April 2014 – CANCER STORY

Lung Cancer: Given Honest Answers Patient May Run Away from Chemotherapy

SS (E345) is a 55-yer-old lady. Her problem started around October 2013 when she started to have coughs with a bit of phlegm. There was no blood. She consulted a GP who gave medication but the problem persisted on and off. At last she requested her GP to do an X-ray of her chest. There was “something” in her lung. SS was referred to a hospital in her hometown for a CT scan.

CT scan done on 18 October 2013 showed a lobulated mass at the right hilar region. It measures 2.9 x 3.2 cm. SS was asked to consult a lung expert in a private hospital in Penang.

Bronchoscopy and Surgery Failed

SS did a bronchoscopy. In this procedure the doctor inserts a bronchoscope into the nose or mouth. This allows him to view the inside of the airways and lungs. Unfortunately for SS, the bronchoscope could not penetrate the passageway deep enough and the doctor saw nothing! Fluid taken from the lung during the procedure did not show presence of malignant cells.

The doctor suggested a better option would be to do an open surgery. SS agreed but she was asked to do a PET scan first. The PET scan results on 30 October 2013 showed:

No intracranial lesion is seen.
Few small 5- 7 mildly active hypodense lymph nodes are seen in the right and left side of the neck.
A 42 mm metabolic active mass is seen in the middle of the right lung. Multiple smaller 2-7 mm nodules are seen in the rest of the right lung.
Few metabolic active lymph nodes measuring 14-26 mm are seen in the right para-trachea, subcarinal and right hilar region of the mediastinum are noted.

Based on the PET scan results the doctor was optimistic that surgery would provide good “success.” SS proceed with the surgery as recommended by the doctor. Unfortunately it was an open-close job – failed. The doctor took some tissue samples for biopsy.

The result of the biopsy indicated:

right pleural node biopsy: no malignancy seen.
right lower lobe biopsy: well differentiated adenocarcinoma.
right medial lobe: metastatic adenocarcinoma.
right paratracheal node: metastatic adenocarcinoma.

The tissue is positive for EGFR (meaning oral drugs such Iressa or Tarceva is indicated).

Consultation with Oncologist

SS was referred to the in-house oncologist for further management. The following are excerpts of our conversation.

Daughter: The oncologist said it is better to take oral medication than undergoing chemotherapy (infusion). Chemo has more bad side effects. My mother can take either Iressa or Tarceva.

Chris: Did you take the drug?

D: No. I asked the oncologist the following questions:

a) Are there side effects of the oral drug. His answer: Yes, patients may become itchy and have pimples or sores.

b) Can the oral drug cure my mother? His answer: Cannot cure. It is just to control.

c) Control for how long? His answer: It all depends on the patients.

d) From your experience, how long does the control last? His answer: For some patients the control lasted for one year. After one year, the drug was not effective anymore. But for some other patients the control lasted for 2 years before becoming ineffective.

e) After Iressa becomes ineffective, what do we do next? His answer: Go for chemotherapy (injection).

D: The cost of Iressa is more than RM 200 per tablet. It comes to about RM 8,000 per month. Why take it when it is not going to be effective?

C: After 1 or 2 years on the drug, you will then have to go for chemo. Did you ask if chemo is going to cure your mother?

D: No, chemo cannot cure her. Each chemo costs about RM 2,000 per cycle. Later cycles would cost more – RM4,000 to RM5,000. She needs to do 4 to 6 cycles first and then we will see what happen after that.

Reluctant Q & A Session at RM 100

C: When you ask such questions, did you see if the oncologist was happy to answer you?

D: He seemed very reluctant and uneasy. Appeared like he had the answer and he did not have the answer. Also appeared like wanting to answer and not wanting to answer.

C: How long was your consultation?

D: About an hour and his consultation cost RM 100.

C: Wow, that’s great! One hour! I am indeed very surprised that he gave you so much time. You as patient, need to ask and ask the doctor such questions before undergoing any treatment. Be empowered and don’t be dumb. Now, go home and read this comic book::

(See https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2014/04/14/info-about-lung-cancer-ignorance-kills/)

I have written many books but many people find reading difficult. Some people don’t want to read. Now, I make comic books instead so that you don’t have to read too much. You can finish reading this book within an hour. So go home and read this. Learn from the stories of these people. Be empowered – be smart. Example, if you take Iressa and this cost you RM 8,000 per month. So, for a year, that would come to about RM 90,000. But can it cure you? No! In addition you have to suffer from itchiness, etc.

Opted for Chemo at Government Hospital

C: Your head – bald? Why?

D: She had chemo at the government hospital in January 2014. She completed 4 cycles – each cycle at 3 weeks interval.

C: Did you suffer?

Patient: Not very bad. I was constipated. My head and some parts of my body became itchy.

C: Did you have to pay for the chemo?

D: Yes, RM 50 per cycle. They used Gemcitabine (Gemzar) + Cisplatin. After the fourth cycle, the CT scan showed stable result.

