Breast Cancer: Do this chemo – 100 percent cure! You believe that?

June (not real name) is a 32-year-old lady. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergo a mastectomy. Histopathology report indicated the tumour was 37 mm in size. No evidence of malignancy seen on the 9 sentinel lymph nodes. The tumour is positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors and HER2.

 

 

June was asked to undergo chemotherapy with the following:

1. Four cycles of AC – andriamycin + cyclophosphamide.

2. Twelve cycles of Taxol.

3. One year on Herceptin.

4. Followed by oral drug, Tamoxifen for ten years!

The total costs of the above treatment (excluding Tamoxifen) is approximately SGD 120,000, which is about RM 300,000.

The oncologist told  June that if she did not undergo this treatment her cancer will recur within the next 2 to 3 years. The cancer will be all over the body and she will die! But if June were to undergo chemotherapy as suggested by the oncologist she will be cured – a hundred percent!

I asked June if she believe what her oncologist told her. June replied, “No, because I have done my homework. I know that cancer cannot be cured.”

June came to seek our help on 13 June 2014. She decided to take herbs instead of chemotherapy.

Comments

In the USA, about 39,620 women were estimated to die in 2013 from breast cancer. That means:

  • 108 women were said to die of breast cancer each day.
  • 5 women died of breast cancer per hour.
  • Every 13 minutes one woman in the US died of breast cancer.

Think hard. If the above “recipe” given by this American oncologist practising in Singapore is really true, why must so many women in the US die of breast cancer each year?

I feel sad to hear such a story. In an earlier posting, RP was told that if she undergoes chemotherapy for her breast cancer she would have a 70 percent chance of cure. In this case, June was told that she would have a 100 percent chance of cure after her RM300,000-chemo-treatment.

Do you believe the oncologist? June did not believe her doctor! Please reflect on the following.

5  Doc like car salesman 17 Sick-Greedy-Medical-profess 9 Half-truth-and-propaganda

Breast cancer is the number one problem we encounter at CA Care. If you are unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with breast cancer, I suggest that you read these two books to know more about another side of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Cover Front Your Breast  Bk1Bk2 RGB

Breast CA HerbalOption

 

Do chemotherapy, you have a 70 percent chance of cure for your breast cancer! You believe that?

RP is a 44-year-old Indonesia lady. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had undergone a left mastectomy with axillary clearance. Three out of 5 sentinel lymph nodes were infected with cancer. It was a stage 2A cancer.

RP as asked to undergo 8 cycles of chemotherapy. Each cycle of 5-FU, Cyclophosphamide and Epirubicin cost RM3,000.  After receiving 3 cycles of chemo,  RP was asked to install a chemo-port because her blood vessel was unable to take in the drug. RP also suffered severe bleeding during her menses. She came to seek our help on 13 June 2014.

 

 

Chris: Before you did the chemo, did you ever ask if chemo was going to cure you.

RP: The oncologist said chemo can give a 70 percent cure!

C: What happen to the 30 percent?

RP: I did not ask!

C: Did you ask if you belong to the 70 percent cure group or do you belong to the 30 percent failure group?

RP: He told me it is not a 50:50 percent case. I have a 70 percent chance!

Comment

Let me not give my own views about chemotherapy. Reflect on the following:

2 chemo-2-percent benefit

3 Chemo attempt to kill cancer before killing patient JohnLee 4 Chemo die OK if follow protocol

14 Drug-cause-cancer-spread-ag

12 Chemo-short-cut-to-make-mon

 

BOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH: ALICE STEWART AND THE SECRETS OF RADIATION

Woman who knew too much

by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari

This biography illuminates the life and achievements of a remarkable woman scientist who revolutionized the concept of radiation risk.  Written by Gayle Greene, who was the Professor of Women’s Studies and Literature, Scripps College, UK, the book is compelling reading for activists and policy makers.

In the 1950s Alice Stewart began research that led to her discovery that fetal X rays double a child’s risk of developing cancer. It was towards the end of 1955 that Dr. Alice Stewart, head of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Oxford University, first became aware of a sharp rise in leukemia among young children in England. Dr Stewart subsequently discovered that the number of children dying of this cancer of the blood had risen over 50 percent in only a few years. In the United States an increase about twice as large had occurred. One aspect of this rise was extremely puzzling: the leukemia seemed to strike mostly children over two to three years of age.

