surgery – Page 4 – CANCER STORY

Cancer of the Endometrium: No chemo you live only three months, with chemo two and a half years! With herbs she is still having fun after more than THREE years

Spring cleaning is a great Chinese tradition. I now understand its benefit. I got caught up with this tradition in a half-hearted way on 18 January 2012 – just four days before the Year of the Dragon (2012) sets in. Actually I was not “spring cleaning” at all. I just spent one morning clearing some of the untidy “old papers” left on my shelves – to be “recycled” at our centre.

To my surprise I “discovered” many things. And one of which are the faxes and medical reports that Ella wrote me four years ago. I knew I kept them somewhere. I have been hunting for them earlier but could not find them. This morning I found them. Because of this I can now relate to you Ella’s story with much confidence (I don’t do this with no evidence.)

27 November 2008: We received a three-page fax from Australia with the following message:

“Here are the results of the tests. I am going in for an operation tomorrow 28 November 2008. And looking forward to all this behind me. I will call as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your support and love. Good health and lots of laughter. Love, Ella.”

Her medical report indicated, “in the pelvis, the uterus is markedly enlarged with extensive hetergenous soft tissues measuring 7 x 10 cm in maximal diameters, entirely consistent with endometrial tumour. Conclusion: Intrauterine tumour. Poorly differentiated carcinoma favouring uterine origin. No evidence of tumour spread elsewhere.”

The doctor suggested that Ella undergo surgery as soon as possible. We concurred and urged Ella to go ahead as soon as she was ready for it.

12 December 2008: We received an eleven-page fax from Ella.

“Chris, here are the reports from the hospital. I hope it gives you a clearer picture of my condition. I look forward to receiving your herbs. And am doing all I can to return my body to wellness. Thanking you for all your help and God bless.”

19 November 2008: Ella’s CA 125 was at 70 (High – below 45 is considered normal).

28 November 2008: Operative specimen: TAHBSO (total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy), omentum and left and right pelvic nodes.

Size: 75 x 65 mm Conclusion: Extensively necrotic poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, consistent with Grade 3 endometrioid carcinoma with myoinvasion 11 of 14 mm and focal lymphovascular space involvement. No tumour identified in six right pelvic and five pelvic nodes.

Cytology report: “Endometrial cancer. Peritoneal washings – no cytological evidence of malignancy.”

Ella was started on herbs right away – Capsule A, C-tea, Utero-ovary 1 and 2 and T & E teas.

What happened after that is a wonderful success story. Let Ella tell you her story.

The surgeon said: No chemo, you have three months. With chemo, it would be two-and-a-half years. What?

Given a choice – which one would you choose?

Do chemo and live for two-and-a-half years inclusive of the side effects,

OR, have a solid one-year life of happiness without chemo?

(Note: These videos were recorded in mid-September 2009. Ella came to Penang for a week’s holiday. It was our pleasure to welcome her to this Island Paradise. One evening we sat down to talk.)

I am writing this story on 18 January 2012. It has been THREE YEARS and1 TWO MONTH and Ella is still doing well. And she is still taking the herbs and no chemo of course. Let me reproduce some of the e-mails she wrote us.

14 October 2009

Hi Chris and Im,

I have viewed the video and it is fine now. Thank you. It would be good if it gives people hope to be open minded and believe that cancer need not be a death sentence, if they choose to adopt the more natural and none invasive approach. They need to question their doctors “Why they condemn the natural way of treating cancer” “Where do they get the proof that these treatments do not work.” If it is from their medical journals then this is a bias conclusion as it is in the interest of their profession to dominate the sickness industry.

We have been brainwashed for too long into thinking that this INDUSTRY has our best interest at heart. If this was so then they would not seek out and destroy real facts and evidence which has been proven to assist the many illnesses we see in our society to-day.

In my research I have found that the people who are speaking out against the use of chemo and radiation are in fact medical doctors and scientists who see the same miserable results time and time again.

1 November 2009

Hi Chris and Im,

Got your email and thank you for letting me know about the book, I will find a copy. Sadly their findings are rarely printed in the notable medical journals like the LANCET etc. How sad to think that one day the truth will come out about the drug companies hold on Cancer research and treatments but tens of thousands of people would have died needlessly. It breaks my heart to think about it.

In Australia, the people are so blinded and even when shown proof of natural research, they do not want to know. It is wonderful work that you do Chris and Im and you have given hope and healing to so many.

We had an electrical storm here last night which was amazing to watch. The skies also opened up and dumped more rain in 1 hour than we have had for over 3yrs. It is very warm here now and it looks like another hot summer with temps. way over 45degrees. So glad we have a pool to cool down.

Thinking of you both with much love. Ella xx
18 January 2011

Hi Im and Chris,

Thank goodness the Christmas period is over as it was rather busy with catching up with lots of friends and family. We, in Australia have our holidays at this time.

All is well and I am fit and healthy and looking forward to another exciting year. I just wish the years would slow up a bit as they seem to fly past. There is definitely never a dull moment. Did I forward the DVDs to you Im, I’ve forgotten. These are on health. Even when people see that I am so well, they still will not take on their own healing with the help of people as Chris.

We will have two more grandchildren this year, making it, six now. This is what I meant. There’s never a dull moment.

The floods here are devastating. We are flooded but from inside out. A hot water pipe burst and after a week we are now drying out and assessing the damage. Always thinking of you both and I will call soon.

It has been over two years now since taking teas and I feel great. What would I do without you? I will always be eternally grateful. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have more energy than a 20-year-old. Most children over here are always tired as they are nutritionally deficient.

Love to you both. Ella xx

6 November 2011

Hi Chris and Im,

We have been away on holiday travelling many thousands of miles crossing three states. It is amazing how big our country is. It took us three weeks and there was not a lot of time to explore. All is well and with another baby grandson this now makes six. It is always fun to be with them as I can act like a child and get away with it.

Too many people are dying here with cancer. It is quite heart breaking to see them follow the cancer trail system (as I call it.) I met a lady yesterday who had brain cancer and when I mentioned there is another way apart from chemo she said ” My oncologist would never allow me to try something natural, as it does not work. I must do as I am told or he will get angry and not help me.” There is no hope for such a person as they are like sheep and feel there is nothing they can do for themselves.

On a brighter note, we are at last out of winter and into some warm weather again. I love the warm evenings and a walk along the beach. We visited a Buddhist temple yesterday and spent the day there, meditating, listening to words of love and caring for our wonderful world and eating good clean food.

How are Albert and Irene doing? How long do they have in America with their studies? I hope you and Chris are well and enjoying life to the full. I love the stories and info Chris puts on emails and thank you as the more I know the more I can avail to those who need it. I will never understand people who need to come and see Chris but won’t. It seems that the SYSTEM has too a strong hold on them.

Thinking of you both and I send my love. Ella xx

August 2018

A lovely note from Ella ….

