(Note: For the past few days I was toying with the idea of presenting our message in the form of cartoons, sketches, etc. Since I can’t draw the only way is to use video snapshots … etc. Later I shall venture into clip arts (to make things less serious!). Oh, this is the time when I wish I know how to draw! But when I was in school, I never get any score beyond D in drawing! Anyway, let me know how you like this type of presentations. Chris)
KF (S-364) is a 40-year old Indonesian lady. In 2011, she had coughs for more than a year. There was no blood in her phlegm. She took cough syrup but was not effective. In January 2013, she became breathless and found it difficult to climb the stairs. Her problem became more serious and she went to a private hospital in Tangerang. There was fluid in her lungs. Pleural tapping was performed once. But this procedure did not help her much. She was still breathless. Another tapping was done but there was no fluid.
A CT scan was performed and the doctor said there was a tumour. She was referred to a lung surgeon who told her that surgery was not indicated because her lungs could be filled with fluid and there was “not enough preparation” for him to proceed with the surgery.
Not satisfied, KF went to another lung specialist in a Jakarta hospital. Another CT scan was done, specimens were collected, etc., but the specialist could not determine the cause of her problem. The lung specialist suggested that KF’s problem could be due to “jamur” or parasites! KF was prescribed antibiotics. KF was also asked to do a biopsy, which she declined.
KF came to a private hospital in Penang in April 2013. She consulted a lung specialist. A CT done on 5 April 2013 showed:
A biopsy of the left chest tumour indicated poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma infiltrating the chest wall.
Immunohistology report of 20 April 2013 indicated the cells are positive for CK7 only and negative for CK20 and TTF-1.
The lung specialist referred her to a surgeon who told her surgery was not indicated for her case. KF was then referred to an oncologist. KF was prescribed 5 type of medication and one of which was Iressa. KF was asked to go home and try the Iressa and see what happen. If Iressa was not effective, KF would have to undergo chemotherapy.
A week in the private hospital cost RM 21,000. In addition she paid RM 7,000 for the medication inclusive of a month’s supply of Iressa.
KF was told Iressa would cause side effects. And she was not willing to take it. Someone living in the same apartment as she, told her about CA Care. She came to seek our help on 25 April 2013. She presented with the following:
We prescribed KF Capsule A, B, C, D and E. In addition she has to take many teas: Lung 1 and 2, Lung Phlegm, Liver 1 and 2. She was given Cough 5 for her coughs (white phlegm).
What had gone wrong?
Notes on The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR)
According to Kakiuchi et all, Gefitinib (Iressa), has shown potent anti-tumor effects and improved symptoms and quality-of-life of a subset of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, a large portion of the patients showed no effect to this agent. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15496427
Lung adenocarcinomas with mutated epidermal growth factor receptor have significant responses to tyrosine kinase inhibitors, although for unselected patients it does not appear to have a survival benefit. Both EGFR mutation and gene amplification status may be important in determining which tumors will respond to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. http://www.jthoracdis.com/article/view/87/152
The tumors that responded to the EGFR TK inhibitors (TKIs) gefitinib and erlotinib contain somatic mutations in the EGFR TK domain. The two most common EGFR mutations are short in-frame deletions of exon 19 and a point mutation (CTG to CGG) in exon 21 at nucleotide 2573. Together, these two types of mutations account for ~90% of all EGFR mutations in NSCLC. Other recurrent but far less common EGFR mutations known to be associated with sensitivity to EGFR TKIs include mutations in exon 18 and in exon 21. Screening for common EGFR mutations in patients with lung adenocarcinomas can now be performed in clinical molecular diagnostic laboratories to predict which patients will respond to EGFR TKIs. It can be performed on archival material as well as on fine-needle biopsies. http://www.nature.com/modpathol/journal/v21/n2s/full/3801018a.html
Predicting Sensitivity to Iressa and Tarceva
Iressa (gefitinib) and Tarceva (erlotinib) were being tested in large numbers of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Iressa did not improve overall survival compared to placebo treatment in previously treated NSCLC patients.
However, about 10% of Western patients treated with either of these drugs had dramatic and sometimes long-lasting responses. Investigators at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and also at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC published results showing that most of these “dramatic responders” had recurring mutations in the tyrosine kinase (TK) domain of the EGFR gene.
In the NSCLC patients who have mutations in the TK domain of the EGFR. This makes the cancer cell exquisitely sensitive to dying when the switch is turned off by a drug like Iressa or Tarceva, and explains why some patients can do so well on these drugs. Although there can be mutations anywhere in the TK domain, only some of them confer sensitivity to the TKIs.
About 45% of sensitizing mutations are what are called in frame deletions in exon 19, making them the most common EGFR mutations. About 40-45% of the sensitizing mutations are point mutations in exon 21. Most of the remaining mutations don’t cause the EGFR to be sensitive to EGFR TKIs.
A point mutation in exon 20 resulting seems to allow the EGFR TK to work much better than normal. Mutations in exon 20 have also been associated with resistance.
Mutations can be detected using sequencing to identify every mutation in the tyrosine kinase domain, whether predictive of responsiveness to TKIs or not. Another method is something called allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which can then be detected by a machine. This method only detects 28 of the most common EGFR mutations, but generally requires smaller amounts of tissue than sequencing and has a slightly faster turnaround time. There is also evidence that this method may be more sensitive than direct sequencing.
Quoted from: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2010/10/10/overview-of-molecular-markers-in-lung-cancer/
Read more: Practical Management of Patients With Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Gefitinib http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/23/1/165.full
SHK is a 84-year-old lady. She came to see us on 21 April 2013 – shook my hand, over and over again and said Thank you, thank you for taking care of me. I am doing fine. We were glad to see her looking so good. SHK said she did not cough with blood anymore. Her long-standing (10 years plus) pain in the jaw had also improved. Everyone was happy!
I repeatedly asked SHK if indeed she was feeling well. She responded repeatedly that she was indeed well – no more problems! Below is a comparison of her digital meridian imaging done on 20 April 2012 (top) and 21 April 2013 (bottom). Suffice to say that her health had not deteriorated over the year, and being well and feeling well is not an imagination of her own mind! And that is all that matters!
Her Problem One Year Ago
SHK’s problem started in September 2011. She had coughs, producing phlegm with blood. An X-ray on 3 September 2011 indicated a large, fairly well-defined oval opacity, 3 x 4 cm, seen in the right mid-zone. A small central calcification is seen in the opacity. Appearances are in keeping with a pulmonary tumour.
SHK had been smoking for 50 to 60 years. She had since stopped the habit.
Based on the above, the doctor in a private clinic suggested that SHK undergo radiotherapy. Not satisfied, SHK consulted a lung specialist of a private hospital in Penang.
A CT scan on 5 September 2011 indicated a mass in right upper lobe, consistent with bronchogenic carcinoma (T2NoMo). The mass measured approximately 4 x 3.5 cm in diameter. Dot calcification noted within the mass. It is completely surrounded by lung parenchyma. The rest of the lungs are clear.
The doctor provided the family with the following options:
The patient’s daughter said, I went dizzy with such suggestions and did not know what to do. The doctor asked me to sign the consent form if we agree to go ahead with the biopsy.
SHK and her family declined further medical treatment.
A repeat X-ray was done on 12 April 2012 and the result showed the mass in the RMZ has increased further in size and now measures 5.5 cm. It is fairly well-defined with lobulated margins and extending to the right hilum. It has a central lucency. Appearances are in keeping with a bronchogenic carcinoma. The rest of the lungs are clear.
Since the tumour had grown bigger, the family decided to do something and came to seek our help on 20 April 2012.
She presented with the following:
Comment
When I first met SHK I said to her, Auntie I am glad that you are already 83 years old. If I can live to your age, I would be most grateful indeed. Then her daughter related the mother’s problems and their encounter with a lung specialist of a private hospital. What to do with the 4 x 3.5 cm tumour in her lung?
Let me ask you. If she was your mother, what would you do? Some may say, go all out to get rid of the tumour. Spend and give her the best that medical technology can buy. On the other extreme, some children of patients would say that since my mother is already old, let’s do nothing. Go for quality of life.
It is not for me to decide what you should do with your mother! You have to make that decision.
Let’s turn to what the doctor said. It is indeed mind boggling. Three possible options were laid out. Go for surgery which she could face the risk of dying from the procedure! Go for chemo and the treatment would probably kill her! But before considering these, it would be good that a biopsy is done to determine what type of lung cancer she has! But even doing a biopsy would put her at risk. She was told there is a 99% chance that she will suffer from the procedure!
Can you decipher the logic of such medical advice? Why do you want to do the biopsy when you can’t offer any chance of treatment let alone cure?
I told the family. I am glad that you did not agree to the biopsy!
In Chapter 6 of my book, Cancer: What Now? I wrote:
Virtue of Doing Nothing
If one has cancer and opts to do nothing at all, he will live longer and feel better than if he undergoes radiation, chemotherapy or surgery ~ Professor Hardin Jones
Our body intelligence knows more than the combined wisdom of all the scientists in the world ~ Frank Remington
It is human nature that once told that we got cancer we go into a frenzy – madly rushing here and there believing that we must get things done quickly. There is no need to behave like that. I always tell patients: Don’t panic. There is no need to rush. You did not get cancer yesterday. The cancer has been with you for years already – only that you don’t know that it was there. So take it easy and calm down. At CA Care we ask you to relax and reflect to understand what has gone wrong. Then we sit down with you to plot your cancer journey using as much common sense as possible. Many of you may not like to learn this. For certain cases and under certain situations perhaps doing nothing is more logical and humane.
Doing nothing is not about you going home and sitting under a coconut tree waiting to die. It is not about doing NOTHING to help yourself. When you come to CA Care we teach you to live a happy life taking care of yourself – take care of your diet, change your life style and mental attitude, take herbs and seek blessings from Above. All these, somehow, could probably make your remaining time on earth more meaningful. And by doing these you may probably live longer than your doctor’s prognosis.
Perhaps this case is a classical example of doing nothing is better than doing something! Remember also that trying to do something and believing that you are a hero may not bring you anywhere. Read what Singapore’s well-know oncologist said below:
Recently, Malaysia’s most well-known oncologist, Dr. Albert Lim was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He died within a year. Going by the Singapore’s well-known oncologist’s yardstick, surviving a year was an achievement.
In this case, SHK was diagnosed with lung cancer – probably more lethal than prostate cancer. She was coughing blood. She did not go for chemotherapy or surgery. She took herbs. And after one year she remained very healthy. Is this not also an achievement?
Acknowledgement: We record our sincere thanks to Dr. Adrian Larsen, President of Miridia Technology Inc., USA, for his generosity in providing a unit of AcuGraph 3 for our research at CA Care. The use of AcuGraph for our patients is free-on-charge.
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):
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:
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
His 4th sister had breast cancer and underwent an operation to remove her breast. She was then asked to undergo chemo and radiotherapy, Henry objected to these treatments and brought his sister to see us in May 2004. More of this story in: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2010/12/09/after-mastectomy-chau-took-herbs-and-changed-her-diet-her-sister-died-after-medical-treatment/ As of this writing, 2012 – more than 8 years now, this sister is still doing fine. She is the second member of the family to have cancer.
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.
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!
And to those who want an easy way out, good luck!
Lung Cancer: An Outstanding Survivor
When patients come to see us, they face two problems. One – they suffer the side effects of the treatments as discussed in Part 3 of this article. We are expected to solve these problems for them, i.e., to “repair” the damage. Two, we also have to take care of their cancer – which actually should be our main concern. But most often than not, we ended up doing the “repair” work while the management of cancer has taken second place.
As I have said, we are indeed amazed that Sujo did not have any problem with respect to his lung cancer! Look again at the condition of his lungs when he first came to see us. He started to take the herbs and was well. Since then he did not have any problems with his lungs. Now, he has problems with his mobility!
One way to help Sujo with his current problems is to use the e-Therapy.
Muscle Tightness, Numbness and Trembling of Legs
Chris: When you came you said you have problems. What are these problems?
Patient: My legs feel numb. The muscles at the backbone feel tight.
C: You said the stomach muscles on both sides of the stomach also feel tight?