C: Okay, at least you did it at the GH and did not have to pay so much. If you were to do it at a private hospital, it could cost you anywhere from RM 4,000 to RM5,000 per cycle. (Note: For comparison, a patient from Indonesia has 12 cycles of chemo (same drugs – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin) in a private hospital in Singapore. The total bill came to RM 0.5 million. And the treatment also failed. See: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2014/04/24/two-billion-rupiah-chemo-and-surgery-failed-oncologist-said-more-chemo-you-just-have-to-trust-me/ ).

Do more chemo, and more chemo – until you die?

Patient: The tumour did not grow bigger. It did not get small either.

D: The doctor said my mother had to take Iressa or Tarceva as a follow up. I again asked how long must my mother need to be on this oral drug. The answer: It all depends on the patient. When Iressa becomes ineffective, she will go for chemo again. So we decided not to take the drug.

C: It seems that you are going round and round the same road.

D: You do the chemo. Then you take oral medication. Then go for chemo again. Then take oral drug again.

C: Did you ask when can you stop the treatment?

D: No, no idea.

C: Oh, see how long can you stand the treatment? Then until you die?

D: Exactly.

C: So they are being honest with you. You need to know that there is no cure for lung cancer – even with chemo!

Take Home Lessons From This Case

1. There is no cure of lung cancer. The oncologist acknowledged that.

2. But of course, there is treatment (provided you have the money to pay for it, or are willing to endure the side effects).

3. According to the oncologist, take oral drug – Iressa or Tarceva. You will suffer less side effects.

4. Iressa or Tarceva does not cure. It may cost you RM 8,000 per month. And it may be effective for one or 2 years only.

5. When you have reached the dead end with oral drug, go for i/v (injection) chemo which also cannot cure.

6. Then, if you are still alive and still have the money to spend, go for oral drug again.

Have plenty of money to splurge?

You have an option to go to Singapore — go to the best and the famous. There they may also give the same stuff, chemo with Gemcitabine (Gamzar) + Cisplatin. That seems to be the gold standard.

A patient from Indonesia paid about RM 500,000 (half a million ringgit!) for 12 cycles of that stuff. Result: miserable failure. https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2014/04/24/two-billion-rupiah-chemo-and-surgery-failed-patient-said-ill-die-not-because-of-my-cancer-its-because-of-the-chemo/

Another Indonesian, was treated with one oral drug after another interspersed with chemo, over a period of about 3 years. He spent about half a million ringgit as well. Result: just the same failure and the cancer got worse. https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2013/11/29/lung-cancer-chemo-experiments-that-failed-and-failed/

Yet another Indonesia had chemo after chemo and spent about one million Singapore dollars and he died after about 2 years of treatment.

I have learned something interesting from this case study. If you wish to try your luck with chemotherapy but do not have the money to splurge, you still have a chance! Go to the (Malaysian) government hospital. This patient (SS) paid only RM 50 for a cycle of chemo with Gemcitabine + Cisplatin. For 4 cycles she only paid RM 200 — compared to half a million ringgit in Singapore! After all they use the same toxic drugs anyway! And the result is just the same, FAILURE – wherever you go!

If you want to opt for less hefty medical bills, then go local. Only that you don’t get to become the patient of the best and the famous. The husband of one lung cancer told me he spent about RM 300,000 over 2 years on his wife’s treatment. HIs wife took Iressa and had chemo after chemo. She died just after her husband came to see us.

Two Billion Rupiah, Chemo And Surgery Failed: Patient said, ” I’ll die not because of my cancer. It’s because of the chemo.”

Part 1: Two Billion Rupiah, Chemo And Surgery Failed:. Oncologist said, “More chemo, you just have to trust me!”

Chris: After 12 cycles of chemo had failed the oncologist said you have to keep on trusting him and you were asked to go for more chemo, and you spent 1.5 billion rupiah. What happened after that?

Son: My father nearly died. He could not eat. His body weight was down to 55 kg from 75 kg.

C: Before the chemo, how was his condition?

He was normal but now everything is not right with him. And these are his problems.

1. Both hands and legs – pins and needles / tingling. Very severe and is the main concern.

2. Legs – weak, no strength.

3. Can’t walk far – becomes breathless.

4. Sudden hot and cold – fevers.

5. Headaches.

6. Gastric problems and bloated stomach.

7. Feels heaty inside.

8. No appetite.

C: After the 12 cycles of chemo, did you go for more chemo (as advised by the oncologist)?

No, no more chemo.

C: Did you go and see another doctor?

No. My father said, “I’ll die not because of my cancer. It’s because of the chemo.”

Two Billion Rupiah, Chemo And Surgery Failed. Oncologist said, “More chemo, you just have to trust me!”

Part 2: Two Billion Rupiah, Chemo And Surgery Failed: Patient said, ” I’ll die not because of my cancer. It is because of the chemo.”

This is an e-mail I received from Alex.

Selamat malam Dr Chris: Saya Alex dari Jakarta. Saya mau minta tolong Dr Chris untuk mengobati papa saya yang kena kanker paru dan setelah kemo dan operasi, kanker tersebut malah tumbuh di liver dan limpa. Saya rencana besok hari minggu, 20 April 2014 berangkat dari Jakarta ke Penang untuk konsultasi dengan Dr Chris … Saya mohon Dr Chris mengobati papa saya. Terima kasih banyak Dr Chris. Salam.

