Two Friends Died After Medical Treatments: Same Cancer, Same Doctor and Same Hospital.
WC (E112) is a 59-year-old lady. Sometime in December 2012 she discovered a lump in her left breast. A mammogram on 26 April 2013 showed a 2.4 x 3.4 x 5 cm irregular and poorly marginated, hypoechoic mass. The appearance is compatible with carcinoma. Left axillary and left infraclavicular lymphadenopathy noted (size 6 mm – 2.5 cm).
CT scan was done the next day. The result confirmed the presence of a 4.87 x 3.06 cm mass in the left breast with enlarged left axillary lymph nodes. These are suggestive of left breast malignant lesion with lymph nodes metastasis.
On 2 May 2013, WC underwent a mastectomy.
Histology confirmed an infiltrating ductal carcinoma, grade 3, pT3. Three of eight nodes examined are involved with tumour. Surgical margins are not involved. Five of nine nodes axillary nodes are involved with tumour. The tumour is negative for both estrogen and progesterone receptors.
WC was asked to undergo 6 cycles of chemotherapy costing about RM 17,000. In addition she had to undergo 21 times radiation treatment. In preparation for chemotherapy, WC was asked to install a chemo-port which cost RM 3,500. WC declined this.
But WC was facing a huge dilemma. Two of her friends also had breast cancer. They saw the same doctor at the same hospital as she. Both of them had undergone the same treatments which she was asked to undergo. Both of them had died of the treatment. WC knew then that the treatment which she was asked to undergo would not cure her. The daughter was very much against her undergoing this medical treatment.
WC had already paid RM 9,000 as deposit for her radiotherapy. WC’s daughter came to know about CA Care and came to seek our help. She told us that her mother was due to start her radiation treatment the next day but after talking to us, she decided to forgo the treatment.
Based on her medical reports, we prescribed WC Capsule A, C and D, C-tea and Breast M. In view of her lymph node involvement she was also asked to take Lympho 1 and 2.
On 31 May 2013, WC, her husband and daughter came to see us again. WC had started to take the herbs without any problem. During this first encounter with WC, I explained to her that based on the report, the cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes. She is at a greater risk compared to others. Why is that that she refused to undergo medical treatment since she had already paid a deposit of RM 9,000? In fact, the hospital refunded her only RM 2,500 for defaulting.
Listen to what WC has got to say.
Chris: Your condition is risky. But are you happy with what you want to do?
WC: I am okay.
C: Why don’t you want to go for radiation and chemotherapy?
WC: Two of my friends died. They had breast cancer, went to the same doctor at the same hospital. They did chemo and radiotherapy and they died. I am so afraid. My daughter told me not to go for the medical treatment. If I have to spend money and then I die, I prefer not to do any treatment. Why spend money, suffer and then die?
C: Are these people your friends?
WC: Yes, my own friends. I saw them. They did everything and they were not cured. So why should I spend money and suffer.
C: Let me ask you. If you do the treatment and you die. If you don’t do the treatment and you die. Which one do you prefer?
WC: I say do nothing is better. In the case of one of my friends, the cancer had spread to her bones. In the other, the cancer went to her brain. Doctors don’t tell you all these. They only ask you to do the treatment. They say the treatment is good for you.
C: Don’t you believe them?
WC: I was not sure and did not know what to do. My daughter told me not to go for the treatment.
C: Did you ask if the treatment was going to cure you?
WC: No, I was afraid to ask that. He would scold me for that. When I did not go for the treatment the doctor even called me at home and asked me to come for treatment. He said I must do the treatment.
Husband: I asked and the doctor said he could not give any guarantee.
C: Relax. Take it easy. Perhaps doing nothing could be a better option for you. You have to learn how to take care of yourself. Take care of your diet. Then exercise. And then don’t think too much after that.
WC: Okay. My children are all grown up. I don’t have to worry anymore.
C: That’s a very good attitude.
Comments
For sixteen years, since we started CA Care, we too were trying our best to educate people – providing them with information which we thought they need to know. Some people seemed to benefit from our efforts. After reading what we wrote we practise what they know! But for some others, after reading they feel educated but they shy away from doing something for themselves. They prefer to let the “experts” tell them what to do.
In this case, I am really amazed that WC and her family were willing to lose RM 6,500 rather than going ahead with radiotherapy. To some of us, this could have been a foolish decision. When I met WC, the first question I asked was if she was happy with what she was doing. She must be at peace with herself. Did she make a wrong decision? Read what Dr. Susan Love – one of the world’s most outstanding breast cancer surgeon – has got to say:
The file of KT (S346) was on my table. She was a 42-year-old Indonesia lady who had been battling with her breast cancer for about 12 years. I was taking my time wanting to write her story. But today, 29 May 2013, I received this e-mail from her husband.
Dear Madame Beng Im , Dr. Chris Teo, Dengan sedih dan menyesal kami informasikan bahwa KT sudah meninggal dunia Selasa 21May at 02.55 a.m. (early morning). Dan sudah dimakamkan Kamis 23May, at 11 a.m.
Friday, 17 May kesehatan drop, makan dikit/tak ada selera , minum obat herb tea juga tidak mampu. Monday 20 May at night, so weak. We carry to hospital. Dokter said that she was in bad condition, no hope. She just stayed in hospital 1night only. Tuesday 21 May, at 02.55 she was gone / dead. Many thanks for CA Care’s support for my wife.
About two months ago, 22 March 2013, KT and her husband came to seek our help. She stayed in Penang for almost a week. This was her tragic story.
About one and half years after her second child, KT found a 1.8 cm lump in her right breast. On 16 May 2001 a biopsy was performed and confirmed that it was malignant – a ductal carcinoma, positive for estrogen and C-cerb-B2 receptors but negative for progestrone.
On 19 May 2001, KT underwent a lumpectomy at a cancer hospital in Jakarta. It was a Stage 1 cancer. From June to October 2001, KT received 6 cycles of chemotherapy, followed by 25 sessions of radiation treatment in November to December 2001. She was not prescribed any medication.
About three years later, 12 July 2004, the cancer recurred at the previous operation site. A biopsy confirmed it was a ductal carcinoma again. USG and bone scan were performed. No metastasis was detected.
On 21 September 2004, a mastectomy of the right breast was performed at another hospital. And this was followed by 20 radiation treatment. The doctor suggested ovarian ablation and more chemotherapy but KT refused the treatment.
About five years later, in 2009, the operation site developed an open wound with recurrence of cancer around the wound. USG and bone scan on 20 November 2010 did not show any metastasis.
On 3 December 2010, a biopsy was performed of the regrowth and histology indicated lobular carcinoma. The doctor suggested chemotherapy but KT refused the treatment. She did nothing after that.
In June to August 2011, KT went to China for treatment. PET/CT scan showed the wound was 14 x 12 cm and the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, lungs and bone. This was a Stage 4 cancer.
In China, KT received the following treatment:
10 June 2011:
Patient received iodine seeds implantation and cryosurgery in the lung,
Iodine seeds implantation in the axillary fossa metastatic lymph nodes.
17 June 2011: Patient received recurrence tumour resection, dermatoplasty and PDT (photodynamic therapy).
16 July 2011: Patient received re-dermatoplasty in the back ulcerates.
15 June to 23 June 2011: Patient received DC-CIK immunotherapy.
20 September 2011: Patient received re-dermatoplaty in the back ulcerates.
27 September 2011: Patient received iodine seeds implantation in the scapular region and left costal bone.
KT was again asked to undergo chemotherapy. She again refused the treatment. But she agreed to take Tamoxifen.
On her return to Indonesia, KT started to seek out alternative therapies. She tried sour sop leaves, Mahkota dewa, benalu kopi, etc. She also tried radiofrequency jacket.
On 22 March 2013, KT and her husband came to seek our help.
Comments
When I saw the picture of her breast, I must say I was terribly upset. How could such a thing happen? The first thing that came to mind was, Was this not a work of a bomoh or quack? After all, too often we read in the newspapers that things like this only happen to patients who go and seek the help of alternative healers. But no, the reality was that she sought medical help from the very beginning after discovering a 1.8 cm lump in her breast. And mind you, it was an early stage cancer – Stage 1. I could not understand how she could end up like this.
What can we learn from this tragic episode? Ask these questions:
Is medical treatment of cancer really that proven or scientific?
When you have cancer – can you really achieve a cure?
What could have happened if she were to take a non-medical route?
Robert G. Wright, founder of the American Anti-Cancer Institute wrote in his book, Killing Cancer Not People:
Slash, Poison, Burn. The Big Three. What you probably don’t know is that they have no possibility of healing your cancer. Let me repeat that. They haveabsolutely no possibility of healing your cancer. They actually cause cancer.
The saddest and most tragic part of all is that we’re not only dying of the “disease” now, we’re dying from the treatments. Cancer cannot be cured with drugs, surgery, chemo or radiation; not now, not ever, not possible.
When it comes to cancer, your doctor / oncologist will fail you.
It is up to you what you want to do with the above statements by Robert Wright. Looking back over the 16 years helping cancer patients, I must say such episode happen often enough. It is NOT unusual or exceptional.
On 16 November 2012, I had a chance to sit down for a chat with Henry (not real name). This is our conversation that day.
Let me highlight some of things that we talked about that day.
Henry has four sisters in his family. Sister No:1 was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2010. She was the third member of the family to have cancer. Sister No:3 had breast cancer about ten years ago. She was the first member of the family to have cancer. She underwent a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and died within a year. Then Sister No: 4 had breast cancer in April 2004 – the second member of the family with cancer.
Dramatically we can put it this way (this is what the number-professionals do, i.e., massage and sweeten the data):
75 percent of the sisters ended up with cancer; and
50 percent had breast cancer.
Let us hope that this is NOT the kind of statistics the world has to contend with in the future.
Sister No: 1 with Lung Cancer – Alive
She was 66 years old. On 7 June 2010 her CA 19.9 was at 191.0. On 17 June 2010 a trucut biopsy confirmed she had lung cancer.
Chris: It is about two and a half years now, is she okay?
Henry: According to the CT scan, the tumour had grown smaller.
C: All these years, did she ever face any problem?
H: No problem at all.
C: And she did not go for any treatment – chemo or anything else?
H: Nothing, except taking your herbs.
C: Did she take care of her diet?
H: Yes. She took care of her diet and so far no problem.
C: I have not met her before.
H: No, no. All her problems seemed to go away. The cholesterol level went down, high blood pressure down and sugar level down after a few months on the herbs. Everything became normal.
C: Amazing!
H: She started off with a big tumour in her lung and now it has gone smaller.
Doctor said: Operate and chemo – otherwise you will die within 3 months
H: The doctor said she only has 3 months.
C: What do you mean?
H: The doctor told my sister if you don’t do chemo you will die within 3 months. And I told my sister if you want to live listen to me, don’t listen to the doctor. I told her if you operate, you die within 3 months! The doctor wanted to operate on her and then do chemo. The doctor didn’t want to give us back her medical report. I called the doctor and argued with him. If you don’t want to release the report, I shall make a police report. But I hope we don’t have to go to that extent. We just want the medical report back. The doctor asked me: What do you want to do? Go to another hospital? I told the doctor, we wanted to go for alternative medicine. He said: What is it? I replied: I have no problem sharing with you on this but I believe you are not interested to hear about this. He even asked me: Are you a doctor? No, no, I am not.
C: You mean you called the doctor and said all these?
H: Yes. I argued and argued. I told him I wanted to do a police report. Then I would come to see him with the police to get the medical report. That is the worst thing I can do. Ah, then he agreed to give us back the report.
C: I cannot understand this. You paid for his services, for the scan, etc. These are yours.
H: Money, money! He was asking for RM 60,000 plus for the treatment.
C: To do the surgery and the chemo?
H: Yes. I told her doctor: My sister did not have the money, but I have the money. But this is not about money. It is about life. The doctor said: What do you mean? I said: You do chemo you die! You operate you die! The doctor countered: But you are not a doctor! I answered him: Yes, I am not a doctor but I have read and I have experiences to tell me so. Then the doctor said to me: You don’t do, you only have 3 months. I told the doctor: If you insist, I shall bring her to see you after 3 years!
Lung tumour shrunk – Started CA Care Therapy on 2 July 2010
C: Are you sure that the tumour has shrunk?
H: Yes, yes. After about one and a half years but I don’t know exactly when.
C: Amazing but nobody is going to believe what you have said.
H: I told my sister’s daughter to ask the doctor two questions and get straight answers from him:
Is her current condition under control? I want that answer.
Do we still continue to do what we are currently doing based on this result?
C: Did you go back to the same doctor (who you argued with earlier)?
H: No, no.
C: Tell me again. When the doctor said she only has 3 months, did you talk to the doctor personally?
H: Yes. He also told my sister’s son: If you don’t operate you only have 3 months. Then they (family members) made a lot of noise. You see, the eldest son (my nephew) is almost the same age as me. The son wanted to follow the doctor’s advice. But my sister knew the experiences of what our two other sisters had gone through. My sister trusted me because I am the most educated in our family. Generally our family members will consult me and ask for advice.
C: Your sister wanted to follow you but her son wanted to follow the doctor? So you all fight?
H: No need to fight. I told my nephew. I am paying for your mother’s medical treatment. If you want to pay for her bills you go ahead! As simple as that! If your mother takes the herbs, I pay for her. If you want to go for medical treatment you pay! You take the full responsibility. Just look at your auntie (our 4th sister) – she is doing so well.
C: Request from CA Care. If you have a chance, please bring her complete medical reports / scans. We would like to make a study of this case.
Sister No: 3 with Breast Cancer – Died after surgery, chemo and radiation
C: The first time. Your sister No: 3 – you didn’t know (what to do)?
H: I did not have any experience with cancer before that. But actually I already knew about you but I was not sure – it did not come to my mind. They did not consult me. She went for surgery and chemo without letting me know. I did not know about it. Only after the (recurrence) and the second round of chemo that they told me about it.
C: Where do they live? From kampung (village)?
H: Yes, kampong.
C: Kampung people are very simple minded and they will follow whatever the doctors say.
H: I also brought her to Kuala Lumpur and talked to the oncologist there. At that time I did not know much about this.
C: Fair enough. You have to pay to learn.
H: Then I started to read. I have already known you after the TV and newspapers appearances.
Sister No: 4 with Breast Cancer – Still alive and well on CA Care Therapy
C: So when the second one had cancer, you knew exactly what to do?
H: She went for the operation and then the doctor told her to go for chemo. She called me and I told her: If you want to live, you listen to me. Our third sister is an example for you already.
C: Yes, I remember that –both of you were here arguing about chemo! Now this sister is in Johor Baru – is she fine today? I was told she did not work anymore?
H: She is a volunteer (in a Buddhist organisation). Before she had cancer, she was a manager in a plastic company. She resigned her job after she had breast cancer. She is doing fine. She is normal and goes for blood test regularly. Nothing wrong with her.
Comments
From Henry’s story, it seems that an encounter with the doctor can be as tragic as being told that you have cancer. Why the arrogance – why the threat or instilling of fear? That unfortunately is the way patients are “beaten” into submission. And such unfortunate incidents happened not only in Malaysia but everywhere too! Dr. Morton Walker, D.P.M., (in Cancer’s cause, cancer’s cure) wrote about his experience with the oncologists at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
I was astounded at how distorted the physicians’ presentations … The doctors appeared to become almost like used-car salesmen in a pitch for their surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. I know something about medical practices and oncology from my work as a medical researcher and as a former practicing podiatrist. In my opinion, the information the oncologists gave my fiancee was hardly an honest assessment of the relative benefits and risks associated with the recommended treatments … Both radiation and chemotherapy oncologists went about selling their separate treatments to the patient, her sons, and me … The oncologists were steadfast in their declarations. I knew they were lying.
Often to keep patients in line or quiet, they will say: You doctor or I doctor? Henry was not intimidated by such remark. In fact I would say the doctor had barked at the wrong tree! No amount of bullying, threat or fear-mongering is going to make Henry toe the doctor’s line. Henry knew better through his own experience. His third sister had breast cancer – undergone surgery, chemo and radiation. Within a year she was dead. Do you really have to die within a year? Even if you do nothing you don’t die from breast cancer within a year!