Ella edited note Aug 18

Comments

From her e-mails, what do you think of Ella as a person? Cancer patients can learn to be like her. From her e-mails above, you will note that Ella is:

Enjoying life to the fullest – busy being a grandmother of six kids, and at the same time being a wife running a happy family.
She is not a “lamb easily led to the slaughter.” She worked for her healing. Actually we knew Ella way before she had cancer. She is a health activist in Australia and she has been helping cancer patients as well, but to the same extend as we do in CA Care due to the limitations imposed by the laws of her country.
Many patients say they have “positive attitudes.” Saying is one thing, practising it is another.
I have posed this question to Ella when she came to visit us about a year after taking the herbs. Given a choice – which one would you choose? Do chemo and live for two-and-a-half years OR have a solid one-year life of happiness without chemo? Ella took a “calculated risk” or “gambled” with her life so to say and she won. She had lived longer than what her doctor had predicted. Even with chemo she was told she would have only two and half years – and remember most of the time spent going in and out of the hospital. But with the herbs, she suffered no side effects and she had lived a good life.

What else can you ever bargain for? And what additional proof do you need to believe?

Ovarian Cancer: After Surgery Left Leg Swollen, Painful and Uncomfortable – Herbs and e-Therapy Helped Her

SLK (S51) is a 49-year-old Indonesian female. For about a year she had complaints of abdominal distension with mild abdominal pain on and off. She suffered occasional pain during menses. An ultrasound showed a large right ovarian cyst with nodules within it.

SLK came to a private hospital in Penang and underwent a surgery on 4 October 2011.

Things did not turn out right for SLK after the surgery.

She was discharged after 8 days in the hospital for her surgery.
After being discharged from the hospital, SLK suffered cramps and muscle pull in her left thigh. She had to be hospitalized again. This time it was for 6 days.
Unfortunately the pains and discomforts in her leg did not go away. The doctor told her that he had done his best and could not offer any more help.
The next day, on 20 October 2011, a desperate SLK and her family came to CA Care. They wanted us to help SLK with the pain in her leg.
Unfortunately there were no medical reports and we did not know what had happened. We told the family to go back to the doctor and ask for all the medical records. We did not get to see SLK again after that.

On 23 November 2011, SLK and her husband came back to see us again – this time with a photograph of the ovarian cyst that had been removed and its histopathology report. The histopathology report dated 14 October 2011 indicated clear cell adenocarcinoma of the ovary. Endometriosis.

Let SLK tell her story.

Gist of our conversation:

The surgery for my ovarian cancer was done on 4 October 2011. Before the surgery I was able to walk without any problem. But before that I used to have cramps in my left leg – but no swelling.
There were some varicose veins in my left foot.
Four days after the surgery, my left calf became uncomfortable – muscle pull.
On 12 October 2011, I was discharged from the hospital, i.e. after eight days.
But on 14 October 2011 I had to be readmitted into the hospital because my left leg became swollen. It was painful and heavy. I was discharged on 19 October 2011. While in the hospital I received a total of 12 injections – 2 injections a day. In addition I took Warfarin and Dalfon (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). These medications did not help much. I was still in pain and my leg felt uncomfortable.
That was why on 20 October 2011 we came and see you.
We returned to Jakarta on 2 November 2011. At that time my leg was still swollen, but the size had somewhat reduced.
At home, I continued taking the doctor’s medication – Warfarin and Dalfon.
I came back to Penang again and saw my doctors (the surgeon and blood specialist-oncologist) on 18 November 2011. The oncologist asked me to continue taking the Warfarin for another six months and this time with an increased dosage. The doctor said I would be cured after six months. In the meantime, I was asked to undergo chemotherapy for my ovarian cancer.
I refused to undergo chemotherapy. I also did not want to take the Warfarin anymore. We waited for you to return from Laos and came to see you.

CA Care from 23 November to 28 November 2011

I took the herbs that you prescribed me and also underwent the e-Therapy. These treatments helped me.
After three times of e-Therapy, I could now walk. And my leg did not swell any more. Previously if I walked, my left leg become swollen. I could now walk to the market and also travel by bus. I felt lighter when I walked. Before coming to CA Care I could not walk like I do now.
Husband: Now she can walk so far – from Gurney Park to Pulau Tikus market – with no problem. Before your treatment, we had to take a taxi to come and see you. Now we just take the bus and walked to wherever we want to go.

Watch this video carefully and see how SLK walked, before and after the herbs plus the e-Therapy

Kidney Cancer Part 1: Get the tumour removed!

LC is a 50-year-old male. He and his entire family together with a sister-in-law, came to see us on 14 August 2011. His sister –in-law is a nurse. She was a participant of the International Nurses Conference held in Kuala Lumpur a year ago. And I was a speaker at that conference. She wanted me to help her brother-in-law who had a tumour in his right kidney.

An ultrasound done on 8 August 2011 indicated a 1.3 x 1.6 cm cyst at the upper pole of his left kidney and a focal lesion, 4.8 x 4.4 cm at the upper pole of his right kidney. A CT scan done on 11 August 2011 confirmed the presence of a 5.2 x 5.7 x 5 cm solid tumour in the upper pole of his right kidney. There was a 1.5 cm cyst in the upper pole of his left kidney.

Based on the above medical reports, we suggested the following:

The right kidney tumour has to be removed. From our experience no drug or herbs would be able to reverse the situation.
However, before undergoing the operation, it would be wise to do a PET scan first. This is to determine if the cancer has spread to any other parts of the body. If the cancer has spread extensively elsewhere, then surgical removal – although necessary, would not be meaningful. There is now a company which does PET scan at a cheaper price than the hospitals. So go there if money is a concern. (Later: we were told that a PET scan that LC did cost only RM 2,000 against RM 5,000 to RM 6,000 if done in certain hospitals).
LC should be aware that the cancer can spread even if surgery is done successfully. The targets of metastasis are the lungs, liver, bones and brain. Over the years we have patients who came to us with such metastasis after an apparent “successful operation.” Read our story, Kidney-Lung-Brain Cancer: Sutent = Heart Damange.
After the operation, we suggest that LC change his lifestyle and diet. He can take herbs too if he believes in what we are doing.
LC and his family agreed to the above suggestions and would wait for about three more weeks before undergoing the operation. They would not want to do an operation during the Chinese Ghost month!

LC underwent a PET/CT scan after meeting us. The report on 18 August 2011 indicated “a right renal mass as malignant and a small metastatic node is seen situated between the right kidney and L2. No other suspicious lesion is detected”.

Comments

I presented our case studies on Kidney Cancer in my talk at the MMA Monthly Joint Clinical Meeting of doctors from three hospitals – JSH, PSH and HAS – in Johor Baru on 30 October 2006. Below are three patients who had undergone surgery for their right kidney cancer. The first patient was a 40-year-old female. After about five years the cancer recurred in her liver. A 30-year-old male also had liver recurrence after only two years.

Watch this video. This 53-year-old male had surgery in 1997. After the surgery, the surgeon did not consider mop-up treatment like radiotherapy or chemotherapy necessary. There was no medication to take either. Lee came to know us through our book: Cancer Yet They Live, which was given to him by a friend. Since then he has been on our therapy. Lee has been doing well – as of 2011, it has been more than 15 years now!