Dr. Stewart undertook another study to find out. With the assistance of health officers throughout England and Wales, she obtained detailed interviews with the mothers of all of the 1694 children in those counties who had died of cancer in the years 1953 to 1955, as well as with an equal number of mothers of healthy children. By May 1957, the analysis of 1299 cases, half of which involved leukemia and the rest mainly brain and kidney tumors, had been completed. The data showed that babies born of mothers who had a series of X-rays of the pelvic region during pregnancy were nearly twice as likely to develop leukemia or another form of cancer, as those born of mothers who had not been X-rayed.

Subsequently, in a research paper she published in June 1958, Dr. Stewart concluded that the dose from diagnostic X-rays could produce a clearly detectable increase in childhood cancer when given during pregnancy and this was an extremely low dose. However, it took until 1980 before the major American medical groups recommend that doctors not routinely x-ray pregnant women—and even so, 266,000 pregnant women were x-rayed in that year. Dr Stewart believes that “it takes about 20 years…for an unpopular discovery to be digested and you’re lucky if it takes only that long.”

There were a few other very unpopular discoveries made by Dr Stewart and her team of researchers. Some of these are:

  • Radiation is the most powerful mutation known to man, a poison that no one can feel, smell, see, or detect until people drop dead.
  • There is no safe level of radiation…her research clearly debunked the universally accepted “threshold hypothesis” that claimed that there was a threshold below which radiation was safe.
  • Any dose of radiation, however small, is going to have an effect in the bodyany dose has the potential of damaging a cell…low dose may injure cells rather than kill them…and a surviving mutated cell can cause cancer or a birth defect.
  • Lower doses received over time might actually produce more cancer per unit of exposure than a single large dose. Dose fractionation increases the cancer risk.
  • Even more than the cancer threat is the genetic damage—the possibility of sowing bad seeds into the human gene pool…and the danger with recessive genes is that once they are into the gene pool, you can’t get them out.
  • Radiation damage to a cell may show up only after the cell has divided several times, producing a genomic instability that might result in broken or misshapen chromosomes and muted genes and early cell death.
  • Researchers found that children whose fathers were exposed to the highest levels of external radiation were six to eight times more likely to develop leukemia than were the controls…in other words there is a correlation between paternal exposure to radiation and childhood cancer.

As a woman scientist, she faced a significant amount of prejudice and ridicule from the male-dominated scientific community, and other groups who found it hard to accept the findings of her research that radiation was harmful even in low doses to unborn fetuses. Despite all this, she stood by her studies and research and eventually convinced doctors to stop x-raying pregnant women even though it took twenty years to eradicate the practice.

From about 1970, Stewart turned her attention to the underlying issue raised by her work: the serious underestimation, in her view, of the risks of exposure to radiation in nuclear power plants. She again astounded the scientific world with a study showing that the U.S. nuclear weapons industry is about twenty times more dangerous than safety regulations permit. The finding put her at the center of the international controversy over radiation risk.  Dr Stewart became one of a handful of independent scientists whose work is a lodestone to the anti-nuclear movement. In 1990, the New York Times called her “perhaps the Energy Department’s most influential and feared scientific critic.”

With her life time research experience in the field of radiation, Dr Stewart had a firsthand knowledge of the misuses and politicization of radiation science. The radiation field is so politicized, there is so much invested, ideologically and economically, that these scientists just cannot change their mind. They simply cannot say, “We may have been wrong.”

Politicized the field has been, and politicized the field remains. The Atomic Energy Commission had strong vested reasons for downplaying the effects of radiation and maintaining a safe threshold theory and continues to argue that low doses of radiation are negligible.

Marginalized by mainstream British medical research, starved of funding, blackballed, blacklisted, cold-shouldered, she has borne with more than her share of slights, snubs, and rebuffs. In her parting remark in the biography, Dr Stewart said, “If I were GOD tomorrow, I should take every job away from the nuclear physicists”

Dr Alice Stewart died in June 2002 at the age of 95. With her passing, gone are the days of researchers like Alice Stewart.