(Good evening Dr. Chris. I’m Alex from Jakarta. I wish to ask Dr. Chris to help treat my father who had lung cancer. After chemo and operation, the cancer spread to his liver and lymph. I plan to fly from Jakarta to Penang for consultation on 20 April 2014. I request Dr. Chris treat my father. Thank you.)

The next day, Alex came to our centre in Penang and related the tragic story of his father’s cancer treatment in Singapore.

Before that, I asked him, “Who asked you to come here?” Apparently after 2 years of treatment and spending about 2 billion rupiah (RM 600,000?) Alex’s father ended up with more cancer and suffered badly form the side effects of the treatment. Desperate and lost,someone in Sydney told Alex about a Chris Teo in Penang. He immediately googled “Cris Teo Penang” and found CA Care. He then bought a plane ticket and flew here the next day!

Indeed it is dramatic but this showed us his concern for his father’s health. Alex came with almost a bagful (his luggage) of medical reports and PET scans. This is his story (all in italic).

I come for my father, he is 62 years old. Yes, I bring all the medical reports and PET scans.

The problem started in March 2012. He went for a routine check up for his heart in Singapore. The CT scan showed a mass in his lung. PET scan was done followed by a biopsy. It was cancer. The tumour was about 3 cm and it had already spread to the lymph nodes.

CT scan report dated 21 March 2012: Presence of a 3.9 cm spiculated soft tissue density mass in the right lower lobe. A 0.9 cm right hilar lymph node is noted. The liver is normal with no focal nodules.

PET scan report dated: 18 April 1012: Bronchogenic malignancy, 3.5 x 2.6 cm. FDG avid right infra-hilar adenopathy.

The doctor suggested surgery but my father declined. However, he agreed to undergo chemotherapy. This was started in May 2012. He received a total of 12 cycles. Each cycle consisted of 2 injections. Each cycle started with an injection on day 1 and day 7. Rest for 14 days and then started with the next cycle.

Chris: Did you know what drugs they used on him?

??? Not sure! (later, the son found out that his father was given: Chemo drugs: Gemzar and Cisplain. Others: Zometa for the bone, Eprex (epoetin A) and Gran – blood boosters).

C: Why did you want to do chemo? Don’t you know that chemo is not good?

We didn’t know that. The only thing I know was that the effects were bad. But the oncologist told us: “If you were a member of my family, I would also ask you to do chemo.”

C: Did you fully believe what he told you?

Yes. But with time I learned from the internet chemo does not cure!

C: Did you ever ask the doctor if chemo is going to cure?

Yes, I did ask him. The oncologist said, ” We need to try first. There would be 30 percent chance of cure, the remaining 70 percent cannot be cured!

C: Which means that you only have a 30 percent chance of success and he asked you to try? Is that reasonable?

After 3 cycles of chemo, the oncologist said my father belonged to the 30 percent success group – can be cured!

Study the above. The initial reaction to chemotherapy was significant shrinkage of tumour (but if you know enough this is just an illusion. It may not last – meaningless)

PET scan report on 13 February 2013: Reduction in uptake and size of the mass in the lower lobe of the right lung. Prior size 2.3 x 1.6 cm to 3.8 x 2.6 cm.

C: So you continued with the chemo?

Yes, until 12 cycles. But there was no cure.

C: Did you ask the doctor why earlier on he said you belonged to the 30 percent can-cure group but now he had failed to cure your father? What was his reaction to that?

He said, “You just need to trust me.”

So he asked you to trust him – what does that mean and what could this lead to?

He said, “Do more chemo.”

By then, did you still trust him?

(Shaking his hands negatively).

C: Only after 12 cycles of chemo – only then you realised that you could not trust him anymore? And did you continue with more chemo?

Study the above and you will note that more chemo does not make any difference now!

PET scan report on 8 October 2013: The previously noted hypermetabolic right lower lobe pulmonary mass appears to be larger. Current size 6.5x 4.2 cm versus prior size of 5.2 x 3.6 cm. There is interval development of a subcentimeter mildly FDG avid lymph node posterior and inferior to the right main bronchus.

From April 2013 (i.e. one year after diagnosis) until October 2013, my father did not receive any treatment. On 9 October 2013, he underwent an operation to remove the tumour in his lung. After the surgery he was not on any medication. On 14 April 2014, my father did a PET scan and there was no recurrence in his lung, but PET scan showed the cancer had spread to his liver and lymph nodes.

PET scan report 14 April 2014: Multiple FDG avid lesions in the liver – segments 7 and 8 (size of 6.5 x 3.6 cm); segment 2 (3.0 x 2.4 cm) and segment 5/6 (2.5 x 4.3 cm). No suspicious hypermetabolic pulmonay nodules are detected. Multiple FDG avid lymph nodes in the abdomen – peri-portal regions (size of 2.2 x 2.8 cm); retrocaval (1.8cm) and aorto-caval regioin (1.8 cm).