For more details of Lee’s case, click this link: https://cancercaremalaysia.com/2011/09/18/kidney-cancer-a-success-story-fifteen-years-on-herbs-and-doing-great/

Pancreatic Cancer: No Cure After Surgery, Gemzar and TCM Herbs

This is an e-mail I received lately.

Dear Dr Teo,

I happened to chance upon your blog while doing some searches online on cancer and read about the many success stories of cancer patients under your care.

My mum was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2010 and had undergone the Whipple’s procedure to remove the cancerous cells at the head of her pancreas.

In July 2010, she started her chemotherapy, and was put under 6 cycles of Gemcitabine. After completing 6 cycles, at the end of December 2010, CA19-9 has decreased from 5204 to 106.9. About 2 weeks later, CA19-9 value rose to 224.2. The doctor then suggested for my mum to go for a CT-scan. CT-scan result showed that there were several tiny nodules in her lungs. Apart from that, there were no other abnormalities.

Based on the CT-scan result, the doctor told us that he’s sorry and that he is unable to cure my mum anymore as the cancer cells have spread to her lungs. He then asked us to go for a 2nd round of chemotherapy, this time using the combination of 2 drugs with strong side effects to control the growth of the cancer cells. Since there is no guarantee on the success of the treatment and taking into account the stronger side effects, my mum rejected the treatment and has been consulting a Chinese physician specializing in cancer. After taking the herbs prescribed by the Chinese physician for 7 months, the CA19-9 did not decrease but rose exponentially to a value of 66,490 in late June.

My mum has been feeling fine at the start of the year, but somewhere in April 2011, she started having backache and bloatedness in her stomach. At around mid June, she started having diarrhea, followed by serve pain at her back, causing some difficulties in her movement. She has also started coughing about a week ago.

We know that the herbs prescribed by the Chinese physician are not working. But I know my mum has a strong will to live on. It would be really great if you can help us and I look forward to hear from you soon.

Thank you.

Reply: Well, if you think we can help you, come and see me in Penang with all the medical reports and scan.

Daughter’s First Visit

On the afternoon of Friday 12 August 2011, the daughter of this patient came from Singapore. The following are additional details about her mother’s story.

Her problem started with jaundice and after two weeks the patient went to see a doctor. She was diagnosed to have cancer of the pancreatic head with obstructive jaundice. Histology showed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with lymph node metastasis.
She underwent six cycles of chemotherapy. Each cycle consisted of three injections split over a period of one month. So patient received a total of 18 injections. Each cycle cost about S$2,500.
Before the treatment the doctor told patient that she had a high chance of cure. Things worked out rather well from Chemo 1 to Chemo 17. Her CA 19.9 was dropping. At Chemo 5, CA 19.9 dropped from 5204 to 106.9 plus. But a week after Chemo 18, CA 19.9 started to rise from 100 plus to 224.2. The oncologist said, “Something has gone wrong.”
A CT scan on 18 January 2011 showed several new tiny pulmonary nodules in both lungs. The oncologist said she has to do more chemo. There was no guarantee, but just to test out if it works. Patient refused further medical treatment.
While undergoing medical treatment, patients also took herbs from the TCM section of the hospital and she has been under the care of the TCM practitioners from the beginning until the present. TCM consultation cost S$80.00 each time and the herbs cost S$10 per packet – to be brewed into tea as a dose each day.
The CA 19.9 now stands at 66,490.

Our advice: We told her it is indeed a difficult case to handle and please don’t expect us to cure her mother. We at CA Care believe that no one can cure cancer in the first place. But we can try our best to help.

Latest Update

Hi Dr Chris,

My mum has been taking cough No.5 & 6 and the diarrhea and indigestion tea since last Saturday (27 August 2011) until Wednesday (31 August 2011). However, her condition has not improved. Nevertheless, she’s still taking Capsule A, Pancreas 1, Pancreas 2 and Stomach Function Tea daily. I did check with her about how she felt after taking your pain tea, but she’s also not too sure if the pain tea is working on her as her back pain is on and off. Therefore, I still continue to give her the pain tea 3 times a day.

The hospice home care team came to visit my mum on Thursday (1 September 2011) and started her on the painkiller, hoping to give her some relief, allowing her to have some good rest since she has not been able to sleep since her back pain started. They tried Panadeine on her initially but it only managed to reduce her pain by half, so they started her on Tramadol and Durogesic. Apart from the pain, she’s suffering from the side effects of the painkiller now, feeling dizzy and has also been vomiting since this morning. But the doctor mentioned that the side effects will go off in a week’s time as her body tries to adjust to the painkiller. I’m feeling rather lost now and not sure what to do…

Hello Ying Lee,

It is a difficult problem — as I have told you earlier. You have done your best. I have tried to give you all that I have here. If it still does not work, you need to rely on the Hospice … and go on the painkillers. Yes, with all the side effects but what else can we do?If the herbs are not helping — no use taking them. I am sorry I cannot help you much at this point. If you are in Penang perhaps it would be bit different.

You can hear more details by watching this video clip.

Comments:

Can surgery cure pancreatic cancer? I typed this question for Google search. Read what it says:

From the American Cancer Society: Potentially curative surgery is used when imaging tests suggest that it is possible to remove all the cancer. Whipple procedure: For patients to have the best outcomes, they should be treated by a surgeon who does many of these operations … at least 20 Whipple procedures per year. At the time of diagnosis, only about 10% of cancers of the pancreas appear to be contained entirely within the pancreas. Only about half of these turn out to be truly resectable once the surgery is started. Still, even if all the visible tumor is removed at the time of surgery, some cancer cells may have already spread to other parts of the body. These cells may eventually grow into new tumors and cause many problems — even death.

From the Seena Magowitz Foundation – the Face and Voice of Pancreatic Cancer: Whipple surgery is often a surgical option when pancreatic cancer is found in the head of the pancreas. It involves removal of the pancreas head, most of the duodenum (small intestine), a portion of the bile duct, gallbladder, part of the jejunum and the lymph nodes located near the pancreas. Sometimes a portion of the stomach may also be removed. The Whipple Operation does not cure pancreatic cancer. It is an option that has been positively demonstrated to extend survival with a better quality of remaining life. There are risks during surgery that includes chances of not surviving the operation. Chemotherapy and radiation treatments following surgery can increase life-span by about 10%. http://www.seenamagowitzfoundation.org/whipple-operation.html

Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez (http://www.dr-gonzalez.com), of New York, USA, in the book, Knock Out written by Suzanne Somers, said,

“It is hard for me to believe that an oncologist who has gone through four years of college, four years of medical school, three years of residency, and then three years of oncology postresidency training can’t connect the dots. You have to be an idiot not to be aware that for most of the cancers chemo isn’t doing anything. It’s in all the journals. It’s not like it’s a secret.”