P: Yes, I feel tight on both sides of my stomach.
Wife: This happen after eating – he does not feel comfortable.
C: If your stomach is not full – okay?
P: Less problem.
The e-Therapy Helped to a Certain Extent
C: You did Program 66 – for the hip and leg. Did you feel any better?
P: I feel better – less tight.
C: Yesterday, you did Program 102 for the backache and muscle spasm. How was it?
W: The muscle does not feel as tight as before.
P: But not much better – a bit better only.
C: About 20 percent better?
P: About like that.
C: Your leg – how is it now?
W: His leg trembled involuntarily. This happens especially at night.
D: His legs shake by themselves.
C: Both legs?
W: Yes.
C: What happened to the trembling last night?
P: The trembling was much less.
C: The numbness in your legs – what happen?
P: The numbness is still there. No improvement.
After Four Days of e-Therapy
C: Last night – you did the therapy?
P: Yes.
C: After doing the e-Therapy for a few days now, do you feel any better?
P: I feel a bit lighter.
C: You have three problems. One is the numbness of the leg. How is it now?
P: The leg numbness still persists. The therapy does not help.
C: What about the tightness of the back muscles?
P: The back muscles are less tight now – better.
C: The muscles are less tight now and there is no pain?
P: No pain.
C: The hip muscle – you said the muscles were tight. What happen now?
P: I feel a bit better now.
C: You said there was pulling of the stomach muscles. This usually occurs after a meal.
What happen now?
P: The same – not helpful.
C: The numbness of your legs?
P: No difference – also not helpful.
C: The leg numbness – the e-therapy does not help you at all?
P: After undergoing the e-therapy I feel a bit better – it helps. But then after that the problem comes back again.
Comment
Indeed, the e-therapy is not a magic therapy. Sujo underwent only four sessions of the therapy here. I don’t expect any magic either! Nevertheless, in all it was not a wasted effort. He did benefit from the e-therapy even though this did not solve all his problems all at once. I am hoping with more of the therapy over a period of time, his problems will improve. He needs to undergo the therapy 2 to 3 hours daily. I have taught his wife and daughter how to go about doing the e-therapy properly. I am optimistic Sujo would improve.
Lung Cancer: An Outstanding Survivor
After encountering disaster after disaster, Sujo had no choice but to turn to the “cancer doctor” in his hometown for help. Initially he was prescribed Iressa, which he took for 10 days and gave up due to the side effects. He then moved on to Tarceva.
Chris: You stopped taking all those herbs and supplements after all the problems. What did you do after that?
Daughter: We went to see a “cancer doctor” (in Medan).
Patient: Iressa was not good for me. I bought 10 tablets.
D: The doctor recommended Iressa. We tried it but it was not suitable for him.
C: You took 10 tablets – for only 10 days?
P: After I took Iressa, I developed itchy blisters on my back.
C: Then you stopped the Iressa and switched to Tarceva – the doctor gave them to you?
D: He only gave the prescription.
C: Ten tablets and you paid 7 million plus rupiahs?
P: More than 7 million rupiahs.
C: After you switched to Tarceva, were you better off?
Wife: He had less bad effects.
C: In addition you also took medication for the bone?
P: I took the pill for the bone for about a month.
D: Then the next month, we switched to injection for the bone. The injection was done once a month. So far he had received a total of 7 injections. After the Tarceva he was able to get up again.
C: How long were you on Tarceva to be able to do that?
P: I bought 3 boxes of Tarceva – that is a supply for 3 months – each box for a month.
D: A box cost 16.5 million rupiahs.
P: The first month, I used up one box – taking one tablet a day. The second month, I only took 15 tablets for the month. The third month, I only took 10 tablets per month.
D: In addition to Tarceva, we still continued to take your herbs.
C: Oh, you still continue to take my herbs while on Tarceva.
D: Yes.
W: The fourth month, he took 10 tablets per month.
C: You bought 3 boxes – have you finished taking all the tablets?
P: No, I still have 5 more tablets to go!
C: Who asked you to reduce the dosage like that?
D: We do this by ourselves. I told my father about the possible bad effects.
C: While taking Tarceva like this, you said you still continued taking my hebs?
D & W: Yes, yes.
C: After taking Tarceva, you were able to get up and also walk? What about the CEA?
P: It decreased.
W: The CEA dropped to 90 plus.
P: The CEA dropped to 97 from the previous 800 plus.
C: While you were doing this – did you encounter any problem?
P: No.
C: While you were taking Tarceva, did you feel you were getting better?
P: Yes.
W (nodding): Better.
D: While he was on Tarceva, he still took care of his diet.
C: When exactly did you feel you get back your life? You could walk, you could climb the stairs – when exactly did this happen?
D: About a month after taking Tarceva. He was able to walk up the stairs again.
C: Only a month on Tarceva and he was well again?
D: Yes.
C: One month on Tarceva – that was when he was still on full dosage – one tablet per day. The next month you halved the dosage, that is taking only 15 tablets per month. What happened to you – okay?
P: I was okay.
C: When you took 10 tablets per month – what happened?
P: I was also okay. When I was on 5 tablets per month, I was also okay. Now, I am only on 5 tablets per month. I am still okay.
C: I am really amazed. What happen if you don’t take any tablet at all?
D (shaking head): We don’t know.
C: When you were on such low dosage, how did you feel?
P: Nothing – no problem. My health was as usual – stable.
C: Your condition while on full dosage (30 tablets per month) until 5 tablets per month – you felt the same all the time?
P: Yes, all the same. No difference.
D: While my father was taking Tarceva, he still continued to take Dr. Chris’ herbs as usual.
C: I am really amazed. By right you would have problems with your lungs. But over the past two years plus you have no problems with your lungs! How could this be?
Comments
Again, I say, this is an amazing story of an amazing survivor. Sujo had met disaster after disaster in trying to find his healing. He and his family did not give up – indeed they showed their determination of steel. They are not the kiasus and kiasi (afraid to loose and afraid to die) type. Granted, life is learning through experience. We do make mistakes – the kiasus and kiasi want to be in control of everything all the time, wanting to ensure that things would work according to what they want. Unfortunately life does not work that way – particularly so when dealing with cancer. Nothing follows the way you want it to be. Each person takes on the cancer journey on his / her own accord and comes out with an experience unique to his / her own.
I am indeed humbled from Sujo’s experience and I have learnt some important lessons from him. Let me elaborate.
1. Gurdjieff was perhaps truly right when he said, The wise man is not educated, and the educated man is not wise. Sujo and his wife had probably not gone beyond high school in life yet they are wise in their ways. They have a lot of common sense that is much to be admired. They stretched things to the limit and if it was a mistake retreated! Many people are dumb – they keep on repeating the same mistake and expected different results!
2. They say desperate people do desperate things. Indeed Sujo was desperate after facing disaster after disaster. In the end he turned to a “cancer doctor” for help. That is a wise move. He tried Iressa and found it did not work well for him. He switched to Tarceva. That is to be expected because that is about all that any cancer doctor could offer. But remember, Sujo did not forget to take our herbs even when he was doing something else. In our conversation, Sujo’s daughter kept reminding me that her father continued to take our herbs and took care of his diet. He had been on our therapy for the past two years (since October 2010) and still had faith in what we do! I wonder why they believe in us so much? Perhaps from their own experience, they felt our therapy did help them in some ways.
3. Take note that while taking Tarceva, Sujo was also taking our herbs. This is something most oncologists say, YOU MUST NOT do. Their command, No herbs while on chemotherapy, which according to Dr. Blaylock is based on ignorance and probably on arrogance too! Fortunately, Sujo lives in Indonesia and I know from patients that some doctors in that country are more “open and tolerant “ to and sometimes even supportive of alternative therapies. In this case, Sujo had shown that taking herbs while on Tarceva is okay! NOTHING went wrong and nothing to fear! So what is the fuss about? Some skeptics may say, One swallow does not make a summer. Let me tell you – there is also a similar case that happened in a hospital in Jakarta. He was also down with lung cancer and was in the hospital. He took herbs instead of doctor’s chemo. Then he took Iressa and came out very much alive like Sujo. That’s two swallows. And I have many more other swallows flying around!
4. Over the years, I have come across many cases of patients taking Iressa and Tarceva and they failed miserably. Read these stories:
When I first started CA Care I encouraged patients to follow what their oncologists want them to do. Go for surgery, chemo or radiotherapy! But with time, my world view of cancer treatment begun to change based on what my patients tell me, what I saw happened and what were written by medical doctors themselves. I am not a fanatic and I don’t belong to any “Vested Interest” group. I shall call a spade a spade and my world views on cancer are “tuned” based on facts and observations that I have. Thus far, I must admit I am never an enthusiastic supporter of patients taking Iressa or Tarceva. After all according to the medical literature these drugs do not cure lung cancer at all. Iressa was shown not to do anything much for cancer patients. Tarceva did a bit better – prolonging survival of lung cancer patients by 2.8 months. But the benefit of taking Iressa or Tarceva comes with a heavy toll. You have to endure the toxic side effects. Besides, for the ordinary man, the cost of the drug can make a hole in your pocket or bank account. They are not cheap!
However, over the past one year, I have encountered two case of lung cancer. One man took Iressa while taking herbs at the same time. He did extremely well. And now I see Sujo doing well after taking Tarceva while on our herbs. Must I now change my world view about these two drugs? Yes – of course. Those of you who want to try your luck with Tarceva or Iressa , I say – Go ahead! But before you do that, please study this case carefully and learn from Sujo’s experience. Also I urge you to read another case which I presented in Chapter 11 Lung-Bone-Brain Cancer: When Doctor and Herbalist Collaborate Miracle Happens, of my book:
(Available at http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=56)
5. Before I go to my next point, let me ask you to reflect on this quotation:
Many people are not interested to know why or to ask why – it’s a waste of time! Also asking why threatens the status quo! If you find the answer you have to change your worldview – i.e., if you are man enough! Most people don’t want to change! To most people if I don’t learn “this stuff” in school then it cannot be true. Anything out of the norm is just hogwash or snake oil. But a scientist worth his salt would want to dig deeper to know why. Why did Sujo NOT continue to take the full dose of Tarceva after knowing that the drug was helping him? Anyone would say it’s crazy to stop doing what you are doing when what you are doing is helping you. Why stop? I asked Sujo – who asked you to reduce the Tarceva dosage? The daughter said they did it themselves without being told by anyone. That was taking a bold step indeed – or even taking a great risk!
I guess at the initial stage Sujo was desperate. He had no choice but to take Iressa and later Tarceva. But I believe he also knew from the very beginning that he was taking poison. So after a month, after the poison has done its job, Sujo thought there was no reason to continue taking the poison much more! More does NOT mean better. So Sujo reduced the dosage into half, and gradually ended up taking only 5 tablets per month. His 3-month supply of Tarceva was stretched to a year!
If you think Sujo is dumb or crazy, read what happened to these two patients.
Perhaps Sujo was right! Brilliant idea indeed! I salute him!
No one in his wildest dream would ever do what Sujo did. But Sujo did it and he came out a winner and a survivor. Dare you say he is wrong? To me Sujo’s brilliant stroke of insight is like a spark that could light a fire to great discovery and rethinking for cancer treatment! Or is it? Given the world as it is today, this fire will be promptly extinguished. To the vested interests this suggestion is dumb. If lung cancer patients were to start doing what Sujo did, do you think the doctors, hospitals, pharmacists and drug companies like it?
The night of Sunday 18 November 2012 was one special night for me! Sujo, his wife and daughter suddenly appeared! I looked at him with amazement. Let me confess – I never ever thought that I would see this patient again. The last time I saw Sujo was in February 2011. Now it is November 2012. That is almost two years! The only thing I can say at this moment is– I am really happy to see him. Thank the Almighty God for this blessing.
I have written a story about Sujo earlier, Lung Cancer: Pain and Sleepless Night after Chinese New Year Dinner
Let me briefly outline his earlier story..
Tragedy Struck Again and Again
Listen to our conversation during his visit in November 2012.
Chris: Wah, you can walk now! For how long have been walking?
Patient: For 3 months now.
