Sometime in April 2012, a 79-old-man came to Penang to seek our help. Let’s refer to him as Peter, a successful professional well known in our Malaysian society.  He had cancer of the transverse colon that had spread extensively to his liver. These are his CT scan images.

Peter refused further medical treatment in spite of the seriousness of his illness. According to him: I would not be able to endure all these treatments. Presented with such a situation, what could I do?

There were two realities we must face in this case.

• One, there was a tumour in the rectum and this had not been removed. And as the scan showed, it was almost blocking the passage way. I pointed out to Peter, if the tumour grew bigger and block the passage of stools then he would be done. Peter understood the message. But he was told by his doctor that even if he was to go for an operation, his life could be prolonged by another three to four months only. Peter categorically told me he would not want to go through the hassle. Okay, this was my bargain with him. Take the herbs and change your diet and lifestyle and if the stools become smaller and smaller (meaning the passage way is blocked) then he has no choice but to go for surgery.  There is nothing much I can do to help if this happened.
• Problem number two is obviously more serious. The cancer had spread to his liver. I make it clear to Peter that no one on earth can cure liver cancer (for that matter any cancer!).

From my reading of medical literature, this is what you get:

1. The median survival time for patients with synchronous liver metastases was 4.5 months.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/000296108190057X
2. In a series of 156 patients operated on for colonic and rectal carcinoma, 38 were shown to have hepatic metastases. Twenty-four of them died within 6 months, 30 within 12 months, and all except one within 18 months. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1097-0142(196901)23:1%3C198::AID-CNCR2820230126%3E3.0.CO;2-J/abstract
3. Bower & Waxman (in Lecture Notes – Oncology, pg. 113) wrote: The median survival of patients who are not treated with curative intent is six to seven months. The median survival of patients in the Far East is much poorer, and the vast majority die within two to three months of diagnosis.

To all those reading this article, let me say this clearly:

• It would be a great mistake if you come to me hoping to find a cure for your cancer. I cannot offer you any magic bullet because I don’t have any. My experience over the past sixteen years tells me that those who come to CA Care for help are those with late stage cancer or those who have undergone all medical treatments. Let me say again, If you are seeking for a cure, please consider going somewhere else or find someone else who can promise you that!
• At CA Care we teach you how to cope and in the process heal yourself. In other words, we try to make your life more bearable and in the process many of our patients live much longer and free of problems – provided of course, they follow what we tell them to do.

Let me briefly outline what happened to Peter during the time that he was taking our herbs and following our therapy.

• We often get his phone calls. One time he asked if he could continue to enjoy his cigar after dinner. He said he had “sacrificed” enough forgoing all his favourite food when he was invited out for dinners. Then he wanted to know if he could still drink his wine since he had a good collection of wine at home. To that I remember saying, No – why don’t you have just give those wine to your friends. He answered, But you know each bottle cost a few thousand ringgit.
• Surprisingly,  Peter  was doing fine. Once he called me to say that according to his medical doctor-relative it was dangerous not to remove the tumour in his colon. The tumour would grow bigger and bigger and eventually  block the passage way. According to theory or textbook knowledge the tumour will grow if not removed but my experience shows that with herbs and change of diet, this does not necessarily happen! I have seen a similar case before.  I asked, But can you pass your stools? Are the stools getting smaller and smaller? He answered, No. Then I said, In that case the tumour has not grown in size yet. We can still wait – but of course you can go for surgery if you like. So we waited, from April to September. Six months had passed and Peter was alright – no problem of blockage.
• In early September, Peter came to Penang with a friend, requesting that I also help his friend too. Then Peter decided to buy the e-Therapy machine which had just arrived from the US.
• On 12 September I was down in Subang Jaya and Peter came to have lunch with us. Peter said: I am happy.  Actually I only need to spend less than a thousand ringgit a month for the herbs and all (note: much less than the cost of a bottle of his favourite wine!)  If I were to go for medical treatment it would have cost me a lot more.  Thus far Peter was doing just fine.
• But not long after this happy lunch together, I got a phone call from his brother.  I was told that Peter was not doing well. His stomach was bloated and he felt uneasy, had no strength, etc. Problem like this cropped up very often with cancer patients. Without asking further, I related a story of a similar colon-liver case in which the doctor told the patient he had only 6 months to live. This patient was on our therapy for almost 3 years and was well. After that, the day before one Chinese New Year – succumbing to the suggestions of friends and relatives – he decided to “celebrate” the CNY occasion by eating fried chicken. A few hours after his fateful meal, he suffered severe stomach pain and had to be rushed to the hospital. His stomach was bloated and he died soon afterwards.
• So without hesitation, I asked: What did your brother, ate the past few days?  I was told – pulut and salted fish. Well, was that all? I was not sure and I did ask further. After this my advice to Peter’s brother was:  There is nothing I can do now. We have to take it easy and see if the problem would go away. It is very difficult now.
• Not long afterwards Peter himself called. In his frail voice told me that he was not going to take our herbs anymore. These  herbs are not helping me anymore. I went for the blood test and the results showed the liver function were all high. I am now tired and have no strength. My friends invited me for dinner but I can’t accept their invitation anymore. I want to return the-Therapy machine and you pay me back half its original price.  Without hesitation, I replied: Yes, Datuk,  no problem! (One week after buying back this machine, one patient from Indonesia decided to buy it at that half-price! I am glad that I can help another patient in need through the generosity of Peter for wanting to sell off his useless machine.)
• I did not ask Peter what went wrong. He did not offer to explain what went wrong either. So I left it at that.
• One early morning of November 2012, I received an email from another patient informing me that Peter had passed away. In the evening of the same day, Peter’s brother called to convey the same sad news. This was what his brother told me: Please tell all your patients. Do not eat pulut and pulut kacau (all that sweet stuff laced with brown sugar). After my brother took that food, his stomach became bloated immediately after he went home. Surprising there was no problem about his colon being blocked. My response: Yes Datuk, for the past 16 years I have been shouting from the top of the mountain telling patients to take care of their diet!

Comments

There is no need for me to make further comments on this case. I only hope that some patients do learn from this story.

Let me share with you what I learn about life.

Over the years dealing with cancer patients, I have come to accept that we cannot help everyone. We can only help those who want to help themselves.  So there is no need to be upset if we fail once in a while. This thing happened most of the time. I often tell patients:  If you can eat, can sleep, can move around and have no pain – what else do you want? Learn to be grateful for what you are each day. Unfortunately not all patients have that virtue. Once they feel well, they demand to eat what they like! Unfortunately most patients have to pay a heavy penalty of this violation.

To me, the secret of happiness in life is to cultivate a sense of gratitude. Be grateful for what we are. Be thankful for what we have and what we are blessed with.  This virtue on its own breeds a sense of contentment and satisfaction in life. That is healing. We learn to live with the cancer but at the same time we live in peace with ourselves.