“The fact of the matter is that 95 percent of the patients who call my office have been brutalized by the orthodox system … my staff just sits there dumbfounded by their stories, story after story, over and over again. Everyday.”

“Spend a one day in my office listening to the dozens of people who call in with these horror stories about the conventional therapies that were pushed on them with false hope, then you will see why we get upset when we are criticized as alternative guys offering false hope. These people come to me half-dead because they were promised that these treatments could work, and we see this in particular with patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer because we are known for treating pancreatic cancer.”

“They have compared Gemzar … Median survival improved from 4.2 months to only 5.7 months – about one extra month of life for this expensive drug. Not a single patient out of 126 in the study lived longer than 19 months. But Gemzar has been considered such an advance that the FDA approved it … Gemzar is used all over the world. One month improvement in survival and not one patient in the clinical study lived longer than 19 months, and that has been considered a major advance.”

In the same book by Susan Somers, Dr. Ralph Moss, a highly respected advocate of non-conventional cancer treatment, said,

“Gemzar … is relatively benign and also has minimal effects. You rarely hear about people having major side effects with Gemzar … (it is) a mild form of chemotherapy. (It is) given as a kind of placebo, meaning when they have nothing else to give and they don’t want to burden the patient with a lot of side effects, they give this drug and everybody is happy. The patients feel that something is being done for them, and the doctors gets paid for administering or prescribing something. Then the patients expire and the families feel that at least they tried.”

Response from Susan Somers:

“This is the part I don’t understand – the patient is given drugs that don’t do much and at the end the family is grateful. Recently a young friend of mine died of pancreatic cancer, stage IV. I have never seen such destruction of a human body as I watched him disintegrate and die in four months. Then a few weeks after the death, his wife called and asked if I would come perform for a fund-raiser for his doctor. And I thought, They just killed your husband.”

Breast Lump: Get It Out

Let me reproduce an e-mail which I received from a lady in Italy on 26 June 2010.

Dear Dr. Teo,

My sister has a lump in her left breast. She found out about this lump, it was the size of a dollar coin, three years ago. Last year when she finally decided to tell us, her family, about it, it was already one breastful, 8cm in diameter. But she has decided not to do any surgery. It’s hard to accept her decision. My parents are very sad, but I’m trying to live with this. I know she’s very afraid but tries to act as if nothing’s happening.

I succeeded to bring her to a hospital to have a breast USG while I was home last year. I live in Italy and she lives in Jakarta, and it’s a bit complicated when you’re far from each other.

I’m writing to ask whether we could consult you. Reading from your website, I haven’t found anyone who hasn’t done any surgery prior to taking your herbs. Is it necessary that we do a complete blood test and bring it to you? The only medical record we have is the USG result done last year.

If you could give us some of your time, I’d like to arrange a visit with you for my sister in August 2011.

Thank you very much,

Yours truly,

YL, Italy

Reply: She has to remove the tumour. It is too big. Herbs cannot make the tumour go away.

Once in a while over the years, we have ladies coming to us with tumour(s) still in their breasts, like the case above. They had these tumour(s) for some months or years and did not do anything about it (them). Okay, some did something like going to see certain alternative practitioners who assured them that there was nothing to worry about. They were told, Take this or do this and the lump will go away! And they believed these practitioners. Sad tragedy follows.

If you are one such lady, let me tell you this: Don’t be dumb! If you have a lump or lumps in your breast, please go and see a doctor and have it determined if it is malignant or not, i.e. whether it is a cancer or not. If it is a cancer, my next advice is: Have a surgeon remove the tumour or your whole breast.

After surgery, it is a different “ball game” whether or not you want to undergo chemotherapy or/and radiotherapy. But to me, surgical removal is a wise option in dealing with a breast tumour. I recall many instances of ladies who came and “asked me to agree” that they don’t go for surgery. I told them: There is no way I would agree with that. You come to me for advice and I give you my advice free of charge, based on my years of experience dealing with breast cancer. Some of them were disappointed because I insisted that they go for surgery. Some became angry with me for not “supporting” them.

These are two main reasons why I thought the tumour has to be removed surgically.

It is better to have the tumour removed for psychological reason. After the surgery, the lump is gone. You don’t have to see or feel it is there in your breast anymore. But if the lump remains in your breast, every day or perhaps every time of the day, you are being reminded of your “fatal disease”. Would that not make life miserable for you?
There is no guarantee that herbs, change of diet, exercise, prayer, supplements, etc., can make a malignant tumour disappear. The bigger the tumour, the chance of it disappearing is even more remote. A lady told me that after taking herbs for some months the tumour in her breast “burst.” Another lady said her tumour “dropped” out and left a hole in her breast! All these do not solve the problem. Some patients say the herbs seemed to stop the tumour from growing but in other instances, the tumour kept growing in size. See the pictures below and decide for yourself if this is what you want.

We hope we have made CA Care’s position clear. Please go for surgery and have the cancerous lump removed. After this is done, we can discuss whether or not you want to undergo chemotherapy, radiotherapy or take tamoxifen, etc. You have the option to make that decision.

We shall present you with two more reports on breast lumps – so, stay tuned.

Liver Cancer: Surgery and Chemo Did Not Cure Him

Surgeon told him three years too late that nine out of ten patients whom he operated on died anyway

KB (H467) is a 57-year-old male. In 2006, he suffered back pains. CT scan of the abdomen on 23 June 2006 indicated: “a hypervascular lesion in the right lobe of liver in Segment 6/7 measuring 3.5 x 5.2 x 4.5 cm. This has ill-defined margins. Features suggestive of an underlying hepatoma.” In short, KB had liver cancer and without hesitation and in haste due to fear, he underwent liver surgery in a private hospital in Penang. This cost him RM35,000.

As a follow-up treatment, KB underwent seven times of chemoembolisation. Each treatment cost RM5,000. The first five treatments were well tolerated but the last two caused severe side effects. It was a difficult experience and KB said he was “half dead”.

About three years later, KB felt a lump in his abdomen. CT scan on 23 June 2009 report is a follows:

“There is a previous segment 6/7 and 7/8 wedge liver resections. There are multiple foci of lipiodol uptake in the liver post chemoembolisation in keeping with multicentric hepatomas. These range from 2 – 20 mm in size. There are several recurrent hypervascular foci noted scattered in the subdiaphragmatic region of the right lobe of liver ranging from 5-15 mm. Absent gallbladder (previous cholecystectomy). No evidence of abdominal lymphadenopathy.”

Another CT scan was done on 4 September 2009. The imaging report appeared exactly the same as the one written on 23 June 2009 with the following exception:

“There are several hypodense foci in the right subdiaphragmatic region ranging from 2-15 mm. Impression: several hypodense lesions scattered in the subduaphragmatic region of the right lobe of liver, ? generating nodules, ? early hepatomas.

MRI was also done on 3 October 2009. The report appeared exactly the same as the CT scan reports of 23 June and 4 September 2010, with the following exception:

“There are multiple irregularly enhancing nodules scattered in both lobes of the liver with clustering in the right subdiaphragmatic regions ranging from 3- 20 mm. These are suspicious of multicentric hepatomas.”