C: Wah, you have also put on weight. Actually, you are really fortunate and blessed!
Curse of the Seven-Needle-Leaf
C: The last time I saw you was when you came after Chinese New Year, 2011 in pain because you ate something “wrong.” You used the e-Therapy machine and the pains went away. You went home and everything was all right. You could ride the motor-bike, etc. Then what happened? You ate something wrong again?
P: I took Seven-Needle Leaf.
C: Who asked you to take that? How long were you taking that?
P: I took it for 5 days. My friend said this would help cancer patient. I took seven leaves, munched them and swallowed them.
C: What happened after 5 dyas?
Daughter: He could not walk after that!
C: Before taking the leaves, were you okay? Can walk?
P: I was okay, no problem.
Wife: Yes, he was able to walk up the stairs.
C: After 5 days taking the seven-needle, what happened?
P: My legs “went soft” – no strength.
D: He landed in bed – could not walk.
C: Before taking the seven-needle, were you able to walk?
P: Yes, I could walk. I could ride the motor-bike even.
Bone Surgery and Radiotherapy in Penang
D: He had to be hospitalized in Medan. The doctor said the cancer had spread to his bone.
C: Then you came to Penang and had surgery. Before the surgery, did the doctor say he could cure you?
P: He said, “50:50 chance”.
W: Even after the operation, his legs just collapse when he bent his knees. No strength. He could not stand up all. Actually even before the surgery, he already could not stand up.
C: How much do you have spent for the surgery?
W: About 70 to 80 million rupiahs.
D: He also underwent radiotherapy after the surgery.
W: Radiation for 5 times.
C: After the surgery, any more problems – any pain?
P: No pain, but my legs were numb. Later, my legs started to shake vigorously by themselves.
C: And your legs still shake now?
P: Yes, even to this day.
W: When he turned to the left or right, the legs would just tremble.
C: After the surgery, you still could not stand up?
D: No and the legs became thinner and thinner.
C: At home you just stay in bed and could not walk?
W: He could not walk – always sleeping on the bed. I have to lift him up whenever he wanted to move his bowels.
C: How long were you in such a situation?
P: For more than a year.
C: More than a year? – Wah! immobolised for more than a year. It must be very difficult for you all.
W & P: Yes, very difficult.
C: Were you able to eat? Any pain?
P: Can eat, no pain.
D: Only could not walk and his legs were numb.
W: His legs trembled and trembled.
Acupuncture Did Not Help
C: So for a year plus lying on the bed – what else did you do?
D: Continued to take your herbs and then went for Acupuncture – 2 to 3 times a week.
C: How long were you on Acupuncture treatment?
P: About two months.
C: Did the Acupuncture help you?
P: No.
C: During the whole year in such a condition, did you continue taking our herbs?
W: Yes! He continued taking your herbs.
C: Did you go and see any doctor at all during this time?
P: No, no.
C: Let me ask you – all this while you have problems with your legs, but what about your lungs? Any problem – was your breathing okay?
P: I had no problems with my lungs.
W: No breathlessness, no phlegm – nothing!
Alternative Treatment from a Batak Herbalist
C: Now, lying on the bed unable to move for a year plus – then what made you well again?
D: We went for alternative medicine.
C: Before going for alternative treatment, you were still not able to walk?
D: Couldn’t walk and he was getting thinner and thinner.
C: What was this alternative medicine?
D: Herbs from a Batak herbalist. He lives in the northern part of Medan. The herbalist said the blood flow was blocked. So he gave herbs that he formulated himself. This comes in the shape of small round pellets.
W: A day we need to take 9 pellets – 3 each time. Then there was also a liquid for external application.
D: This is also herbs and we need to mix with water and apply to the body and legs.
C: Are these herbs expensive?
P: No! One packet can last for one year! And it cost 5.8 million rupiahs.
C: Wah, that is cheap! And it is for a year’s supply. But why do need a year’s supply?
P: He told me to take the herbs for a year to get the best results.
C: But you took the herbs for only 5 months – initially what happened?
P: I passed out a lot of wind.
C: Did you get any better?
P: Yes, I could bend my knees and my legs did not collapse anymore.
W: He could also stand up.
C: Before taking the herbs, you were not able to stand up or walk?
P & W: No, no. After taking the herbs my legs were stronger and did not collapse anymore!
W: He could lift up his legs high.
P: I could stand up and started to walk slowly using a walking stick.
C: Okay, before taking the herbs, you could not walk at all?
W: No, no, cannot.
C: You took this Batak herbs for 5 months, did you still continue taking my herbs?
W: Yes, yes.
C: During those 5 months, did you have any problem with your lungs? Did you feel breathless?
P: No, no.
C: That means my herbs and this man’s (Batak) herbs can be taken at the same time. Then, why did you stop taking the Batak herbs after 5 months. Why did you not continue?
P: After a blood test, the CEA shot up to more than 800! When I came to Penang earlier on, the CEA was only 80 plus.
C: With CEA at 800 plus, did you feel anything bad?
P: No, I felt nothing.
D: His stomach felt bloated.
W: The stomach felt a bit harder. Looked like there was wind.
Another Disaster – the Cell Food
D: After the increase in CEA, he started to take supplement – Cell Food. He took one bottle a day.
W: A bottle cost 400,000 rupiahs. He took 3 bottles.
D: He started to have blisters.
W: Then he could not get up from bed.
P: I have no strength like before again.
C: Before you took that Cell Food, you could wake up? After the Cell Food you “collapse” once again?
P: Yes.
W: He was not able to wake up or turn around – left or right. Very difficult.
C: Did you ask the Cell Food people why?
D: They said it was the “healing crisis.”
C: Oh, very good answer! Why did you not continue taking it?
P: No, no. I am afraid!
Comments
I have great admiration, respect, and empathy for Sujo, his wife and family members. In their own simple ways, they showed a determination of steel to find healing. Over the period he laid immobolised in bed in Medan, I did get news about his well being. His wife, brother or sister came to our center and collected herbs for him and kept us informed about his well being. Then on 18 November – Sujo, his wife and daughter came to Penang. It was a wonderful meeting. I was sorry that I could not offer him much help when he was bed-ridden but I am glad that all ends well. Now, our attention is to try and help him regain this muscular mobility using the e-Therapy.
I must admit that I did not expect Sujo to make it at all. If we were to study the images of his lungs (below), how could we expect him to live without problem? But the truth is – he did survive and it is beyond expectation.
There are a few lessons we can learn from this case.
Tag (not real name) was a 59-year-old man from Indonesia. In April 2011, he had coughs with itchy throat. He went to see his doctors and was give medication but these did not help. In August 2011, he came to Penang for further consultation. A CT scan on 22 August 2011 showed an irregular mass (6.6 x 8.0 cm) in the upper left lung extending to the pulmonary hilum with left hilar and mediastinal adenopathy. He also complained of pain in the left pelvis. MRI done on 6 September 2011 showed lesion at the body of C6, body and left pedicle of the L5 vertebra. This was probably metastatic in nature. The doctor said Tag had a Stage 4 cancer.
Subsequently Tag underwent 5 sessions of radiation treatment to his neck area. He also received Zometa injection and the oral drug, Tarceva. But later EGFR testing showed no mutation so Tarceva was discontinued. Tag underwent chemotherapy with Alimta (Pemetrexed ) plus cisplatin.
Tag was told that chemotherapy would not be able to cure him but would prolong his life. He was told he had 6 months to live.
After radiation and chemotherapy Tag seldom cough and the pain in the cervical and lumbar vertebrae nearly disappeared.
Re-examination of his chest CT scan showed his lung tumour had increased in size. Tag went to China for further treatment in October 2011. In China Tag underwent a biopsy again. The cancer was again confirmed as a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. Tag underwent the following treatments in China:
All done, the treatment in China consisted of 5 cycles of chemotherapy, 2 times of cryotherapy and one Iodine seed implantation. The treatment was spread over a few visits, each lasting 1, 3 or 6 weeks.
In March 2012, Tag returned to Indonesia and continued to receive chemotherapy with Alimta at the local hospital.
In August 2012 Tag returned to China again. After receiving one cycle of chemotherapy his condition “dropped” (worsened). He was asked to go home to Indonesia.
Not satisfied, Tag came to Penang again – to be hospitalized in the same hospital that he had received his first treatment. His main concern was his elevated leucocytes count. He was rather obsessed with this high number. He was only given antibiotics infusion because he refused anymore chemo-drugs. In spite of the antibiotics Tag’s leucocytes count remain stubbornly high.
In the meantime while in the hospital, Tag’s wife came to CA Care and asked for our opinion. The following are the images of his CT and PET scans.
Based on his medical history and failed medical treatment, I told Tag’s wife to learn how to accept and face reality. There would be no cure. And for him to come to Penang and check into a hospital trying to reduce his leucocytes count was surely mind boggling! He was barking at the wrong tree! Perhaps this is what Professor Jane Plant meant when she wrote, Conventional cancer treatment can process patients to the extent that they no longer understand what is really being done to them. They have lost the ability to think rationally! They come wanting to only hear that they can be cured.
Tag’s wife told me that after a few days on antibiotics infusion, the doctor planned to do a PET scan. I objected to this idea. What is the whole rationale of doing scan over and over again? Know that all these procedures are not good for cancer patients. Do it only if it is absolutely necessary. Just two months ago, you did a CT scan. Now you want to do it again. What do you expect to see and get?
I advised her to bring Tag home as soon as convenient. And if he was agreeable to take herbs, then he can start on our therapy while at home. If he were to stay in Penang, he would have problems cooking, preparing the herbs, etc. It would do him a lot of good to stay home in a familiar environment.
Unfortunately, the next day my wife received a SMS informing us the Tag would want to go ahead and do the PET scan!
A few days later, Tag and his wife came to our centre after being discharged from the hospital. No, his stay in the hospital receiving the antibiotic infusion did not do any good at all. Then Tag complained that his arm was painful after the PET scan and asked if I have any herbs for this. My answer, Go back to your doctor and ask him to “repair” you.
After some days in Penang, Tag and his wife went home to Indonesia with a supply of herbs.
Sometime later, I received an email from his son informing that Tag had gone into a hospital in Jakarta. He still complained that his leucocytes count was high! After a few days, his son wrote to say that Tag did another PET scan and this time he was concerned with the infected lymph nodes in his neck.
On 14 October 2012, I received an email from a medical doctor who is actually Tag’s relative. This is what the lady doctor wrote:
Hi Prof, I had sent you an email last week, did you receive it? Prof, last couple of weeks there was my family member with lung cancer who came to Penang..Now he is in hospital in Jakarta. There is fluid in his lung, The main tumor in his lung grew bigger and so he experienced dyspnea (breathlessness). Doctor wanted to do radiation to the main tumor because it is pressing his airway. I want to ask, can we give him Ascites tea? What do you think of radiation? He keeps drinking your tea. What about the radiation, should he do it? Thank you for your help. Best regards
Reply: Hello B. Sorry for taking so long to write you. I have been busy with so many patients needing my attention. Okay about your relative. I am afraid it is difficult for me to say anything or help. He did not follow my advice. Even when he was in Penang he was in the hospital trying to make his leucocytes count lower!!! I told him you are doing the wrong thing in the wrong hospital. When the doctor wanted to do PET scan his wife SMSed my wife. I told him earlier not to do the PET scan.but the next day he did the PET scan! After he went home to Jakarta his son wrote that he had another PET scan!!!
I really don’t know. Since he is in the hospital, let the doctors take care of him. He is NOT like you …you followed what I said. He did not. Well, that is the way it is. I am not angry but I just give up. It is better for me to move on and help others who really need me. Take care and I believe you father is doing fine. Regards, Chris
23 October 2012: Prof, thank you for your reply, but unfortunately patient died last week in a hospital. He had been in ICU for 1 week. I have same problem here too. One of my family member — 29-year-old, breast cancer metastised to the bone, liver, brain, pancreas and lungs. She did all that the doctor instructed — TACI, streotactic for her brain, etc. It is very difficult to persuade any person, if she does not believe us …even after she saw my father’s case. I also give up. Let her make her own decision. At least I have given her all the information. My father is in a good shape, he is gaining weight 12 kg, but still on Iressa. Regards, B.