The doctor asked my father to undergo chemotherapy again or take oral chemo drug. My father refused to do both.

Total Cost of Treatment

The chemo treatment came to about 1.5 billion rupiah (approximately RM 0.5 million). The surgery cost an additional 0.4 plus billion rupiah. So the total cost of 2 years of treatment in Singapore came to about 2 billion rupiah.

Comments

Is this story unique? Not at all. It happened most of the time with lung cancer patients. Story 5 in our book, Lung Cancer – What Now? tells of a lung cancer patient who underwent similar treatment by the same doctor! The family spent 8 billion rupiah (approximately SGD 1 million). The result: The same, disastrous ending. He died soon after coming to see us.

Over the years dealing with patients, I began to see a very clear pattern emerging in the medical treatment for lung cancer. If you wish to know more, just read the following and learn to become an empowered patient. Perhaps you don’t have to die suffering and at the same time leave a “big hole” in your bank account.

Available: http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=75

(Available http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=73)

DEATH OF A FIRST LADY: JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS

Review by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, just like the late Senator Hubert Humphrey, also died a painful death in May 1994. Jacqueline Kennedy was the wife of the late President John Kennedy, the 35^th President of the USA from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963. Jacqueline subsequently married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968 and was later known as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

Mrs. Onassis was healthy until early December1993, when she noticed a swelling in her right groin. A doctor diagnosed a swollen lymph node, and suspecting an infection, prescribed antibiotics. The swelling diminished but did not completely disappear. While on a boat cruise in the Caribbean over the Christmas holidays in 1993, Mrs. Onassis developed a cough and swollen lymph nodes in her neck and pain in her abdomen.

Subsequently another doctor found enlarged lymph nodes in her neck and in her armpit. A CAT scan, showed that there were swollen lymph nodes in her chest and in an area deep in the abdomen, the retroperitoneal area.A biopsy of one of the neck nodes showed that Mrs. Onassis had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL).

In early January1994, Mrs. Onassis began receiving the first of four standard courses of chemotherapy for the lymphoma. The therapy included steroid drugs, and the initial treatment led to an apparent remission. But in mid-March 1994, she developed weakness, became confused and had pains in her legs. A neurological examination indicated that the cerebellum portion of her brain had been affected. Later, an M.R.I. showed that the lymphoma had disappeared from her neck, chest and abdomen but that it had spread to the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.

After the cancer was found in her brain, Mrs. Onassis received radiation therapy there and to her lower spinal cord for about a month. The treatment relieved her weakness, but she continued to experience pain in her neck, for which she was given pain medications. During this time she received her care at home and as a hospital out-patient.

On April 14, Mrs. Onassis was admitted to New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center after she developed a perforated ulcer in her stomach, a complication of the steroid therapy. Surgeons sewed up the hole in the stomach that day.

However the cancer in her spinal cord and brain continued to worsen. Although a tube was placed in her brain to deliver an anti-cancer drug, a sophisticated but now standard form of therapy for this condition, the lymphoma in her brain did not respond to any therapy. During this period, she lost weight, her speech slowed; she was less alert and had difficulty walking.

A subsequent CAT scan showed that the lymphoma was in her liver in huge amounts.Doctors said there was nothing else medicine could offer. After consultation with her family and in keeping with the intent of her living will, Mrs. Onassis asked to go home from the hospital.

The above was reported in the New York Times of May 20 1994 (read article at following link http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/20/us/death-of-a-first-lady-no-more-could-be-done-mrs-onassis-was-told.html).

Harvey Diamond, in his best seller FIT FOR LIFE, A NEW BEGINNING, was more explicit in his description of Mrs. Onassis’s battle with lymphoma…the following are excerpts from the book:

…..she was bombarded with drugs. Lots of powerful, virulent, energy-sapping, life-diminishing drugs. The New York Times stated that she “initially responded to therapy, but it (cancer) came back in her brain and spread through her body”

For the unrelenting pain in her neck, Mrs. Onassis received more drugs. For the acute pneumonia she developed in her weakened state, she received more drugs. Steroids were part of the mixture in her chemotherapy, which caused a perforated ulcer in her stomach. In the middle of her ordeal, she had to be operated on to sew up the hole in her stomach. She went from bad to worse, and as a final assault on her body, she was subjected to even more radiation and chemotherapy, only this time it was shot directly into her brain. The cancer spread to her spinal cord, her liver, and throughout her body. She became weak and disoriented, lost weight, developed shaking chills, her speech slowed, and she had difficulty walking.

A POINT TO PONDER

Mrs. Onassis was diagnosed with NHL in January 1994 and she passed away on May 19 1994…just barely 5 months after diagnosis/treatments. Why did she have to die such a painful death? Did the scientifically tested, proven and evidence-based cancer treatments caused the cancer to spread? Or was the NHL too aggressive?

We leave it to you to be the judge.

Breast Cancer: Surgery, Chemo, Tamoxifen and Xeloda failed her!

DK (S-542) is a 63-year old lady from Sumatera Selatan. She found a lump in her right breast. She ignored it for about 3 to 4 years since it did not give her any problem. In July 2008, she started to have pain and the lump grew bigger.