It was a real disappointing result for KB and his family. At that time he was still undergoing chemoembolisation. KB complained to the surgeon that the treatment was making him sick. The surgeon said this: “Out of ten patients I operated on, nine died.” KB and his family were also told that KB was already lucky that he is still alive. “Most of others patients have all died. If you do not wish to continue with the chemo, you would be waiting to die.”

Listen to our video conversation below.

The son told us: But he only told us this fact three years after the operation. The surgeon should have told us before he did the operation. Disappointed KB decided to see another doctor in Ipoh. A total body CT scan was done on 10 August 2010. The report is a follows:

“There are multiple hypodense lesions seen within the liver affecting nearly the entire parenchyma, with clustering seen in the subdiaphagramatic region. This is suggestive of multicentric hepatoma. The area of involvement is worse than that seen in previous scans.

In the private hospital in Ipoh, KB received three i/v chemo treatments. Unfortunately the treatment was not effective. The family was told about CA Care and KB and his family came to see us on 26 November 2010. Take a look as his blood test results.

	4 Oct 10	15 Oct 10	4 Nov 10	19 Nov 10
Direct bilirubin	7.3	6.7	5.9	7.4
SGOT/AST	116	103	112	132
SGPT/ALT	66	49	55	74
GGT	882	723	649	790
Alkaline phosphatase	179	157	138	179
Alpha-fetoprotein	2480	2419	3185	3208

Comments:

This is indeed a sad story. Talking to KB and members of his family that night, made me realized how vulnerable we all are. KB trusted the expert to cure him. He was willing to spend so much money to find the cure for his liver cancer. He did not doubt about what he was doing – for that matter he probably took it for granted that he would get his cure. Like most people believe, after the operation the cancer is gone.

Then came the bombshell three years too late. He was told that nine out of ten patients who underwent liver surgery died anyway! I asked him: “Before you had the surgery, did you ever ask the doctor if surgery would cure you?” The answer was NO. Well, most patients never ask such a question. They took for granted that surgery would be the “magic tool”. His wife said: “We were ignorant”. KB said: “I was in fear.”

Dr. Hamilton, a neurosurgeon, in his book: The scalpel and the soul, wrote: “As doctors, we generally don’t tell outright lies. We just don’t speak the truth fully.”

So, here it is. If you don’t ask you get no answer. There is a Malay saying: Segan bertanya, sesat jalan (Shy to ask, you lose your way).

This is what I always tell patients. Before you do anything – be it surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or even taking drugs – ask the doctor first of the possible and expected outcome. Why the rush to get things done? Ask if what he is going to do or giving you is going to cure you or not. Then evaluate his answer or response. What he says, how he says it and how he addresses your concern (including his body language) will tell you where you are heading for.

I was a bit baffled that night. I asked KB and his family – what made the surgeon say that damaging “confession” – nine out of ten patients whom he operated on died. In what context or under what circumstance did he say such a thing? I got this answer. KB was unhappy because the chemo was “killing” him and he complained to the surgeon about it. He was reluctant to go on further with the chemo – in spite of having received seven “shots” already. In an effort to make KB comply with his instruction, perhaps “threatening” KB with a possible death would do the trick?

But then why come out with such damaging statement? One is tempted to speculate that this “truth” has been lying buried in his heart all these days of his professional life but he could not share this truth with his patients. But once a while, things have to “explode” and be let out. Unfortunately for KB, this truth is revealed three years too late. What if KB was told that he had only a 10 percent chance of survival before he underwent the surgery? Would he go ahead with the surgery?

Why must doctors adopt the attitude that “we just don’t speak the truth fully”?

At CA Care we lay out our cards on the table – clearly and fully. When KB came to see us, I have made it clear that I would not be able to cure him at all. But I promise to do my best to help him – the way that I know how. I told him to keep to the good diet. Cancer patients cannot eat anything they like. I am aware that most patients are disappointed and they never come back again after hearing my “lecture.” That is okay – it is better to be honest and become unpopular with patients than misleading them. The wise words of Rabbi Harold Kushner came to mind. In this world we have a choice on how we conduct our affairs: “There is the morality of cleverness and wit, in which success means getting the better of the other person by means of a slick business deal or a clever answer. Then there is the morality of righteousness, in which the highest good is thoughtfulness toward others. The worst sin is hurting another person.”

In his book, Never to be lied to again, Dr. David Lieberman wrote:

In an ideal society there would be no need for lies. But we live in a world of deception. And whether you want to play or not, you’re in the game.
And there’s one undeniable truth about lying – everybody does it.
Some of these lies can be “subtle that they can be easily missed unless you pay close attention”. Others may be glaringly obvious. In some instances, you’ll be looking for lies of omission – what’s missing that should be there.

Dr. Lieberman offered numerous tips in his book on how to detect lies and deception. Here are some examples:

Body language – the truth can be always silently observed. No or little direct eye contact is a classic sign of deception. Feeling guilty a lier does not want to look you in the eyes. Liers tend to be less expressive with his hands or arms. Arm movements and gestures seem stiff and almost mechanical – not natural.
Someone who is lying rarely points a finger, either at others or straight up in the air. Finger pointing indicates conviction and authority.
Watch out for the good old Freudian slip or slip of the tongue. This is a subconscious leak when a person’s misspoken words reflect and reveal his true feelings, thought or intentions.
He doesn’t want to respond to a question. He may imply an answer but never answers it directly.
When asked a question, he depersonalizes his answer by offering his belief on the subject instead of answering directly.

Here are something we can do and need to be aware of:

When you’re desperate, you’ll be apt to do what you never should do – make a decision out of fear.
Just because you’re told that something is the latest, best, hottest or biggest seller does not make it right for you.
A white lab coat does not make anyone an expert.
Evaluate a person’s integrity based upon what is being presented not what is promised.
Often we don’t stop and ask ourselves, “Does this make sense?” A dash of common sense can go a long, long way.
We certainly can’t stop people from trying to lie to us, but we can keep them from being successful.

Read the following related posts:

A Great Failure and Let Down

Surgery for Liver Cancer: Eighty Percent Success?

Liver Cancer: He Died After a RM 10,000 Open-Close Surgery

The Doctor Said: “No More Hope” After a 60-Million-Rupiah Operation for Bile Duct Cancer

Healing of Metastatic Liver Cancer

Liver Cancer: He Died After a RM 10,000 Open-Close Surgery

Goh (not real name, H438) was a 36-year-old male. In June 2010 he had diarrhea and his blood pressure was low. He was admitted into a private hospital in his home town. An USG was done and he was told that his liver was not good. After three days he was discharged from the hospital. Health returned to normal. Two weeks later his abdomen became hard. He went back to the hospital again and a CT scan done indicated hepatoma – or liver cancer.

Goh came to a private hospital in Penang. He was asked to undergo surgery, to remove half of his liver. An operation was done but was later aborted. This open-close surgery cost him RM 10,000.