When his fourth sister again had breast cancer he would not want her to travel the same road again. His sister did not go for chemo or radiation although she was under pressure for months by the doctor to do so. I knew of this because she was my patient. So when Henry’s first sister was diagnosed with lung cancer, and the doctor said she only had 3 months to live if she did not go for surgery and chemo, Henry knew the game just too well. No amount of pressure was going to work on him.
You don’t need an MD to understand things. What you need is just to have commonsense. It was commonsense that enabled Henry to tell his sister that if you want to live you listen to me but you want to die then listen to the doctor.
Henry had learnt his lesson. When his third sister died, he knew why. He began to read books and learned from what others have got to say, besides reflecting on his own experiences. Unfortunately knowledge does not come easy served on a silver platter. You need to do your part to be learned and be knowledgeable. Read and read and read – that’s the only answer.
Unfortunately not many people like to read. Why don’t people want to read? To them ignorance is bliss. Why want to know so much? Let the doctors take care, they know best. Reflect again seriously on the three quotations above!
Cellulitis After Breast Reconstruction Surgery and Chemo
The file of EC laid buried on my table for almost four years. At first I thought I wanted to write her story but then perhaps it was not necessary – let her secret go away with her, buried in her grave! But on 13 August 2012, a lady came to our centre for help. She too had breast cancer. And her story resembled EC’s case. This make me think again – I should write this story!
EC – an Indonesia female, was 40 years old when a mammogram on 29 August 2003, showed the following results:
Following further evaluation, EC was diagnosed with breast cancer. She subsequently underwent a biopsy leading to a right mastectomy with axillary clearance. At the same time she had a right breast reconstruction with latissimus dorsi flap and saline implant.
The histology reported a Grade 3 ductal carcinoma measuring 2.5 x 2 x 1 cm. Three of 17 dissected lymph nodes showed metastatic disease. None of the 2 lymph nodes in level 2 showed metastatic disease.
The immunohistochemistry showed the tumour had hormonal receptors as below:
Taking into account of the 3 involved lymph nodes, EC was started on adjuvant chemotherapy with Cyclophosphamide and Andriamycin (A + C) for 4 cycles. Another 4 cycles of taxol was schedule after the AC. However, the use of taxol had to be aborted due to severe reaction and complications as explained by her oncologist’s report dated 6 January 2004:
She tolerated chemotherapy fairly well with growth support using Granocyte. Although she is not diabetic on repeated measures, she unfortunately developed repeated episodes of skin infection following the last dose of Cyclophosphamide and Andriamycin.
There was substantial celulitis over the implanted right breast. For that reason, EC is finding it difficult to proceed with further chemotherapy with the fear of recurrent flare of cellulitis.
Since there is a fear of further exacerbation of her cellulitis with ongoing chemotherapy, Tamoxifen for 5 years was proceeded instead. As she has already achieved post menopausal status, there is no further recommendation for ovarian ablation at this stage.
EC took Tamoxifen from 2003 to 2005. She received Zometa injection (for bone) ever six-monthly.
Her progress was monitored regularly.
3 April 2004: Mammogram and ultrasound of her left breast and CT of thorax and abdomen showed everything in order. A bone scan on 5 April 2004 showed no specific evidence of bone metastasis.
21 March 2005: Mammographic findings are unchanged. On the four-quadrant ultrasound examination, there are two hypoechoic nodules demonstrated within the left breast. These are benign looking lesions. These ultrasound finds are already present in a previous examination dated 3 April 2004 and allowing for technical differences, are essentially unchanged. CT scan of the thorax does not reveal any mediastinal lymphadenopathy or pulmonary nodules. Two hypodense lesions demonstrated in the liver were also seen previously with no significant interval change in size or in character. These may represent small hepatic cysts. Bone scan showed no specific evidence of bone metastasis.
(Note:Tamoxifen was stopped and changed to Arimidex in 2005 until 2008).
27 March 2006: No suspicious lesion is seen in the left breast. A small cyst is seen at 9 0’oclock position. The other cyst demonstrated previously is not seen today. Ultrasound of abdomen showed liver is normal in size and there are two small cysts present. These are likely to correspond to the hypodense lesions seen in previous CT scan done in March 2005. No solid mass seen. No pulmonary nodules demonstated. No hilar masses seen. No specific evidence of bone metastases.
5 July 2007: No mammographic evidence of malignancy. Tiny left breast cyst. No focal solid mass lesion is visualised. Ultrasound of abdomen showed a 1.9 x 1.7 x 1.5 cm anechoic cyst in segment 7 of the liver. This appears to have shown slight interval increase in size. The previously noted subcentimetre cyst in segment 6 is no longer seen. No other abnormality is seen.
17 December 2007: Bone scan showed no specific evidence of any new bone metastases. Ultrasound of liver showed no sonographic evidence of hepatic metastases apart from a 1.9 x 1.8 x 1.6 cm anechoic cyst in segment 7 of the liver.
15 January 2008: Due to rising tumour markers, PET was ordered to assess for recurrent disease. The cancer had spread to her brain.
EC underwent a craniotomy or brain surgery to remove the tumour. Her tumour was consistent with metastatic carcinoma, possibly breast.
Oral drug Arimidex was abandoned and EC was given Aromasin instead. Zometa injection was continued as usual – every six-monthly.
11 February 2008: EC received 5 times of stereotactic radiotherapy to her brain.
17 July 2008: The cyst in her liver seemed to grow bigger.
EC received another 5 times of stereotactic radiotherapy to her brain.
20 October 2008: Her brain surgery and 10 radiation treatment did not cure her brain cancer. The tumour recurred.
24 October 2008: EC and her husband came to Penang to seek our help. EC was prescribed Capsule A, Brain 1 and Brain Brain 2 teas and Breast M, C-tea plus Brain Leaf Tea.
Comments
Unfortunately EC was not able to follow our therapy properly. We always tell patients – our herbal teas are smelly and taste awful. They have to be brewed and this could be a great chore indeed. And if you have undergone chemo and radiation, the chances are that you will suffer when you first start taking the herbs. Well, but that could not be as bad as the chemo or radiation side effects. Nevertheless, some people are less tolerant when they come to us. The reality is – they expect magic even if medical science has failed them.
We did not get to meet EC and her husband again after their initial visit to us. They had decided to continue with more medical treatments. When nothing worked, EC decided to give up and turned to God for a miracle. She then died.
EC and her husband told us that after the reconstruction surgery and chemotherapy, her breast became red, swollen and painful. I wondered what could have caused this. If you read the oncologist report above, an innocent-sounding terminology was used –cellulitis. What doesthis actually mean? The word cellulitis means inflammation of the cells. Specifically, cellulitis refers to an infection of the tissue just below the skin surface.
The following are information from the internet when I searched for breast reconstruction and cellulitis,and breast implant infection.
Someone posted this question – Is cellulitis of a reconstructed breast (after breast cancer) common?and she wrote: I have gotten cellulitis of my reconstructed breast three times in the last six months. The first time I was hospitalized for a week. I was very sick and it was very painful. Is this a common occurrence? http://www.medpedia.com/questions/1823-is-cellulitis-of-a-reconstructed-breast-after-breast-cancer-common
The Answers:
Cellulitis is an inflammatory reaction involving the skin and underlying subcutaneous tissue. Patients who undergo surgery for breast cancer, whether in the setting of breast conservation or mastectomy, are at risk of developing infection at the surgical site and in soft tissue. Surgical trauma predisposes patients to skin infection. Postoperative skin infections develop after 2%–7% of all surgical procedures. The incidence of surgical site infections is 12.4% following mastectomy with immediate implant reconstruction.
Infection following breast implants is an uncommon event. This is somewhat surprising, since the human breast is not a sterile anatomical structure. Treatment of the periprosthetic infection usually involves implant removal, but salvage by systemic antibiotics is sometimes possible. ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2663982)
Infection can occur with any surgery. Most infections resulting from surgery appear within a few days to weeks after the operation. However, infection is possible at any time after surgery. Infections with a breast implant present are harder to treat than infections in normal body tissues. Toxic Shock Syndrome has been noted in women after breast implant surgery, and it is a life-threatening condition. Symptoms include sudden fever, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, dizziness, and/or sunburn-like rash. A surgeon should be seen immediately for diagnosis and treatment for this condition. http://www.lookingyourbest.com/info/breastimplant-complications.php
Infection is the leading cause of morbidity that occurs after breast implantation and complicates 2·0—2·5% of interventions in most case series. Two-thirds of infections develop within the acute post-operative period, whereas some infections may develop years or even decades after surgery. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(05)01281-8/abstract
Complications of Breast Implants
After having breast implant surgery, about 30% of women will require further surgery within 10 years of their initial operation.
Additional surgery may be needed as a result of complications such as capsular contracture (hardening of the scar capsule around the implant, see below), age-related changes to the breast or the shell of the implant rupturing (splitting).
If you are having an implant fitted for breast reconstruction following a mastectomy (breast removal) you may have a greater risk of infection and bleeding.
Most infections can be treated using antibiotics. But if your breast becomes severely infected, you may need to have the implant removed to prevent further complications developing. You should be able to have the implant re-inserted once the infection has cleared up. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Breast-implants/Pages/Complications.aspx
Why not solve one problem at a time?
I am fully aware that for some ladies losing a breast is most traumatic. Many patients come to us with rotten breast and they still harbour the hope that I would say herbs can cure their breast cancer. When I suggested removal of their breast, they hesitated. To get the message across I said this: You choose – you life or your breast. In the 16 years dealing with cancer patients, I rarely come across patients who had breast reconstruction after a mastectomy. I also understand some ladies are very sensitive about their body image. They want their breast replaced immediately after losing one.
One lady told us, she only agreed to undergo a mastectomy after her husband promised that she could go for a breast reconstruction. While writing this article, one lady came. She has just had a mastectomy. I asked her: How is it like – the mastectomy? She replied: I don’t know. I went in and when I came out I felt one breast was gone. Then I knew that it was cancerous. This lady just laughed after that! To her saving her life comes first. She and her surgeon had made an agreement that she would not want a needle biopsy but rather the tumour be removed and tested immediately. If it was found to be malignant, the surgeon would proceed with the mastectomy right away.
I just wonder – why does someone want to rush into trying to fix problems all at once – immediately? Removal of the cancerous breast is not a cure. The cancer can recur. Would it not be sensible to wait until everything looks promising first before you move to the next problem of the missing breast? If there is a flare up of cellulitis as in the above case, are you not making your problem more complicated? Why not solve one problem at a time?
She Might Have Won Many Battles But Ultimately She Lost Her War
The thick file of SA laid buried on my table for the past three years. Perhaps I should write her story. May be some patients can learn some lessons from her tragic experience.
SA’s problem started in 2006 when she felt a pea-sized, painless lump in her left breast. She went to Singapore for evaluation.
Bilateral mammograms on 6 March 2006 showed an irregular solid mass, measuring 29.4 x 17 x 23.2 mm with abnormal blood flow within it. Ultrasound of the liver showed normal size, configuration and echnogenicity. No focal lesions seen. Whole body bone scan was normal with no specific evidence of bone metastasis.
SA subsequently underwent a total mastectomy on 10 March 2006. The pathologist report indicated a poorly differentiated invasive ductal carcinoma with lymphatic and vascular infiltration. This was classified as T2NoMx (Stage 2A).
The tumour was negative for oestrogen and progesterone receptors. It was strongly positive for C-erb-B2 and moderately positive for P53. These imply that the breast cancer is unlikely to show any response to tamoxifen / hormonal therapy.
After surgery SA underwent six cycles of chemotherapy with FEC (5-FU + Epirubicin + Cyclophosphamide). No radiation or oral medication was indicated.
SA was well after the chemotherapy. She went back to her doctor every six months for routine checkup. Nothing was amiss. But about two years later SA started to have coughs for about a month. SA went to Kuala Lumpur and underwent a whole body PET CT scan on 28 April 2008,
Her brain and neck showed no abnormality.
There were multiple nodules in both lungs. Possibility of lung metastasis.
A 2.5 x 2.6 x 3.2 cm FDG-avid lesion was seen in the right lobe, segment of liver. Possibility of liver metastasis.
Extensive hypermetabolic nodal involvement in the thorax and left supraclavicular region.
SA was then advised to have chemotherapy but she decided to return to consult with her Singapore doctors. An ENT surgeon detected vocal cord paralysis. Another cancer specialist performed a biopsy of her left supraclavicular lymph node on 6 May 2008. It showed metastatic adenocarcinoma consistent with a primary from the breast. The tumour was strongly positive for HER-2. SA’s Stage 2 cancer had turned into a Stage 4.
SA consulted another oncologist.
Subsequently SA underwent another round of palliative chemotherapy with Herceptin + Vinorelbine and Xeloda.
A repeat CT was done on 9 July 2008. The result showed a reduction in size of the pulmonary and liver masses and resolution of the mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy (see below).
SA continued with her chemotherapy, as usual (from 8 May 2008 to 20 October 2008).
SA was again evaluated. X-ray, MRI and PET / CT scan done on 12 November 2008 indicated the following:
Chest X-ray showed lungs were well inflated. No focal mass lesion, lobar collapse or consolidation was seen. Normal chest radiograph.
CT brain is normal. No intracranial bleed or space-occupying mass lesion.
MRI of thoracolumbar spine showed no evidence of enhancing mass lesion in the distal spinal cord and conus medullaris. No bone metastasis was detected. However, there was abnormal soft tissue enhancement seen in the interspinous space from L2-L3 to L4-L5 levels. Mild disc protrusions were present at L3-L4 and L4-L5 levels.
PET / CT scan showed:
SA remained well and she continued to receive her Herceptin injections in Indonesia. However, in the early morning of 2 January 2009, she fainted and was unconscious for a few hours. She was sent to a hospital where she regained her consciousness.
SA suffered generalised epilepsy with dizziness. She had memory loss, confusion and vomiting. SA went back to her oncologist in Singapore on 12 January 2009. MRI of her brain showed the cancer had spread to many parts of her brain. The biggest of these multiple lesions was 3.5 cm x 3. 5 cm.
MRI Report 13 January 2009
As a result of the above, the neurologist started SA on Keppra (leveticetam) – an anti-epileptic drug to treat seizures. She was also referred to the radiation oncologist for whole brain radiotherapy.
This was what her oncologist wrote:
Impression: Metastatic HER 2 positive breast cancer with multiple brain metastases.
SA was started on Xeloda and Tykerb
Tentative Chemotherapy Schedule 1 April 2009
A PET / CT scan was done on 8 July 2009. Unfortunately the nodules in her lung showed increase in FDG activity. And some of the lung nodules had grown in size.
PET / CT Study 8 July 2009
In July 2009, SA fainted again while at home. This time it took a longer time for her to regain her consciousness. Nevertheless she continued taking her medications.
SA and her husband came to seek our help on 24 August 2009. She was unable to walk straight. She could not focus her eyes and her angle of vision was narrow.
She was prescribed herbs: Capsule A, Breast M, Lung and Brain Teas. Unfortunately, no long after her visit, SA died.
Comments:
SA was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in March 2006 and about two years later, it progressed to Stage 4 – with metastases in her lungs and liver. How and why could this happen? Perhaps her breast cancer was of an aggressive kind?
Treatment of Stage 4 is just palliative as stated by her oncologist’s report. Do patients understand what palliative means? Perhaps patients need to take note of what Amy Cohen said:
Herceptin and other drugs were used after the discovery of SA’s metastases. The treatment probably cost a lot of money. And this was just to keep her alive for a while more? Not to cure her, of course. Please understand that!
SA was on Herceptin from May 2008 to December 2008 – a three weekly treatment. A CT scan of her brain on 12 November 2008 did not show any abnormality. However, less than two months later, 2 January 2009, SA fainted and was unconscious. The cancer went to her brain. The multiple lesions in her brain were mind boggling. How could this happen so fast? Why did the cancer spread to the brain in no time?
I must admit I feel a chill in my spine whenever patients come to me after being treated with Herceptin for their breast cancer. I have two patients like SA before this.
