them to you?

D:  He only gave the prescription.

C: Ten tablets and you paid 7 million plus rupiahs?

P: More than 7 million rupiahs.

C: After you switched to Tarceva, were you better off?

Wife:  He had less bad effects.

C: In addition you also took medication for the bone?

P: I took the pill for the bone for about a month.

D: Then the next month, we switched to injection for the bone. The injection was done once a month. So far he had received a total of 7 injections.  After the Tarceva he was able to get up again.

C: How long were you on Tarceva to be able to do that?

P: I bought 3 boxes of Tarceva – that is a supply for 3 months – each box for a month.

D: A box cost 16.5 million rupiahs.

P: The first month, I used up one box – taking one tablet a day. The second month, I only took 15 tablets for the month. The third month, I only took 10 tablets per month.

D: In addition to Tarceva, we still continued to take your herbs.

C: Oh, you still continue to take my herbs while on Tarceva.

D: Yes.

W: The fourth month, he took 10 tablets per month.

C:  You bought 3 boxes – have you finished taking all the tablets?

P: No,  I still have 5 more tablets to go!

C: Who asked you to reduce the dosage like that?

D: We do this by ourselves. I told my father about the possible bad effects.

C: While taking Tarceva like this, you said you still continued taking my hebs?

D & W: Yes, yes.

C: After taking Tarceva,  you were able to get up and also walk? What about the CEA?

P: It decreased.

W: The CEA dropped to 90 plus.

P: The CEA dropped to 97 from the previous 800 plus.

C: While you were doing this – did you encounter any problem?

P: No.

C: While you were taking Tarceva, did you feel you were getting better?

P: Yes.

W (nodding): Better.

D: While he was on Tarceva, he still took care of his diet.

C: When exactly did you feel you get back your life? You could walk, you could climb the stairs – when exactly did this happen?

D: About a month after taking Tarceva.  He was able to walk up the stairs again.

C: Only a month on Tarceva and he was well again?

D: Yes.

C: One month on Tarceva – that was when he was still on full dosage – one tablet per day. The next month you halved the dosage, that is taking only 15 tablets per month. What happened to you – okay?

P: I was okay.

C: When you took 10 tablets per month – what happened?

P: I was also okay. When I was on 5 tablets per month, I was also okay. Now, I am only on 5 tablets per month. I am still okay.

C: I am really amazed. What happen if you don’t take any tablet at all?

D (shaking head): We don’t know.

C: When you were on such low dosage, how did you feel?

P: Nothing – no problem.  My health was as usual – stable.

C: Your condition while on full dosage (30 tablets per month) until 5 tablets per month – you felt the same all the time?

P: Yes, all the same. No difference.

D: While my father was taking Tarceva, he still continued to take Dr. Chris’ herbs as usual.

C: I am really amazed. By right you would have problems with your lungs. But over the past two years plus you have no problems with your lungs! How could this be?

Comments

Again, I say, this is an amazing story of an amazing survivor.  Sujo had met disaster after disaster in trying to find his healing. He and his family did not give up – indeed they showed their determination of steel. They are not the kiasus and kiasi (afraid to loose and afraid to die) type.  Granted, life is learning through experience. We do make mistakes – the kiasus and kiasi want to be in control of everything all the time, wanting to ensure that things would work according to what they want. Unfortunately life does not work that way – particularly so when dealing with cancer. Nothing follows the way you want it to be. Each person takes on the cancer journey on his / her own accord and comes out with an experience unique to his / her own.

I am indeed humbled from Sujo’s experience and I have learnt some important lessons from him. Let me elaborate.

1. Gurdjieff was perhaps truly right when he said, The wise man is not educated, and the educated man is not wise. Sujo and his wife had probably not gone beyond high school in life yet they are wise in their ways. They have a lot of common sense that is much to be admired. They stretched things to the limit and if it was a mistake retreated! Many people are dumb – they keep on repeating the same mistake and expected different results!

2. They say desperate people do desperate things. Indeed Sujo was desperate after facing disaster after disaster. In the end he turned to a “cancer doctor” for help. That is a wise move.  He tried Iressa and found it did not work well for him. He switched to Tarceva. That is to be expected because that is about all that any cancer doctor could offer. But remember, Sujo did not forget to take our herbs even when he was doing something else. In our conversation, Sujo’s daughter kept reminding me that her father continued to take our herbs and took care of his diet.  He had been on our therapy for the past two years (since October 2010) and still had faith in what we do!  I wonder why they believe in us so much? Perhaps from their own experience, they felt our therapy did help them in some ways.

3. Take note that while taking Tarceva, Sujo was also taking our herbs. This is something most oncologists say, YOU MUST NOT do. Their command, No herbs while on chemotherapy, which according to Dr. Blaylock is based on ignorance and probably on arrogance too!  Fortunately, Sujo lives in Indonesia and I know from patients that some doctors in that country are more “open and tolerant “ to and sometimes even supportive of alternative therapies. In this case, Sujo had shown that taking herbs while on Tarceva is okay! NOTHING went  wrong and nothing to fear! So what is the fuss about? Some skeptics may say, One swallow does not make a summer. Let me tell you – there is also a similar case that happened in a hospital in Jakarta. He was also down with lung cancer and was in the hospital. He took herbs instead of doctor’s chemo. Then he took Iressa and came out very much alive like Sujo. That’s two swallows. And I have many more other swallows flying around!