FURTHER REFERENCES:

LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Stewart

2)      Early Life Exposure to Diagnostic Radiation and Ultrasound Scans and Risk of Childhood Cancer: Case-Control Study

LINK: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/738082

3)      Alice Stewart, 95; Linked X-Rays to Diseases

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/04/world/alice-stewart-95-linked-x-rays-to-diseases.html

The Woman Who Knew Too Much: Alice Stewart and the Secrets of Radiation

    LINK: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/bhm/summary/v075/75.1more.html

The Unheeded Warning

LINK: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/SecretFallout/SFchp2.html

 The Woman Who Knew Too Much

LINK: http://www.press.umich.edu/16780/woman_who_knew_too_much

Obituary: Alice Stewart … The Guardian

   LINK: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jun/28/guardianobituaries.nuclear

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

1)      YOUTUBE: Alice Stewart: The woman who knew too much

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=proyrn2AAMA

2)      YOUTUBE: Dr. Ernest Sternglass on Radiation & Health

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ib085o-K0

WHY HAYLEY MILLS QUIT CHEMOTHERAPY AS SHE BATTLED BREAST CANCER

by Yeong Sek Yee & Khadijah Shaari

1 Harvey

Who is Hayley Mills? If you are in your 6-series (in life) you would probably have heard about her. Hayley Mills began her acting career at the age of 12, starring alongside her father John Mills in “Tiger Bay” and at 14; she appeared in “The Parent Trap” and then “Whistle Down in the Wind” in 1961. Her later film “Pollyanna” in 1960 brought her to fame and she was awarded the last juvenile Oscar.

Below is a short story of her encounter with double breast cancer…yes she had cancer on both breasts.

In April 2008, Hayley Mills was diagnosed with breast cancer on both breasts on her 62nd birthday, but she chose to keep her illness private. After undergoing several tests and biopsies, the Pollyana actress had surgery but refused radiation therapy.

However she was persuaded to start a course of chemotherapy which she did.  Subsequently, after 3 sessions she decided to quit chemo and decided to seek an alternative route. Hayley admitted that she found the chemo treatment more daunting than the actual disease. In December, 2012, she revealed why she decided to quit chemotherapy:

“It made me feel awful…I was more frightened of the chemo than the cancer…I could feel it (the chemo) draining me and killing me. I felt I was dying”

Four years later from that traumatic time, she explained how, despite turning down chemo, she is happy and cancer-free. Hayley, now 66, credits her survival to the alternative treatments she used to heal her body. She changed her diet and cut out foods that “feeds the cancer” including sugar, dairy and acid creating foods. And she also embarked on a serious course of exercise and meditation.

In an interview with Mirror (UK), Hayley explained that “a tremendous amount of healing is in your hands. What you can do to boost your immune system and what you can do to keep your mind, body and soul healthy and positive is important”

Hayley also did caution that her decision to go the alternative route may not be for everybody, but there are some fantastic, brilliant doctors out there…and, it doesn’t make sense that there is only one way of dealing with cancer.

If you would like to read more why Hayley Mills quit chemotherapy, just visit the following links:

1)      ARTICLE : “I felt I was dying”: Hayley Mills on why she quit chemotherapy as she battled cancer  Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hayley-mills-why-i-quit-chemotherapy-as-she-battled-1505199#ixzz2mayENo2p

2)      ARTICLE: My secret triumph over breast cancer by actress Hayley Mills Linkhttp://www.express.co.uk/news/showbiz/293433/My-secret-triumph-over-breast-cancer-by-actress-Hayley-Mills

3)      ARTICLE :  ‘I could feel it killing me’: Hayley Mills reveals how she beat double breast cancer after quitting chemotherapy  LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2253271/Hayley-Mills-reveals-beat-breast-cancer-quitting-chemotherapy.html#ixzz30qISjH6B

4)      ARTICLE: Hayley Mills describes secret battle with breast cancer LINKhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8989623/Hayley-Mills-describes-secret-battle-with-breast-cancer.html

5)      ARTICLE:Hayley Mills quit chemo, used nutrition and alternative therapies to heal breast cancer in 2009  LINK: http://www.chrisbeatcancer.com/hayley-mills-quit-chemo-used-nutrition-alternative-therapies-to-heal-breast-cancer/

If you would like to read the story of Sally Baker, a charity volunteer who did not opt for chemotherapy even after a double breast mastectomy, just visit the following link:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2459756/Ive-refused-chemo-breast-cancer-gain-isnt-worth-pain-After-double-mastectomy-woman-defends-hugely-controversial-choice.html

Pain Recurred After Eating Rojak

Patient, 66-year-old, was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her bones and brain. She had undergone radiotherapy, took Iressa and later switched to Tarceva but the treatments failed her. After 9 months of medical treatment she decided to try out our CA Care Therapy.