Two years later, in November 2010, DK went to a hospital in Melaka (Malaysia). She was asked to undergo an operation. She was afraid and went home instead. Then she sought alternative treatment. She went to Central Java and sought the help of a herbalist who gave her herbs to apply and also “massaged” her. The treatment expelled pus and blood from her breast. For the first 6 months, the treatment seemed to help DK.

Since she felt well, DK went to China for a holiday. While in China, she suffered severe pain and her condition deteriorated. On her return to Indonesia she was admitted to a hospital in Jambi. CT and biopsy were performed. DK subsequently underwent 7 cycles of chemotherapy, followed by a mastectomy. After surgery, DK was put on Tamoxifen and Xeloda. She was on these two drugs for about 7 to 8 months. After 2 months on the drug, her right arm became swollen and a big blister developed (Picture A). She had difficulty bending her fingers (Picture B).

DK stopped taking Tamoxifen and Xeloda. She went back to see her doctor again in February 2014. The doctor prescribed painkiller. By this time there was also a swelling in her neck (Picture C). The doctor told her there was nothing he could do to help her. Desperate, DK’s son found us in the internet. On 7 March 2014, DK, her husband and son came to seek our help.

DK was prescribed Capsule A, C and D. In addition she was asked to drink herbal teas: Breast M, Lympho 1, Upper Edema and Pain Tea.

One Month On The Herbs

DK’s son came to report his mother’s progress on 9 April 2014.

1. DK did not seem to have any reaction after taking the herbs for the first 3 days.

2. On day 4 after taking the herbs, DK had severe pain in her right arm. The pain lasted untill 1 or 2 a.m. Her right leg felt sore and numb.

3. She passed out black stools with a lot of mucus. After that she passed out stools with oily discharge.

4. One week on the herbs, the pains in her right arm became less, soreness in her right leg also lessened.

5. Before the herbs, DK was on morphine, 2 tablets per day. After a week on the herbs, she did not need morphine anymore.

6. Two weeks on the Upper Edema tea, the swelling of her right arm improved. It became smaller and soft (previously hard). But after stopping the Upper Edema tea, the swelling came back.

7. DK was able to sleep well throughout the night. Previously she could sleep for only about 2 hours each night.

8. Her appetite had improved and she could eat rice.

9. She had more energy.

Comments: There are many lessons we can learn from DK’s bitter experience.

1. Ladies, if you have a lump in your breast. it is prudent for you to go and get an ultrasound done and determine if the lump is benign or malignant. If it is malignant, it makes no sense to keep it in your breast. Don’t be fooled by those who want you to believe that their “treatment” can cure you. I have heard of the Kiss Therapy, Leech Therapy, etc. which did not work. There is no reason for you to delay removal of the cancerous breast. The longer you wait the more problems you are going to create for yourself later on. Like in DK’s case, she delayed and delayed but ended up having to remove her breast anyway. By that time it was too late.

2. If you go and see your doctors with a large lump in your breast, the first thing they would want to do is chemo you! DK had to endure 7 cycles of chemo before a mastectomy was performed. If she was to go and see the doctor earlier she would not need to do the chemo at all – proceed straight to lumpectomy or mastectomy.

3. After the mastectomy, DK was put on Tamoxifen and Xeloda and she was on these drugs for about 7 to 8 months. This is something that blew my mind off. Why Xeloda? Why Tamoxifen? Can someone not learn from simple observation? Learn from DK’s experience (and many others like her) that these drugs have never been shown to cure cancer! In DK’s case, things got worse, not better.

4. When DK went back to her doctor for more help, she was only given Morphine tablets, nothing else. The doctor told her son, “There is nothing else I can do to help your mother!” At least the doctor was being honest. Perhaps other doctors would suggest, “Do more chemo!” But the question to ask is: Can more chemo cure this metastatic cancer? Before Amy Cohen Soscia died, she left this remark for the world to learn, “There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer. It never goes away. You just move from treatment to treatment.”

5. As usually, at this “terminal stage” when there is nowhere else to go, patients come to seek our help. In spite of this dire situation, some expect us to cure them — see how absurd or illogical it is! But some patients come hoping that we can help them attain a better quality life with no pain. Yes, this is more realistic and as in DK’s case (and numerous other cases like hers) we are able to help. So even if your doctors give up on you (like DK), know that there is still another option for you to get well. So don’t give up. That is, if you are prepared to help yourself.

6. Unfortunately, not all patients who come to us want to help themselves. They expect healing to come easy! Or they want healing on their own terms. Many just want to sit in the comfort of their home and expect us to “deliver healing via e-mail.”

Let me point out to you what DK and her family had to go through to come to us. They live in a town that takes 7 hours to drive to Jambi. From Jambi they have to take a plane to Jakarta and from Jakarta they have to fly to Penang. In all, the one way journey from home to Penang takes 2 days!