Fransiska, an Indonesian lady, was thirty-two years old when she found a 1.6 cm lump in her breast. She underwent a lumpectomy in a Singapore hospital in November 2004. Some lymph nodes in her arm pit were also infected. After surgery, Fransiska received 35 radiation treatments. She was well after the treatment. About two years later her cancer spread to her lungs. She underwent chemotherapy and received six cycles of Taxol plus eight injections of Herceptin. A bone scan showed the cancer had spread to her spine. In January 2008, a scan showed a 8 x 7 mm mass in her brain and a 1.4 x 9.0 cm mass in her liver. She was prescribed Xeloda and Tykerb (lapatinib). The last email I received from Fransiska was on 30 October 2008. Soon after this, Fransiska slipped into coma and she died in mid-December 2008 – four years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2010/12/09/fransiska-died-after-surgery-radiotherapy-chemotherapy-herceptin-tamoxifen-xeloda-and-tykerb/
Yee was 40 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2005. She underwent a mastectomy. It was a Stage 2 disease with no lymph node involvement. The tumour was 3 x 2 x 2 cm in size. After surgery, Yee received six cycles of FAC chemotherapy (5-FU, Andiamycin and Cyclophosphamide). No radiotherapy was indicated. After chemotherapy she was started on tamoxifen. Yee was well for about 9 months. In January 2007, she noted a swelling in the right side of her neck. The cancer had spread to her lungs. Yee was given eight cycles of taxane-based chemotherapy but the treatment was not effective. Yee received more chemotherapy – six cycles of Navelbine + Herceptin. Yee was also on the oral drug, Tykerb. The treatment failed again. Yee received 28 times of radiation treatment while at the same time continuing with Tykerb. A CT scan done on 19 December 2008, indicatedmultiple brain metastases. Yee diedin early February 2009. https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2010/12/08/yee-died-after-extensive-and-costly-medical-treatments/
Doing the Same Thing and Expecting Different Results?
Study the three tragic cases above. Do you see a common trend? Fransiska – with Stage 2 breast cancer with some node involvement – underwent surgery and received chemotherapy, radiotherapy, Herceptin, Tykerb and Xeloda. The cancer went to her brain. Fransiska died.
Yee had Stage 2 breast cancer without lymph node involvement. She underwent chemotherapy – FAC, and later taxane- based drugs, and lastly Navelbine + Herceptin – at different stages of disease progression. She also took Tamoxifen and Tykerb. The cancer spread to her brain. Yee died.
In this case, SA had Stage 2 breast cancer with node involvement. She had chemotherapy, Herceptin, radiotherapy, Xeloda and Tykerb. She too had brain metastases and died.
Einstein once said: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Herceptin and Brain Metastasis
The analysis of 231 patients who received trastuzumab as first-line therapy and 61 who did not receive the drug showed that patients who received trastuzumab (Herceptin) had nearly a threefold higher risk of developing CNS (central nervous system) metastases compared with patients not receiving trastuzumab. http://www.cancernetwork.com/display/article/10165/61283
A posting in the internet by Gregory Pawelski said: In regards to Herceptin, you might want to note that past studies have suggested a potentially very serious weakness in the drug, the problem with central nervous system (CNS) metastasis. Patients receiving Herceptin as first-line therapy for metastatic disease frequently developed brain metastases while responding to or stable on Herceptin at other disease sites.
Herceptin combined with standard chemotherapy will have as many as 4% of women who take the regimen develop symptoms of congestive heart failure, compared with less than 1% of women given chemotherapy alone. Herceptin has been in use only a few years. We don’t know what will happen 10 or 20 years from now. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/opinions/10503/
Japanese researchers wrote this: A high rate of brain metastases has been reported among patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2)-over-expressing metastatic breast cancer who were treated with trastuzumab (Herceptin).
In their research they found that patients with HER2-overexpressing breast cancer treated with trastuzumab had a high incidence of brain metastases (36.3%). http://www.springerlink.com/content/t377q1587m66n0m3/ Brain metastases in patients who receive trastuzumab-containing chemotherapy for HER2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer.
This is a write up in the website of City of Hope (a well known cancer hospital in California, USA):
Physicians know it. Researchers know it. Breast cancer patients learn it quickly after diagnosis. Cancer isn’t one disease with one cure for everyone. That helps to explain why some treatments don’t work against breast cancer, even when they seem like they should.
A patient whose breast cancer is HER2-positive is often treated with the drug Herceptin. But some HER2-positive patients don’t respond to Herceptin. There’s currently no easy way to tell in advance whether the drug will work for each HER2-positive patient. So how can a woman avoid the side effects and cost of the drug if it’s unlikely to work? http://breakthroughs.cityofhope.org/tag/herceptin/
Look At the Big Picture
After the mastectomy and chemotherapy, SA was well for two years. Ask this question: Even WITHOUT chemotherapy could she not be well for two years? Anyway, let us give everyone the benefit of the doubt (let’s say that you need chemo to live for two years, without chemo you are dead right away). In this round one, SA won a battle.
SA’s cancer recurred and spread to her lungs and liver. Why?
Dr. Barry Boyd (in The Cancer Recovery Plan) said: Once cancer treatment is completed, most patients are left on their own to cope with the rest of their lives. This is what I call falling off the cliff. Patients are left in free fall. I would call this MISMANAGEMENT or BAD MANAGEMENT. Often patients are told to go home – eat anything they like and live the old-lifestyle that had brought about their cancer. In short, patients are not taught to change and live a healthier life.
After the metastasis, more chemos were given. The tumours in her lungs and liver decreased in size. Again another battle appeared to have been won. The idea that after treatment the tumour has shrunk in size is very attractive indeed – to both doctors and patients alike. The point not clearly told to patients is that the shrinkage of tumour may eventually turn out to be meaningless. Shrinkage may not translate into cure or prolonged survival. It is true in this case – and it is equally true with many other cases that I have seen. A PET scan in July 2009 unfortunately showed that the lung nodules had increased activity and had grown in size. The earlier good and encouraging results are just meaningless.
In the earlier stages of treatment, SA seemed to have won some battles but she lost the war against her cancer. Not long after her apparent victory SA died.
Over the past weeks, many patients wrote and came to CA Care asking for help with their breast cancer. Below is the kind of e-mail we get.
Excuse Me, Dr. Chris K.H. Teo,
My name is W. I am from Indonesia. My mother had a breast cancer on her right breast. She already did a biopsy, and was told that her cancer is grade 3 and the diameter is 3cm. But her body and psychology looks great. Her breast structure still looks good, only a little bit bigger than before. The doctor here recommended that my mother go for a surgery, chemotherapy, and so on. Question: What I want to ask is: Can my family come to your place (CA Care as I know) and get a better solution for my mother’s problem besides undergoing surgery and the chemotherapy stuff?
Let me present you the story of LL below. I hope those (like the writer above) who face similar problem can learn from her experience. May this story be your guide and make you think hard about what you can or need to do. Be an empowered patient – decide what you want and don’t be led by the nose.
1. Breast Lump – What to do next?
Fifty-one year old LL is a family friend. In mid-July 2012, she felt a lump in her breast. Without wasting much time she went to see a doctor in a private hospital. An ultrasound was done. The findings are:
There is a solid irregular hypoechoic lesion in 1 o’oclock left breat, which is palpable. It measures 1.2 x 1.4 cm in size. This is associated with enlarged left axillary node, measuring 1.2 x 2.2 cm in size.
There are multiple round well defined cysts in both breasts.
In the left breast, the cysts are at 1 o’clock (0.3 cm); 6 o’clock (0.6 cm) and 9 o’clock (0.7cm) and 11 o’clock (0.6 cm).
In the right breast, the cysts are at 12 o’clock (0.7 cm), subareolar region 12 o’clock (2.9 cm) 3 o’clock (04. cm), 4 o’clock (0.6 cm) 6 o’clock (2.1 cm) and 8 o’clock (0.5 cm).
LL was a bit concerned about the above findings and wanted our advice. She came to our house and we went through the report and images.
My Comment: I told LL she had taken the right first step. And I am saying this to all patients who find lumps in their breasts. Go and see a doctor and ask him to do an ultrasound. Find out exactly what the lump is. Don’t be like an ostrich trying to bury your head in the sand. Some patients would want to pretend that there is nothing wrong – a kind of denial! Let me say this: It is dangerous! Don’t play with your life!
Based on the images below, I told LL that the irregular shaped lump in her left breast was suspicious. It looks like a malignant lump. There is reason to be concern. The rest of the lumps or cysts in her breasts appear to be benign.
2. To do biopsy or not to do a biopsy?
LL was told by her doctor to do a biopsy. If the result confirms malignancy the next step is to undergo a surgery.
My Comment: As I have said earlier in this website, you need to remove the malignant lump. There is no two ways about it. Don’t ever hope that by taking juices, herbs or applying certain “magic” potion, the cancerous lump will go away. Over the past 16 years I have seen women who came to us with “rotten” breast – being misled, believing that some of these alternative treatments can make the tumour disappear. That is wishful thinking. Perhaps it some cases people claim that the lump may disappear after their “magic” treatment but that could possibly be a rare exception rather than a general outcome.
LL went to see a breast specialist. He was rather busy and LL did not get to talk to him much. LL was hurriedly told that after the biopsy she needed to proceed with surgery. Then after the surgery there are many other things more to do.
My Comment: I asked LL: Are you happy after meeting that doctor? LL replied: No. But what can I do. He is supposed to be the best in town. My advice to LL and all ladies: If you are not happy with your “potential” caregiver or doctor, go find someone else. Don’t be that helpless, because you have other doctors who can do the same job for you.
There is a lump in LL’s breast. This is most likely cancerous or it may turn out against all odds to be benign. Here are a few questions to ask:
If the biopsy result shows that the lump is not cancerous, do you still want to keep it inside your breast? Or you still want to remove it? Perhaps for the sake of “peace of mind” you want to get it out too?
What if the biopsy result is wrong? That is to say, the result says it is benign but sometime later it turns out to be cancerous? A negative result may not necessary be negative – or to put it differently, if something is not there, it does not mean that it is not there! It is just that you don’t see it or you don’t have a tool sensitive enough to see it. But whatever is there that can be seen, it is most probable that it is there! How else can it not be there (unless it is an artifact or “manufactured”)!
LL told me that it does not matter whether the lump is cancerous or not, she wants it out. If that is the case, LL needs to tell her doctor that there is no need for her to undergo surgical intervention twice. Why do a biopsy first. Wait for the result and the come back again to do another surgery.
Ask the surgeon to remove the lump with a clear margin and immediately send the tumour for testing. If it is cancerous, the surgeon should just go ahead and remove the lump or breast. This way LL suffers less stress and anxiety. So that is what LL decided to do.
4. Lumpectomy or mastectomy?
The lump in question is 1.2 x 1.4 cm in size. It looks like LL has a choice to either do a lumpectomy (i.e. remove the lump only) or do a mastectomy, i.e., remove the entire breast. LL decided to remove her whole breast.
My Comment: From my reading, for a small lump, a lumpectomy is equally effective as a mastectomy. While in theory, it is so – in practice it may not be so. I have often seen patients coming to us after a lumpectomy. Some cancerous tissue was still left behind in the breast! The most common problem is the margin was not clean. This goes to say that not all breast surgeons do a good job. So, LL understood the risk she has to take if she were to go for a lumpectomy.
However, I need to stress that patients need to decide for themselves – lumpectomy or mastectomy. However, if the tumour is large (above 3 cm) then a lumpectomy may not be indicated. You have no choice!
5. Find the right surgeon
Not all doctors are the same. Some are good, some are not good. In this, any empowered patient has a choice to who you want to go to. My advice to all patients: Go to someone who shows some concern and empathy towards you. If you don’t like the way he talks to you, or even if for some reason you don’t like “his/her face” – then go find someone else!
The reality of today’s medical treatment is all about money. With due respect, if you don’t have money to pay the bills, there is no use talking about choices. You have no choice but to go to the government hospital. There you pay a minimal amount for your cancer treatment, but if you elect to go to a private hospital, you can except to fork out RM 5,000 to RM 20,000 for your initial treatment. But, if you have the money to pay or are covered by medical insurance, then you have a choice. In this case, LL has an insurance cover to a limit of RM 50,000 per year for 10 years!
When I first wrote these articles I was shocked to learn that there is such a wide variation in the costs, from doctor to doctor, for doing the same job. An all-in surgery cost can be around RM 15,000 (it is common knowledge that fees and expenses are jacked up if you have insurance cover!). Since we are on this topic of money, I also learned that a 10-minute chat with an oncologist can cost S$700 (RM 1,500) in Singapore; RM 106 to RM 150 in Penang; and RM 250 in Kuala Lumpur. So you have a choice. Some patients are not concerned with the fees, because their insurance will pay for it anyway. But if you have to foot the bill from your own pocket, perhaps you would appreciate my point.
The lesson to learn is, no matter who you see, the probable “knowledge” you get from the oncologist is not far from this – You need to go for chemo. The chance of cancer coming back is X percent if you do chemo and radiotherapy and take the hormonal pill. If you don’t do as suggested your life will be at risk. The chance of cancer coming back is high. And if you have the financial resources to consult two or three more experts, the chances are you end up more confused because different experts give you different percentages, views and approaches.
Having made the above points to LL, I then suggested that she go and see more surgeons for her problem. She has already consulted with one and was not happy with him. I suggested a few more names. Let me say this right out front. I know of these names from our patients who say they are good. I have never met anyone of them before and I gain nothing for doing this. I do this because I believe I am doing the right thing – to ask you to go to the right doctor of your choice so that you will have more confidence going through this ordeal.
So LL went to see Surgeon No: 2. She came back to let me know that he was okay – although a bit too busy to make her feel comfortable. Since she is not entirely happy with this surgeon, then I told LL to go to Surgeon No: 3. He was not a busy man and was not in a rush to show her the door. Unfortunately, he has an uncompromising style. Bear in mind that LL goes to see her doctor with a well defined aim. She does not want to do a biopsy first and then a mastectomy later. This surgeon probably has not much experience dealing with an empowered patient. He got irritated and told her that it is the standard operating procedure and she must follow what he said. Well, he lost a patient that day (perhaps, future referral from me too!).
Not happy, LL went to Surgeon No: 4. LL felt good about him. He had the patience to explain what he wanted to do for her. After the lump was removed, LL would be “kept aside” for about 30 minutes while the lump was sent for analysis in the lab. If the result shows malignancy the surgeon would go ahead to remove her whole breast. LL was given a choice to go for the surgery the next day or wait for another “operation day” three days later.
I asked LL if she was happy with Surgeon No: 4. She said: Absolutely. Although I told LL not to rush into the surgery, she had decided that she wanted to go ahead with it the next day. After all she was mentally prepared to face the knife. So be it.
The total cost of LL’s mastectomy was RM 13,000 and post-surgery expenses came to another RM 5,000. For your information, I have two patients who underwent a mastectomy in a similar grade private hospital. One patient paid RM 3,500 only and other RM 6,000.
There were no complications and LL came out of it well, as expected and as planned. But the next battle is about to begin. The histopathology reported a tumour nodule measuring about 20 x 15 x 12 mm. It is an invasive ductal carcinoma, Grade 2. There is probable lympho-vascular involvement. Three out of a total of 18 axillary lymph nodes contained metastatic ductal carcinoma. The tumour is negative for Her-2 but positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors. LL was told this is a Stage 2 cancer.
6. Meeting with an oncologist
LL told her surgeon that she would not want to do chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The surgeon persuaded her not to abandon the standard medical treatment. He referred LL to an oncologist. I told LL to go ahead and consult the oncologist – after all, his consultation costs only RM 106. I told LL: Don’t close your door – go and listen to what the oncologist has got to offer you. In this way, you would not regret for missing out “something.” And this same message applies to all patients who come and see us.
Patients would be better off if they go to the oncologist well prepared with the following questions:
Can chemo, radiotherapy and the hormonal therapy that he is going to give you CURE your cancer? Remember, a cure means the cancer will go away and not recur at anytime in the future?
If there no “permanent” cure, then what is the objective of the treatment?
What is the success rate of the treatment? What would happen if you do not do the treatment that he suggested?
What are the short-term and long-term side effects? How serious would that be?
How much will the whole treatment cost? (That is, If money is a concern).