Not knowing what else to do, Goh and his family came to seek our advice on 24 October 2010. His CT scan report dated 15 October 2010 stated: “Both lobes of liver are enlarged and studded with multiple ill-defined heterogeneously enhancing lesions. The largest lesion located in segment 4b measures 15 x 20 x 15.6 cm. Impression: Multicentric hepatoma with minimal ascites and dilated left intrahepatic duct.”

Blood test results elevated liver enzymes. SGOT = 203, SGPT = 56, Alkaline phosphatase = 736 and Alpha-fetoprotein = 213.73.

Goh presented with pains in the shoulder area. These pains only appeared after the surgery. Before that there was no pain. He was not able to sleep. His eyes were blood shot. His abdomen was extended with both legs swollen. His breathing was difficult.

Unfortunately, Goh died not long after seeing us.

Comments: I don’t think it is necessary for me to give any comment on this case. The fact speaks for itself. Goh died barely two months after this aborted surgery. What do you think – would he have died earlier or later if he did not undergo that surgery?

This is one book which I believe everyone should read – Confession of a Medical Heretic by Robert Mendelsohn. The author is not an ordinary man. In the US, he wrote a syndicated column called “The People’s Doctor”. He was an associate professor at the University of Illinois Medical School and a director of Chicago’s Michael Reese Hospital. He was also chairman of the Medical Licensure Committee for the state of Illinois. In Chapter 3 of his book, Dr. Medelsohn wrote:

I believe that my generation of doctors will be remembered for … the millions of mutilations which are ceremoniously carried out every year in operating rooms.
Conservative estimates … say that about 2.4 million operations performed every year are unnecessary.
My feeling is that somewhere around ninety percent of surgery is a waste of time, energy, money and life.
Modern cancer surgery someday will be regarded with the same kind of horror that we now regard the use of leeches in George Washington’s time.
Greed plays a role in causing unnecessary surgery … there’s no doubt that if you eliminated all unnecessary surgery, most surgeons would go out of business.
Ignorance plays a part in a lot of unnecessary surgery.
Greed and ignorance aren’t the most important reasons why there is so much unnecessary surgery. It’s basically a problem of belief: doctors believe in surgery. There is a certain fascination in “going under the knife” … that (surgeon) can overcome anything because he can operate you … “You don’t have to take care of yourself, we can fix you if you go wrong.”
To protect yourself … your first step is to educate yourself. Get a second opinion. If you decide that surgery isn’t the answer, do whatever you have to do to detach yourself from the situation. In any situation short of an emergency, you’ve got plenty of time not only to decide whether or not you need the surgery but also who should perform the operation.

More related stories:

Liver Cancer: Surgery and Chemo Did Not Cure Him

A Great Failure and Let Down

Surgery for Liver Cancer: Eighty Percent Success?

The Doctor Said: “No More Hope” After a 60-Million-Rupiah Operation for Bile Duct Cancer

Healing of Metastatic Liver Cancer

Surgery for Liver Cancer: Eighty Percent Success?

Wang (not real name, M872), 48-year-old male from Medan had been living with “blood-in-his-stools” for the past ten over years. This problem was attributed to piles. In November 2010 he came to a private hospital in Penang for a medical checkup. A scope of his colon did not show anything wrong. However, an ultrasound of his abdomen showed an ill defined, 7 x 9.2 cm mass in the right lobe of his liver.

Blood test was positive for Hepatitis B. Liver function test indicated elevated liver enzymes – ALT = 101, AST = 43 and GGT = 107. Alpha-fetoprotein was normal at 4.84.

CT scan done on 12 November 2010 indicated a 8.2 x 7.2 cm mass suggestive of hepatoma in segment 8 of his liver. A small solid lesion is also found in segment 7 measuring 1.8 x 1.2 cm. This may represent a satellite lesion of hepatoma. A simple cyst is noted at segment 8 below the right hemidiaphragm.

Wang went to see another doctor in another hospital. A repeat CT scan was done on 13 November 2010. The results were similar to the one done a day earlier.

The surgeon suggested that Wang undergo surgery to remove the tumour. The operation would cost RM 40,000. After the operation, Wang would have to undergo chemotherapy. The cost of each chemo is around RM 4,000 to RM 5,000.

Wang and his wife were disappointed and decided to go back to Medan without doing any surgery or chemotherapy. Someone learnt about their predicament and suggested that they come to CA Care for advice. We spent more than an hour with them. Below is a video recording of a part of our conversation that day.

Comments:

Most of the story-telling was done by Wang’s wife. She only talks Chinese! It appears to me that she is a “smart and wise” lady even though she is not educated.
She said: “When the doctor (surgeon) said that my husband had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy, I knew that this is a serious case”. This shows that she is not a dumb, naïve village girl – never mind if she does not know how to read the CT scan report or figure out what the blood test shows.
I asked her: “Did you ask the doctor if surgery can cure his cancer.” She replied yes. Most patients who come to us did not do that! How could that be? They don’t even want to find out what the prognosis is like! Not this lady.
She even asked the doctor: “What if we do not do the chemotherapy?”. The surgeon replied: “It is like cutting the lallang. You need to apply chemical after you mow it down. Only then can it be eliminated.” The answer was right on spot because this lady works in the farm – she understood it well. To kill off the lallang you need to apply chemical poison. Sometimes the land had to be dug up or overturned to get rid of the rhizome. So she said: “Then what would that do to my husband?” The implication is – what would happen to the patient if you poison him like you poison the lallang?
She also asked the surgeon: “When you cut up my husband, what are the chances that his cancer is cured?” Again this kind of question is never asked by most patients before they undergo an operation. The surgeon replied: “More than 80 percentage success rate.”
I asked the lady: “The doctor said 80 percent success – did you believe him?” She replied NO. I asked her why. She said: “There is one statement that the doctor made which got stuck in my head. Earlier I asked the doctor about the risk involved – how certain was he that everything would turn out right.” The doctor replied this lady: “The same case like you flying in from Medan to Penang. The airline does not guarantee that you are risk free.” Though the doctor did not admit outright that the treatment has risk, his reply very much implies that there is risk – the lady got the answer.
Later in our conversation, I came to know that Wang’s sister also had liver cancer. She received chemotherapy. She died after four cycles. While many patients or their loved ones appear naïve – don’t under estimate them! They have gone through some bitter experiences in life and they are not about ready to forget them. For such people, doctors need to do a lot of convincing to make them accept chemotherapy again.
I feel sorry for this couple. They came all the way to Penang and had to spend so much money. They can do the treatment – no problem about that for as long as they can pay the hospital bills – but cure appears to be elusive.

There is one important lesson we can learn from this story. How reliable or true are statements made by a doctor? Is it backed by good statistics and good research? At this point I am reminded of what some doctors wrote. Let me quote.

Dr. Block, herself a doctor, wrote in the foreword of Fight for Your Health: “Don’t just blindly follow what your doctors say. Find out the truth for yourself.”