We often have requests to have phone consultation because patients live “far away and cannot come.” When we ask from where? Ah, the answer is BM, Taiping or Ipoh (just one or two hours ride across the Penang bridge) or even Singapore (one hour and a half by plane). For those who what to find easy healing, our advice is to find someone near your home to help you. It is more convenient for you.

7. Following our healing path is not like going for a honeymoon trip. First, you must take full responsibility for your health. Change your lifestyle. Change your diet. You need to brew the teas and drink the bitter concoctions ( Some people ask, why not have them in capsules?). Probably for a week or two after taking the herbs, you have to go through a “healing crisis.” You may have more pain, more discomforts, etc. After this healing crisis you will probably feel better, as in the case of DK and many others like her. To learn more about healing crisis, click this link: http://www.cacare.com/healing-crisis

8. Most patients who come to us often claim that they are ignorant — “I don’t know.” “We panic, we are confused and don’t know what to do.” “They never tell me all these things.”

In order to educate patients, I have written another book on breast cancer (below):

(Available at http://www.BookOnCancer.com)

This book provides you with all the essential information that you need to know and tell you exactly what to do if you have a lump in your breast, etc. etc. Pleading ignorance is no excuse. You have a choice. And your life is in your hands. Do what is right.

Kidney-Lung Cancer: Urinated out worm and blood clot. Then coughed out worm!

LKF (E324) is a 32-year-old male. Sometime in June 2013, he passed out blood in his urine. USG of the abdomen showed a large right renal mass suspicious of renal cell carcinoma. He was asked to go for CT scan but decline due to financial constraint. In early 2014, he started to cough, sometimes with blood stain sputum. He had shortness of breath, chest pain and hoarse voice. LKF was referred to the respiratory unit of the general hospital. CT showed metastatic lung cancer, the primary was probably from the kidney. Because of right pleural effusion, pleural tapping was done. Bronchoscopy and biopsy were performed and confirmed cancer. LKF was subsequently referred to the oncology and urology units for further management. He was told that he might have to undergo chemotherapy (expensive drug which he could not afford) and later an operation to remove his cancerous, right kidney.

I explained to LKF and his sisters that this is a Stage 4 cancer and I would try to best to help, but don’t expect magic from us. LKF was prescribed herbs: Capsule A, C and D and herbal teas: Kidney, Lung 1 & 2, Lung Phlegm, deTOX + WF.

ONE WEEK ON HERBS

After one week on the herbs, LKF and his sisters came back to see us again and reported a real unique and strange response to the herbs. 1. After 3 days on the herbs, LKF passed out a worm or parasite when he urinated. It was about 8 inches long and the thickness about the size of the index finger. At first only the “head” protruded out and he had to pull it out through the urethra. It was rubbery. Unfortunately, he threw away the specimen. I reminded him if this happened again, he should keep the specimen and let me have a look at it. 2. LKF also passed out blood clots once a while when urinating. The blood clot discharged was jelly-like and came out in big pieces. This actually blocked his urine flow. When he felt his bladder was truly full he tried to push out his urine and with that the clot was also pushed out. This is the jelly-like blood clot he expelled while urinating.

TWO WEEKS ON HERBS

LKF and his sisters came to see us again on 4 April 2014. 1. He have been coughing for about 3 days. Suddenly he coughed out a “worm.” This time it was from the lung not from the urinary bladder. 2. After he expelled this worm, he felt better – more alert and had more energy. 3. During these two weeks, he did not expel any more worm while urinating but he did pass out blood clots once a while when he urinated. This time, LKF brought along the specimens for us to see. The “worm” expelled after coughing (above) is much smaller than the one he expelled while urinating last week.

Comments:

This is indeed a strange incident. Although I have read that parasites could cause cancer, I have never come across such case before. That led me to browse through the internet for more information. And let me share with you what I learned.

1. It is true that we harbour parasites in us. Time to deworm ourself once a while?

2. Trematodes are known to be able to cause cancer. Example of liver flukes, Opisthorchis are said to dramatically increase risk of liver cancer, schistosoma dramatically increase risk of bladder cancer and male breast cancer.

3. About 200 million people across 75 of the poorest countries in the world are now infected by the blood parasite Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium). The worms enter the blood stream and release eggs that become embedded in the bladder wall where they cause chronic inflammation and, in some patients, lead to bladder cancer. The adult worm can also migrate to its preferred body part, depending on its species. These areas include the bladder, rectum, intestines, liver, portal venous system (the veins that carry blood from the intestines to liver), spleen, and lungs. It is common in many tropical and subtropical areas worldwide.

4. These parasites can cause various complications such as: Bladder cancer, Chronic kidney failure, Chronic liver damage and an enlarged spleen, colon (large intestine) inflammation with bloody diarrhea, Kidney and bladder obstruction, Pulmonary hypertension, and Right-sided heart failure.

Information about Cancer: Don’t Panic!

If you or your loved ones happened to have cancer, there is no need to panic. Take time to learn by reading from different sources. There is NO right or WRONG way to handle cancer. It is only your way.

So without knowledge or information, how can you handle this situation? Read, Ask, Think and Reflect and Make Your Choice using your COMMON SENSE.

At the end of it all, it is you and you alone who pay for the consequences of your own choice.