LL came back to report what happened. The consultation lasted about 10 minutes (that probably would not be enough time to answer all those questions?). How do you like the meeting with the oncologist? No, LL was not impressed or happy. Her husband said: The talk was about money first. This treatment will cost RM 30,000. In addition LL has to undergo 25 times of radiation treatment at a cost of RM 7,000. After that LL has to take hormonal drug (Fermara or Tamoxifen) for five years. This cost about RM 700 per month. Since LL has a health insurance, they will make sure that all the expenses will be paid by the Insurance Company. LL has to undergo six cycles of chemo with FEC (5-FU + Epirubicin + Cyclophosphamide) – the standard recipe for breast cancer.
The only time left for discussion is: What happen if I do all these treatments? With chemotherapy, the chance of cancer NOT coming back is 75 percent, according to the oncologist’s computer. What happen if I do not do all these treatments? The chance of cancer NOT coming back is 30 percent. This means that with all these treatments the oncologist claimed that LL has a benefit of 45 percent. According to LL, the oncologist obtained all these numbers from his computer. He looked at the medical report, keyed in some data and read out the prognosis. I asked: He did not look at you in your eyes and rattle out the numbers based on his very own experience – after treating so many patients? LL felt the same way – he just read out the numbers from the computer!
My Comment: I guess the oncologist was using the Adjuvant Online program. But I am a bit puzzled if LL has misunderstood what the oncologist said – benefit of 45 percent. A lady with breast from Singapore also had her prognosis read out from a computer. For a tumour of 2.1 to 3.0 cm in size (which is bigger than LL’s tumour) and ER positive (like LL) the benefit of combined chemo and hormonal therapy is only 17.4 percent!
LL told me. No I have already decided that I am NOT going to do all these treatments. I value my quality of life and I don’t want to go through all these and suffer. I want to live a normal life.
I fully understand the fear LL has. In this website, I have written many articles under the general heading: Dissecting Chemotherapy. Read them and you know what LL means. In one article, Experiencing the Harmful Side Effects and Collateral Damage, Terry Thompson, a retired US Air Force colonel wrote about his wife’s experience with chemo for her breast cancer. He wrote: Today, I can assure that its devastating effect was eclipsed only by Connie’s death. And, of course, my experience was nothing compared to what she had to deal with.
I want to make it very clear here that the decision to undergo and not to undergo chemotherapy MUST BE YOUR DECISION. I am not here to encourage or discourage you from undergoing any medical treatment. I can provide you with honest, alternative views for you to make up your mind. But you must make that vital decision yourself and don’t try to make us your scapegoat should anything go wrong later.
7. The burden shifts to CA Care
Before cancer patients come and see us, we require them to see the doctors first. We require their medical reports to understand what is going on. Almost all patients who come have undergone medical treatments and they could not find their cure. CA Care was their last resort. In spite of that, some patients still want to make CA Care their scapegoat.
In this case, LL had made her decision not to go for chemo. I respect her wishes. But to LL and all patients, let me remind you not to close all doors of opportunity. If indeed, in the future, you fail to achieve what you want, you should still go for your chemo. Of course, the mantra is that – It is too late! You should not have wasted your time with those unproven therapy. As explained earlier, the real fact is that, the so-called proven therapy is just as unproven! Most of the patients who come to see us are medically given up cases (unlike LL). Terry Thompson’s wife died after three years – that was after undergoing the proven medical therapy!
Patients are often told that with the proven therapy, the chance of cure is 89 percent (click link to read this story), and in LL’s case it is 75 percent. However, a study by oncologists in Australia said the benefit of chemotherapy is only 2.3 percent in Australia and 2.1 percent in the USA.
In my article: Please Tell Patients the Real Truth, I quoted Dr. Morton Walker: I was astounded at how distorted the physicians’ presentations were when they discussed the side effects of their treatments. The doctors appeared to become almost like used-car salesmen in a pitch for their surgery, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy. I know something about medical practices and oncology from my work as a medical researcher and as a former practicing podiatrist. In my opinion, the information the oncologists gave my fiancee was hardly an honest assessment of the relative benefits and risks associated with the recommended treatments.
If LL wants to travel this alternative road for her breast cancer, she must understand the following points.
1. Not all breast cancer are the same, and not all patients respond to the same treatments in the same way.
2. Statistics is about a group of people, and it does not necessarily apply to you.
3. There is NO right or wrong choice.
4. Patients should give full respect to their doctors. Listen to what they have to say or offer. Evaluate what they say and then make up your own mind. Patients should not be arrogant when expressing their requests or questions.
Remember, you are not “at war” with the doctors – you are “at war” with your cancer! However, patient-oriented care, also calls for doctors to give due respect to their patients. Caregivers should be sensitive to patients’ need, wishes and beliefs. In short, respect must work both ways.
5. This is your journey. It is only you and you alone who have to choose your path. Others can only empathize and help you. So with all the information you gather from different sources, make your decision wisely. Do what you think is right for you.
On 20 May 2012, RO (B-696) came to our centre. It has been some years since we last saw her. Anyway, we were glad that RO is still doing fine. RO came with her blood test results (see table) and we read RO’s meridian using the AcuGraph. Basically the results were alright. RO also felt that she was doing fine without any complaints whatsoever.
We told RO, “There is nothing much to worry about. Do what you are doing and keep it that way!” She had “won” the battle against her breast cancer – without chemotherapy or radiotherapy of course!
The Story of RO
Sometime in 2001, RO felt a lump in her right breast. The lump was mobile and it came on and off. There was no pain. RO was only 36 years old then. A year later, on 9 October 2002, she went to consult a doctor in a private hospital. An ultrasound indicated an irregular mass with an approximate size of 1.7 x 1.4 x 1.1 cm. Multiple small microcalcification are noted in this lesion, very suspicious of a primary malignancy. A tru-cut biopsy was performed and confirmed an invasive mammary ductual carcinoma, Grade 3.
RO subsequently underwent a right mastectomy. The pathology report dated 16 October 2002 indicated an infiltrating ductal carcinoma with presence of tumour cells close to the deep surgical margin. All six right axillary lymph nodes are free of tumour. The tumour cells are moderately positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors. There is an over expression of P53 in about 40% of the tumour cells. There is focal membrane positivity for c-ErbB2 oncoprotein in the tumour cells.
Comment by Consultant Pathologist: An ER and PR positive tumour is likely to respond to hormone therapy and is associated with a greater probability of a disease-free survival. ErbB2 (neu/HER-2) is an independent prognostic marker, and overexpression is correlated with a poor prognosis. It is generally associated with a shorter disease-free interval and lower overall survival rate. In some studies, p-53 has been shown to be an independent marker of adverse prognosis.
An ultrasound on 17 October 2002 indicated presence of a 3.4 x 2.5 cm uterine fibroid. There was no evidence of metastatic disease.
RO was referred to an oncologist for further management. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy were suggested. She refused further medical treatment and came to seek our help on 1 November 2002. She was prescribed Capsule A, C-tea and Breast M. In addition she was asked to take GY 5 and GY 6 for her uterine fibroid which she continued to take for a while and then stopped.
Since October 2002 until 2012, we got to see RO once a while. Her blood test results over the years (from November 2002 to May 2012) are as follows:
11 Nov02
12 Nov03
29May04
26Aug06
4Jun08
10 Oct10
8Jun 11
16May12
ESR
22 H
10
4
24 H
2
33 H
22 H
20
RBC
4.6
4.4 L
4.5
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
4.0
Haemoglobin
9.4 L
9.9 L
10.4 L
8.9 L
9.6 L
8.9
9.6 L
7.3 L
Platelet
390
332
394
359
385
469 H
487 H
397
WBC
6.1
6.0
8.6
7.2
5.4
4.7
5.2
5.0
CEA
0.1
1.3
0.8
0.2
<0.5
1.1
1.5
1.4
CA 15.3
14.0
11.2
12.1
10.5
7.7
10.9
13.5
11.7
CA 125
n/a
49.1 H
65.3 H
108.4 H
99.9 H
53.5 H
74.3 H
156.6 H
The Story of RA (sister of RO)
In mid-July 2004, we received a fax from RO requesting us to help her sister, RA (T-20), who had just discovered a lump in her right breast. RA was 41 years old then. A biopsy was performed followed by a right mastectomy. According to the pathology report of 6 July 2004, the tumour was about 4.0 x 30 x 25 mm in size. It was an infiltrating ductal as well as intraductal and comedo type carcinoma. There was lymphatic vascular embolization of tumour with metastases to four out of thirteen right axillary lymph nodes. There was also Paget’s disease of the right nipple.
RA was asked to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She refused and came to seek our help on 17 July 2004. She was prescribed Capsule A, Breast M and C-tea. RA took our herbs for more than a year and was doing alright.
1 Oct 04
24 Jan 05
24 Dec05
ESR
6
2
5
RBC
4.4
4.3
4.5
Platelet
193
192
232
WBC
5.9
5.7
7.3
Alkaline phosphatase
65
78
59
AST
21
26
21
ALT
28
27
36
GGT
9
11
11
CEA
20
2.4
1.8
CA 15.3
6.9
4.1
7.1
In 2004 (from July to December) we got to see RA only three times. In 2005 RA came to see us five times. We suspected from then on she defaulted taking the herbs and also did not take care of her diet. Her first visit to us in the year 2006 was in July. She told us that she felt like there was a “hard bone” in her right breast. We suggested that she go and check it out with her doctor. She was reluctant. We got to see RA again three months later, in October 2006. After that she disappeared from our “radar.”
On 10 June 2007, RA came back to see us again. She told us of what had happened the past one year. The “hard bone” which she told us earlier was actually a recurrence and this occurred at the previous operation scar. But there was also a lump under her right armpit. Since she ignored it for a while, the lump “burst” and left a hole in her breast. She went back to her surgeon and was referred to an oncologist. So from January to May 2007. RA underwent six cycles of chemotherapy. On completion of the treatment RA was awarded a “Certificate of Achievement” below.
The chemo treatment cost RM 18,000. After the chemo, the lump in the armpit shrunk. She was then referred to the government hospital for further management. The doctor at the government hospital told her that radiation was not necessary in her case. A bone scan showed that the cancer had spread to her bones. She was put on Tamoxifen and had been taking it when she came to see us.
On 2 December 2007, RA came back to see us again with her CT scan report done on 21 November 2007. The study showed presence of 0.5 and 0.7 cm nodules in the apex of her right lung and a 0.3 cm nodule in the apex of her left lung. There is a 0.9 cm node seen at the right side of her chest wall which could represent recurrence. There is a 1 cm hypodense cyst in Segment 2 of her liver and multiple hypodense lesions in Segments 3, 4, 5 and 8. These represent liver secondaries.
RA was told that her cancer was a Stage 4. She had to undergo more chemotherapy. We did not get to see RA again. We came to know from her sister that RA went for more chemotherapy and died after that.
Sixty two weeks of chemo followed by radiotherapy and 5 years of aromatase inhibitors – will these make you sick?
Anne (not real name) is a 51-year-old Canadian. She had a lump under her nipple. A CT Scan on 14 February 2011 showed a 1.5 cm tumour in left breast, multiple enlarged lymph nodes but no spread to the surrounding tissues or organs.
Anne underwent a left breast mastectomy and removal of 13 axillary lymph nodes on 1 March 2011. It was a Stage 2 infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The margins were clear. Eleven of 13 lymph nodes were affected. The tumour was positive for Estrogen (4), Progesterone (3), P53 (80%) and HER2 (3+).
This was what Anne wrote:
My doctor has left all of the treatment options up to me. She is not pushing me in any one direction. She suggested I “shop around” and get lots of information and statistics. She gave me the names of three oncologists at three different hospitals.
Oncologist One said SIXTY-TWO WEEKS of chemo! Twelve weeks TAC (Taxotere + Andriamycin + Cyclophamide), 12 weeks TH (Taxotere and Herceptin) and radiotherapy. Herceptin for the remainder of a year, and 5 years of aromatase inhibitors!!! He did a blood test to confirm that I am menopausal. He told me if I did radiation alone it would give me 5%, with hormones up to 20%, with chemo and herceptin up to 50%. BUT the prognosis is only good for 2-3 years, as they haven’t done long term studies on Herceptin! Those numbers do NOT impress me!
A radiologist said almost the same thing as the oncologist.
I was VERY upset with the oncologist when he took one look at my report, and without asking questions, said that I HAD to do 62 weeks of chemo! When I told him I didn’t WANT to do chemo, he said, “Well, then it’s 100% chance of recurrence.” When I asked what my options were, he told me I didn’t have any! His attitude ALONE lost me as a patient, without even CONSIDERING anything else!
We all walk different paths, and have different experiences. But one thing I DO know. Most of the people who have seen, or been close to, someone who went through all the chemo and radiation, swear they would never do it themselves. Those who have actually DONE the chemo and/or radiation tell me they would NEVER do it again.
I have observed FAR too many people go through chemo and radiation, and die anyway, or have such bad after effects that their quality of life is non-existent. I choose quality over quantity!
I do not walk down this path blindly. I have looked in many directions. I have searched through the light and the dark. I have looked at both my insides and my outsides. I know that I am now on the correct path to help myself. Whether this leads me to a long life of health, or whether this gives me 2 or 3 years of health and happiness and then I die of cancer doesn’t matter. What matters is the here and now, and the fact that I BELIEVE that this is the path that I need to take.
I have NEVER been a great believer in conventional medicine, due to personal and family experiences. I have always sought out alternative or complementary medicine, through naturopaths and homeopaths.
Anne decided to forgo further medical treatments and was started on CA Care’s herbs. About seven months later, I had a chance to meet up with Anne again. From our conversation, I have learned something new – Anne pointed out that having breast cancer did not make her sick! She was a “healthy” person and it just happened that she had a cancerous lump in her breast! But surely, with chemo and radiation – these so called “cures” would make her sick! You get her message?
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Of course, from what the medical reports said, Anne’s cancer was indeed serious. But she decided against the “conventional wisdom” of undergoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy or taking Tamoxifen. And she was aware of the risk that she was taking but she preferred quality life rather than quantity but “miserable” life. That was her choice. Cancer patients – you too can make your own choice. Go where your heart tells you to go.
It has been more than a year now and I was told that Anne was doing fine and is still taking her herbs. She last saw her surgeon on 14 March 2012 and was told that everything was alright. Since after her breast cancer surgery Anne remained active – she flew to Canada to visit her family, attended her friend’s wedding in South Africa, and went to Kenya many times on her school project. Although she has cancer, her life still goes on. Imagine what could have happened if she went into a panic / fear mode and agreed to what the oncologist wanted her to do – undergo sixty two weeks of chemo followed by radiotherapy and 5 years of aromatase inhibitor? Would she be what and where she is today?
This learned professor reminded us that health is our responsibility. Do not mortgage this responsibility to our doctors and other specialists. Do you believe they know more about our health better than us? The medical establishment may want us to believe that this is the correct thing to do – to trust them all the way! This may not be the right thing to do when it comes to cancer. Many patients have found out this the hard way – much too late. Professor Zajicek said: doctors’ arguments are wrapped in hypocrisy and double talk.
Professor Zajicek painted the reaction of a woman after she discovers that she has a lump in her breast. Ponder what he said seriously. You may not want to be this woman!
Yesterday, a woman felt healthy. Today, she discovers a small lump in her breast. Suddenly she becomes ill, realizing that she carries an evil disease. The lump is her death sentence. In reality, she is healthy. The lump does not pose an immediate threat to her. Nevertheless she panicked. It is not cancer that causes her misery, but society and medicine that promote this fatalistic perception.
Now this woman is alarmed and rushes to her doctor the next day. She undergoes a mammography and biopsy and is told she has cancer. The doctor tells her that she is very ill. Her world turns upside down.
Before detecting the lump, this woman is otherwise a healthy person not until she is given the cancer mask to wear. Her doctor is now preoccupied with her cancer mask. Fear is generated. Everything needs to be done quickly and urgently to fight and save her life from this evil disease – the tumour! So this woman has to act, to conform to the roles of the mask that she wears. She now acquires a new disease called the mind-cancer. From then on she sinks into the abyss of misery, believing that she will die rather soon.
Ask these questions: Before the discovery of the lump, and before consulting her doctor – what was her life like? She was as fit as a fiddle, wasn’t she? Then suddenly a change of fortune befalls her just because she had discovered a lump in her breast. What is the real cause of her misery? The lump in her breast or the perception of evil being spun by society and the medical establishment?