Dr. Mendelsohn, in his book Confessions of a Medical Heretic wrote: “Doctors in general should be treated with about the same degree of trust as used car salesmen. Whatever your doctor says or recommends, you have to first consider how it will benefit him … because surgeon gets paid when he performs surgery on you, not when you’re treated some other way.”

Dr. Chestnut in his book, Lying With Authority wrote: “Somebody has got be lying – lying with an air of authority. The vast majority of surgery and drugs, including chemotherapy, does not treat or cure disease; it treats symptoms – often with devastating side effects.”

Dr. Hamilton in his book, The Scalpel and the Soul wrote: “As doctors, we generally don’t tell outright lies. We just don’t speak the truth fully.”

It is not nice to say that doctors tell lies – but the above quotations seem to say that some do, though they represent a minority. But I must say I like what Dr. Hamilton said: “We generally don’t tell outright lies. We just don’t speak the truth fully.” In this story, the surgeon told Wang and his wife that the treatment has more than 80 percent success.” His answer can be dead right or dead wrong! Let me explain.

From the perspective of this surgeon he is absolutely right to claim that the treatment has more than 80 percent success rate. A surgeon’s job is to cut up patients. After that he passes the patient to the oncologist or someone else. As far as he is concern his part of the cancer war is done. With the present state of the art technology, surgery carries minimal risk – like us flying in an air plane. The possibility of a crash is there but it is not likely (yes, it can happen!). Dying from surgery does occur although it is not likely.

But is that what the patient is looking for – just not dying from surgery? From the perspective of Wang and his wife, they are looking for a cure of his cancer! To them, the answer of 80 percent success takes an entirely different meaning. Cure means completely elimination of the cancer and it will not come back. That is what all patients ask for. Therefore, if patients are made to believe that they can attain an 80 percent chance of cure if they undergo surgery or chemotherapy is definitely false.

Let me repeat what Dr. Hamilton said: “we just don’t speak the truth fully.” Does this mean that doctors intentionally withhold some vital information which patients should know? If so, is that fair? I think the most vital information not told to patients is that though surgery is safe it will NOT cure the cancer. The chances of recurrence after an apparent successful surgery are very high. If you follow the case studies presented in this website, you will know that some patients die not long after their liver surgery.

Perhaps is this the reason why Dr. Mendelsohn said we should regard doctors in general “with about the same degree of trust as used car salesmen”?

In this article I have refrained from commenting if indeed the advice to operate is appropriate or otherwise. I would like to believe that the doctor has recommended this path with the best of intention. Even that, we need to be reminded that according to liver experts only 10 % to 30% of those who present with HCC are candidates for surgery. Meaning surgery is not the answer for all cases of liver cancer. Also surgery is good for only small tumours. Again, Dr. Mendelsohn’s words come to mind, they do this “because surgeon gets paid when he performs surgery on you”.

Let me conclude this article by trying to answer my earlier question: to what extent is the statement “after surgery there is a more than 80 percent success” true. I spent time reading my oncology books again. Below are the scientific facts written by liver experts. Read them carefully and come to your own conclusions.

Review of Medical Literature on Liver Cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma – HCC)

Research Reports

Ikeda et al., Cancer, 71:19-251993, reported: Eighty-three patients with HCC were treated with curative surgical resection during the past 8 years. No operative deaths occurred. Recurrence rates after resection at the ends of years 1, 2, and 3 were 37.0%, 57.1%, and 71.6%, respectively.

Iwatsuki et al., Ann Surg. 1991 September; 214(3): 221–229, reported: From 1980 to 1989, 76 patients with HCC underwent subtotal hepatic resection. Only 12 patients lived more than 5 years.

Vauthey, et al., American J of Surgery; Vol: 169, pg. 28-35, 1995, reported: Between 1970 and 1992, 106 patients underwent hepatic resection for HCC at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Overall survival was 41% and 32% at 5 and 10 years, respectively.

Nagao et al., Ann Surg. 205(1): 33–40; 1987 reported: Ninety-four patients underwent hepatic resections from 1963 to 1985.One-, 3 and 5-year survival rates were 73%, 42% and 25% respectively. The recurrence of carcinoma was the main cause of death in 56% (42 patients) who died after discharge from the hospital. Prognostic factors that influenced the long-term prognosis were: preoperative alpha-fetoprotein level (less than or equal to 200 vs. greater than 200 ng/mL), tumor size (less than or equal to 5 vs. greater than 5 cm), and tumor capsule.

Shyh-Chuan Jwo, et al. Hepatology , Vol. 1367–1371; 1992 reported: A total of 238 patients who received curative hepatic resections during the last 10 years were observed. The results revealed that tumor size, tumor appearance and DNA ploidy were the factors in predicting tumor recurrence after resection for HCC. Patients with a tumor size less than or equal to 5 cm or a tumor appearance of the solitary type had better disease-free survival than did those with a tumor size greater than 5 cm or a tumor appearance of multiple/daughter nodule types.

Poon et al. of the Centre for the Study of Liver Disease, University of Hong Kong Medical Center, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong,, Ann Surg. 234(1): 63–70 2001, wrote:

HCC is notorious for poor prognosis because of its invasiveness and frequent association with cirrhosis.
Hepatic resection remains the treatment of choice for HCC.
During the past decade, hepatic surgeons have focused much effort on improving the surgical techniques and perioperative management for resection of HCC, resulting in greatly improved perioperative outcomes. By the end of the 1990s, studies from our institution and others have demonstrated that a zero hospital or surgical death rate could be achieved in large series of patients.
Long-term prognosis after resection of HCC remains unsatisfactory. Disease-free survival has been poor because of a high incidence of recurrence. A 5-year cumulative recurrence rate of 80% to 100% has been reported.
Reports in the 1990s from Eastern and Western centers have documented a 5-year overall survival rate of 26% to 44% after resection of HCC.

Oncology Textbooks

Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine 15th Ed., pg.589.

Staging of HCC is based on tumour size, ascites (present or absent), bilirubin and albumin.
If untreated, most patients die within 3 to 6 months of diagnosis.
If detected very early, survival is 1 to 2 years after resection.
Surgical resection offers the only chance for cure, however, few patients have a resectable tumour at the time of presentation because of underlying cirrhosis or distant metastases.
Radomised trials have not shown a survival advantage after chemoembolization.
Liver cannot tolerate high doses of radiation.
The disease is not responsive to chemotherapy.

The American Cancer Society’s Clinical Oncology, 3rd Ed., pg. 399-401.

Only 15% to 30% of patients with HCC are candidates for surgery.
Conditions that render HCC unresectable are extensive disease within the organ itself and metastases.
Large tumour size, bilobar involvement and presence of cirrhosis do not necessary preclude resection but adversely affect mortality and prognosis.
Resection generally is limited to patients with small peripheral lesions and preserved hepatic function.
Five-year cure rate for all HCC who have undergone hepatic resection is approximately 30%.
The value of radiotherapy is limited in treating HCC.
Chemotherapy is palliative. Patients who respond to chemotherapy will survive 9 to 12 months longer.
Mean survival for patients receiving chemotherapy is approximately 5 months (1- year survival is 27%, 2-year is 8%).
Cure and long-term survival are possible only when tumours can be resected completely.