Patient led a miserable life. She was constantly in pain and had difficulty sleeping. Patient, her husband and daughter came to CA Care Penang on 8 June 2014. She was started on the e-Therapy. After 4 days, her pains were gone!

When she got well – no more pain, good appetite, happy, etc…. she ate young coconut followed by rojak at 10 p.m. About an hour later she started to cough badly and the pain recurred. Things went bad for the whole night.

Listen to her story.

 

 

Our message to all cancer patients.

1. Take care of your diet if you want to live.

2. This is my observation. When patients are dying they will listen to our advice. But the moment when they get well, they easily forget what we teach them.

3. Patients come up with various reason why they want to eat whatever they like! One amusing story. A liver patient told his family. He would not want to die with an empty stomach, else he would turn into a hungry ghost. He ate whatever he like, he lived for 1 year and 8 months, went into a coma and died. Everyone in the family was happy!

4. Very often you were told you can eat anything you like. Food has nothing to do with your cancer. It is your choice!

5. Learn, please learn from this story.

Lung-Bone-Brain Cancer: Pain Gone After 4 days of e-Therapy

Patient, 66-year-old, was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her bones and brain. She had undergone radiotherapy, took Iressa and later switched to Tarceva but the treatments failed her. After 9 months of medical treatment she decided to try out our CA Care Therapy.

Patient led a miserable life. She was constantly in pain and had difficulty sleeping. Patient, her husband and daughter came to CA Care Penang on 8 June 2014. She was started on the e-Therapy. After 4 days, her pains were gone!

Listen to her story.

 

 

Patient was in pain for 2 weeks before coming to see us in Penang.

Nature of her pain:

  • Poking pain in the left rib.
  • Pain radiated from front to the back.
  • Pain comes on and off lasting from 5 minutes to 30 minutes at a time.

After the e-Therapy

The following are notes recorded by her daughter.

Day One

  • Started with Detox #2 on Sunday evening. Felt mild pain at the ribs while undergoing the therapy.
  • Mild pain at 2 am to 4 am.

Day Two

  • Detox # 3 and Insomnia #18 on Monday morning. More pain during the session. Went home felt very, very tired, restless and irritable. Had deep sleep for 30 minutes.
  • Pain at 2 p.m. and then at 9.30 p.m. The pain gradually increased at 11.30 p.m. and 4 a.m. Able to sleep but woke up due to the pains.
  • Overall she had more hours of sleep.
  • The pain now is a bit less than what she experienced while at home before the e-Therapy.
  • Good appetite.

Day Three

  • Pain # 65, 80 and 89. No pain and had good sleep during the therapy. Had mild pain at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. Duration of pain decreased.
  • At night she was alert, talkative and energy level higher.
  • No pain throughout the night but had coughs with a lot of phlegm.
  • Wake up, sleep, wake up, sleep. Didn’t sleep well.

Day Four

  • Whole day and night NO pain.
  • Before the therapy she had pains every day and night.
  • At night she had pain 2 to 3 times and daytime it was 3 to 4 times per day.
  • After 4 days of the e-Therapy the whole day and night no pain.
  • She felt better, whole day comfortable. She was happy.

Daughter: (The e-Therapy)… It is very good. At night no pain, the whole day no pain. Very good mood. Very good appetite. Happy.

Chris: You can’t ask for more!

The Story of Mom’s Lung-Brain-Bone Cancer

This is the story of a 66-year-old lady who had lung cancer. The cancer has spread to her lymph nodes, bones and brain.

This is what her daughter wrote about her mom.

Mom who cooked and ate meat, dairy, eggs, honey, garlic and onion as part of her diet since young, became a vegan since 3 years ago when she started to follow Master Ching Hai’s teachings.

Mom had high blood pressure for about a decade now. She used to take medicine to control her blood pressure but has since stopped taking it about 6 months now. Mom is a non-smoker.

Since June 2013, mom started to complain about being tired and she slept a lot. She felt no mood or lazy to do housework. We thought all these were due to aging. She also tended to forget things, like misplacing items.

Sometime in early August 2013, she lost her balance and fell. Mom declined to see the doctor.