Anne was an odd ball when it comes to her cancer. She wrote:
Nobody knows my body like I do, and trust me, it’s taken a lot of years, and a lot of fights with doctors, to get to that point! But I DO know my body, and I DO know what it will or will not tolerate. No doctor can tell me any different, because he or she HASN’T walked in my shoes, or lived in my body. When doctors begin to understand that ONE simple thing, the world will be a much better place!!!
I think many, if not MOST, people react out of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the future. Fear of failure. Fear of death (their own AND others). Just plain old FEAR, period. If they don’t understand it or can’t explain it, they don’t want to have anything to do with it. They don’t trust it, so they fear it. Many people are so afraid of dying that they will believe ANYTHING the doctors tell them, in hopes of NOT dying. Many people feel they “aren’t smart enough” or “don’t know enough” to make their own decisions. After all, these doctors have YEARS of training and experience.
Many people also have not had the “experience” with cancer that I have. I have watched far too many friends, both old and young, go through the devastation of chemo. And I told every one of them to PLEASE stop the chemo, because it is THAT that was killing them, making them too weak to fight for their lives.
I refuse to let this cancer rule my life. I have so much more life to live, and so much to be thankful for. Not ready to give up and let the cancer take me. So I live each day BELIEVING that I can beat this. I laugh about it, joke about it, and treat it like a “friend”, not an enemy. I’m living WITH it, not AGAINST it. If I keep my body, my immune system, healthy and strong, it will take care of the cancer. I don’t need to fight it, my body (my BRAIN, actually!) will take care of it for me!
Let me reproduce some of the e-mails that Anne wrote. I believe you will be able to understand who she is and what she stands for.
History of cancer – Mother’s side: Grandmother – 49 yrs old (lived to 86 yrs) had ovarian cancer and had radiotherapy. Uncle – 74 years old (still alive at 76), had prostate cancer, underwent surgery and no further treatment. Mother – 67 years old (still alive at 74), had breast cancer Stage 2, underwent a mastectomy and took Tamoxifen (but discontinued after 1 year due to side effects.
History of cancer – Father’s side: Grandfather – 82 years old (died at 84), had Stage 4 lung (smoked all his life). No treatment. Uncle – 60 years old (still alive at 76), had Stage 3 colon (sigmoid), underwent surgery and did 1 cycle of 5 day chemo treatment and stopped. Aunt – 58 years old (still alive at 68), had breast lump (DCIS), underwent a lumpectomy and had radiation (25 regular plus 5 boosts), took Tamoxifen (5 years) and later Arimidex (5 years)
Sibling: Brother – 51 years old (still alive at 54), had Stage 3 prostate cancer. He had surgery and no further treatment.
22 March 2011: Thanks Chris. It’s pretty much what I feel about the cancer – that medical science has no idea what they’re doing!!! Too many times I’ve seen the results of the “doctors” knowing best!!! I’ve watched too many friends go through chemo, be so sick they could barely breathe, and then die of the cancer anyway. I don’t plan on dying anytime soon, and I’m going to help my body wage this war against the disease. I’m NOT going to cause my body more stress and wreck the immune system that I desperately NEED to stay healthy!!!
22 March 2011: Hi Chris, Just had to tell you this because I found it very funny!!! I was looking at some stuff on Keladi Tikus the other day, and had actually contacted someone about it. From what I’d been reading, it sounded pretty promising. I was going to e-mail you and ask you if you’d heard of it, or if it was okay to take it with your CA Care herbs, as you’d said we should NOT be taking other herbs while under your care! I decided to look a little further, and do some more research before e-mailing you. Imagine my surprise (and DELIGHT!!!) when I saw YOUR NAME as the ‘discoverer” of Keladi Tikus. I am a great believer in that all things happen for a reason. It seems to me that all roads are leading back to you!!! Thanks for everything!
23 March 2011: My breast specialist … She’s been amazing! She has NOT pushed me to do chemo or radiation. She told me to “shop around” for oncologists, because she doesn’t like the fact that they “lie” to her patients, by telling them they WILL be or ARE cured! She doesn’t like the statistics they offer, either. They vary too much from oncologist to oncologist … So far she has been open and helpful every time I’ve met with her. Luckily for me, I seem to have found “a good one”, who is actually interested in her patients’ overall health, and CARES!!!
At the moment, even my sister, who WORKS in cancer research at the National Cancer Institute in USA, is looking into alternative therapies. Since I was diagnosed, we have both spent COUNTLESS hours on the internet, looking things up. The statistics for chemo and radiation get drearier and drearier. And in some cases (like Herceptin and brain tumours!!!) are downright SCARY! Seeing as my cancer is HER2 +3, we both initially thought that Herceptin would be a good drug to try. Now definitely NOT! Same with aromatase inhibitors! My ER and PR are both positive, but low, and most research indicates that with low numbers it’s not nearly as effective as with the higher numbers. Again, are the side effects worth it? Hmmmmm.
Problem is that all factors point to the fact that I have an aggressive type of cancer, yet all the “treatments” sound worse than the cancer itself! I’m hoping that with the Ozone treatment, and your herbs and diet recommendations, it will at least hold it at bay for awhile. Prognosis is not good.
I read your book, Breast Cancer: The Herbal Option today. I had to laugh at some of the comments. I have indeed taken all of this in stride, have not cried, have used lots of humour, and don’t intend on letting it kill me any time soon!!! I did not go into panic or shock when I was told the biopsies were positive. Like some of the women in your book, I think I already knew, before the verdict came down. Unlike most of the women in your book, I had given this LOTS of thought, LONG before I was diagnosed. I have watched FAR too many friends go through the roller coaster ride of chemo and radiation and recurrence and devastation and suffering!!!!
I spent a week on an Alaska Cruise with a friend who had terminal stomach and oesophageal cancer, last summer. She had always been so radiant and alive and fun-loving, even though she had severe fibromyalgia. The drug she was taking for her fibro probably CAUSED the cancer, because they DIDN’T TELL HER that methotrexate was carcinogenic! And they weren’t monitoring her for cancer! I cannot BELIEVE that they would do that! By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it was already Stage 4, and they basically told her she could do chemo and radiation to “prolong her life”. Prolong her AGONY would be more like it! She was on a stomach feeding pump, taking a ton of medication, and so weak and sick to her stomach all the time, that she was not LIVING, she was EXISTING! Still, I got to spend that whole week with her, just the two of us, and I got to make a lifelong wish come true for her – she saw ALASKA!! We had lots of chances to talk, and she told me about the hell of chemo and radiation, and how in the end, she was just too weak to take any more. She died the day before her 51st birthday. She was two weeks younger than me!
I don’t intend on following her path. I intend on doing everything I can, NOW, while I still HAVE my health, to make myself better. That does NOT include chemo and radiation! I know I need to make my immune system STRONGER, not WEAKER! I know I need to detoxify my body, and eat healthy foods. I know that I need to keep a positive frame of mine (not hard for me, as I’m a pretty optimistic person, and get great pleasure out of being happy and having fun!), and BELIEVE that I can continue to fight this!
24 March 2011: Hi Chris, Was down …. for the PET/CT scan today, so decided to give Khadijah a call. She was there. She says the MAIN change I need to make is SLOW DOWN!!! I knew that!! The diet should be no problem, because I’ve been pretty much vegetarian for 25 years already. I do eat chicken breast sometimes, but haven’t had red meat for EVER, and don’t like seafood. The herbs I will take even if they DO smell and taste disgusting. And I have a very positive attitude and a great sense of humour, so that part is okay. But the part that is going to be difficult for me is going to be learning to take it easy, not expect so much of myself, and learn to relax more. I definitely am, and always have been, a perfectionist and a workaholic!!! She said “the big C” is CHANGE, not cancer!!!
25 March 2011: Hi Chris, Got the results from my PET/CT scan today, and it’s all clear. YAY!!!! I saw Dr. Surgeon today, too, and mentioned CA Care and Khadijah, and you, of course. I was wondering what her reaction would be, and WOW! She said that when her sister had colon cancer, they came to CA Care! She was quite surprised (and I think quite RELIEVED, actually) that I found you. But she told me you’ve done some GREAT work with your group. She said that she was impressed with your attitude to cancer, and the way that you teach people to deal with it. She has great faith in what you do!!! She also told me, “If anybody can beat this, YOU can!”
26 March 2011: Hi Chris, I think THAT is probably the most important part that you want to do what is best for your patients. I think oncologists (and a lot of doctors, too), treat everyone like they’re just a number, or a formula. You have x,y,z – so we give you p,q,r. And on with the next patient! I was VERY upset with the oncologist when he took one look at my report, and without asking questions, said that I HAD to do 62 weeks of chemo! When I told him I didn’t WANT to do chemo, he said, “Well, then it’s 100% chance of recurrence.” When I asked what my options were, he told me I didn’t have any!!! His attitude ALONE lost me as a patient, without even CONSIDERING anything else!!!
I have never believed in one size fits all. As a Special Needs teacher, my job is ALL ABOUT meeting individual needs. About finding out what each of those kids needs, and then finding ways to provide it, or make things work for them. Medicine is no different. Matter of fact, it should be even MORE individualized, because it’s really life or death you’re talking about. Doctors need to get to know their patients, and understand how their bodies work, before they can make diagnoses or hand out drugs. But all too often, they don’t! It’s the part of the whole profession that has always bothered me, and why I have, for the most part, steered clear of them!!! I have gone with naturopathic or alternative medicine for most of my life!!!
And I have to say, that Dr. Surgeon basically “putting her stamp” on me going to you for treatment, just made me think again, that all roads lead back to you, and this is the path that I NEED to take!!! Thanks for taking so much of your time to send me articles, e-mails, and most of all, for caring enough to do so!!!
26 March 2011: Hi Chris, Like I said, I’ve been doing nothing BUT research since this all started. I have been working with computers since 1977, but I’m sure that all told, I’ve spent more time on the computer in this past month and a half, than I have in my whole lifetime! I have checked out hundreds of medical journals, research articles, alternative therapies, complimentary medicine, vitamin supplements, different diets, you name it, I’ve read it!!
Like you, I am a voracious reader and will read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Khadijah almost FLIPPED when I told her the other day that I’d printed out Breast Cancer – The Herbal Option and read the WHOLE THING in ONE AFTERNOON!!! But that’s the way I do things. I’ve always been an information hound, and luckily for me, I can read very quickly, and even better, I remember pretty much everything I read.
So, having said all that, I will repeat what I have already told you a few times – all roads keep leading to you!
I am firm in my belief that alternative medicine – naturopathy, homeopathy, Chinese Traditional Medicine, whatever you want to name it – is FAR superior to the modern medical practices. The traditional medicines have been around FAR longer and have proven their worth over the test of time. I’ve seen modern medicines do far too much harm to people, including myself, my own children, and my family.
Like I said, the diet and herbs I have no difficulty with at all. I have had to be very aware of what I eat for a very long time! My stomach does not tolerate, or process properly, a lot of different foods.
My system does not tolerate a lot of chemicals (hence the knowledge that chemo would DESTROY me!). I react to MSG, Aspartame, sulphates and sulphites, nitrates and nitrites, and who knows how many others!?! I try to stay away from artificial flavours and colours.
By the same token, I very rarely take any kind of medication or drugs. I have never taken aspirin or any of the “everyday” type medicines. Never needed them! If I have a kidney infection, I will take anti-biotics, because nothing else seems to knock it out, but other than that, I try to stay clear. I was given Tylenol 3 with codeine for my migraines, but haven’t taken them in years. If I take one, it knocks me out cold for about 12 hours. Yes, it also knocks the migraine out, BUT . . . I feel drugged, and like a zombie, for DAYS afterwards!
I was once given muscle relaxants for a pulled muscle in my back. I couldn’t even FUNCTION! My speech was slurred, my vision was blurred, I had NO co-ordination! Over the years I have taken anti-inflammatories because I have a lot of old sports injuries, etc. I take them sparingly, and ONLY when I am in so much pain I can barely walk, which, thankfully, has not happened often in the past 15 or so years.
Well, I’m not a strong Christian, or a strong follower of ANY faith actually, but I DO believe in a higher being, and I DO believe that all things happen for a reason. I would definitely tell people that this is “God’s way of giving me a wake up call!” I DO believe that the power to heal myself MUST come from inside, and that attitude is a HUGE part of that healing process. And I DO believe in the ability of my body to tell me what is right or wrong for it, if I listen to what it is telling me! I am a firm believer in looking at the bright side, and being thankful for the good things in life. I love nature and am always happiest outdoors, away from the noise and pollution, and to be honest, away from people as well. People fill your head with too many thoughts and you can’t just relax and be yourself!!!
I come from a very small town on the BC/Alaska border, in Canada. I grew up not watching television or playing computer games, but outside playing in the snow, hiking, biking, skiing, swimming, snowshoeing, camping, and loving the outdoors. I love animals, children, flowers, nature, the night sky, thunderstorms, and of course, sunshine!!! My holidays tend to be somewhere where I am NOT in a city, where I can “get away from it all”, or somewhere that I can go explore the mysteries of history and religion and culture.
Although my day to day life is hectic and fast paced, and demands a lot of me, my away from work time tends to be focused much more on myself and being able to have that personal time and space to just BE! I learned a long time ago that I get what I call “peopled out” very easily. In a job where I am working one on one with people all day, by the end of the day, I’m finished with people, finished with talking, and finished with the general NOISE of chatter! I spend my evenings doing crafts, or talking with friends and family on the computer (usually TYPING not TALKING), listening to music, reading, sewing, or just relaxing in the sun for awhile. I love to swim.
Right, I think I’ve babbled on long enough in explanation. I am not making any rash or rushed decisions. I have thought this out very carefully and been very thorough in my research. The fact that Dr. Surgeon basically put her “stamp of approval” on it yesterday, just makes me more comfortable and more determined to follow this path.
I am travelling to South Africa for a friend’s wedding in a couple of weeks, so would like to have at least started with some basic herbs to maybe codify and strengthen my system before then! Will talk to you again soon.
Hi Chris, I think many, if not MOST, people react out of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the future. Fear of failure. Fear of death (their own AND others). Just plain old FEAR, period. If they don’t understand it or can’t explain it, they don’t want to have anything to do with it. They don’t trust it, so they fear it. Many people are so afraid of dying that they will believe ANYTHING the doctors tell them, in hopes of NOT dying. Many people feel they “aren’t smart enough” or “don’t know enough” to make their own decisions. After all, these doctors have YEARS of training and experience.
Many people also have not had the “experience” with cancer that I have. I have watched far too many friends, both old and young, go through the devastation of chemo. And I told every one of them to PLEASE stop the chemo, because it is THAT that was killing them, making them too weak to fight for their lives.
I have one friend who did chemo and radiation twice, and chemo a third time. She has now had both breasts removed (FINALLY!) but has so many devastating residual effects from the chemo and radiation. She will be chronically ill the rest of her life, due to her “cure”!
I have another friend who had bowel cancer, did all the chemo, and now has serious issues with her kidneys and liver, as a result of the chemo. She, too, will be chronically ill, I fear.
I talked to a friend recently who has watched 4 family members die of cancer, after doing all the chemo and radiation that the doctors told them to. She herself, had a large brain tumour, but refused surgery OR chemo. She was part of a research project using a specific natural product (can’t remember the name of it, sorry!), and that was 24 years ago! She remains alive and healthy to this day!
I have another friend who has never known anybody that died of cancer. And SHE, of course, is VERY concerned that I’m NOT doing chemo. However, she has known me for many years, knows that I always do things my own way, not necessarily the “accepted” way, and she trusts my instincts, because she’s seen the truth of them too many times to deny it!!!
I have one friend who works with the terminally ill, and has seen sooooooo many people die of cancer. She VOWS that the cancer kills them!
We all walk different paths, and have different experiences. But one thing I DO know. Most of the people who have seen, or been close to, someone who went through all the chemo and radiation, swear they would never do it themselves. Those who have actually DONE the chemo and/or radiation tell me they would NEVER do it again.
Despite the fact that my brother-in-law is so worried about the outcome of my cancer, I can’t satisfy his request that I at least CONSIDER the chemo, and/or the Herceptin. I made my mind up a LONG time ago, that I would NEVER subject my body to that. And I have never strayed from that path. Nobody knows my body like I do, and trust me, it’s taken a lot of years, and a lot of fights with doctors, to get to that point! But I DO know my body, and I DO know what it will or will not tolerate. No doctor can tell me any different, because he or she HASN’T walked in my shoes, or lived in my body. When doctors begin to understand that ONE simple thing, the world will be a much better place!!!
