Shah (not real name) is a 57-year-old Indonesian. He was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in 2010. He came to a private hospital in Melaka and was prescribed Legalon or milk thistle. He did not take his medication seriously. His problem became more serious and in 2015 his problem developed into a full blown liver cancer or hepatoma.
He was admitted to a hospital in Jakarta for treatment. He did TACE (transarterial chemoembolization) twice followed by four times of RFA (radiofrequency ablation). RFA cost him IDR 35 million each session.
In addition Shah had to take the following 11 medications, one of which is Nexavar – a oral chemo-drug for his liver cancer.
Nexavar — IDR 200 million (??)
Listen to our conversation of what happened.
Chris: Did the doctor tell you why he gave you Nexavar?
Wife: To make sure that the cancer is under control.
C: How long were you on Nexavar?
W: Just about one week, and the supply was for a month.
C: What happened?
W: Disaster! (BadanNya hancur!) He gave up and did not want to take it anymore.
C: Did the doctor say how long he has to take Nexavar?
W: For as long as he lives! Now the doctor said take a rest first. After the side effects subside, continue with Nexavar again.
C: What are the side effects?
Wife and patient: Vomiting, loss of strength, giddy, fever, hard stools.
C: How much did you pay for this drug?
W: IDR 200 million per month.
Comments
I am not sure if the figure, IDR 200 million for Nexavar, is correct. This is equivalent to RM 57,000 ringgit.
The wife must have been confused. It could have been the total cost of his hospitalization, including other drugs as well.
In Malaysia, Nexavar cost about RM 20,000 per month. Sometimes you get an offer: buy one, free one! That is you pay for the first one month, then you get free supply of the drug for the second month. One patient took this drug for a week and died. So she lost her deal for a free supply!
Is this the first case of Nexavar giving problems to patients? No. Many patients told me similar stories of side effects.
So, why do the doctors keep on prescribing Nexavar? Well, I really don’t know. Perhaps Nexavar is more “scientific” than herbs. If you don”t die from it, keep taking it — that’s the message given to Shah and his family.
As I am writing this story, here is an email I received.
Dear Dr Teo,
I am writing to you with regards to my father, aged 82 years old. In December 2017, he was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). Tumor was approximately 7 cm in size. He has subsequently went for TACE early January 2018. The latest CT scan has showed that there is necrosis of the tumor. However, the APF reading this week shows a level of 2,000+.
His hepatologist and us agree that we should take action to find a way to heal and hopefully, prevent the recurrence of tumor again. He has recommended that we think about Nexavar or seek alternative herbal treatment.
My father has indicated that he would like to start on herbal treatments.
I am wondering if you would be available to meet us next week?
Think about it: His hepatologist recommended Nexavar or herbal treatment! What say you?
Henry (not real name) is a 58-year-old Indonesian. In 1994 he was diagnosed with Hepatitis B. He took herbs and was okay. But about three to four years later, a checkup showed the virus count has gone up high. He did nothing about it. In September 2017, Henry started to have bloated stomach. The doctor in Indonesia diagnosed it as gastritis. Later he went to the hospital and was told that he had liver cancer. He was prescribed some drugs.
No satisfied, Henry went for further treatment in China in early January 2018. He ended up in a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) University Hospital.
A PET scan was done and the results showed the cancer had spread from the liver to his lung and lymph nodes around his neck.
Henry was prescribed three drugs to take:
Adefovir (or Hepsera) – pharmaceutical drug
Bicyclol – drug from a Chinese herb
Sorafenib (or Nexavar) – pharmaceutical drug
A two-day consultation together with the above medication cost IDR 50 million (approx. RM 15,000).
Not satisfied, Henry went to another hospital (not a TCM hospital) for a second opinion. A blood test was done and the results were as below:
ALT
29.0
AST
40.0
Alk phosphatase
332.0
GGT
548.0
Alpha-fetoprotein
275,330.70
CA 125
278.50
CA 19.9
7.36
CA 15.3
24.80
The oncologist in this second hospital told Henry to go for chemotherapy. He refused and went home to Indonesia.
What happened after taking the chemo-drugs?
Listen to his conversation with us this morning.
Excerpts
Chris: You took the three chemo-drugs that the doctor in TCM University hospital gave you. Then what happened?
Patient: Not suitable for me! Just after three days, I had severe pain in my abdomen. This was after taking the Nexavar.
C: You itch too?
P: Yes, after taking the first two drugs (Adefovir and Bicyclol).
C: Then you gave up?
P: Yes, we went to another hospital for blood test.
C: Did the doctor prescribe any medication (after they know that the AFP was 275,330.70)?
P: No medication. He asked me to go for chemotherapy. I refused and returned home to Indonesia.
Information from the internet
It is not difficult in this information age to know what the drugs prescribed by your doctor would do to you. What you need to do is read or have the desire to “know”. The problem with most patients is they don’t want to know! They believe that doctors know best.
These are what I got from the internet.