Mom started to look very tired. She also had a hard time formulated her speech and stammered. She started to take vitamin B12 pills in the hope of improving her condition. We all thought she might suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency being a vegan. Mom wanted to monitor for 2 weeks before seeing a doctor.

Walking extremely slow, one step at a time, and very tired, we brought mom to see a GP. The doctor advised blood test together with a CT scan at a hospital. The doctor suspected a minor stroke.

Mom Had Cancer

We brought mom to a university hospital. Her CEA was more than 1,000. She was referred to an oncologist who suspected mom had cancer. He prescribed mom Dexamathasone, to reduce swelling of the brain and Omezole – to take care of the side effects of the steroid medication.

CT/PET scan on 3 September 2013, confirmed that mom has Stage 4 lung cancer. The cancer had spread to her brain, mediastinal nodes and bones. The next day, she did a biopsy. The tissue was positive to EGFR.

Radiotherapy and Iressa

From 11 to 23 September 2013, mom had 8 session of radiation treatment to her brain. From 21 September to 11  November 2013 (about 7 weeks) she took Iressa.

Deceptive Positive Results

A second  MRI and PET scan was done on 13 November 2013. The results were great! Mom’s brain metastases reduced tremendously. Also the lesions in her lungs shrunk.

However, liver function test taken on 11 November 2013, indicated liver damage.

Mom had to stop Iressa.

Another blood test on 9 December (i.e. 3 weeks after stopping Iressa), indicated liver got better. Mom started to take Iressa again. This time, a table on alternate days. But in January 2014, mom started to take Iressa daily.

More of Deceptive Positive Results

During the Chinese New Year (February 2014) mom started to lose her voice. A third MRI/PET/CT scan was done on done. The results were:

  • The oncologist was pleased with the MRI result. The oncologist mentioned that in September 2013 MRI there were about 50 lesions in her pain. In this February 2014 MRI showed less than 10 lesions. The oncologist said when he first saw mom’s MRI, he did not think mom was going to make it.
  • However, the PET scan results showed a different story. In the September 2013 PET scan it was a nice result with much reduced lesions (almost not seen). But for this February 2014 PET scan results, some lesions had recurred near her right neck (near vocal chords — therefore loss of voice?).
  • The oncologist mentioned that he was very worried, “it looks like the cancer cells got smarter and tried to overcome the Iressa.” Mom was asked to continue with her Iressa.
  • The oncologist, however, suggested a few options:

1. Start chemotherapy on day 1 and day 8, then rest for 3 weeks. In addition, mom take another oral drug, Tarceva or Afatinib (which was recently approved and is now available for free). We told the oncologist that we preferred not to do chemotherapy. As such the oncologists suggested the following options.

2. Start radiotherapy to the body in addition to taking another type of oral drug similar to Iressa.

3. Take only Tarceva or Afatinib without chemotherapy. But the oncologist said this was not a viable option.

  • For  mom’s voice issue, we brought mom to see an ENT specialist. Endoscopy to the nose/throat showed the left vocal cord was not moving (paralysed?) but the right one was doing fine. The ENT specialist said the problem could be due to the cancer. There is no medicine that he could prescribe for mom.

March 2014 — Iressa failed, switched to Tarceva 

  • Blood test on 5 March 2014, showed the tumor markers were slightly higher. The oncologist said he was worried that the cancer cells were growing and spreading. He suggested chemotherapy. He said he would give mom a lower dosage, perhaps 80 percent strength instead of the normal 100 percent strength. However there will be side effects such as low white blood cell count but the doctor said this can be countered by taking medicines. He also mentioned that patients can get better after going through the “weak” phase.
  • As we were reluctant to undergo chemo, the oncologist suggested radiation treatment to the neck and the left side of the lung. This treatment cost RM 9,100. Mom received 10 sessions of radiation.
  • The oncologist switched mom to Tarceva since Iressa doesn’t seem to be effective anymore. Tarceva cost RM 8,000 per month while Iressa cost RM 7,000 per month.
  • On 24 March 2014, mom received her fist xGeva (denosumab)  injection to protect her bones. This cost RM1,600 per shot and mom is supposed to have it every month.
  • 28 March 2014, mom started to lose her appetite.