And THAT, once again, brings me around to you! You don’t have a one size fits all attitude. You take each patient individually. You learn about them, about their past (and not just medical past), about their lifestyles, about their families, their fears, ALL of it! You treat each person as a PERSON, not just another case. That is the NUMBER ONE FACTOR in a good person. In ANY good person! You don’t have to be a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim to know that. You just need to understand that people who are good to others are good to themselves, and much happier and content with their lives. They have a clear conscience. They are happy to help others. They smile more. They LIVE more!!!
As a teacher, I have to do the same, in order to be effective. I need to be compassionate. I need to understand. I need to learn all about my students, in order to do good with them, and to teach them to do good for THEMSELVES, not because others expect of them. It is so rewarding for me, and brings such a huge smile to my face, when I walk into the classroom, and have all my students light up with pleasure at seeing me! I only teach two full classes, the rest I work with either one-on-one or in small groups. Both of my classes have made me beautiful GET WELL SOON posters, and they have all signed them. I keep them up in my office/craft room, where I spend most of my time. I also have a poster from the girls on my volleyball team last year, up on my wall. Seeing these things makes me know that I’m doing a good job and I’m making other people happy. And that they care enough to do these things for me!
I went into the class on Thursday – and these are 16 and 17 year olds, not little kids – and they all just ERUPTED in happiness. They tell me they love me, as I tell them I love them. They ask questions of me that I fear many adults, and certainly many teachers, would never allow them to ask. And certainly wouldn’t answer!!! One of the boys asked me on Thursday, what I’m sure ALL of them have been dying to know, but have been afraid to ask. He asked if I was going to have to do chemo and radiation. The absolute RELIEF and pure JOY on their faces – ALL of their faces – when I said no, was amazing to see. Humbling, really, to see that they all care so much, and are so worried about me!!!
When I said I was going to do Traditional Chinese Medicine instead, there was a mixed reaction, but they were curious and asked many questions. You see, they trust me to be honest with them, and to tell them the truth. They trust me to answer their questions, and if I CAN’T answer their questions, they know I will do my best to find an answer for them. And I have taught them all to QUESTION! NOT to take things at face value. To ASK if they don’t understand, to make sure that they GET ALL THE FACTS before they make decisions and to look at things not just from one point of view, but to consider many points of view, and all the different angles. And most of all, I teach TO DO WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU!!! I tell them all the time that I can show them MANY ways to do things, but I cannot tell them what will work for them. Only THEY can decide that.
So, you see, I am like you in many ways! I see your attitude towards CA Care and your patients in the same light as I see my relationship with my students. I don’t push them in any one direction, but I give them a helping hand, the information they need to make their own decisions, and the space to try those decisions out for themselves. It’s not a common philosophy in schools, unfortunately, but I hope that in the long run, it will make them all more capable, compassionate, and successful in making good lives for themselves.
I have always said that nobody can make me happy, until I am happy within myself. Nobody can like me if I don’t first like myself. Nobody can make me do things I don’t want to, if I trust in myself. But all of those things take time, time to get to know yourself, time to believe in yourself. Too many people don’t TAKE that time, and that is when they are easily led by the hand. In the end, it is only myself that I have to face in the mirror, and accept whether I am good or bad, and determine if I CAN look at myself in the mirror and accept MYSELF.
I do not walk down this path blindly. I have looked in many directions. I have searched through the light and the dark. I have looked at both my insides and my outsides. I know that I am now on the correct path to help myself. Whether this leads me to a long life of health, or whether this gives me 2 or 3 years of health and happiness and then I die of cancer doesn’t matter. What matters is the here and now, and the fact that I BELIEVE that this is the path that I need to take.
30 March 2011: Hi Chris. Me again. My sister, the one who works in cancer research, called this morning to tell me that she’d gone through your website, watched some of the videos and stuff, and she thinks that I’m doing the right thing!!! I was actually surprised, seeing as she WORKS in cancer research, but, like she said, she works in the Natural Products division, so this is right up her alley. She DID say again, to ask if she could get some samples of keladi tikus to test in her lab.
And just thought I’d tell you that I don’t think the tea tastes like “snake venom” or “ditchwater” !!! The C-Tea just tastes like normal tea, to me, and the Breast M tastes like, and has the same texture as, hot cocoa without any milk or sugar. Not the best thing I’ve ever had to drink, but certainly not as bad as I was expecting!
13 June 2011: I once had a doctor tell me that with all his medical knowledge and equipment, he couldn’t “cure” my friend, but I did, just by giving her unconditional love. Letting her know that someone really cared and treating her like she was LIVING, not dying!!!
The power of the mind is amazing. If you want to be happy, THINK happy. If you want to be healthy, THINK healthy. If you want to feel young, THINK young. If you want to be loved, love others. If you are feeling ill, believe that you will get better. Learn to live each day to the fullest – see the cup as half full, not half empty. Look for those silver linings. Look on the bright side. Be mesmerized by the moon and stars. Stop and smell the roses. Take pleasure in splashing in the puddles. Play with little children. Laugh. Dance. Smile. Give out free hugs. And most of all – LIVE!!!
I refuse to let this cancer rule my life. I have so much more life to live, and so much to be thankful for. Not ready to give up and let the cancer take me. So I live each day BELIEVING that I can beat this. I laugh about it, joke about it, and treat it like a “friend”, not an enemy. I’m living WITH it, not AGAINST it. If I keep my body, my immune system, healthy and strong, it will take care of the cancer. I don’t need to fight it, my body (my BRAIN, actually!) will take care of it for me!
I guess maybe this is why the doctors all keep telling me I’m “too healthy” to have cancer!!! All of the doctors have said the same thing – my cancer was probably caused by STRESS! There you go! The power of the brain and the immune system – I’m a believer!!!
Mary (not real name) was a forty-six year-old lady. She was diagnosed with right breast cancer in October 2004 and underwent a mastectomy. She was asked to undergo chemotherapy but declined, preferring to follow the CA Care Therapy. She was started on the herbs: Capsule A & B, LL-tea, Liver-P and Breast M on 28 November 2004. She was doing very well while on our therapy. On 28 November 2006 we interviewed Mary about her health. For full details of her story read Chapter 9 of Breast Cancer: The Herbal Option.
Breast Cancer: Well After Two Years on CA Care Therapy
Chris: How are you, today?
Mary: Do look at me. No words can describe how well I feel. Actually before this medical report was out (showing her latest blood test results), my heart already knew that it would be better than the last time because I could feel it myself. I feel better although I am tired at times. But with the right balance of food, and a little bit of rest in between, I am up and about again. Fifteen minutes nap and a few deep breaths – even though I might be very tired, I would be up again.
C: Compared to the days before you had cancer, are you just as good?
Husband: Her health condition was very bad before that. She would have constant flu which would last up to three months.
Mary:In terms of health, I think I am better now. I am healthier. Before the cancer, it was terrible. I had backaches. After I had walked a little bit, I had to sit down. My heels were hurting. I always had headaches. I often had flu and coughs. I was always sick – like going down and down. It would start with a sore throat, then runny nose, fevers and finally coughs. It would go on and on for two to three months. The doctor gave courses of antibiotics. At one time, the doctor wanted to take out my tonsils but I said no, no, no. Somehow, something made me say no. I had to take antibiotics. I recovered for a short while after all the medications the doctor had given. They made me so blur and not know what was going on. Then I got sick again. I had been ignoring all these problems for two or three years and my health then was up and down. My body was sort of trying to cope.
C: With cancer, you changed your diet and lifestyle? What happened to all the problems you had before your cancer?
Mary: For the past two years, I only have had two flu attacks. I was careless. I was pushing myself too hard. When I realised what was happening, I pulled back, had more rest and did a little bit more exercise – then I was back on top again.
Cancer Returned
We met Mary again on 22 April 2009 (about five years after her diagnosis). She had bad news for us. The cancer had recurred to her bones. This happened all too often. But the question we want to ask is – why? Must this happen?
In an earlier article, I have written about MT, a lady with breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy, 6 cycles of chemotherapy, 30 sessions of radiotherapy and 5 years of Tamoxifen. She also had a recurrence. So this is not a matter of Mary not receiving all the “total ingredients” of medical treatment and that she was taking herbs instead. It does not matter, MT had done all that were needed to be done. She also ended with bone metastasis (for her full story, click this link When a so called “cure” is not a cure).
So, the question is why – the recurrence? MT’s doctor said this, “I do not know why. But don’t blame yourself. It is your fate. Also the recurrence has nothing to do with what you eat. It is just your fate.” That unfortunately is a doctor’s view. Unfortunately too, I don’t find such answers convincing or intelligent.
My message to all of you is this.There must be a reason why this happened. Second, you are not helpless. You can do something for yourself to minimize the chances of recurrence happening to you. But, it is your choice. It is up to you. Let Mary tell you why she had a relapse. This video was recorded in the late evening of 22 April 2009.
Breast Cancer Recurrence
The gists of our conversation:
Complacency: In 2005 (when first diagnosed) and 2006 she complied fully with our therapy. In 2007, she started to become adventurous – hovering around In the forbidden territory. And in 2008, she totally forgot about what CA Care Therapy was all about.
No herbs, bad diet: In December 2008, cancer reared its ugly head again!
No monitoring: She did not even do any blood test in 2008.
Pushing the Boundary: What prompted her to try push her boundary? She was overconfident! She felt she was already well and therefore “cured.” Her explanation was, “I was trying to live a normal life.” She wanted to go into the “main stream” and behaved like others who did not have cancer.
The Gathering Storm: Cancer did not strike back like a thunder bolt. There were clear signs that the storm was gathering. In December 2008, she was not feeling good – feeling bloated, winds in the stomach, started to have coughs and flu, and her blood test results were not good. In March 2009, a CT scan showered recurrence. She had severe pains after pushing her car. Disaster struck.
Returned to CA Care For Help: She was weak and thin, had severe pains and had difficulty breathing. After a week on the herbs (again!) she got better.
Did you realize your mistakes? Mary said, “ I never take time to take care of myself and never slow down.” Her business took priority over her health causing a lot of stress. In addition she did not take the herbs and ate anything she liked, etc. etc. My advice: You know how to take care of yourself. Go back to Step 1 and start all over again!
It is with regrets to note that we never get to meet Mary again. She died not long afterwards.
CE is a 56-year-old lady. She lives in Penang, down the road where our centre is. Sometime in March 2010 she was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. No operation was indication. A doctor in a private hospital tried RFA (radiofrequency ablation) for her tumours. She received two treatments with RFA – one to her breast lump and another to her bone.
Unfortunately, by August 2010 the tumour recurred in the same left breast. She underwent 6 cycles of chemotherapy at a government hospital. The treatments were completed in May 2011, by which time all the lumps in her breast were gone.
Six months later, in December 2011, CE developed breathing difficulties. Her lungs were filled with fluid. A month later, in January 2012, she had severe headaches for 2 weeks. The cancer had spread to her brain. She underwent 5 sessions of radiotherapy to her head. She was given painkiller medication.
In February 2012, she had breathing difficulty again. She had pains in her left leg. The cancer had spread to her bones. The doctor at the government hospital gave up on her. She was referred to the Hospice. She was prescribed morphine. There was no hope.
Part 2: Healing Crisis After Taking Herbs but She Was Better
CE and her daughter came to seek our help on 17 February 2012. She was prescribed Capsule A, teas for her Bone, Lung, Brain and Pain.
24 February 2012: One week on the herbs, her condition improved. Her intake of painkiller was reduced by fifty-percent. Previously she needed to take 4 tablets a day, and after the herbs this was cut down to 2 tablets per day. She felt more energetic. Her facial expression was better.
CE (patient): First day, I moved my bowels. Second day, I had diarrhea. Third day I had more diarrhea.
Chris: The first few days of taking herbs, patients generally go through a “healing crisis” – a cleansing process. There could be more pain, you become more tired or you have diarrhea, etc. These are good. Do not take any medication, the problems will resolve by themselves. I have a patient who moved her bowels ten times a day after taking the herbs. Take it easy.
Daughter: She had five bowel movements!
C: Oh, ten times would be better! Take it easy and be patient. Now, do you still have diarrhea?
CE: I have no more diarrhea.
C: This is what I am telling patients. You may have pain after taking the herbs, then the next day more pain and perhaps more pain for some more days. Then the pain becomes less and less and eventually it will be gone. Everyone has to go through this difficulty or “healing crisis.”
D: She does not need to take so much pain medication now. Before she took four times of medication a day.
CE: After take the herbs, I only took painkiller twice a day. Today I only take one time.
C: No need to take four times a day anymore? You need to take the pain medication if there is pain. It is no use to suffer. Take the pain killer if the herbs do not help you. You need to relieve the pain. Only thing is we don’t want to take too much of pain medication and be dependent on it.
Okay, you took the herbs for a week now. Are you getting any better?
P: I am more “cheng sin” (more alert).
D: I don’t know if she has improved or not from the inside, but looking at her facial expression, certainly she is much better now.
C: Patient should be able to know if she is “improving” or not. She should be able to “feel” the improvements. I too would be able to “see” if patients are getting better or not by looking and talking to them. And I tell every patient who come here – if you take our herbs for two or three weeks and you don’t feel any better, then stop coming to see me. The herbs are not good for you. Better that you go and see someone else for help.
Part 3: Bad Diet and Family Problems
2 March 2012: Unfortunately her health deteriorated. She did not look healthy. Both her legs were swollen. After some questioning, she admitted to eating “outside food” the whole week.
Daughter: Both of her legs are swollen!
Chris: Last week when you came, were the legs swollen?
D: No.
C: Do you still have pain?
CE (patient): Yes.
D: Her pain medication intake had increased to twice a day. This week she is less energetic. Last week she looked much better.
C: Did she take care of her diet? Or did she start to eat anything she liked?
D: This week I was not able to cook for her. My son was sick and so I was not able to take care of her (mother).
C: So, the whole of this week she had been taking “outside (hawker) food”?
D: Yes. The first week, I cooked her food.
C: This is the problem.
D: It was difficult for me.
C: Are you the only daughter at home?
D: I live with my family (husband, son and in laws) in Batu Ferringgi (about an hour’s drive away) but my mother lives in Batu Lancang (near our cancer centre). She lives with my sister and brother. But all of them are working so they have no time to take care of her.
C: What about you? Are you working?
D: Yes. But in the afternoon, I come to my mother’s house to cook for her. But this week my son was sick and I had to take care of him. So I did not have the time to cook for my mother.
C: I understand. But in cancer, diet is very important. As you notice, the first week she was doing much better with no swollen legs. But this week her legs swelled due to bad diet. It is all about “bad” food.
Indeed, there is nothing we can do really. Like they say, “A mother can take care of ten children, but ten children cannot take care of one mother.”I understand your situation.
Comments
1. Most patients come “shopping” for magic potion. They expect us to cure them even after medical treatments have failed them. This is unrealistic. We are only human and we can only do that much and no more. This case is not an exceptional case. Read my blog, www.ADayWithChrisTeo.wordpress.com and you understand what I mean.
2. Our path to healing is not a “honeymoon” trip. After taking the herbs or change of diet, there will be a ‘healing crisis”. You will probably have more pains, more coughs, more bowel movements, etc. (Read more: Healing Crisis). Do not do anything to stop this cleansing process. The problem will solve by itself after a little while. No medication please. Remember that “healing crisis” is a law of cure. Without this happening there shall be no healing.
3. Diet is the most sore point among patients. When patients start to get well, they want to eat what they like. And after they have eaten all the “bad food” they write us asking why their tumour markers, like CEA, CA 125, CA 19.9, etc., had increased? What can we do? You reap what you sow! It is okay, if patients admit to their mistakes like in the case above. At least we can teach them to do it right the next time. But the worst cases are those who would not want to admit their mistakes and keep on denying that they followed our dietary advice to the letter. Well, there is nothing to be upset or dispute. Winning over this matter does not benefit anyone. For these patients, our advice is – Stop our herbs and find someone else to help you.