Adefovir (Hepsera)
This drug is used to treat a chronic viral infection of the liver (hepatitis B) in people 12 years of age and older. It is not a cure for hepatitis B and does not prevent the passing of hepatitis B to others.
The possible side effects are:
muscle pain or weakness
numb or cold feeling in your arms and legs
trouble breathing
feeling dizzy, light-headed, tired, or very weak
stomach pain, nausea with vomiting, or
fast or uneven heart rate.
Bicyclol
This is a novel, drug derived from Fructus Schisandrae (Wu Wei Zi), a Chinese herb for treating hepatitis B and C.
Sorafenib (Nexavar)
This drug is commonly prescribed by oncologists worldwide to treat:
kidney cancer that has spread outside the kidney and who are no longer being helped by other treatments.
liver cancer that can’t be removed with surgery.
thyroid cancer that is no longer being controlled by radioactive iodine treatment.
Hand – foot syndrome (Palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia or PPE) – skin rash, swelling, redness, pain and/or peeling of the skin on the palms of hands and soles of feet. Usually mild, starting 5-6 weeks after start of treatment. May require reductions in the dose of the medication.
This is a sad and pathetic story! Let’s start thinking a bit and ask some questions.
Henry went to a TCM university hospital and he was prescribed pharmaceutical drugs. Does this sound right? Why do you need a TCM hospital then? Don’t you think the oncologists in a modern medicine hospitals are better trained and educated than those TCM professors or sinseh when it comes to prescribing pharmaceutical drugs?
Personally I was really disappointed after hearing this story. When I started CA Care more than twenty years ago, I learned and read a lot about TCM from the Chinese. My experience showed me that the traditional wisdom of healing can help cancer patients. And up to this day, I know I am still not wrong!
I would want to believe that those trained in TCM — in TCM university mind you — should be better and well placed to help cancer patients than me. To dish out chemo drugs to cancer patients is indeed a “betrayal” of sort. Hello TCM professors (I know that most TCM practitioners like to be called professors!) you can do better than that!
Another disappointing thing is, even with TCM experts, they never teach patients that to get well patients need to take care of their diet and change their lifestyle. This is a real let down. What has gone wrong here?
From this great master of Chinese medicine, I learned about medical ethics, Sun Simiao was especially concerned about physicians being influenced by a desire for rewards, including financial rewards, fame, or favors granted to them: they should not have these as their goal. In the same note physicians should be honest — especially to their patients.
So, do you think the TCM doctor gave Henry an honest advice?
Take a look at the PET scan done in the TCM university hospital. His cancer is serious. His liver is badly damaged. And the cancer has spread to his lymph nodes and lungs. What is his chance of cure? Can we be honest about it?
Let’s be honest professor, what do you think can be achieved by asking Henry to shallow Adefovir, Bicyclol and Sorafenib?
I believe this TCM professor would be able to help Henry better if he is well armed with the real art and deep knowledge of TCM. There is no need to “ape” what the western doctors do.
After looking at Henry’s PET scan and his blood test results — take note his alpha-fetoprotein was at 275,330 — I frankly told Henry no one on earth can ever “cure” him. He has to be realistic and know that his liver cancer is incurable. If he is able to live a quality life — can eat, can sleep, can move around and no pain — then be grateful and don’t ask for more.
This I believe can be achieved with the proper guidance of TCM principle and use of TCM herbs. For the past twenty plus years, I have given terminally ill patients herbs and taught them to change their diet and lifestyle. The results were amazing.
Let me end with this story …. A Tale of Two Patients: Alive and healthy — miraculous healing or fluke shot?
Two weeks ago, I posted the story of Rose, a 49-year-old Indonesian lady who had a big lump in her breast. She underwent surgery twice because the lump kept recurring. Then the non-cancerous massed turned cancerous. It spread to her lungs.
Rose was told to go for chemotherapy. She refused and came to seek out help.
Two weeks on our therapy, Rose got better. Listen to what her husband told us.
1. The swelling of her hands and feet subsided.
2. She can now stand up without difficulty and can walk around the house compound. This is something that she could not do earlier. Also before the herbs, she would feel breathless and sweat a lot even with a little bit of movement. All these are gone!
3. Her appetite has improved.
4. Her cough with itchy throat was gone.
5. Her sleep has improved.
Improvement does not mean cure!
I cautioned Rose’s husband that improvement does not mean cure. The family must always be careful — try to maintain this healing momentum so that more healing can go on without any disruption. Take care of the diet and do not eat anything you like even if you feel great.
My experience over the years tell me that most patients take things for granted after feeling better. Let me relate two stories which are still fresh in my mind that make me real “sick” — to be more precise, they break my “heart” !
A lady came after 10 chemos and 2 surgeries did not help her. Her oncologist told her that she would be lucky if she could live to celebrate Christmas (i.e. just a few months). She wrote me an email asking for help. I told her I would not be able to help her since she is from a faraway country. She insisted on coming to see us. Okay, come!
After four days on the e-therapy and herbs her pains were gone. She could go shopping the whole day. Before the therapy she could not even sit down without pain, let alone shopping!