(Note: Why did this lady doctor, B write such an email? The full story of her father’s recovery from advanced lung cancer is found in my latest book below – Chapter 11 Lung-Bone-Brain Cancer: When Doctor and Herbalist Collaborate Miracle Happens.)
(Available at http://bookoncancer.com/productDetail.php?P_Id=56)
Comments
2. Difficulty to recognize that doing nothing could be a better option!
The behavior of this patient really puzzled me. He came to ask for our opinion. He wanted to try our herbs, but he would not listen to what we say. There is no reason for such person to come and see us in the first place! Even more so, this man had done all the medical treatments and nothing had helped him. But why go on doing the same thing all over again?
In trying to understand him, I asked, What is your occupation? This is one question I would never my patients, especially during the first visit. To me who you are is not relevant and I don’t want to be bias or influenced by your answer. But in this case I thought by knowing what he is will shed some light about the attitude of the person. His answer: I am an administrator in the government. That explains it all. I told him, Your job is to make people follow rules. If they don’t follow what you say, you give them “hell.” You follow the rules handed down to you without questioning. You can do that with the human beings that you “administer”, but unfortunately cancer in you does not behave according to your wishes or rule. You have cancer in you and you want the leucocytes count to come down – by just decreasing that number does not cure you at all. I told you not to do the PET scan but you did it anyway because the doctor said so! You follow “the authority“ like you do in your job. Unfortunately it does not work when it comes to cancer.
3. Not all patients who come to us find healing!
At our centre is a poster on the wall. It says:
You come to find the best doctor There is none here, because the best doctor is found within you. We too wish to find the best, that is the best patient. For it is with the best patient that we can both find healing together — for you! Tag came to us after knowing that the father of the lady doctor above recovered from his lung cancer. This man had cancer in 2010, a year earlier than Tag. His cancer is more advanced than Tag’s –having spread from his lung to his brain and bone. Yes, this man is still doing fine as of this writing. Why does he not die likeTag? It is because he chose “to do nothing.” Doing nothing does NOT mean that you go home and wait to die! It means you do not need to follow “the so-called established authority” and follow what they tell you to do. Dr. B’s father refused to “medical authority”. He went for alternative therapy. Unfortunately it did not work out well at first. He went down to the bottom of the pit before he found CA Care. That was when his two daughters flew to see us in Penang asking for help. Daughter B is a medical doctor and we agreed that we should work together and avoid as much invasive and toxic treatments as possible. The patient recovered.Tag was able to see what happened to Dr. B’s father, who actually is a relative. But Tag wanted to follow his own path – doing things his own way. He followed the well established “rules” because he was “trained” not to question “authority.”
We just have to learn to understand him!
And the Story of A Millionaire Plastic Surgeon from Singapore With Lung Cancer
I have just finished reading this great book written by my favourite author – a wise and great man. He is a Jewish rabbi.
Then, I found an article in my mail box. Testimony from Singaporean, Dr Richard Teo, Plastic Surgeon, 40 years old … I almost deleted it thinking it was yet another “junk” mail. But his name attracted my attention. After all I am also a Teo – perhaps, people might think he is my brother! So let me reproduce this email and share with you the story of my “brother” (no blood relationship though).
Dr Richard Teo Keng Siang, was 40-year-old millionaire and cosmetic surgeon. He was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. This is the transcript of his talk at the Dental Christian Fellowship on 24 Nov 2011.
HIS BACKGROUND: Hi good morning to all of you. My voice is a bit hoarse from the chemotherapy, so please bear with me. I thought I’ll just introduce myself. My name is Richard. I’m a friend of Danny, who invited me here.
I’d just begin to say that I’m a typical product of today’s society. Before this, I was talking about how the media influences us, etc. So I’m a typical product of what the media portrays. From young, I’ve always been under the influence and impression that to be happy, is to be successful. And to be successful, is to be wealthy. So I led my life according to this motto.
Coming from a poor average family, back in those days, I was highly competitive, whether in sports, studies, leadership. I wanted it all. I’ve been there, done that. But at the end of the day, it’s still about money.
So in my recent last years, I was a trainee in ophthalmology, but I was getting impatient, cos I had friends of mine who were going out into private practise, making tonnes of money. And there I was, stuck in a traineeship. So I said, ‘Enough, it’s getting too long.’ At that time, there was a surge in protégés of aesthetic medicine. I’m sure you’re aware, aesthetic medicine had peaked over the last few years, and I saw good money in there. So much so that I said, ‘Forget about ophthalmology, I’m gonna do aesthetic medicine.’ So that’s what I did.
The truth is, nobody makes heroes out of the average GP in the neighbourhood. They don’t. They make heroes out of rich celebrities, politicians, rich and famous people. So I wanted to be one of these. I dived straight into aesthetic medicine. People were not willing to pay when I was doing locum back in those days. Anything more than $30, they would complain that “Wah, this lo kun (doctor) jing qwee (very expensive)”. They made noise and they were not happy. But the same people were willing to pay $10,000 for a liposuction. So I said, ‘Well, let’s stop healing the sick, I’m gonna become a beautician; a medically-trained beautician.’
And that was what I did – liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgeries, you name it, we do it. It was very good money. My clinic, when we started off, waiting time was 1 week; 1 month; became 2 months; became 3 months. There was so much demand that people were literally queuing up to have aesthetic work done on them. Vain women – easy life!
So the clinic grew. I was so overwhelmed, from 1 doctor, I employed 2, then 3, then 4 doctors, and carried on. Nothing is ever enough. I wanted more and more and more. So much so that we set up shop in Indonesia to lure all the Indonesian tai tai’s. We set up shop, set up a team of people there, to get more Indonesian patients to come in.
So, things were doing well. I’m there, my time has arrived.
Around some time in February last year, I said, ‘OK, I have so much spare cash, it’s time to get my first Ferrari. So there I was, getting ready for the deposit. ‘OK! There comes my first Ferrari!’ I was looking for land, to share with some of my friends. I have a banker friend who makes $5 million a year. So I thought, ‘Come, let’s come together. Let’s buy some land and build our houses.’
I was at my prime, getting ready to enjoy. At the same time, my friend Danny had a revival. They were going back to church, some of my close friends. They told me, ‘Richard, come, join us, come back to church.’
I have been a Christian for 20 years; I was baptised 20 years ago, but it was because it was fashionable to be a Christian then. All my friends were becoming Christians then. It was fashionable! I wanted to be baptised, so that when I filled in a form, I could put there “Christian” – feels good. In truth, I had never had a Bible; I don’t know what the Bible is all about.
I went to church for a while, after some time, I got tired. I said it’s time to go to NUS, stop going to church. I had a lot more things to pursue in NUS – girls, studies, sports, etc. After all, I had achieved all these things without God today, so who needs God? I myself can achieve anything I want.
In my arrogance, I told them, “You know what? You go tell your pastor to change your sermon to 2 p.m. I will consider coming to church.” Such arrogance! And I said 1 statement in addition to that – till to date, I don’t know if I’ve regretted saying that – I told Danny and my friends, “If God really wanted me to come back to church, He will give me a sign.”. Lo and behold, 3 weeks later, I was back at church.
THE DIAGNOSIS: In March 2011, out of the blues – I was still running around, ‘cause I’m a gym freak and I always go to the gym training, running, swimming 6 days a week. I had some backache, and that’s all I had, but it was persistent. And so I went for an MRI to exclude prolapsed disc. And the day before I had my scan, I was still in the gym, lifting heavy weights, doing my squats. And the next day, they found that half my spine had bone marrow replacement. I said, “Woah, sorry, what’s that?”
We had a PET scan the next day, and they diagnosed that I had terminal lung cancer, stage 4B. It had spread to the brain, half the spine, whole of my lungs were filled with tumour, liver, adrenals…
I said, “Can’t be, I was just at the gym last night, what’s going on?” I’m sure you know how it feels – though I’m not sure if you know how it feels. One moment I was there at the peak, the next day, this news came and I was totally devastated. My whole world just turned upside down.
I couldn’t accept it. I have a hundred relatives on both sides, my mom and my dad. A hundred of them. And not a single one has cancer. To me, in my mind, I have good genes, I’m not supposed to be having this! Some of my relatives are heavy chain smokers. Why am I having lung cancer? I was in denial.
ENCOUNTER WITH GOD: So the next day, I was still in a state of denial, still unable to accept what was going on. There I was lying in an operating theatre in a hospital, for a needle biopsy (for histology). There I was, just completed the biopsy, and lying in the operating theatre. The nurses and doctors had left; they told me I had to wait for 15 minutes to do a chest X-ray to make sure there’s no pneumothorax (a complication).
And there I was, lying on the operating table, staring blankly at the ceiling in a cold, quiet operating theatre. Suddenly I heard an inner voice; it was not like coming from the outside. It was from inside – this small inner voice that I had never felt before. And it said very specifically “This has to happen to you, at your prime, because it’s the only way you can understand.”
I said, “Woah, why did that come from?” You know, when you speak to yourself, you’d say, “OK, what time should I leave this place? Where shall I have dinner after this?” You’d speak from a first person point of view. You don’t say, “Where should YOU go after this?” Whereas the voice that came spoke as a third party. It said, “This has to happen to YOU, at YOUR prime, because this is the only way YOU can understand.” At that time, my emotions just overflowed and I broke down and cried, alone there. And I knew then, subsequently, what it means – to understand why this is the only way.
Because I had been so proud of myself, my whole life, I needed nobody else. I was gifted with things that I could do, why do I need anybody else? I was just so full of myself that there was no other way I could have turned back to God.
In fact, if I were diagnosed with stage 1 or 2, I would have been looking around busily for the best cardiothoracic surgeon, remove a section of the lobe (do a lobectomy), do preventive chemotherapy. The chances of it being cured is extremely high. Who needs God? But I had stage 4B. No man can help, only God can.
A series of events happened after that. I wasn’t sold after that inner voice. No I wasn’t. To me, it was just ‘maybe there was a voice; or maybe that was just me talking to myself.’ I didn’t buy the story.
What happened next was that I was being prepared for chemotherapy. I started off with a whole brain radiation therapy first; takes about 2 -3 weeks. In the meantime they prepared me for chemotherapy, supplements, etc. One of the things they used for chemo was a thing Zometa. Zometa. They use it to strengthen the bones; once the bone marrow is cured of cancer cells, it becomes hollow, so we need Zometa to strengthen the bone to prevent compression fractures.
One of the side effects of Zometa is that it can cause osteonecrosis (bone death) of the jaw, and I had to have my wisdom teeth removed. Years ago, I had my upper wisdom teeth removed, cos it was giving me trouble. The lower ones didn’t give me trouble so I said, “Forget it, just leave it.” So of course, Danny volunteered to remove it for me.
So there I was, lying there in a dental chair, asking myself, suffering all the side effects of radiotherapy, and now I have to go through wisdom tooth surgery. As if I’ve not had enough to suffer! So I asked Danny, “Eh, bro, is there any other way? Can I not go though this?” He said, “Yes, you can pray.”
I said, “What’s there to lose? Ok lah, pray lah!” And so we prayed. And we did an X-ray after that. Everything was all there, all the appliances and everything. And lo and behold, the X-ray showed that there was no wisdom teeth in the lower jaw. I know most people have 4 wisdom teeth, maybe some have none, but to be missing one or 2, as I understand – I’m not too sure, as I understand – is not that common.
Still I was, “Nah, I don’t care about that.” To me, as long as I didn’t have to take out the tooth, I was happy. At that point, I still wasn’t sold on prayers. Maybe it was just a coincidence – for whatever it’s worth.
I continued meeting my oncologist, asking him, “How long do I have?” I asked him. He said, not more than 6 months. I said, “Even with chemotherapy?” About 3 – 4 months, he said.
I couldn’t grasp that. It was difficult to come to terms. And even as I went through radiotherapy, I was struggling every day, especially when I wake up, hoping that it’s just a nightmare; when I wake up, it’s all over.