4. As said in the beginning of this article, cancer is not about a tumour in your body, it is about you as a human being. Many patients come and go, unfortunately never recognizing this important aspect – to them cancer is only a misery or disaster in life! Such people die or suffer in vain. They believe that their problems are due to outside factors. They don’t look into themselves to know what have gone wrong. Most cancer patients carry with them a load of unresolved personal baggage – bitterness, hatred, lack of love, family problems, etc. Unfortunately, no chemo, radiation or herbs can help in such matters. This is what I mean when I said in the beginning of this article, After talking to you for about five minutes I would probably know if I can help you or not. Your personality and problems show up during our conversation. And it is hard to change a patient’s attitudes and lifestyle – it has to be the person himself/herself who wants to change. Without change, no healing can ever take place.
To our surprise, on 1 March 2012, JA and her daughter showed up at our centre – without any prior appointment. They flew in from Manila, Philippines, to present his wife’s case (let’s call her Jo). I must say this is the first time that we have someone who came personally from the Philippines – generally we helped patients from Philippines via e-mail, which is quite unsatisfactory.
Jo is a 78-year-old lady. Sometime in 2001, she discovered a thumb-sized lump in her right breast. She went to consult a doctor who palpated her breast and said she had a Stage 2 breast cancer. No ultrasound, no mammogram or biopsy was done. Right away the doctor prescribed the following:
Tegafur – once daily
Endoxan – once daily
Tamoxifen – 20 mg, once daily
Ferrous femarate – thrice daily
Lysozyme chloride – twice daily
Restor F
In addition to the above oral medications, Jo received Doxorubicin injection once every month for six months from March to September 2011.
Doxorubicin injection was discontinued after September 2011 and Jo continued with her oral medications. She was due to go back to see her doctor in March 2012 for review.
On 17 February 2012, we received an e-mail from JA (Jo’s husband) below.
Dear Dr. Chris Teo,
I read about you, the way you treat people with cancer. My wife is sick. She has stage II breast cancer. She has undergone 6 months of chemo (last session was August 2011) but the mass is still there. And now the doctor said she will have another chemo and that worries me because it seems like she’s going nowhere. Can you help us? Should I go there and visit you for instructions and pick-up medicines.
Reply: Thanks for your email. It is hard for me to help people through the email. Cancer is not about just taking herbs or doing chemo. Even your former president died of colon cancer after doing all the chemos. Cancer is about changing of lifestyle, diet, attitude etc. besides taking herbs and avoiding poisonous drugs. If you think I can help your wife, you can come and see me personally in Penang. Bring all the medical reports and scans. I can tell you what to do and you can collect the herbs back for her to try. Regards.
JA came to us with only four pieces of paper – these are supposed to be the medical reports. And the above are all the relevant information I could get – no films, no blood test, no biopsy report, etc. According to JA, after some months on the medication, the doctor said the lump in his wife’s breast was smaller (Note: He did not use ultrasonography to monitor, just palpated the lump with his bare hand, very subjective indeed). The treatment costs about 15,000 pesos per month (USD 375 or RM 1,200). According to JA, his wife’s treatment caused hair loss, altered taste and she became thin.
Comments
In making comments on this case, let us be reminded of what Dr. Susan Love said:
The way Jo’s doctor treated her is different from the way doctors treat their patients in Malaysia. Generally patient with a breast lump has to undergo the following:
An ultrasound and / or mammogram is to determine the nature and size of the lump.
If suspicious of malignancy, a biopsy is done to confirm if it is malignant or benign.
Sometimes, a whole body CT scan is done to see if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Generally, the lump is removed by either a lumpectomy or mastectomy.
Depending on the pathology report, patient is asked to undergo chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy.
The common chemo regimen for breast cancer is FAC – a combination of 5-FU (fluorouracil), Andriamycin (Doxorubicin) and Cyclophosphamide. FAC is administered through intravenous injection.
In addition to FAC, patients are given anti-vomiting medication, etc. to minimize the side effects of the toxic chemo-drugs.
In this case Jo was only given Doxorubicin as an injection. The rest of the drugs were given in oral form.
1) Tegafur is a 5-FU prodrug synthesized in 1967. When metabolized, it becomes 5-fluorouracil. According to the FDA, this drug is useless and is toxic. Actually an injection form of 5-FU is more effective. (Note: I wonder why Tegafur is still around in developing countries?)
1) Endoxan is cyclophosphamide. It comes in the form of a 50mg tablet.
Jo was also given Taxmoxifen. In addition, to help take care of the side effects of the medication, Jo was asked to take
Ferrous fumarate, an iron tablet for anemia or lack of blood.
Lysozyme chloride, a natural enzyme extracted from egg white. It has anti-infectious activity.
So the way they treat breast cancer in the Philippines is different from what is normally done in Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore. The question that bugs me is, Is the treatment effective? By doing what she did, I am not sure what actually is the realistic goal of her treatment – to make the tumour disappear? To cure the cancer?
I suggested that JA and his daughter go home and bring his wife / her mother to see a surgeon. If possible have the lump removed – either by lumpectomy or mastectomy. This is the easiest and surest way to make the tumour disappear. But surgery does not necessarily cure her breast cancer. I have written two articles earlier why it would better for the lump to be removed – peace of mind being the main reason.
After Jo has the lump removed from her breast, she can take our herbs, take care of her diet, exercise and live a stress-free happy life. Pray! She is already 78 years old! She does need to endure the severe side effects of chemotherapy!
On 18 March 2012, I received an e-mail from JA.
Dear Dr. Teo,
This is JA from Philippines and my wife is your patient. I suggested to her that she remove that cancerous breast.
When she returned to her doctor as scheduled, she mentioned about removing of the infested breast but the doctor is reluctant because he said the cancer may scatter. The doctor gave her a new prescription and she is inclined to follow whatever the doctor wants. The doctor said she will return after 3 months for re-evaluation. Can I give her the herbs as she continues the new prescription? Your suggestion will help me a lot. Thank you.
Note: The so-called new prescription does not differ much for the first one, which consisted of 6 drugs including Tamoxifen. This new prescription also consisted of 6 drugs where Tamoxifen is dropped and replaced by Letrozole (also known as Femara) scribbled on a small piece of paper.
I just wonder – can the world learn something from this Filipino doctor or can this Filipino doctor learn something from the world?
SH (H785) is a 67-year-old lady. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 1998. A left mastectomy was performed. The histopathology report of 13 January 1998 indicated two malignant nodes. No residual tumour in her breast. Axillary fat and lymph nodes were free of tumour.
No chemotherapy or radiotherapy was indicated. But SH was put on Tamoxifen. She took this drug for 6 years.
SH said she was well all these years and her progress was monitored by her doctor. About 10 years later, in early 2009, SH developed shortness of breath. She could not lift her left arm. She was tired and lost her appetite. A chest X-ray indicated large left pleural effusion. SH had the fluid in her lung tapped out. A CT scan on 7 January 2009 indicated several subcentimeter nodules in her left lung. The lymph nodes in the left axilla and aortopulmonary window were enlarged. Impression: left pulmonary and pleural metastasis.
SH sought a second opinion from another oncologist at a university hospital. Another CT scan was performed and it also confirmed a metastatic breast cancer with left pleural effusion with small benign liver cysts.
A bone scan done on 29 January 2009 indicated multiple skeletal metastases in the sternum and two ribs on the left side.
SH was prescribed Arimidex – another oral chemo-drug for breast cancer. She was on this drug for 2 years.
In August 2011 SH developed shortness of breath again. A CT scan on 4 August 2011 confirmed presence of mild left pleural effusion. Fluid was tapped out of her lung again.
The doctor told SH that Arimidex did not work for her. She was prescribed yet another oral drug – Aromasin. SH was on this drug for about 3 months now. At the same time SH received Zometa injection (for her bone) every 6 weeks. Each Zometa injection cost RM 1,200.
A bone scan done on 18 March 2011 indicated “sclerotic bone metastases in manubrium showing activity.” SH was told that if Aromasin did not work for her, she would have to undergo intravenous chemotherapy.
The following are her CA 15.3 readings throughout the years.
Date
CA 15.3
17 January 2009
149.0
4 March 2009
230.0
8 July 2009
30.0
Year 2010 fluctuating values under 30.0
26 April 2011
51.0
22 June 2011
66.0
4 August 2011
67.4
27 October 2011
164.5
24 November 2011
227.0
23 December 2011
231.7
31 January 2012
477.0
SH and her family came to seek our help on 5 February 2012.
Below is her AcuGraph reading on 5 February 2012 which indicated a rather unbalanced internal energy.
Comments
Why did you take tamoxifen? To prevent recurrence, so you are told. Some patients are also often told this – if you survive 5 years, you are cured of your cancer! What a great lie. Did tamoxifen cure cancer in this case? It must have since his patient had survived for 5 years. That, “medically” is defined as a cure. But, you never ask – what if she does not take tamoxifen? She may also survive 5 years! Anyway the cancer came back after 10 years. This time it struck the lungs and the bones. Where then is the so called cure?
Reflect on the quotations below:
Second-Line Treatment: Arimidex
Arimidex (anastrozole) is indicated for the treatment of advanced breast cancer with disease progression following tamoxifen therapy.
Side Effects: Patients receiving Arimidex had a mean decrease in both lumbar spine and total hip bone mineral density. Patients should be informed that Arimidex lowers the level of estrogen. This may lead to a loss of the mineral content of bones, which might decrease bone strength. A possible consequence of decreased mineral content of bones is an increase in the risk of fractures. Arimidex may also cause heart disease.
Final results of the Arimidex, tamoxifen, alone or in combination (ATAC) trial, presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and published simultaneously in The Lancet, found that, compared with tamoxifen, anastrozole (Arimidex) improved disease-free survival by 13% and increased time to recurrence by 21% ,however, there was no statistically significant improvement in breast cancer survival or overall survival. (Note: be skeptical when reading figures like such percentages – they could be manipulated to bring out only the positive message.)
Some researchers questioned whether use of Arimidex was justified in light of its higher cost ($6.56 per day for Arimidex versus $1.33 per day for generic tamoxifen) and lack of a demonstrated survival benefit (Source: Journal National Cancer Inst (2005)97 (2): 86-87)
Comment 1: Have not had bothersome side effects from this med so far, but am experiencing hair thinning. Some aches in a hip and knee, lack of sex drive, minor hot flashes …So far this med has not bothered me.
Comment 2: I am 63 and found I had breast cancer at 60. Had lumpectomy, 6 chemos over 7 months (carboplatin, docetaxol, nausea med, Herceptin IV’s, and a Neurlasta shot), followed by 8 more IV’s of Herceptin over 8 months, along with 31 radiation treatments, at last one 1miligram Arimidex I’m to take for 5 years daily. My complaint is that I was completely bald all over…I had started daily Arimidex about June 2010. A month ago, I was looking at some old pics made in May2011, and it started to hit me that my hair was thicker with more coverage than NOW (Jan. 2012). It was heartbreaking, it was becoming thinner and patchier on top front where you want it the most. I accidentally happened on a site, read that 40 or more women sharing this experience, and most believed it was the Arimidex. I tried Femara for 2 mo. with no improvement. I have aches and pains and feel “aged from the inside out” … I might just drop the Arimidex, take no “cancer” pill, and pray it won’t come back.
Comment 3: Taking this med for approx. 2 months. Extreme lower back pain 2 weeks after started, brushed it off. At this point just using my arms is very painful. My shoulders are in extreme pain. Talked to oncologist nurse and am changing to another but as of today I just want to cry I am sick of all this pain. Did not have any of this before!! I am in no way a baby, and can handle pain but even I have reached my limits. Hope this helps someone else who is experiencing the same issues with this drug.
Comment 4: I used this drug for 3 years and 4 months thinking I was doing fine on it. Suddenly I felt like my crotch was on fire. It took another 2 months of doctor appointments and medical procedures before I had a doctor that made the connection. Vaginal dryness given as a side effect is a huge under-statement. I’ve been free of this drug for 10 weeks and on estrogen cream for 4 weeks and am still miserable.
Comment 5: Constipation, depression, lack of motivation, muscle weakness One plus sleeping 6 hours a night instead of 5.
Comment 6: I thought I had it made …no symptoms except a little weight gain… Now my thumb is locking up and I had no idea it was from the Rx until reading the other reviews. I am achy after sitting for a short time and have really sharp pain in the back of my hand sometimes when I pick something up, even a cup of coffee.
Second-Line Treatment: Aromasin
Aromasin (exemestane) is indicated for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in postmenopausal women whose disease has progressed following tamoxifen therapy.
Comment 1: I have been on this medicine for 4 1/2 years. The past few months have been the worst. Every joint in my body hurts, night sweats and sleepless nights. It takes all I have to get out of bed in the morning.
Comment 2: Shortly after starting the drug (04/2010), I developed a cough, which I still have. Had a dose of sinus infection, sore throat, worse coughing just before Christmas. Chose to let my immunity fight it off instead of antibiotics. Took 3-4 weeks to get over it, but I did it on my own. Still have the cough. Tried arimidex first-made my hands, feet and face swell. Satisfied with aromasin except for cough.
Comment 3: I had a forced menopause after the 2nd cycle of chemo for my stage 2A BC. Never taking tamoxifen, was prescribed Femara for 2 months and then switched over to Aromasin following the chemo and radiation therapies. It has been 6 months since taking Femara and Aromasin. First experienced severe back and knee pains then had hand surgery for my Carpel Tunnel syndrome and now the pains has extended to all bones and joints, mostly in my hands and wrists. Memory loss and attention deficit is getting obvious. Hot flashes and insomnia is concerned. Without having daily walk and exercise and Melatonin Plus for sleep support, I would be miserable with all the side effects from the drugs.
Comment 4: After 20 days on arimidex I was suicidal, had severe bone pain, severe insomnia. I switched to aromasin and have found it easier to tolerate if I take meds for the side effects. I take ambien to sleep, percocet for pain, wellbutrin for depression. It’s either treat the side effects or I have a 70% chance of cancer recurrence. I will give it six months because sometimes the side effects do get better and I don’t want to die at age 63. But there does come a point when quality of life wins out – however short it may be.
Comment 5: Have had major side affects with it. Tried Arimadex first, then was prescribed this one; a little more manageable, but still have trouble. Joint pain, sweats, muscle cramps and renaud’s syndrome.
Comment 6: I was prescribed aromasin by my doctor after the other 2 AIs had adverse side effects. I took it for 3 yrs and 3 months. I could not tolerate the lack of quality of life.
Breast is the number one problem we encountered at CA Care. According to statistics by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the chance of developing invasive breast cancer at some time in a woman’s life in the United States is 1 in 8 (12%).
The 2012 ACS’s estimates for breast cancer in the United States are:
About 290,170 new cases of breast cancer (invasive and carcinoma-in-situ) will be diagnosed in women.
About 39,510 women (i.e. 13.6%) will die from it.
I wish science can tell us why women’s breasts are so susceptible to cancer attack. As it is now, in spite of our amazing scientific progress, women are just left in a limbo – uninformed and clueless. According to Karen Stabiner, a woman’s life is a roulette, when it comes to breast cancer.
In the first two weeks of February 2012, many women with breast cancer came to us for help. The most pathetic cases are those who gambled their lives with their breasts. Let me give you some examples that I we saw the past two weeks.
Case 1: SD (H788) is a 67-year old lady. Sometime in January 2012, she felt a lump in her left breast. She went to a doctor for an ultrasonography and mammography. The mammogram report on 12 January 2012 indicated “an irregular opacity with microcalcification in the left breast at inner midline quadrant.”
A biopsy was performed and it was confirmed an infiltrating ductal carcinoma. SD was asked to undergo a mastectomy – to be followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She refused and came to seek our advice on 5 February 2012.
Our advice: Go and get the cancerous breast lump removed.
Her response: She was disappointed. She expected us to prescribe her some herbs and make the lump disappear! Unfortunately, we cannot do that. We sent her home without any herbs. Come back to us after the surgery if you need our help.
Case 2: JL (S99) is a 37-year-old lady. About ten months ago, she felt a lump in her right breast. She did nothing about it. The lump grew bigger and began to hurt. Then she came to Penang for consultation. A biopsy was performed and confirmed a Grade 2 infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Because of its large size, JL was asked to undergo a few cycles of chemotherapy to shrink the tumour. After that she needs a mastectomy.