We have written 3 comics to help you understand the “Cancer Game.”

Available: http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=76

Available: http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=78

http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=79

Info about lung cancer: Ignorance Kills

Most people come to us after all medical treatments have failed them. They often say: “I don’t know”, “They never tell me about all these”, etc. etc.

Pleading ignorance is no use. Your life is in your hands and you have a choice. The problem is, many people choose to be ignorant!

If you have lung cancer, there are two comic books that may help you – i.e. if you want to learn and know more!

Available: http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=75

Available: http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=73

BOOK REVIEW: WHEN HEALING BECOMES A CRIME

by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari

Yes, in America, healing is a crime when you do not use the “FDA approved, scientifically tested, and evidence-based” modalities like surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy as far as cancer treatment is concerned.

This book by Kenny Ausubel, an award winning author, investigative journalist, and filmmaker documented the horrendous, undemocratic, high-handed way the American Medical Association (AMA), the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), hounded Harry Hoxsey and the Hoxsey Clinics from 1924 until he was driven to Mexico in 1963. Hoxsey survived decades of being “hunted like a wild beast” only to see his clinics padlocked without a scientific test.

The author decided to spend 20 years of the prime of his life researching a story that everyone needs to know. In 1976, his father had cancer. Six months later, at age 55, he was dead. Visiting his father in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, the flagship of conventional cancer treatment, “branded his psyche with the indelible imprint of a medical concentration camp. Hopeless patients in blue smocks hovered like phantoms, their emaciated bodies ravaged by radiation and chemotherapy.”

Kenny started his journey into “the subterranean netherworld of purported cures” after a friend gave him a copy of “You Don’t Have to Die” the self-published autobiography by Harry Hoxsey (apparently, no book publishers dared to accept the script). This journey resulted in this well-documented book and a movie with the same title. The book is not an easy read, with lots of details to follow. After reading this book, the reader will have an increased awareness of the power of the medical profession …or more specifically “the cancer establishment.”

Briefly, Harry Hoxsey’s cancer treatment is one of America’s most documented non-conventional alternative treatments of cancer. Passed down through his family from his great grandfather, this herbal formula peaked in US in the 1950s and flourished into Harry’s 14 cancer clinics across the United States. Harry Hoxsey had the largest privately-owned cancer clinic in the world, seeing more than 10,000 patients in Dallas alone. To this day, his treatment is still available through the Bio-Medical Center at Tijuana, Mexico.

In this review, we shall not delve into the nature and efficacy of the Hoxsey herbal formulas. The persistent harassments by the medical establishment from 1924 to 1963 are sufficient testimony of the effectiveness of the Hoxsey herbal formulas. Why does the medical establishment need to “hunt Harry Hoxsey like a beast?” Because the AMA was adamant in its conviction that only surgery and radiation were able to cure cancer, even though cancer researchers already knew that these treatments were very limited in their effectiveness.

Harry Hosey suffered 40 years of harsh attacks in the press, relentless prosecutions in the courts and persecution by government agencies. Below is a brief summary of what the AMA did to Harry Hoxsey and the Hoxsey clinics:

Harry was arrested more times than anyone in US medical history, more than 100 times in Dallas alone. At most of the trials, the Hoxseys were not short of patient witnesses who even came with stacks of cash to bail Harry Hoxsey should he be convicted and jailed. However, he never lost one “AMA quack trial” or “slander” because of the powerful defense from the experience of hundreds of cancer survivors.
At each trial that Harry faced, the AMA would strenuously object to Hoxsey presenting patient witnesses to the stand because…”lay people are not qualified to testify to their own medical condition…often times these individuals are not knowledgeable enough in their own health to realize that they’re not the ones to make the best assessment”
At one trial, one doctor (from AMA) contended that…”Hoxsey’s reputed cures were either cases of wrong diagnosis or the result of a delayed reaction to conventional treatment.”
As a last refuge, the AMA suggested that “any seeming recovery could have been the result of spontaneous remission.” Hoxsey won all major trials (and many others), but the harassments did not end.
Each time Hoxsey was arrested and brought to court, he pleaded for a fair scientific test. However the AMA had simply refused to investigate the Hoxsey medicines, disregarding science’s most fundamental question: What is the evidence? Instead, the AMA worked to ban the treatment… eventually outlawing it entirely in the US in 1960.
Some of the reasons why the AMA did not want to collaborate with Hoxsey to investigate or conduct trials on Hoxsey’s products: –
Organized medicine does know (already) that their (Hoxsey’s) products are worthless. If they had any merit, they (the AMA) would have used it. It’s a rather unfair thing to expect the AMA to waste its time with something that it knew was absolutely useless.
The doctors (of the AMA) claimed that they already knew from their medical education that his remedies had no efficaciousness at all, no cure.

Perhaps, the greatest fear of the AMA (and later the NCI and FDA) is to find that…”if a Hoxsey product were to be proven effective, the public will run to it because nobody wants the chemo drug.” Because once one goes through the door, then a lot of others are going through the door and that’s what they are afraid of. If chemo is the only choice, then patients will reluctantly take it, but the minute it is known that there is something nontoxic out there, everybody’s going to want it. (While the FDA has approved more than 40 highly toxic drugs, the FDA has yet to approve a single nontoxic cancer agent or one not patented by a major pharmaceutical company).