As I was struggling, day after day, I went into depression, which is the typical denial, depression blah blah blah that you go through. But for 1 reason, I don’t know why, there was this specific day that I was supposed to meet my oncologist. At about 2 p.m., I felt this sudden surge of peace, comfort, and in fact, a little happiness. It was just overflowing. For no rhyme or reason, it just came about 2pm, as I was getting ready, dressing up to meet my oncologist. So much so that I told all my friends, “Bros, I just feel so good suddenly! I don’t know why, it just came!”
And it was only days, or was it weeks after, that Danny revealed to me that he had fasted for 2 days for me and he ended his fast at that exact same point, about 2 p.m. thereabouts, that this surge of sensation came to me for no rhyme or reason. And I didn’t know that he was fasting for me. And when he ended the fast, I felt that sensation!
Whoa, things were getting a bit too coincidental. I was starting to buy a bit of the story, but still I wasn’t sold. As days passed by, I completed my radiotherapy, about 2 weeks plus. Getting ready for chemo, so they let me rest for a few days.
Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate. Breast, colorectal (colon) cancer, and prostate cancer (the top few cancers in Singapore for men and women) – if you add up the mortality rate of these 3, it still doesn’t add up to lung cancer. Simply because, you understand, you can remove the prostate, the colon, the breast, but you cannot remove your lungs.
But there’s about 10% of lung cancer patients who do pretty well for some reasons, because they have this specific mutation; we call it the EGFR mutation. But still, my oncologist was still not hopeful for me to have this mutation.
The chances of it happening for me were maybe 3-4% for me to get it. That’s why I was being primed to go for chemo. But through all the intense prayers, friends like Danny, people that I don’t even know, it turned out that, during my waiting for chemo, the results came back that I was EGFR positive. I was like, “Woah, good news!” Cos now I don’t have to undergo chemo at that time, because there’s this oral tablet that you can use to control this disease.
AFTER AND BEFORE: Just to share with you some idea – this is a CT scan – thorax – of my lungs, before treatment.
Every single dot there is a tumour. You can see all the mets (metastasis) there. This is just one single plane. Literally I had it in both lungs, and I had literally tens of thousands of tumour. That’s why the oncologist told me, even with chemo, at most 3-4 months.
But because of this mutation, they have this oral medication.
At that point, I said, “Well, it’s to be expected, isn’t it? The medicine is good.” I’m still not buying the story. Well, the guys prayed for me and the tumour markers started to come down. 90% of the tumours were wiped out, and the tumour markers came down to more than 90% over the next few months.
But still, you know, once you have the clinical knowledge, you know the statistics. One year survival, two year survival; having all this knowledge is not a good thing. Cos you live with the knowledge that even with all this, the cancer cells are so unstable, they keep mutating. They will overcome and become resistant to the drugs, and eventually you’re gonna run out of medication.
So living with this knowledge is a huge mental struggle, a huge mental torture. Cancer is not just about a physical struggle, it’s a huge mental torture. How do you live with no hope? How do you live with not being able to plan for the next few years? The oncologist tells you to bear with it for the next 1 – 2 months. So it’s a lot of struggles as I went through: March, then April. April was my lowest point, in deep depression, struggling even as I was recovering.
ACCEPTANCE & PEACE: And one of those days, I was there in bed, struggling in the afternoon, asking God, “Why? Why do I have to go through this suffering? Why do I have to endure this hardship, this struggle? Why me?”
As I fell asleep, in my dreamy state, a vision just came, that says Hebrews 12:7-8.
Now mind you, at this time, I had not read the Bible. I have no clue what’s Hebrews, I don’t even know how many chapters there are. Totally clueless.
But it says Hebrews 12:7-8, very specifically.
I didn’t think too much of it. I just continued sleeping. Then I woke up, and I said, “What’s there to lose? I’d just check it out lah!” Danny had bought me a Bible; it’s still quite new. I said, “It’s ok, just try.” So I flipped to the Old Testament. Hebrews to me sounds like something ancient, so it should be in the Old Testament right? So I flipped through the Old Testament. No Hebrews there. I was disappointed.
Then I said, “Maybe New Testament, let’s have a look!” WOW – New Testament, there’s Hebrew!! Hebrews 12:7-8 says, “Endure hardship as discipline as God is treating you as His children.”
I said, “WAH!! Where did that come from?” I was getting goose pimples all over my body. I said, “This can’t be, right?” I mean, what’s the chance of somebody, who has never read the Bible, to have a vision of a specific verse that answers my question directly?
I think God had called to me directly as I was there sleeping, struggling with it, asking God, “Why do I have to suffer? Why do I have to suffer this?” And God says “Endure hardship as discipline as God is treating you as His child.”
At this point, the chance of that happening is even lesser than my EGFR being positive. There’s just no way; there’s so many thousands of verses in the Bible, how can I just conjure up something like that?
So at that point, I was sold I said, “YOU WIN! YOU WIN!!”
Ok , I was convinced. And so from that day onwards, I started believing in my God. And the last time I heard that inner voice was the end of April. And that inner voice, same thing, in the afternoon, as I was sleeping (this time I wasn’t struggling, just going to sleep). In a dreamy state I just heard Him say, “Help others in hardship.”
It was more like a command, rather than a statement. And that’s when I embarked on this journey, helping others in hardship. And I realised that hardship is not just about being poor. In fact, I think a lot of poor people are probably happier than a lot of us here. They are so easily contented with whatever they have, they’re probably pretty happy.
Hardship can happen to rich people; it can be physical hardship, mental hardship, social, etc. And also over the last few months, I started to understand what this true joy is about. In the past, I substituted true joy with the pursuing of wealth. I thought true joy is about pursuing wealth. Why? Cos let me put it to you this way, in my death bed, I found no joy whatsoever in whatever objects I had – my Ferrari, thinking of the land I was going to buy to build my bungalow, etc, having a successful business. It brought me ZERO comfort, ZERO joy, nothing at all.
True joy comes from interaction with other people. And at a lot of times, it is a short term pride, the past. When you pursue your wealth, Chinese New Year is the best time to do it. Drive my Ferrari, showing off to my relatives, showing off to my friends, do my rounds, and then you thought that was true joy? And your relatives, wow, they share this joy with you? In truth, what you have done is just to illicit envy, jealousy, and even hatred. They are not sharing the joy with you, and what I have is that short-term pride that wow, I have something you don’t have! And I thought that was joy!
So what we have is basically a short-term pride at the expense of somebody else. And that wasn’t true joy. And I found no joy at all on my deathbed, thinking of my Ferrari – to hold on to it, sayang it?!?
True joy I discovered comes from interaction. Over the last few months I was so down. Interaction with my loved ones, my friends, my brothers in Christ, my sisters in Christ, and only then was I able to be motivated, able to be uplifted. To share your sorrow, to share your happiness – that’s true joy.
And you know what makes you smile? True joy comes from helping others in hardship, and because I’ve gone through this, I know what hardship entails. In fact, there’re some cancer patients who tell me a lot of times, people come up to them and tell them, “Stay positive. Stay positive.” Yah, right. You come in my shoes and you try to stay positive! You don’t know what you’re talking about!
But I have the licence. So I’ve been going out to meet other fellow cancer patients, to share with them, encourage them. And I know, because I’ve been through it, and it’s easier for me to talk to them.
And most importantly, I think true joy comes from knowing God. Not knowing about God – I mean, you can read the Bible and know about God – but knowing God personally; having a relationship with God. I think that’s the most important. That’s what I’ve learnt.
So if I were to sum it up, I’d say that the earlier we sort out the priorities in our lives, the better it is. Don’t be like me – I had no other way. I had to learn it through the hard way. I had to come back to God to thank Him for this opportunity because I’ve had 3 major accidents in my past – car accidents. You know, these sports car accidents – I was always speeding , but somehow I always came out alive, even with the car almost being overturned. And I wouldn’t have had a chance. Who knows, I don’t know where else I’d be going to! Even though I was baptised it was just a show, but the fact that this has happened, it gave me a chance to come back to God.
Few things I’d learnt though:
1. Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart – this is so important.
2. To love and serve others, not just ourselves.
There is nothing wrong with being rich or wealthy. I think it’s absolutely alright, cos God has blessed us. So many people are blessed with good wealth, but the trouble is I think a lot of us can’t handle it. The more we have, the more we want. I’ve gone through it, the deeper the hole we dig, the more we get sucked into it, so much so that we worship wealth and lose focus. Instead of worshipping God, we worship wealth. It’s just a human instinct. It’s just so difficult to get out of it.
We are all professionals, and when we go into private practise, we start to build up our wealth – inevitably. So my thought were, when you start to build up wealth and when the opportunity comes, do remember that all these things don’t belong to us. We don’t really own it nor have rights to this wealth. It’s actually God’s gift to us. Remember that it’s more important to further His Kingdom rather than to further ourselves.
Anyway I think that I’ve gone through it, and I know that wealth without God is empty. It is more important that you fill up the wealth, as you build it up subsequently, as professionals and all, you need to fill it up with the wealth of God.
I think that’s about it. It’s good to share. Thanks.
(Note: He was diagnosed with stage 4B lung cancer in March 2011. He was told he had 3-4 months to live but he lived for another 19 months. He died on 18 October 2012.)
In When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough, Rabbi Harold Kushner asked, Was there something I was supposed to do with my life? Let me quote what he wrote:
Comments
Over the years – 16 plus years, I have all kind of people coming to CA Care for help. Some were wealthy and famous. Some had impressive tittles in front and behind their names. But some were plain simple folks with no viable income at all. Some were nice and gentle while others were outright abusive and rude. Some cherished the idea that they did not have to pay anything talking to me, while others were happy that they had to pay very, very much less for their medicines than if they were to see their oncologist.
In short, I have seen them all – human beings in all their forms, attitudes and human values. But what made my heart bleed is to see those “high and mighty” coming to us with terminal cancer – their medical reports and scans showed that they may not make it through three to six months – yet they have not learned or realized that living life is more than just money. These people (not that they don’t have money) would call wanting to return the herbs (how much was that worth? RM 200 or RM 400?and you do that with your doctors do you?) that they bought after they did not get the results they expected, even if they had already lived six months or more!
But fortunately we have learnt early that CA Care is just a door mat. Some come to us expecting to extract the maximum they can squeeze from us! Some came in a BMW or Mercedes and still asked for special discount! We know that is the way life is!
May many of us learn and benefit from the story above and the wisdom of Rabbi Kushner.
DS is a 54-year-old lady from Singapore. In 2010, she had persistent coughs for about six months. In November 2010, she went to the hospital after having severe headaches and vomiting. She was hospitalised for tests. Subsequent imaging procedures revealed lung cancer that had spread to her bones and brain.
Brain scan on 29 November 2010: Multiple small intra-axial solid and ring enhancing lesions in the brain parenchyma. Findings highly suggestive of brain metastasis.
CT Thorax of 30 November 2010: A 4.8 x 4.6 cm mass is seen in the medial basal segment of the left lower lobe. Few satellite nodules measuring up to 1.2 cm are also seen distally in the left lower lobe. Left hilar lymph nodes are enlarged measuring up to 2.6 x 1.4 cm. Further, mediastinal lymph adenopathy is also seen involving the subcarinal and aorto pulmonary lymph nodes. Small subcentimeter sized pre tracheal lymph nodes are also seen.
Bone scan on 8 December 2010: Abnormal uptake projected over the right scapula /glenoid, suspicious of metastasis. Indeterminate uptake at the L5 vertebra. Mildly increased tracer uptake over the right temporal-mandibular junction. Degenerative changes involving the sternum, knees and feet.
DS was treated with Iressa (150 mg daily from December 2010 to mid-April 2012) and monthly injection of Zometa (for her bones). Iressa was stopped after the drug was found to be no more effective.
Her doctor then prescribed Tarceva. From mid-April 20-12 to June 2012, DS was on Tarceva (75 mg daily, and one 150 mg pill taken every two days). DS still continued receiving Zometa infusion once a month.
Within two weeks on Tarceva she suffered side effects such as: pimples and rashes. The doctor reduced the dosage to half. Her tumour marker – CEA – kept on rising. The lung tumour increased in size, her bone and brain metastases worsened.