April 2014 — 9 months Later 

  • Blood test on 7 April 2014 showed mom’s calcium level had gone down a little due the previous xGeva injection. She was prescribed medicine to bring up mom’s calcium level.
  • Mom was having frequent bowel movements. The oncologist said this might be due to the side effect of Tarceva, which causes minor diarrhoea.
  • Mom still had coughs and still choked when drinking fluid. The throat was dry and her voice hoarse. Her appetite was poor.
  • At this point, we discussed chemotherapy with the oncologist.

1. What after one session, we decided to stop the treatment. Any side effect / problem?

Oncologist: Of course we can stop at anytime, no problem.

2. How does the treatment work in terms of session, timing and rest period?

Oncologist: Do chemo on day 1 and 8 and this is considered as one cycle. Do 3 cycles first.

3. Drugs to use?

Oncologist: Two options. One, Carboplatin + Alimta which is more expensive, costing around RM 8,000 per cycle. Two, Carboplatin + Gemcitabine which cost about RM 1,000 per cycle. This option is much easier on patients but may be less effective (?). It it would be Carboplatin + Gemcintabine, the oncologist suggested that mom go for 4 to 6 cycles.

May 2014 — Tarceva Failed 

  • 5 May 2014, we told the oncologist about mom’s side effects. The oncologist recommended to stop Tarceva for 4 days and we were asked to come and see him again after that. He prescribed medications for insomnia, itchiness, and inflammation.
  • 9 May 2014, after 4 days not taking Tarceva, mom got much better. Acnes on scalp were drying up and there were not more rashes. But there seemed to be a new growth at mom’s neck. Oncologist asked mom to take Tarceva again but on alternate day.
  • MRI on 19 May 2014, showed disease progression. There were about 7 tumours.
  • PET/CT scan on 21 May 2014, showed disease progression:

1. Lymph node at the neck has enlarged.

2. Few new lesions at T9. 

The Final War Plan 

The oncologist laid out the following options.

  1. Tackle the brain first – and fast! He recommended that mom go for Cyberknife and then followed up with chemotherapy. After that mom continue taking the oral drug again after 4 months. If mom’s backache persist then we need to give radiation to that location.
  2. The oncologist also explained that giving mom whole brain radiation again would cause more side effects (e.g. sleepy, headaches) and only low radiation dosage could be give. If mom’s goes for Cyberknife she shouldn’t have such side effects because Cyberknife is more targeted.
  3. Cyberknife cost RM 67,000.
  4. Another option is to go for chemotherapy first. Do MRI after 1 or 2 months and if the tumour is shown to be growing very fast then go for Cyberknife.
  5. The oncologist assured us the mom would be able to tolerate chemotherapy. The only thing we need to really watch out is the white blood cell count.
  6. Mom will have to continue with her monthly xGeva injection to strengthen her bone.

One Final but Most Important Question

Can all these treatment cure mom?

The answer is: No cure. There is no guarantee that the cancer will not recur even after Cyberknife. 

CA Care – the Last Resort, 23 May 2014 

Patient came to seek our help and was prescribed herbs. On 8 June 2014, patient and her husband and daughter came to CA Care Penang and underwent the e-Therapy for her pains.

Comments

As I was about to upload this story, I received an email from Singapore. This is what it says.

Dear Mr Teo, 

My husband, age 61 was diagnosed with lung cancer 2 years ago. He was on Iressa since last year September 2013. Two months ago the oncology asked him to start chemo as he has developed tightness in the chest. We decline. So we just have to carry on with Iressa. Two weeks ago he developed bloatedness  in the stomach with  wind and fluid. Again oncologist scheduled him for chemo this coming Monday. Currently he feels  very fatigue and is too weak to go for chemo cause he lose a lot a weight. 

We are not in favour of chemo because in year 2012 he had gone through that already and we find it is too damaging to the lung and show no result because 10 months later lung had fluid. 

It is indeed sad.

1 Insanity-by-Einstein

Don’t those who are supposed to know, know that Iressa does not cure any cancer? And chemo does not cure lung cancer either? Click this link: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/category/lung-cancer/ and you will see that I have written no less than 70 stories about lung cancer and chemotherapy / Iressa / Tarceva, etc.

Can we not learn something from these stories? 

