In my earlier posting, I shared the story of SE who had colon cancer, underwent surgery but refused follow-up chemotherapy. To many people, SE is taking a great risk by rejecting chemotherapy. But according to her doctor, chemo or no chemo, the final outcome would be about the same — not much difference! So, where is the risk?

If you were SE what would you do? Go for chemo or not? It seems the answer to SE is obvious. NO chemo after discussing with her family about what the oncologist had told her. On top of it, SE has a son (let’s call him YA, story below) who was also diagnosed with colon cancer. He too refused chemotherapy.

Stage 3 colon cancer: No chemo after surgery

YA is a 43-year old salesman. In early 2018, his stomach did not feel good. He went to a GP in a private clinic and was prescribed pain killer. It did not help him even after three visits. Later, he had altered bowel habits.

In mid-July 2018, YA did a colonoscopy in a private hospital. There was a circumferential tumour in his ascending colon – just distal to ileocaecal valve.

This first visit to the hospital and examination cost him about RM6,000.

YA was told to undergo an operation. He hesitated and went on to consult three doctors in three different hospitals of their opinions. All the doctors gave the same advice: Operate! (yes, right. If YA were to come for my advice, I would have urged him to go for the operation too).

YA had no choice but had to undergo surgery as recommended. It was a hemicolectomy. Histopathology report firmed a moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of ascending colon. Three of the 15 pericolic lymph nodes are involved with metastatic carcinoma. CT scan showed no metastasis to either the lung or liver.

This is a stage 3 cancer, T3N1Mx. The operation cost him RM23,000.

After the surgery, YA was asked to undergo follow-up chemotherapy. The oncologist suggested  Xelox regimen, i.e. taking oral drug Xeloda plus injection of Oxaliplatin. Each cycle costs about RM5,500 to RM6,500. YA has to undergo a total of  8 cycles.

The oncologist told YA:

• No chemo, there is a 40 percent chance of recurrence. The chance of cure is only 60 percent.
• With chemo there is a 90 percent chance of cure. The chance of recurrence is only 10 percent.

This means YA could expect a benefit of 30 percent if he undergoes chemotherapy.

Take a pause, what would you do if you were YA. Go for chemo or not? YES or NO? I am sure different people will have different opinions. Let me share with you what I know based on my twenty plus years of experience helping cancer patients. There is no right and wrong way! Because nobody on earth can predict the real outcome.

Don’t only just take my words, read what these doctors tell us:

Chemo gives only 30 percent benefit? YA decided not to undergo chemotherapy!

I think the reason that made YA come to seek our help is also because he was “influenced” by one of his customers from Melaka. Let’s call him Mr. X.

Mr. X had stomach cancer. He underwent surgery but refused to undergo follow-up chemotherapy. Since he was adamant on NOT going for chemotherapy, his surgeon helped X find CA Care in the internet and suggested that X come and seek our help.  Mr. X was prescribed herbs and was doing very well (note: X’s story is not finished yet! More  to come later).

After studying YA’s case, I prescribed herbs for his colon and lymph nodes. I also cautioned YA that he must take care of his diet and change his lifestyle. Travelling around everywhere (being a salesman) is too stressful and is not good for his healing. He decided to embark on this non-medical journey.

In late February 2020, I got to meet YA and had a chat. This is one year four months after his first visit in  August 2018. YA is doing fine. The following are his blood test results.

	10 Jul 2018	16 Aug 2018	Started on herbs	18 Sept 2018	22 Feb 2019	27 July 2019	11 Feb 2020
ESR	26 H	11 H		2	4	13 H	11 H
Platelet count	308	224		244	212	203	205
Alkaline phosphatase	77	61		53	59	53	55
SGOT (AST)	13	18		22	22	30	33
SGPT (ALT)	15	11		33	21	46	52
GGT	24	20		12	18	25	27
CA 125	n/a	13.6		3.9	3.2	4.7	3.6
CA 19.9	n/a	4.3		3.1	10.3	7.1	10.1
CEA	n/a	Less 0.5		Less 0.5	Less 0.5	Less 0.5	Less 0.5

During the follow-up with his surgeon, YA underwent routine check-up.

USG on 22 July 2018: No evidence of liver metastasis. There are a few polyps measuring up to 5.5 mm.

USG 14 March 2019: Gallbladder polyps measuring 3-4 mm. No evidence of metastasis in this examination. Chest X-ray: Normal chest radiograph.

USG 1 August 2019: Gallbladder polyps, the largest measuring 0.3 cm. Chest X-ray: Normal CXR Colonoscopy: Normal ileo-colic anastomosis.

USG 13 February 2020: Small gallbladder polyp, measuring 5 mm (in July 2018 – few polyps). No evidence of metastasis. Chest X-ray: Normal mediastinum and lung fields. No rib lesion seen.

Comments:

1. From what I could see, YA is very concerned about this health. He tried hard to take care of his diet. His understanding boss cut down his travelling, etc. I could see he was trying his best to get well. Every six months, YA went to see his surgeon and did USG, X-ray and blood test to monitor his progress. So far so good.

During his latest visit to his surgeon, he even asked if he needs to do more detail examination. The doctor said there is nothing else to do, after all he is doing well already.

2. As a person, YA said he is doing fine, that is after one over years now. I was upfront with YA – I have done my best to help him. I really don’t know what else I can do. My experience tells me that there is no cure for cancer. So YA is not out of the woods yet. There is still a long way to go. It is my sincere hope that he stays the course. For now, if he is doing okay – can eat, can sleep, no pain and can continue with his work – what more than we ask for?

Only time can tell if the cancer would recur or not. But so far, YA is doing fine.

Read what Dr. Jerome Groopman and his wife wrote:

3. YA came to seek our help because he saw that Mr. X (his Melaka customer with stomach cancer) was doing so well when taking our herbs. Then when YA came to see us he got to meet Johnny (not real name). Johnny had a similar cancer. He had surgery (two operations in a month) in January 2006. He too refused follow-up chemotherapy. Johnny was on our herbs and is doing very well up to this writing (almost 14 years now).

One lesson we should learn: Whatever happen to others – success or failure, know that it may not happen to you!

When you go and see a doctor (or an alternative healer like me), know that we are just conducting an experiment on you. We try to do the “right” thing for you based on our own experiences. Yes, we can predict what may happen to you after undergoing the treatment but we cannot guarantee the exact outcome. In scientific jargon we are just conducting an experiment where n=1 (only one subject in an experiment). That is what happened all the time.

Read what Dr. Hamilton wrote:

4. YA knew us through Mr. X. During our latest chit-chat, I asked YA. Okay – how is Mr. X doing now? His answer: He already died. X was doing really well initially for about two years. I am fully aware of that. But what I did not know about his progress after that.

YA told me that after doing so well, like all other patients, X started to “misbehave”. There is nothing to be upset about – this happened all the time! X started to miss out on his herbs. He started to eat what he liked! According to YA, X had to be hospitalised. His legs were swollen and his stomach was bloated. After a month in the hospital, he died. For that the family faced a hospital bill of about RM100,000.

This is my message to YA. I hope you learn from this unfortunate experience. Your life is in your hands. You decide where you want to go.