Vitamins and Supplements
CT Thorax of 27 October 2011: Since CT scan of 30 May 2011, a mixed response is seen where the dominant left lower lobe nodule shows increase in size whereas the subcentimeter nodule nodule in the left lower lobe lateral basal segment has virtually resolved.
Bone Scan of 13 April 2012: Scan shows foci of increased tracer uptake at: inferior glenoid region of the right scapula (more intense and extensive); T12 vertebra (new) and L5 vertebra (more extensive). Since 25 May 2011, there is interval progression of bone metastases.
MRI Brain with Contrast of 16 April 2012: There are multiple new areas of pial /cortical as well as parenchymal enhancing lesions, highly suggestive of metastases.
Now, the doctor is suggesting that DS undergo chemotherapy with Alimta + Cisplatin. She refused.
DS decided to stop Tarceva and came to Penang to seek our help. She presented with the following:
DS was prescribed Capsule A, Lung 1 and 2 tea, Brain 1 tea, Bone Tea, Pain Tea and Cough 10 and Cough 11.
Her AcuGraph reading on 7 September 2012 appeared fairly good compared to other cancer patients. She had imbalances of her LU (lung), SP (spleen), KI (kidney) and GB (gall bladder) meridians. Based on this reading, DS was prescribed A-Lung-2 and A-Kid-2 tea.
Comments
If you have been reading our articles in this website, I am sure you would have come across stories of lung cancer patients who have taken Iressa and /or Tarceva. I think I have said and written enough, just read the stories below:
Lung Cancer and the Side Effects of Iressa: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/08/15/lung-cancer-and-the-side-effects-of-iressa/
Meaningless Shrinking of Tumour by Chemotherapy https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/05/26/meaningless-shrinking-of-tumour-by-chemotherapy/
Lung Cancer: The Meaningless Decrease and Increase of Tumour Markers After Chemotherapy https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/04/30/lung-cancer-the-meaningless-decrease-and-increase-of-tumour-markers-after-chemotherapy/
Meaningless Shrinking of Tumor While on Tarceva https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/04/26/meaningless-shrinking-of-tumor-while-on-tarceva-treatment/
Meaningless Decline of CA 15.3 and Tumour Shrinkage Following Treatment With Iressa and Tarceva https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/04/26/meaningless-decline-of-ca-15-3-and-tumour-shrinkage-following-treatment-with-iressa-and-tarceva/
Lung Cancer: After One-and-half Years of Iressa, He Moved to Tarceva https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/09/04/lung-cancer-after-one-and-half-years-of-iressa-he-moved-to-tarceva/
Mom With Lung Cancer: Surprise! Surprise! Four Years on Herbs and Still Doing Well! https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2012/08/30/mom-with-lung-cancer-surprise-surprise-four-years-on-herbs-and-still-doing-well/
Let me conclude with some quotations for you to reflect on:
SS is a 73-year-old male from Johor. He was a casual smoker of about 20 plus years. Sometime in early 2010, he experienced weight loss and lack of energy. There was no cough. He went to the general hospital and fainted while there. A CT scan on 13 May 2010 indicated lung cancer, as below.
SS was subsequently referred to the university hospital in Kuala Lumpur. He was started on the oral drug, Iressa, on 21 February 2011.
On 22 June 2011 another CT scan was done and the results showed:
Impression: Comparison with the previous CT scan there is progression of the disease.
SS continued taking Iressa and was monitored regularly by CT scan.
CT scan done on 19 September 2011 showed the following:
CT scan on 12 December 2011 showed:
A comparison study with CT was done on 26 March 2012. The results showed:
Scans on 13 May 2010 & 19 September 2011 (top) and 26 March 2012 (below)
SS came to seek our help on 19 August 2012. He was told by his doctor that Iressa was not effective and about a week ago he was asked to stop Iressa and this was replaced with Tarceva.
SS had been taking Iressa for almost one and half years at a cost of about RM 7000 per month. Tarceva costs him RM 8,900 per month.
SS said he wanted to try out herbs and would not wish to continue with his doctor’s medication.
SS’s meridian bioenergy was read using the AcuGraph (below):
There is a marked energy imbalance between the upper (left) and lower part of his body (right). We prescribed herbs to correct the imbalance of his LU and BL energy. SS also told us that he has problems with his prostate. Unfortunately, no one has addressed this problem. For this, we prescribed Prostate A tea. In addition we prescribed SS Capsule A, C-tea, Lung 1 and Lung 2 teas, for his cancer.
Comments
As I was writing this article, a lady from Singapore wrote:
Dear Chris,
I am thinking of going up to Penang to consult you … I was diagnosed in December 2010, with lung cancer (adenocarcinoma), with metastasis to the brain, adrenal glands, lymph nodes and bone. I took Iressa for 1 year, then switched to Tarceva when the CEA started climbing up again. CEA went down from 400+ to 28 within the first few months of taking Iressa, then plateaued for a few months and then started climbing again from December 2011. I am currently on Tarceva.
The case of SS happened in Kuala Lumpur. Now you see a similar story repeated in Singapore! I am reminded by what was supposed to be said by Einstein below:
If you are following and reading this website you will know that cases like the above are not rare or exceptional! May be the results are and can be expected to happen to you! Read: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/category/lung-cancer/
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting anyone is insane here. What I am suggesting here is: Why don’t you be a bit WISER?
I remember my friend SK. He did not go to any university but he was wise. You don’t have to be a university graduate to be a wise person! SK had lung cancer that had spread to his liver. He said: I saw the oncologist. He told me to do the chemo. When I saw everybody do chemo, everybody do radiotherapy, I told myself this must be the only way. I went back to the doctor and asked him to do the chemo on me. So SK underwent both chemo and radiotherapy. He did not get well but instead ended up with three more tumours in his liver. And they were growing in size. SK told me: I knew then that I had taken the wrong path. I started to find other ways. You can listen to his story here.
Why do people keep repeating the same, old “mistake”? Perhaps ignorance! Perhaps they are just being stubborn or even arrogant – believing that they know better! But often it is just plain powerlessness, being placed in a situation that a person does not know what else to do. SK knew he had a choice – to find other options and not repeating the same “mistake” which Einstein said is insanity
Like SK, you should know that you too have a choice. But for some people it is better to choose the devil that you know than the angel that you don’t know!
I have no problem with what you choose. My responsibility ends after telling you the truth the way I know it. So, be wise and make your choice.
What Your Need to Know About Iressa (or gefinitib)
If you understand this statement correct, it just means this: Iressa does not cure lung cancer. Iressa caused shrinkage of tumours for at least a month in only 10 percent of patients. Many alternative practitioners (including me) will tell you that shrinkage of tumour is just plain meaningless. Ask yourself: Why do I take Iressa? Is it to cure my lung cancer? Is it to only shrink by lung tumour for a few months and then it grows back again?
Possible side effects: Each person’s reaction to any drug is different. Some people have very few side effects, while others may experience more: Diarrhoea, acne-like rash, loss of appetite, feeling sick (nausea) and being sick (vomiting), tiredness, eye problems, change in blood pressure, breathing problems and it is potentially very serious, and a small number of people have died because of the lung problems they have developed while taking Iressa. Source: http://www.andygaya.com/chemotherapy/chemotherapy-gefitinib.html
Cost: About RM 7000 per month
What Your Need to Know About Tarceva (or erlotinib)
Between August 2001 and January 2003, researchers enrolled 731 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease had progressed after one or two courses of chemotherapy. The patients were divided randomly into two groups. One group (488 patients) received Tarceva and the other group (243 patients) received a placebo.
If you understand the results of the above research, you will know that Tarceva does not cure any lung cancer. Those who took Tarceva lived longer by 2 months (median survival 6.7 months vs 4.7 months). After one year, 31 percent of patients were still alive – meaning 69 percent of patients died even if they took Tarceva. If you take Tarceva, your lung cancer progression is delayed by 0.4 months — 0.4 months? What does that mean – the disease slowed down by just about 2 weeks only?
Study the numbers carefully. Ask yourself again: Why am I taking Tarceva? Is it going to cure me? And it is proven that Tarceva produced toxic effects on patients – 9 percent of patients in the study gave up taking Tarceva because of the side effects.
Possible side effects: Skin changes, tiredness (fatigue) and a general feeling of weakness, feeling sick and being sick, eye problems, changes in hair growth, sore mouth and ulcers, loss of appetite, and breathing problems. Source: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertreatment/Treatmenttypes/Biologicaltherapies/Cancergrowthinhibitors/Erlotinib.aspx
Cost: RM 8,900 per month.
As a conclusion, you may ask: But what choice do I have? There is no choice if you choose to remain deaf, dumb and blind to what is going on around you! At least to start with read what I have written in here: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/category/lung-cancer/
SC (H222) was 68 years old when her problem started. She is a non-smoker. She started to have coughs for the past six months. There were no other symptoms apart from pains at the right shoulder blade. A CT scan on 4 September 2008 showed a 3.0 x 4.75 x 3.0 cm opacity in right middle lobe of her lungs, suggestive of a neoplastic mass. Bronchial brushings showed moderately large neoplastic cells. Her blood test was normal, apart from a mildly elevated CEA (8.0).
CT scan on 4 September 2008.
SC underwent a CT scan of her brain and abdomen and these were normal. Her bone scan was negative for metastasis.
Her doctor suggested surgery since this was regarded as an early stage lung cancer, Stage 1B. Surgery was done on 29 September 2008 but it was aborted – an open and close case. The cancer had spread to the back of the chest wall and was now considered a Stage 4 lung cancer. The doctor suggested chemotherapy and said that without this treatment she would only have six months to live. SC declined chemotherapy. Her sister died one year after undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy for her breast cancer.
SC came to seek our help on 18 October 2008 and was started on Capsule A, Lung 1 and Lung 2 teas. SC has been taking our herbs ever since – four years now.
We received this email from her daughter on 9 August 2012.
Hi Prof Chris, Im
Last week, my brother and I took Mom to see Prof X, the doctor who referred Mom for surgery back in September 2008. We last saw him in October 2008 when we went back to him after Mom has recovered from the open-close surgery. At that time, he recommended chemo which we did not go for.
I still remember the conversation that we had with Prof X back in October 2008 when I asked him what will happen if we decided not to go for chemo. He mentioned then that at stage 4, a patient will generally have 6 months to live or at the most 2 years. When I asked him what will happen if we decided to go for chemo. He was unable to give a reasonable answer. And we never went back since then.
As Mom was complaining that the pain was still there even after we tried the ‘Soothanol’, we decided to take her to see Prof X hoping that he can prescribe something to ease her pain.
The following was what transpired:
When we went inside his office, Prof X was flipping back and forth what seems to be Mom’s file. I was surprised that they still managed to find Mom’s file after 4 years.
He looked up from his file and read out Mom’s name.
Prof X: Chan Saw Chun …. (scanning our faces)
Kim: Yes… this is my mother (I gestured to my Mom)
Prof X gave Mom a look, gestured her to sit down and then went back to the file, which understandably does not contain any information post 2008.
Prof X: You were last here in October 2008 … (he was trying to recall).
Kim: Yes
Prof X: What happened since then? Did you go to another hospital?
Kim: No
Prof X: What happened? (We could see that he was scanning Mom with a look of bewilderment)
Kim: You recommended chemo but we decided not to do the chemo. So, we did not come back.
Prof X: Are you seeing any doctor? (He was still having this bewildered look on his face)
Kim: No.
Prof X: You look good Auntie (speaking to Mom). Prof X repeated: You did not see any doctor?
Kim: No, the only “doctor” that we saw was Prof Chris. My mother is taking his herbs.
Prof X quickly scribbled your name on Mom’s file.
Prof X: Is this the guy who wrote the book on the rodent tuber?
Kim: Yes, I believe Prof Chris wrote on the subject. You can find more information about Prof Chris on his website. (I volunteered)
Prof X: She is looking good. (Prof X gave Mom a smile). Why are you all here today?
We told him about Mom’s pain which has been there from Day 1 but currently more intense.
He then gave Mom a physical check behind the screen. When he was done…
Prof X: She looks good.