Hoxsey unremittingly broadcast his call for a fair investigation while organized medicine tried to disconnect the microphone. In 1954 ten medical doctors from around the country dared to make a three-day investigation of the Hoxsey clinics and subsequently concluded that….”the Hoxsey treatment is superior to such conventional methods of treatment as X-ray, radium, and surgery”

Unable to get patients to testify against Hoxsey, the AMA resorted to other tactics…for example:

When Dr. Sam L. Scothorn, a respected osteopath and former president of the American Osteopathic Association took his wife to Hoxsey to treat her ovarian cancer after radiation failed, Dr Scothorn was ordered to appear before the Medical Board to explain why he took his wife to the Hoxsey Clinic. Dr Scothorn refused to appear and felt grossly insulted by the AMA’s letter…”because it smacks of conspiracy”
Medical doctors employed by/or associated with the Hoxsey clinics were warned, isolated and eventually had their medical licenses withdrawn. In 1940, Hoxsey’s pathologist (Dr Marvin Bell) was threatened with the revocation of his medical licence just because he performs biopsies for the Hoxsey Clinic.
The FDA stake out Hoxsey’s Dallas clinic parking lot to record license plates to track down patients. FDA agents set wiretaps and had the post office monitor the patients’ mail.
The FDA ordered posters to be mounted in 46,000 U.S. Post Offices…”Public Warning Against Hoxsey Cancer Treatment”….just like posters of wanted criminals.
The FDA and AMA even tried to block Hoxsey’s increasing appearances on national TV talk shows and radio broadcasts. They even sought a permanent injunction against Mildred Nelson (Hoxsey’s nurse) from practicing nursing in Utah and Dallas.

After the AMA has lost all the court cases, they offered to buy out the Hoxsey herbal formulas (with the sinister intention to discredit/destroy the reputation of Harry Hoxsey). When Hoxsey refused to sell them (the AMA), organized medicine’s war of technicalities expanded into a bold series of stratagems to get rid of Hoxsey. Some of these are:

The AMA used the courts to cite an obscure precedent barring doctors from working for a layperson. In principle, the same law should have put most hospitals out of business, since they are owned and operated by laypeople. However, it was enforced only against Hoxsey.
In 1957, in another lateral swipe, the Texas Attorney General declared the 1949 state statute legalizing naturopathy to be unconstitutional, a judgment the AMA had been seeking since 1949. This act negated Hoxsey’s only legitimate credential. Without it, he could no longer operate his clinic.
By 1958, the California State Attorney General introduced a bill sponsored by the American Cancer Society to outlaw all unconventional cancer treatments.
Under California’s new anti-quackery laws in 1959, it became a crime to treat cancer with anything but surgery, radiation, and the emerging chemotherapy. As the 1950s drew to a close, the government quackdown was nearly complete…the government politicized the courts to determine medical questions.
Politicians who had dared to support Hoxsey were systemically driven from office by AMA political action. Doctors suffered professional censure for pointing out the limitations of conventional cancer treatments or suggesting new directions in research. There was simply no room for a difference of medical opinion.

Organized medicine’s scorched-earth campaign to eradicate unorthodox cancer therapies was a success by 1960, when the last tattered vestige of the Hoxsey Cancer Clinic closed its doors forever in the United States.

On May Day 1963, Mildred Nelson, the chief nurse of Harry Hoxsey crossed the border into Tijuana, Mexico and started offering the herbal treatment at the Bio Medical Center. Mildred Bell Nelson applied to the Mexican authorities for a nursing license and married a Mexican to get working papers. Nurse Mildred Zamora was back treating cancer patients again.

When Mildred went into exile in Tijuana, Harry Hoxsey stayed back in Dallas. By then he was a wore-out car. After suffering a heart attack in 1958, he was never fully well again…he later developed prostate cancer and subsequently died in 1974.

Mildred Zamora continued Harry Hoxsey’s mission in Tijuana until she had a stroke which resulted in her death in January 1999 at the age of 80.

Does the Hoxsey herbal tonic really work? There were just too many people using the Hoxsey herbal formula and got well when they weren’t supposed to for it to be accidental or rampant good luck (or spontaneous remissions). Why was the Hoxsey tonic not investigated in the first place seventy-five years ago? And yet the AMA and NCI can conclude that the nontoxic combination of herb extracts as “worthless tonic for cancer.” Is that based on sound scientific evidence or they just do not want a nontoxic cure to be found?

We invite you to be the judge.

To complete the story, we recommend that you watch the following video on YouTube…..WHEN HEALING BECOMES A CRIME by Kenny Ausubel (Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G45f8bNgj9w). A summary of the Hoxsey herbal therapy can be read at the following link: http://true-wellness.com/twmedia/articles/hoxsey_form_can.pdf

If you Google the title of the book, there are a lot more information about “the politics of cancer” to enlighten you.