4. Over the years, I have come across many cases of patients taking Iressa and Tarceva and they failed miserably. Read these stories:

Metastatic Lung Cancer: Meaningless Fall and Rise of CEA With Iressa and Tarceva

Lung Cancer: After One-and-half Years of Iressa, He Moved to Tarceva

Lung Cancer and the Side Effects of Iressa

Lung Cancer: The Meaningless Decrease and Increase of Tumour Markers After Chemotherapy

Meaningless Decline of CA 15.3 and Tumour Shrinkage Following Treatment With Iressa and Tarceva

When I first started CA Care I encouraged patients to follow what their oncologists want them to do. Go for surgery, chemo or radiotherapy! But with time, my world view of cancer treatment begun to change based on what my patients tell me, what I saw happened and what were written by medical doctors themselves.  I am not a fanatic and I don’t belong to any “Vested Interest” group. I shall call a spade a spade and my world views on cancer are “tuned” based on facts and observations that I have. Thus far, I must admit I am never an enthusiastic supporter of patients taking Iressa or Tarceva.  After all according to the medical literature these drugs do not cure lung cancer at all. Iressa was shown not to do anything much for cancer patients. Tarceva did a bit better – prolonging survival of lung cancer patients by 2.8 months. But the benefit of taking Iressa or Tarceva comes with a heavy toll. You have to endure the toxic side effects. Besides, for the ordinary man, the cost of the drug can make a hole in your pocket or bank account. They are not cheap!

However, over the past one year, I have encountered two case of lung cancer. One man took Iressa while taking herbs at the same time. He did extremely well. And now I see Sujo doing well after taking Tarceva while on our herbs. Must I now change my world view about these two drugs? Yes – of course.  Those of you who want to try your luck with Tarceva or Iressa , I say – Go ahead! But before you do that, please study this case carefully and learn from Sujo’s experience. Also I urge you to read another case which I presented in Chapter 11 Lung-Bone-Brain Cancer: When Doctor and Herbalist Collaborate Miracle Happens, of my book:

(Available at http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=56)

 5. Before I go to my next point, let me ask you to reflect on this quotation:

Many people are not interested to know why or to ask why – it’s a waste of time! Also asking why threatens the status quo! If you find the answer you have to change your worldview – i.e., if you are man enough! Most people don’t want to change! To most people if I don’t learn “this stuff” in school then it cannot be true. Anything out of the norm is just hogwash or snake oil. But a scientist worth his salt would want to dig deeper to know why. Why did Sujo NOT continue to take the full dose of Tarceva after knowing that the drug was helping him? Anyone would say it’s crazy to stop doing what you are doing when what you are doing is helping you. Why stop?  I asked Sujo – who asked you to reduce the Tarceva dosage? The daughter said they did it themselves without being told by anyone. That was taking a bold step indeed – or even taking a great risk!

I guess at the initial stage Sujo was desperate. He had no choice but to take Iressa and later Tarceva. But I believe he also knew from the very beginning that he was taking poison. So after a month, after the poison has done its job,  Sujo thought there was no reason to continue taking the poison much more! More does NOT mean better. So Sujo reduced the dosage into half, and gradually ended up taking only 5 tablets per month.  His 3-month supply of Tarceva was stretched to a year!

If you think Sujo is dumb or crazy, read what happened to these two patients.

1. As I am writing this article, there is a 42-year man from Kuala Lumpur who came to see me . He had lung cancer that had spread to the bone – just as bad a situation as Sujo. He took Iressa in November 2011. A month later, CT showed that the tumour and lymph nodes had reduced in size. He continued taking Iressa at full dosage. Three months later, March 2012, a CT scan showed the disease was stable. But in May 2012, CT scan showed disease progression – i.e., more tumours grew elsewhere and the lymph nodes grew bigger. More does not mean good or better!
2. Kathy is a 44-year-old Indonesian lady. She had a 4.39 x 4.67 x 4.54 cm tumour in her right lung. She took Iressa in December 2010. With Iressa the mass started to shrink until the size could not be measured. She continued taking Iressa at the same dosage for another seven months until August 2011 when her health deteriorated. The mass in the lung that had “apparently” disappeared grew back to twice its original size. Again, more poison did make the cancer would go away at all.

Perhaps Sujo was right! Brilliant idea indeed! I salute him!

No one in his wildest dream would ever do what Sujo did. But Sujo did it and he came out a winner and a survivor. Dare you say he is wrong? To me Sujo’s brilliant stroke of insight is like a spark that could light a fire to great discovery and rethinking for cancer treatment! Or is it? Given the world as it is today, this fire will be promptly extinguished. To the vested interests this suggestion is dumb. If lung cancer patients were to start doing what Sujo did, do you think the doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and drug companies like it?