Prof X then recommended that we do an X-ray of the chest to find out what is causing the pain which we complained. I happened to bring along the old x-ray. Prof X compared the 2 x-rays but there was not much that we can see from the new film except that the new one shows that the same patch is slightly bigger.
He recommended that we come back next week to do a CT scan. I asked him what will happen next. He said: Depends on the results, radiotherapy may be recommended.
He then asked whether we are taking any pain killers. I said, No but we have tried before some over-the-counter pain killers which did not help. He scribbled some prescriptions for us to buy from the hospital’s pharmacy and it turned out to be Arcoxia which Mom had tried before.
I was hoping that Prof X could prescribe some pain management pills or programme but I guess that would not be forthcoming until another round of thorough check is done.
We are of two minds about going back next week for the CT scan. On one hand we thought perhaps it would be good to know Mom’s current status so that we can get relevant herbs from you if the cancer has spread to other parts? But at the same time, I don’t want Mom to worry too much or having to go through the whole process again – up and down the hospital for checks over & over again. Shall we go for the CT scan? Are all those rays going to do Mom any good especially in her condition? We have heard that CT scan can cause damage to cells.
However, it has given us tremendous pleasure to see Prof X’s reaction when he saw Mom still in such good shape after 4 years without chemo and just taking your herbs. His bewilderment seems to give Mom a lot of motivation too.
We have stopped using the Soothanol for the past few days as Mom was complaining about skin irritation. I am currently applying tea tree oil on her – which provides her with some comfort but the pain is still there.
We received another email from Kim the following day.
Hi Prof Chris, Im
Guess what! I have just received a private call from a nurse. We have never spoken to each other before. The last we saw her was 4 years ago. She “heard about our visit to” Prof X last week. And after seeing Mom’s condition after 4 years, she wants to know more about your herbs. She has a friend with cancer and would like to recommend her friend to try. I have given the website (www.cacare.com, www.cacare.org )and told her about Mr. Yeong and Khad for her to find out more.
She confided that it is very sad to see patients “going off” one by one. She’s hoping that her friend can try the herbs. This is incredible! Seeing is believing! Keep up the good work! Best regards, Kim.
Update: 15 August 2012: Hi Prof, Im, Irene,
We went for the CT scan yesterday. We reached the hospital at 3 pm. Did the scan at 3.30 pm but only managed to see Prof X at 7.30 pm. Left the hospital at 8.30 pm. We ended up spending nearly 5 hours at the hospital.
CT scan 14 August 2012
Anyway, we are VERY HAPPY with the results. Mom was expecting the worst as she thought the cancer has spread to other areas hence the persistent and intense pain. But as it turns out, the cancer has not spread – still confined to the right lung only. The left lung is all clear.
When Prof X told us the results, Mom asked again in disbelief. “No spreading?” She was very happy. Prof X explained that the shape of the right lung has changed. The tumour has grown bigger and the pleura has thickened. There was some fluid but he said not to worry as its minimal. Prof X explained that due to the enlarged tumour and thickening of pleura, Mom will experience some chest congestion (which I think explains her shortness of breath?).
When we asked what is causing Mom’s pain then? Prof X explained that it’s from the enlarged tumour “pressing” the lining or thickening of the lining? (Hope I got this right.).
Prof X later asked us whether Mom wants to try chemo. My brother and I replied that Mom didn’t want it. He then asked Mom the same question directly. Mom replied, No.
Prof X then suggested that he will trace the samples that the surgeon took during the open-close surgery for lab testing to see whether Mom can take oral medication. We asked whether it is similar to chemo. His reply was, but it does not have the side effects of chemo as the drug attacks the tumour directly. He did not tell us the name of the medication but I suspect he is talking about Iressa.
As I was writing this, a nurse called me. I took the opportunity to ask her about the oral medication that Prof X mentioned yesterday. She said it is indeed Iressa. She also shared some of the side effects, e.g., pimples, nails coming off in some cases… she said so far she has not seen any patients on Iressa who survived longer than three years. She told me again just now that she is very surprised to see Mom in her fourth year on herbs.
As we were wrapping up for the evening, Prof X finally said it again, looking really pleased, “I am very surprised to see your Mother maintaining so well for 4 years.”
To sum up, we came away feeling really happy especially Mom. It’s as though a whole burden has been lifted off her. As we waited to pay for the bill, Mom told me adamantly that she doesn’t want to take anything else but your herbs.
She woke up late today at 8.00 a.m. instead of her usual 6+ a.m. I have not seen her so well-rested for a long, long time.
I guess, we will have to continue to keep her positive. She now knows that there is nothing really “wrong”’ inside her except for the tumour.
Luv, Kim & family
The full story of Kim’s mother.
Acknowledgment: Thanks so much Kim for sharing mom’s story with us.
PL is a healthy 66-year-old female. She developed coughs sometimes in late 2011. The medications given by her doctor did not help with her coughs. A CT scan done on 2 November 2011 indicated a 3.2 x 3.8 x 4 cm nodular lesion at the right lower lobe of her lung. Another elongated poorly enhancing lesion is seen at the left apex, measuring approximately 2.2 x 2.3 x 4.8 cm in size. In addition there was mild right pleural effusion (fluid in her lung). This made PL breathless, listless and devoid of energy.
PL underwent pleural tapping. Her condition improved after fluid was tapped out of her lungs. Unfortunately, a week later, the fluid came back again. Another tapping was done. The doctor suggested that PL do a biopsy. PL refused. A week later, the fluid recurred in the lung and PL has to undergo another tapping. And after the procedure PL agreed to do a biopsy. “Gluing procedure” or pleurodesis was carried out after the pleural tapping but this was not effective.
A tru cut biopsy of the mass at the lower right lung was performed and it confirmed a well differentiated adenocarcinoma of the lung. A report dated 21 November 2011 showed that the tumour was positive for EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). This means, the use of the oral drug, Iressa was indicated.
PL was given two options: to take Iressa for her cancer or to undergo chemotherapy using a combination of Alimta and Cisplatin. PL opted for the oral drug, Iressa.
On 1 December 2011, PL was started with Iressa. Her condition improved but after three months she started to suffer severe side effects. She developed pimples and sores with pus on her head and later had rashes in the face, neck and pubic area. She was referred to a skin specialist for help. She shaved her head bald. She was told to stop taking Iressa and her problem resolved after two weeks. She resumed Iressa, her rashes and sores and pus recurred. This recurrence went on for three times.
The doctor reduced her Iressa dosage – taking the drug on alternate day instead of everyday. But even with the reduced dosage, the side effects still persisted. PL decided to stop taking Iressa and came to seek our help on20 July 2012. She told her oncologist that she is going for “Chris Teo’s herbs.”
On 8 August 2012 – after being on herbs for about three weeks, I sat down to talk with PL in greater detail.
Did Iressa help her?
The answer is yes. The initial problem of fluid kept recurring after each pleural tapping. But after taking Iressa the fluid stop recurring. PL’s health normalised. A comparison of the CT scan done on 2 November 2011 and those done on 20 February 2012, showed the tumours in her lung had shrunk significantly. That is what patients and oncologist hope for!
CT scan on 2 November 2011
CT scan on 20 February 2012
Iressa had delivered the desired effects – the tumour shrunk. But how meaningful is tumour shrinkage? Does this translate into a cure? Unfortunately not! The tumour can grow again after a while. Read these stories:
Meaningless Shrinking of Tumour by Chemotherapy
Lung Cancer: The Meaningless Decrease and Increase of Tumour Markers After Chemotherapy
Meaningless Decline of CA 15.3 and Tumour Shrinkage Following Treatment With Iressa and Tarceva
Meaningless Shrinking of Tumor While on Tarceva
Iressa Does Not Cure Lung Cancer Expensive drug with side effects
The medical doctors of the Evinta Medical Center, Arizona, USA (http://www.envita.com/) said: By and large cancer growth response, or “shrinkage,” remains the primary focus of cancer treatment. Unfortunately, research demonstrates that such responses do not often correlate to elevated survival in patients. When traditional cancer treatment reports a 20 or 30 percent effect, it simply means that the patient’s tumor shrunk by 20 to 30 percent. This is deceptive because the cancer typically grows back, oftentimes larger, and resistant to the chemotherapy. The real measure is how long life is sustained and its quality therewith. Envita is results oriented and we measure our success in terms of tumor change, as well as the long-term outcomes and quality of life experienced by our patients. This continues to be our driving force for developing and perfecting unique, quality treatments for our patients.
Read what Dr. Ralph Moss said:
Can Iressa cure her?
The answer is NO. The oncologist told PL that it all depends on the person. In other words, different people respond differently. Some patients survive for one year, others two years and some even survive five years. But all of them still die even after taking Iressa. PL was told that she has to be on Iressa for as long as she can afford it. But there is no knowing how long she can survive. This goes to say that actually it is n=1. Whatever research that is done – and whatever percentages that are bashed around to impress patients – it does not apply to PL at all. PL has to take the Iressa and only she would know what can happen to her. So, this is what they call, scientific medicine!
Unexpected Severe Side Effects
Before taking Iressa, PL was told about some possible side effects. But what actually happened to PL was beyond expectation. According to the oncologist it was the worst side effects he had ever seen! Whatever it is, scientifically proven drug can cause such problem.
I posed this question to PL: Since Iressa helped you and make you well – why do you want to stop taking it? At least this can take care of your lungs.
PL: I would rather die than suffer. I want to live and enjoy my life. I don’t want to suffer.
I posed another question: Do you mean to say that the side effects of Iressa are so bad that you would rather die than live? You cannot live with the side effects?
PL replied that it was indeed hard to live with such side effects. Pus oozed out of the sores. Sometime it became itchy. Sometime it was painful. So the cost of survival in terms of side effects is not worth it. This does not take in consideration the cost of the treatment yet. A full dosage of Iressa costs about RM 6,700 per month. It is good that PL’s health insurance paid for the drug every month. What if there was no insurance coverage?
Since PL decided to stop taking Iressa, the oncologist offered her chemotherapy, telling her that these days chemo-drugs are mild and more “friendly” and do not have all those dreadful side effects. I asked PL what drugs the oncologist was to give her. PL did not know except to say that it would be a mild one.
Let me tell you a story about Alimta. KP was a Malaysian who lived in Perth, Australia. He had lung cancer that had spread to his liver. He underwent chemotherapy and at the same time took herbs. He did well and this amazed his Australian oncologist. Unfortunately, a scan showed that there were still traces of tumours in him. The oncologist suggested more chemo – this time with a combination of Avastin + Alimta.
KP called me from Perth one morning and asked if he should go ahead with this treatment. I said: NO. After all you are doing fine. Why take the risk? Learn to live with your tumour! I did not get to hear from KP again after that. The gist of the story is, KP did not follow my advice. He went ahead with this so called new, state-of-the-art concoction!
While undergoing the treatment KP bled from the nose for no apparent reason. While sleeping, blood oozed out from his nose, stained his pillow and T-shirt. The treatment failed. KP came back to Malaysia and related what had happened to us. Listen to his story:
By then it was too late. KP was in severe pain and his stomach was bloated. There was nothing much I could do to help. On 18 September 2011 KP died.
There is a another story regarding lung cancer and Alimta, RM 300,000 of Medical Adventures Did Not Cure Him
Comments: I advised PL to learn to live with the tumours in her lungs. For as long as she can lead a normal life, be grateful for each day when she awakes! Don’t expect the herbs to cure her lung cancer! I don’t even expect the tumour to shrink after taking the herbs. Almost all patients die because of metastasis and not just because of the tumour! Of course, patients want magic – they want their cancers to go away completely. But there is no magic. We have to learn to accept that reality.
PL’s oncologist said herbs are not scientifically proven! Well, patients have to make their own choice. Do what you think is right. Follow your heart! Remember, sometimes the head can lead you astray!
I wonder too about Alimta. Is it ever proven to cure cancer? No? What would happen if PL were to undergo chemotherapy with Alimta + Cisplatin? Would PL end up like KP – dead? Maybe yes, maybe not! No one can tell for sure what is going to happen. So what is the use of scientific proof then when you can even predict the outcome? In the same way – learn this bitter lesson – no one could predict or tell that PL had to suffer such severe side effects after taking Iressa. Others, the oncologist claimed, did not have such problems. Perhaps Alimta is also very safe for PL? Try your luck if you wish.