More stories about this patient:

Lung-Bone-Brain Cancer: Pain Gone After 4 Days of e-Therapy

Pain Recurred After Eating Rojak

Chemotherapy for Sarcoma: He died after 8 months

In an earlier posting, I related the story of a 16-year-old son of Pak X. He had soft tissue sarcoma and went for treatment in China. His leg was amputated and he received chemo. These treatments did not cure him. The cancer spread to his lung and he died (2 years after his diagnosis).

Pak X related the story of another 16-year old boy who had soft tissue sarcoma like this son. He had chemotherapy and died within 8 months.

Listen to what Pak X said:

Pak X: Living in front of my house was a boy of 16 years old. He was also diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma – exactly like my son. His father came to ask me for advice. His father asked: “What treatment did your son had?” I told him: “I have failed, no result. I have made a mistake. Please don’t ask me about my son’s treatment because I did not succeed. I have made a mistake.”

Chris: No. Don’t blame yourself.  Tell me, when did this happen?

P: About 4 years ago.

C: What happened to this boy? Did he go for chemo?

Daughter: He went to Singapore and had chemotherapy.

P: He died after 8 months.

C: Only 8 months.

P: My son died after 2 years of treatment (in China). In a way, I have more success. I felt grateful because for the herbal treatment (in Beijing). So now in my head, I always believe in herbs.

C: Again, this boy you told me about was your neighbour? He stayed just in front of your house?

Daughter: Yes.

C: And he did chemo in Singapore and he died 8 months later?

P: It started as a small green-pea size lump. A month later it grew into corn-size. Two to three months later it became marble-size. Every day he cried in pain.

C: I understand. This is a similar story of sarcoma.

Related stories:

Regretted for not giving mom chemo for her sarcoma

Sarcoma: Son died after leg amputation and chemotherapy

Sarcoma: Son died after leg amputation and chemotherapy

Pak X, an Indonesian from Medan came to seek our help. His wife had a big,cancerous lump in her breast. She refused surgery. I told them: “If you don’t go for surgery, I would not be able to help you.” Reluctantly the patient agreed to a mastectomy. However, she refused chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

One day, I asked Bapa X why he was so adamant about not wanting to go for chemotherapy. Listen to what he said:

 

 

Gist of what Pak X  said:

  • I don’t want chemo. This is based on my son’s bad experience. I now know chemo is not effective. My son was 16 years old when  he had a painful, reddish rash on his shin. This was later diagnosed as soft tissue sarcoma.
  • I brought my son to Guangzhou, China for treatment. They amputated his leg up to the thigh. Then they gave him chemo – 5 or 6 times (I am not sure now). We stayed in Guangzhou for about 6 months. The treatments were not effective.
  • I then brought my son to Beijing for further treatment using herbs. This was done in a hospital. We stayed in Beijing for about one and a half years. The treatment failed, the doctors surrendered.
  • I brought my son home to Medan. He died after 4 months. The cancer had spread to his lungs.
  • At least I was grateful that my son survived for one a half years with the herbs.

Chris: When you were in Guangzhou – they cut off his leg and gave him chemo – did you ever ask if the treatments were going to cure him?

Bapa: Yes, the doctor said the treatments can cure him.

C: When the treatments failed, did you ever ask the doctor again why he was not able to cure your son?

B: I did not ask that question. I just packed off and went to Beijing instead. We did not return to Guangzhou again.

C: In Beijing, did you ask the doctor if the herbal treatment was going to cure your son?

B: “Diusaha” (we’ll try our best).

C: How much did it cost you to undergo all those treatments?

B: I cannot remember now, but I have to sell a house to pay for the medical expenses.

(Bapa broke down in tears after this. This was not the first time Pak cried. Earlier, while taking a ride in our car to his apartment, he broke down  and cried when relating his son’s story. Now, it is his wife who has breast cancer and they refused chemotherapy or radiotherapy).

C: I am very sorry to bring this matter up. It stressed you a lot. Please don’t regret for what you have done. Don’t blame yourself. You have done your best. Also know that things like this happen to many people – having to sell their house or land to pay for medical expenses.

B: You asked me earlier why I did not want my wife to go for chemo. No, she is not going to do that. No chemo – anywhere! Property gone, life also gone after chemo, besides having to suffer. No. No to chemo. If we take herbs, life may go but at least there is no suffering!

Related stories:

Regretted for not giving mom chemo for her sarcoma

Chemotherapy for sarcoma: He died after 8 months