Our advice: As much as chemotherapy is difficult, you have no choice. Go for the chemo and have the breast removed after chemo has shrunk the breast.
Her response: She agreed.
Case 3: BM (S107) is a 66-year-old Indonesian lady. Two years ago she had a big lump in her left breast. She did not consult any doctor and took upon herself to solve her problem. She took Linzhi and various supplements. The lump grew bigger. Only then did she go to see a doctor who asked her to go for chemotherapy. She refused. She turned to herbs and this time took “Sarang Semut”. After one and half months, her breast developed open wound and discharged a lot of blood. She came to seek our advice.
Our advice: Go and see a surgeon and have him/her remove your breast. The surgeon would probably ask you to go for chemo first to shrink the tumour before he/she could do anything. But you have no choice.
Her response: She would probably follow this advice.
Case 4: Zar (H805) a 40-year-old lady. In February 2011, she felt a lump in her left breast. She went to seek the help of the “bomoh” (local traditional healer or shaman). She was given “something” to drink. The lump did not go away but grew bigger instead. When she came to seek our advice the lump in her breast was large and hard.
Our advice: Go to your doctor and have your whole breast removed. The lump is too big. My herbs is not going to make it disappear.
Her response: She agreed to the surgery.
Why do these women let this happen to their breasts?
Study the pictures below. Why do these women above allow this to happen to their breasts? Could it be that they are ignorant? Can it be that they have so much fear or are in denial mode and are not prepared to face reality? Or are they just being plain dumb. I cannot answer that question. They should know better than me. But my job is to help them understand and go through this trauma before it is too late.
We can learn two lessons from the stories of these women.
One, it is best to get your breast lump removed when it is still small. Don’t wait until it gets bigger as you will end up with more problems like the picture above.
Two, some women want to believe that doing nothing or going for alternative is better. My experience tells me otherwise. If the mass is cancerous – getting it out is the only sensible option. There is no way that herbs or supplements can make the mass go away. Don’t be fooled or misled by those “snake oil peddlers.”
OK, if taking herbs or supplements makes you feel good – I could agree for the sake of satisfying your curiosity. You can test your luck for a few weeks and see what happens. If the tumour persists and starts to grow, that means what you are doing is not effective. Why be so dumb not see the truth? The longer you wait, the bigger the tumour will become – why allow it to grow so ugly like in the pictures above? “Abandon ship” quickly and look for a surgeon.
Many patients come to us with their “bad” breasts hoping that our herbs can make the tumour (s) disappear. This is indeed an unrealistic dream. They come to us because they have the impression that CA Care is anti-doctor and that we would never advise them to go to the doctors. Let me say this very clearly – CA Care is not anti-doctors. At CA Care we ask you to do whatever with your best interests in our hearts. We are not dogmatic or an alternative medicine fanatic with a fixed ideology. We ask you to go for treatment that (in our experience) would help you best. I know some women are disappointed after we tell them what they don’t want to hear – they only want us to tell them only what they want to hear.
In my earlier article, Breast Lump: Get It Out I have given two reasons why I thought the tumour has to be removed surgically. One, is a psychological reason. When the lump is physically gone, you don’t see or feel it in your breast anymore. Two, the herbs, change of diet, exercise, prayer, supplements, etc., cannot make a malignant tumour disappear. The bigger the tumour, the chance of it disappearing is even more remote.
Surgery may not cure cancer
Make no mistake, surgery may not cure your cancer. In cases where the mass is still small and the cancer has not spread elsewhere, the chance of “cure” is very high. But if the lump is already big, it is most likely that the cancer has already spread or metastatised. Amy Soscia died after fighting a battle with her breast cancer for 13 years.
One would assume that with the advancement of science and technology, the media hype, proliferation of experts, cutting edge hospitals, a common disease such as breast cancer can be cured easily. The impression is the medical experts have all the answers to your problem! Unfortunately, you might be unfortunate enough to learn through the hard way that it may just be a dream. Ponder on the reality of what Karen Stabiner wrote:
The journey has just begun
After the surgery, the standard protocol of the doctor’s comprehensive treatment package is to ask you to undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormonal therapy (depending on your hormonal status). Unfortunately these invasive treatments have earned bad reputation. Many women dread to go through such treatments. This is where I differ with the established medical way. Doctors claim that what they offer is scientific and proven. At CA Care I have helped breast cancer patients using non-invasive holistic method of healing. This works. Read my book, Breast Cancer – the Herbal Option, if you want to know more. Generally women who have failed to find “cure” after undergoing all their medical treatments would come to us as a last resort. I tell them this, I am not god – I can only do that much. But I shall try my best to help. Make no mistake. I don’t claim I can cure your cancer or I have a magic bullet for your cancer.
Almost all patients who come to us have gone through medical treatments and they cannot find a cure. So to me, only a fool would claim that he can cure cancer. My experience tells me no one on earth can cure any cancer. What I mean is advanced stage cancer – the ones we often encounter at CA Care.
So why is CA Care around then? Over the past 16 years, we have helped many cancer patients find their healing – “hopeless” patients regained their health and could lead a normal life in spite of being told by their doctors that they only have 3 or 6 months to live. Take time to read the healing stories in our website: www.cacare.com and www.CancerCareMalaysia.com and you know what I mean. Understand that healing is different from cure. Reflect on the quotations below.
In my earlier article, My Journey of Ignorance, I asked Le – a breast cancer patient who initially refused to go for any medical treatment, some questions:
Chris: Let me ask you this question – if you were to start all over again from 2009 when you felt the lump in your breast – what would you have done?
Le: I would come to see you. I would not want to go for medical treatments.
When you had that small lump, you went to see the doctor but why did you not want him to do something foryou?
Le: I went to see a “sinseh”. He told me I had this disease because of my sins. What kind of “sinseh” was that?
What I wanted to know is, do you know that if you have a cancerous lump in your breast, the best option is to have it removed by the doctor?
Le: If I were to have met you then, it is most likely that I would follow your advice and have the lump removed. Because after that I can take the herbs, okay – that I would agree. But I don’t want to go for chemotherapy or radiotherapy after the surgery. Unfortunately, I did not know about you then.
I fully understand why many women are scared stiff to consider undergoing such protocol – The treatment is worse than the disease! When we started CA Care we “pushed” patients to go for chemo and radiation after their surgery. In short, do what their doctors want them to do. However, over the years I have seen many failures and disastrous outcomes of these invasive treatments. I have realized that I was wrong to have abetted patients to go fully the medical way. I have since learnt my lesson and changed my stance. Now I would not actively urge patients to go for any invasive and poisonous treatments. It must be the patient – and the patient alone – who makes that decision if she wants to undergo chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. I would NOT oppose or urge anyone going towards that direction. Whether to go for chemo or radiation must be your own decision. Please don’t ask me what to do. I cannot answer you that.
My responsibility is restricted to providing patients with honest and unbiased facts about these treatments based on my reading of medical literature. I believe in evidence-based medicine. With that I need real evidence and not biased, academic or theoretical perceptions. To me, there is no meaning in saying: The treatment is a success but the patient died of complications, or the patient tolerated chemotherapy well. I take seriously the wisdom that the test of the pudding is in its taste. When a patient dies or is not cured, it is a failure (of your claim to cure) – no more, no less. And why can’t we learn to accept failures and be honest about them?
Patient is a 55-year-old female. She had a lump in her right breast and underwent a lumpectomy in June 2011. Unfortunately the job was not done well. The resected margins were not clean. Patient had to undergo another surgery and this time the whole breast had to be removed. The histopathology report confirmed an infiltrating ductal carcinoma, grade 2 with high grade DCIS (more than 25%) with 1/9 lymph nodes shows metastasis. The tumour is ER +, PR + and C-erb-B2: 2+.
After the surgery, the patient was asked to undergo chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The son persuaded the mother not to go for further medical treatments. Patient came to us and was prescribed Capsule A, Breast M and C-Tea.
On 18 October 2011, I had the opportunity to talk with the patient and her son.
You were asked to do chemo? Patient: Yes, but I didn’t want to do it.
Why? P: (Looking towards her son) He did not want me to do it.
Ha, ha, he did not want to do it, not you didn’t want to do it.
How old are you now? P: Fifty-five years old.
Son: I did not have much confidence (in what they did on her). She went for an operation and after that the doctor asked her to do chemo. Before the surgery, I asked the doctor, “What is the reason my mother has breast cancer?” The doctor replied, “No reason. If it happens, it happens.” I don’t think this was a logical enough answer because any illness must have a cause. This doctor is an expert – so famous yet that was the answer he gave me – if the cancer is going to strike you, it strikes you.
Anyway, after my mother had the mastectomy, we were referred to an oncologist. She was told to undergo six cycles of chemo and fifteen sessions of radiotherapy. The doctor said, “You go ahead and do these treatments first. Later I shall inform you what else to do.” I asked the doctor, “She had just undergone an operation, can you confirm if there are still cancer cells in her?” The reply was, “No need to ask. You must go ahead and do these treatments.” I asked him back, “If there are no more cancer cells in her, why must my mother do chemo?” The doctor replied, “Patients overseas do the treatments. We must follow what they do. So your mother has to do the same treatments.” (Son shaking his head) I don’t think we have to follow what others do. It is illogical. As doctors I don’t think they should say such thing – other people do, so we must also follow. After all, all of us are different.
I again asked the doctor, “ If she were to do three cycles only and she is cured – do we still have to continue to do another three?” The answer was, “No, no, you must complete the entire six cycles. We must follow the protocol.”
According to my mind, this is not the right thing to do. I again asked the doctor, “After the chemo and radiation, do we still have to do other treatments.” The doctor answered, “Yes, yes, but let us not discuss that step yet.” I countered the doctor, “Does she need to go on receiving the treatment, one after another until she nearly reach the point when she is about to get into the coffin before the treatment ends?”
With such answers, I told my mother the way she is going does not seem right.
My Friend Died After Chemo for His Liver Cancer
I had a friend – my business partner. He had abdominal pains. A checkup showed liver tumour. The doctor asked him to go for an operation to remove it. He went for a second opinion. Another doctor told him surgery would be very risky. He might not survive. He should not operate. My friend went to seek the opinion of a third doctor. This one said he should undergo chemotherapy. My friend asked the doctor, “But doctor you only see the scan. You did not do a biopsy.” The doctor replied, ”If I do the biopsy, I might break the liver capsule.”
The family finally decided to undergo chemotherapy but they did not have any clue as to what chemo is. After the chemo, my friend’s abdomen bloated up. He could not eat or drink. He died within a few months. I saw with my own eyes what had happened to my friend. So I told my mother, “You don’t know what chemo is and you don’t know about the side effects that the doctor told us. Let us find another path. “
Chemotherapy and Radiation May Not Cure
They asked you to go for chemo and radiation – did you ask if these will cure your mother? Son: No cure. They said the cancer can come back again. They cannot guarantee anything.
Yes, right – no one can give you any guarantee. But I am a bit baffled. Just because others (Westerners) do these, we also must follow – we must do the same thing.
Parents Value Doctor’s Opinion More Than Their Son’s
My father and mother are not well educated. They only depend on the doctors to tell them what to do. As their son, they would not listen to my opinion. They believe the doctors more. There are things I can understand, but old folks do not understand even if you tell them. Sometimes relatives come – they give their opinions too. That complicates things even more. Uncle, auntie, neighbours come and put pressure on us. Until now, some people still come to me and asked me to send my mother for chemo. They said that so and so had chemo and was cured. But everyone of us is not the same.
I have read – there were people who died after chemo and there were people who were cure with chemo. I have read all these and told my parents about these. They responded, “Why go and read all these.” They do not have confidence in themselves.
Oh, they don’t want to learn for themselves? They only want to hear “good things” and only think that they can win? Son: Because they only believe in what the doctors tell them. Actually most old folks behave like this.
It is All About Money First
I checked all the information I got to see if they are true or false. It all boils down to money first. Like in my friend’s case, it is all about money when they discussed his case.
CA Care Website
You visited our website and watched the videos of patients telling their stories in Youtube. Can I ask you one question – do you believe what they said? Son: At least there is something in there – the information in there are better than what the doctor provided. These are real stories of people. I also want to find out if the information is true or false.
I put it to you – how sure are you that the videos are not fakes – made up stories with actors posed as patients? Someone wrote me an e-mail asking how much I paid each patient to talk or act like that? Son: That had never crossed my mind at all. No, no, I don’t have that kind of feeling at all. After all, doctors are also telling the same thing – there is no guarantee about anything. You want to do chemo or anything – there is no guarantee but money must come first. But for the side effects – that not their responsibility.
Advice to Patient
(Turning to the patient) What does your heart say Auntie? P: I never think about this at all.
Your friends or relatives may ask you to go for chemo – are you confused? P: No (shaking her head).
No one can help you except you yourself. So please take care of yourself. This is your illness. We can only guide you as what to do but you must be responsible for yourself. What I tell you may be different from what your doctors tell you. It is up to you to believe me or not. I advise you to take care of your diet. They tell you, you can eat anything you like. In addition I advise you to exercise, take the herbs and be happy – don’t think so much.
Acknowledgment:Permission to use this video without having to hide her identity is granted by the patient.
This is a bitter-sweet story of Le, a 37-year-old female from Indonesia. She came to us on 14 October 2011 after having been diagnosed with breast cancer that had probably spread to her lungs. She had undergone 106 radiation treatments besides taking a variety of supplements.
1. I found a small lump in my breast in 2003. I ignored it. In 2009, the lump grew bigger and I felt it while lying down. I went to see a doctor who told me to do a biopsy. I declined. I did not want to do chemo or radiation.
2. Why did you go and see the doctor then? Le: Just to know if the lump was cancerous or not!
3. The doctor confirmed it was a cancer. I declined medical treatment and opted for supplements and alternative therapies instead.
4. I took “something.” I did not what the concoction was. This cost me six million rupiah per month. The tumour grew bigger.
5.After taking the concoction, the tumour grew bigger – didn’t you realize that you were not on the correct path? Le: No, I never thought of that!
6. I didn’t know where else to go. I bought all kinds of products to take. One supplement that I took for a year cost me 700,000 rupiahs per day – each gulp of this supplement cost 700,000 rupiah.
7. The tumour grew bigger and eventually burst.
8. I had no choice. I agreed to go for radiotherapy.
9. After the radiation the tumour shrunk. But four months later another tumour recurred at the collarbone. It was a small lump and then grew bigger until I had a very big lump around my neck.
10. Why did you wait for it to grow so big before going for another round of radiation? Le: I was hoping by taking the supplements the lump would shrink.
11. Since the lump grew bigger and bigger when you were taking the supplements, why did you continue taking them –even when they didn’t seem to help? Le: I just continued taking them. I waited and waited until the lump grew bigger and bigger.
12. Then I went for more radiation (in total I had 106 radiation treatments). Later they radiated my ovaries for six times.
13. Before the completion of all my radiation treatments, another lump recurred in my abdomen.
14. While undergoing the radiotherapy, I was asked to take Tamoxifen. Ten days on Tamoxifen my wrists swelled and I could not bend my fingers. After a month on Tamoxifen I could not walk.
15. I had to use the wheelchair and my husband had to carry me.
16. My good friend from Makassar called. She told me my body could not take the radiation anymore. I should stop the treatment. But where do I go? I have tried all the alternatives and failed. My friend to me, “Go to Chris Teo. You can check him out on the internet.”
17. Let me ask you this question – if you were to start all over again from 2009 when you felt the lump in your breast – what would you have done? Le: I would come to see you. I would not want to go for medical treatments.
18. When you had that small lump, you went to see the doctor but why did you not want him to do something for you? Le: I went to see a “sinseh”. He told me I had this disease because of my sins. What kind of “sinseh” was that?
19.What I wanted to know is, do you know that if you have a cancerous lump in your breast, the best option is to have it removed by the doctor? Le: If I were to have met you then, it is most likely that I would follow your advice and have the lump removed. Because after that I can take the herbs, okay – that I would agree. But I don’t want to go for chemotherapy or radiotherapy after the surgery. Unfortunately, I did not know about you then.
It is with sadness to learn that Le had to be hospitalized after her return to Surabaya because the cancer had spread to her liver. She died on 6 January 2012
CANCER STORY 
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