Perhaps you need to read these stories about patients who take our herbs:
Lung Cancer: More than two years on herbs and no chemo!
Written Off Case Survived Three And A Half Years With Herbs
Let me briefly relate the story of Suri, an Indonesian lady with lung cancer. Being rather well off, Suri’s husband decided that she must have the best. So they went to Singapore for treatment – gunning for the so-called proven, scientific treatment. Before they went for treatment in Singapore, their relatives in Penang had suggested that they try the CA Care Therapy. The husband vetoed the idea. He said: I refused to entertain that idea. In my mind, that is all hocus pocus. How can herbs be better than the doctors in Singapore? Herbs are just traditional stuff and if they are that good then all doctors will have to close shop. So I dismissed the idea of taking herbs as being absolutely nonsensical.
In Singapore Suri underwent 22 times of radiation treatment, followed by oral drug Iressa. She took Iressa for about a year. Her tongue became numb and so she gave it up. The doctor then gave her Tarceva – another scientifically proved drug! She was on this drug for about two years. A year later, in 2009, the cancer spread to her brain. She underwent chemotherapy. In total she received 40 chemo injections – also using the so-called FDA-approved, scientifically proven drugs! Nothing seemed to work for Suri. As a last resort, her oncologist asked her to take Sutent – another scientifically proven drug laden with all kinds of side effects. I asked her husband: Before she took Sutent, did you not ask if the drug can cure her? He replied: No one dares to answer such a question. The oncologist told me, “I cannot say. The only one who knows the answer is the One Up There!” An interesting answer indeed! The god of science has failed to save.
We are now told to trust the ordinary God that you and me believe in! After Suri took Sutent her consumption of Panadol gradually increased from one tablet per day to six tablets per day. She stopped taking Sutent! Now, all possible, scientifically proven drugs have failed.
Hopeless and helpless, Suri’s husband decided to come and see us in Penang – to try our so-called unproven, unscientific therapy that has PROVEN to help a lot of other people. On 8 May 2011 Suri was wheeled into our CA Care centre, being unable to walk on her own. She was unable to talk, showed no facial expression and did not seem to know what was going. According to her husband, she behaved like a child. During this visit, I must honestly say I did not expect her to survive much longer. But with God’s grace, a miracle happened. Suri recovered. You can listen to this amazing story by clicking the links below.
Lung-Brain Cancer: An Impossible Healing Part 2: A Week of Amazing Healing
On 6 August 2012, I got an e-mail from Pak Teddy in Jakarta.
Hello Prof. Chris: This morning Suryana Tukiman called me and we had a talk. Now his wife has already started to take our herbs again. According to him the Neurosurgeon was surprised to see the MRI result of the brain – full with white patches but she is still alive and healthy after 1.5 years taking our herbs. The paralysis is due to the tumor pressing onto the motor nerve. Now they use the NGT to pass food, juice and herbs into her stomach. But as you can see on the photo she looks healthy, only a little bit skinny. These photos were taken this morning after Tukiman finished talking with me. I asked him to take these photos so I can send it to you. Teddy.
Photos by Suri’s husband
In my interview with Suri’s husband, I regretted – Money Does Not Buy Cure, he said:For all the treatments – radiotherapy, Iressa, Tarceva, chemotherapy and Sutent – the total cost came to more or less 2 milyar rupiah which is about S$300,000 (almost hitting 0.7 million ringgit?). The cost of one tablet of Tarceva is S$195 and she took this for about 2 years. One tablet of Sutent cost S$210 and she took this for a month plus. One chemo cost about S$7,000. I was curious about one expenditure item of S$120.00. After an enquiry I was told that it was the cost of the chair (plus services provided) which my wife sat on while receiving chemotherapy. The doctor’s consultation cost S$150.00, if I am not mistaken. I was also told to only buy the drugs from the doctor. I was told that cheaper drugs bought outside the oncologist’s clinic could be a fake. I believed everything what the doctor told me. It is okay to spend that kind of money if there was a cure. But there was no cure. I regretted for going to Singapore for the treatment. Let me confess. I was full of remorse. I regretted.
Let me conclude: It is true. Herbs are not scientifically proven. But perhaps, this question is only good or relevant, if you want to do a thesis for a higher degree or pass your university examinations. In real life, does it matter if something you do is scientific or not, provided it does the work – effective and not harmful! Let us not be naive. The treatment of cancer is not only about the hard science or proof of effectiveness. It is about maintaining the status quo and fueling the greed of the Vested Interests. Understand that the politics of cancer is indeed tragic – all played out at the expense of the sick.
YHC (H856) is a 68-year-old man. In November 2011, he had a swelling in his right collar bone region. A biopsy was done and the doctor suspected it was cancer. YHC went to another hospital for a second opinion. A CT scan of his brain and neck was performed on 14 December 2011. The results indicated:
YHC underwent chemotherapy. The first cycle of chemo almost “knocked” him off. The side effects came six days after the treatment. He had to be hospitalised because of fevers, vomiting and diarrhea. Because of this the oncologist reduced the dosage of the subsequent chemo. So YHC went through the second to sixth cycles of chemo without any problem. However, after the sixth chemo, YHC had to be hospitalized again due to pneumonia. He was in the ICU for a week and this treatment alone cost him RM 30,000.
Study the results below.
CT scan on 27 January 2012
Comparison made with previous CT dated 14 December 2011,
CT scan on 5 March 2012
CT scan on 28 March 2012
Impression: Bronchogenic carcinoma with mediastinal lymph nodes increased in size from the previous examination.
Comments
This case really baffled me. YHC was first told that he probably had a lymphoma. Because of that, the oncologist only looked at his brain and the neck when they took the CT scan. The medical report on 27 January 2012 indicated … “lymphadenopathy likely due to metastatic nodes with differential diagnosis of lymphoma.”
However, when all the chemos were done, the report on 28 March 2012 – for the first time, mentioned “bronchogenic carcinoma with mediastinal lymph nodes.”
Does this mean that after all the chemos were completed, “someone” decided that his cancer was actually a lung cancer? So, was he treated correctly in the first instance? YHC’s biopsy report was given the oncologist who later misplaced or lost it. Imagine such thing can happen in a private hospital!
The second fact was just as equally baffling. Let us look at the condition of his lungs before and after the treatments. His lungs were getting worse after chemotherapy!
One important lesson we can learn from this case is that shrinking of tumour or mass after chemotherapy is meaningless – indeed, it is misleading and has no meaning. Let me highlight the important points again. After the first few chemos the mass became smaller and smaller as evidenced by the CT scan. So everybody was happy – the patient was happy, his family members were happy and the oncologist was equally happy. But do we (especially those who see this happen every day) not realize through experience that this shrinking of tumour is meaningless? Experience shows that the mass would grow in size again soon afterwards. The previous gain is often lost after more chemos. Is this not what happened most of the time?
Let us go back to the CT scan reports again:
26 January 2012: Right supraglottic soft tissue is reduced in size. Bilateral supraclavicular nodes are partially regressed.
5 March 2012: There is further regression of right supraglottic soft tissue.
28 March 2012: The mediastinal mass has increased in size. Anterior mediastinal nodes have also increased in size.
One would want to believe that with more and more chemotherapy, the mass will go on reducing in size until it disappears. No, this did not happen! And this phenomenon occurs often! Read what Dr. Ralph Moss said below:
Chemotherapy did not cure him. In fact the treatment made him worse. But the doctor told YHC to continue with more chemo and radiotherapy. YHC refused further medical treatment saying, “I would have to do more and more chemo and eventually “bye, bye!” He had spent more than RM 100,000 and was not going anywhere. Even the oncologist told him, “more chemo is not going to make him better. His condition would turn from bad to worse.” Why do more chemo then?
To me, the crucial point is not whether the tumour shrinks or not, but rather can the cancer be cured by the treatment. If the treatment cannot cure, then shrinking of tumour is meaningless. I would prefer to advise patients to be happy and just be contented if they feel better after the treatment rather than place their hope on a shrinking tumour that brings them nowhere.
HK (S97) is a 57-year-old man from Indonesia. Blood test showed that his CA 19.9 was elevated. A CT scan on 15 March 2011 in Singapore revealed a small right pleural effusion and small nodules in his right lung.
A PET scan done on 17 March 2011 indicated:
HK underwent chemotherapy as below:
|
Date |
Procedure |
CEA |
CA 19.9 |
| 19 March 2011 | Biopsy at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. | ||
| 22 March 2011 | Lung cancer confirmed. | ||
| 24 March 2011 | Chemo – first cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | ||
| 30 March 2011 | Chemo – first cycle, second injection | 12Apr 11 = 85.5 | 12Apr 11 = 435.9 |
| 20 April 2011 | Chemo – second cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | ||
| 26 April 2011 | Chemo – second cycle, second injection | ||
| 28 April to 1 May 2011 | Fevers < 38 C, admitted to hospital | ||
| 11 May 2011 | Chemo – third cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | 11May11 = 123.5 | 11May11 = 291.6 |
| 18 May 2011 | Chemo – third cycle, second injection | ||
| 31 May 2011 | PET scan – results showed improvement | 30May11 = 90.5 | 30May11= 220.3 |
| 1 June 2011 | Chemo – fourth cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | ||
| 8 June 2011 | Chemo – fourth cycle, second injection | ||
| 22 June 2011 | Chemo – fifth cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | ||
| 29 June 2011 | Chemo – fifth cycle, second injection | ||
| 13 July 2011 | Chemo delayed due to lack of blood | ||
| 20 July 2011 | Chemo – sixth cycle, day 1 – Gemcitabine + Cisplatin | ||
| 27 July 2011 | Chemo – sixth cycle, second injection | ||
| 11 August 2011 | PET scan – results showed no changes or further improvements | 10Aug11 = 64.2 | 10Aug11 = 164.8 |
| 13 August to 17 Nov. 2011 | Three months on Tarceva – Rashes in the face and legs. | 14 Sep11 = 130.3
12 Oct 11 = 217.7 |
14 Sep11 = 85.7
12 Oct 11= 114.1 |
| 17 November 2011 | PET scan – results showed cancer was more aggressive | 16Nov 11 = 523.0 | 16Nov11 = 438.2 |
| 26 November 2011 | Chemo – first cycle of Alimta | ||
| 16 December 2011 | Chemo – second cycle of Alimta | 4 Jan 12 = 666.5 | 4 Jan 12 = 4,422.0 |
| 5 Jan12 to
1 Feb.12 |
Chinese herbs | ||
| 3 February 2012 | Started on CA Care herbs – Caspsule A + B, Lung 1 and Lung 2, Pain, Liver Tea | 1 Feb. 2012
=737.5 |
1 Feb. 2012
= 3,917.0 |
| While on CA Care’s herbs | 10 Mar 2012
= 629.8 |
10 Mar 2012
= 3,609.0 |
Comments
Study carefully the rise and fall of his CEA. From 85.5 it increased to 123.5 and then decreased to 64.2 after which it started to climb to 130.3 to 737.5. After CA Care’s herbs it went down to 629.8.
Study carefully the rise and fall of his 19.9. It started with 435.9. With chemotherapy it decreased to 291.6, 164.8 and eventually 85.7. However with more treatment the CA 19.9 started to increase to 114.1, 438.2 and eventually 4,422.0. After CA Care’s herbs it went down to 3,609.0.
When the CEA or CA 19.9 went down after chemotherapy, patient and his family were happy and the doctor surely is similarly happy and “believes” that the treatment has done the trick. But there is no cause for celebration because the decrease of CEA and CA 19.9 are just meaningless. It happens often – only that those concerned never want to see reality. They want to believe that chemotherapy is going to cure their cancer!
In the case of HK above, again I say, the increase and decrease of his tumour markers is meaningless. At the end of the day, this is what his lung looked like. No use and no cure.
Increase or decrease of CEA and CA 19.9 after chemotherapy is meaningless when the end results of the treatment are like these!
CANCER STORY 
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