She returned to her country and continued taking the herbs. Her condition improved. In December I reminded her to go and wish her oncologist “Merry Christmas” — after all she was NOT supposed to live that long anyway!
Then I sensed something was not right when she wrote to complain that she preferred taking the herbal extract instead of herbs that have to be brewed. I ignored her request. In the next mail, she wrote to say that she only wanted to take the capsules. She did not want the herbal teas anymore, giving the excuse that she could not afford to pay for the herbal tea — capsule okay! My reply: Please go and find someone else to help you. You can stop taking my herbs.
Not long after this “blow”, another lady came to seek our help. According to her husband, he found CA Care while browsing the internet trying to find a “cancer home” for his wife since no one is at home to take care of her. She was in severe pain and was not even able to sit down to talk to me without much discomfort. We put her on the e-therapy. Within a few days her pains were almost gone and she could sit down and talked like a healthy person. The e-therapy was discontinued since it was Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, she had pains again and we continued with the e-therapy. I think she got better.
On Tuesday she did not turn up saying that she had diarrhoea (healing crisis?). On Wednesday her husband came to take her file away. I did not even have a chance to meet him and know what has gone wrong. Anyway, the e-therapy that she did at our centre was free of charge!
In Rose’s case, it is wonderful to know that she has improved after just two weeks on herbs. But please don’t take for granted that we have a “magic portion” to cure her. Healing is your responsibility. We can help you but you must “work and earn ” for your well being. More important, don’t demand healing on your own terms! Please learn to be grateful for all the blessings that you receive. Don’t take your healing for granted!
This is a story about John (not real name) — 39 years old then. John’s problem started in February 1999 when he detected a small lump in his thigh. Since there was no pain he ignored it until the swelling increased to the size of a ping-pong ball some months later.
In March 2000, John underwent a surgery to remove the cancerous lump. The doctor resected quite a lot of the tissues out – the size of a “Milo tin”. The doctor tried to take out as much as possible, including the muscles – because it had already spread.
Histopathology report indicated a malignant tumour with features consistent with high grade soft tissue sarcoma. The doctor told John to get his papers in order and that he would probably have only 6 months to live.
About 3 months after the surgery, John sought a second opinion and was told by the second surgeon that the tumour was not completely removed during the first surgery. John underwent a second surgery. This was followed by 21 sessions of radiotherapy.
On both occasions – after the first and second surgeries, John declined chemotherapy.
About a year and half later, the cancer metastatised to his lung.
John underwent a third surgery to remove the nodules in his lung and the surrounding tissues. He again declined chemotherapy and opted for CA Care Therapy instead — that was in April 2000.Six years later, on 1 November 2006 I had the privilege of meeting John and interviewed him.
Chris: What made you so adamant in not wanting do chemotherapy?
John: I held on to my conviction of not doing chemotherapy after reading your book. You mentioned that after going through chemotherapy it does not really guarantee a cure or success. Chemotherapy kills both the good and the bad cells. The immune system will be weakened and compromised and you would probably succumb to the treatment rather than the disease itself. Based on that, I made my firm decision – no chemotherapy. If I had not read your book, I would have gone for chemotherapy because I had reached a point where I was about to say “yes” to chemotherapy. But then I pulled back. At that time the doctor was telling me that I could not afford to wait any more – he was putting pressure for me to go for chemotherapy.
Since then I have not heard from John and he was out of my “radar”.
Then came one blessed morning just before the Chinese New Year (2018).
A lady and her family came to seek our help for her cancer. As usual, my first question was, Who ask you to come here?
The son replied, My friend. He was your patient many years ago. He had a lump in his thigh and then the cancer spread to his lung.
Chris: I can’t remember this case … oh, oh … a man? I remember now — I think I talked to him once. You mean he is still alive?
Son: Yes, doing well. He is a fighter and he takes care of his diet up to this day.
A few days ago, just before the Chinese New Year (2018), a couple from Indonesia came to seek our help. The husband, 58-years old was diagnosed with liver cancer.
As usual, my first question to patients who come to see us for the first time is, Who ask you to come here? The wife answered, H asked us to come and see you.
Chris: Oh H. When did you last saw her? Is she still alive? Still healthy?
Answer: Yes, she is doing very well. We communicate through handphone. This is her picture she sent me yesterday.
C: I am really glad to know that she is alive! When you go home please tell her that I was thinking of her. I have not heard from her for a long time. I thought she had passed away.
Listen to this conversation this morning!
What is so special about this case you may want to ask. Oh yes, very special indeed.
About 6 years ago, H was diagnosed with a rare cancer — sarcoma “sitting” on top of her lung. The oncologist in Singapore said, Without chemo, 6 months to live. With chemo, you may live up to 2 years. But no cure.
H refused chemotherapy and came to seek our help instead. She was well. But we did not get to see H for some time already. The question in my mind, How is she doing? Still alive? Probably dead.
So, this is a miraculous case — thank God for such a blessing!
CANCER STORY 
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