Martin Abeloff, et al. Clinical Oncology, Vol: 2, pg. 1697, 1703-1721.

Median survival of Hong Kong patients with inoperable HCC – tumour larger than 6 cm in diameter and receiving no treatment – was 3.5 weeks.
Tumour size at diagnosis is an important prognostic variable.
Tumour doubling time ranged from 1 to 19.5 months, with an average of 6.5 months.
Study in Japan showed that for patients with cirrhosis and HCC less than 3 cm in diameter and without treatment, 1-year survival rate was 90.7%; 2-year was 55.0%; and 3-year was 12.8%.
Unfortunately only 10 to 15% of newly diagnosed HCC patients are candidate for resection.
Presence of cirrhosis is a negative prognostic indicator.
Operative mortality rate of liver resections for HCC is les than 10%, but post-operative morbidity rate remains high – between 40 to 60%.
85% of hepatic recurrences develop within 2 years of resection.
There is little evidence of significant therapeutic activity for any single chemo-agent. There is also no evidence to support the routine use of combination chemotherapy.

Liver resection is the operation of choice for patients with tumors less than 5 cm in the absence of cirrhosis. In these patients, an operative mortality rate of less than 2% can be expected in experienced centers.Following liver resection, up to 75% of patients will develop intrahepatic recurrence within 5 years. Source: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/197319-treatment

More related stories:

Liver Cancer: Surgery and Chemo Did Not Cure Him

A Great Failure and Let Down

Liver Cancer: He Died After a RM 10,000 Open-Close Surgery

The Doctor Said: “No More Hope” After a 60-Million-Rupiah Operation for Bile Duct Cancer

Healing of Metastatic Liver Cancer

A Great Failure and Let Down

Sam is a 51-year old male from Indonesia. Sometime in May 2008, he had pains in his abdomen. A check up in a hospital in Sarawak indicated gall bladder stone. Sam underwent an operation to remove the stone. At the time of the surgery, the doctor discovered that Sam’s liver was not good. A CT scan revealed possibility of a hepatoma or liver tumour.

Sam was asked to undergo a liver operation in Singapore which would cost him about S$50,000.00. Sam came to Penang instead and underwent an operation for his liver in a private hospital. This cost him RM 35,000.00. This operation was done in October 2008.

CT Scan Report: 3 October 2008: There is ill-defined hypodense lesion at Segment VI. It measures 3.5 x 3.5 cm. Feature is suggestive of right lobe hepatoma.

Histology Report: 7 October 2008: Liver tissue weighing 350 gm, measuring 140 x 120 x 60 mm. Diagnosis: hepatocellular carcinoma.

After the surgery, Sam underwent two times of chemoembolization, in December 2008 and January 2009. Each treatment costs about RM 5,000.00.

In February 2009, Sam suffered severe jaundice. The blood test results on 10 February 2009 is a below.

Total bilirubin	523.77 H
Direct bilirubin	394.69 H
Alkaline phosphatase	143.34 H
GGT	758.75 H
ALT	121.38 H
AST	109.07 H
Alpha-fetoprotein	5,845.0 H

Sam underwent another surgery to install a metallic stent in the upper common bile duct. This procedure costs RM 20,000.00.

A CT scan done of 10 February 2009 indicated:

Worsening of the liver with increase in the number and size of the liver nodules.
There was thrombosis of the adjacent portal vein extending partially to the main portal vein.

In spite of such deterioration, nothing was done. And Sam was sent home without much explanation.

Sam and his wife came back to Penang again in March 2009. Unfortunately this time, the surgeon who operated on Sam’s liver was rather “hostile” in his attitude. It was a complete change of the surgeon’s attitude from the previous time before Sam had the operation. Sam and his wife felt let down and cheated. Sam’s wife said that before the operation the surgeon even hugged her and assured her that Sam would be alright. Now, after the relapse he did not even want to talk to them. They also told us that surgeon insisted that Sam undergo the surgery immediately because it was a very serious case. Sam and his wife requested go home and think it over first. The surgeon told them that if they returned to Indonesia, there would be a delay and by that time Sam’s condition would have deteriorated and he (the surgeon) would not be able to perform the surgery any more. Sam and his wife were virtually coerced into making their decision.

Listen to this video conversation.

Some excerpts:

Chris: You came to Penang – what did they say?

Sam: I had to be operated.

C: Before you did the operation, did you ask the doctor if surgery would cure you?

S: It must be removed.

Wife: Otherwise the cancer will increase more and more.

C: That is not true! Oh, you came here and they say cut and you agreed to get cut?

W: If we don’t operate, it is going to be dangerous. So, okay we agreed to the operation.

C: Let me ask you one more thing. Before you came here, before the operation – what was your condition? Were you healthy?

S: I was alright – healthy.

C: And after the operation, and having spent RM 35,000.00 – were you better?

S: No.

W: Before the operation, the surgeon was very friendly to us. He talked to us very nicely.

C: Oh, before the operation, Ibu (mama) asked anything and the doctor would answer you? He was nice to you?

W: Yes, he answered our questions and was very nice. But after the operation, he did not want to say anything anymore. We wanted to consult him but he did not want to talk to us. When we asked him questions, he just walked away. In a rush he just said – No problem, no problem and left us.

S: No, we were not able to talk to them like this (with you).

C: Before the operation, he talked to you nicely?

W: Yes, correct, correct. He even hugged me and assured me – Don’t worry, don’t’ worry, he (my husband) would be well and alright.

S: Oh, he was so sweet.

W: We felt so good and comforted. He told us the operation has to be done immediately.

S: It told him I was not prepared for it yet. The surgeon leaned back and sighed: Arr … if you don’t do it now, your condition will deteriorate.

W: He said: I would not be able to operate you anymore.

C: Wah, that is what he told you? If you go back to Pontianak first, your condition would get worse and you would probably be half dead?

W: By that time, it would be difficult to help.

C: That could not be true at all.

S: We did not have other alternative.

C: Yes, I fully understand. Patients are often rushed into making decisions. I don’t believe this is correct. Sometime, doing nothing is better than doing something.

The blood test results on 6 March 2009 are as below:

Total bilirubin	138.00 H
Direct	114.66 H
Alkaline phosphatase	143.34
GGT	203.05 H
ALT	57.98 H
AST	98.45 H
Alpha-fetoprotein	239,595.00 H

Sam then moved on to see another doctor who prescribed him two oral drugs. 1) Baraclude (entecevir) which is commonly prescribed for Hepatitis patients. 2) Nexavar – a drug that cost RM 20,000 per month. (Note: Pang in another story was also asked to take similar drug, which his doctor said was only 20 to 30% effective).

Sam took the drug, Nexavar for a day and a half (i.e., a total of 3 tablets). He suffered the following side effects:

He felt tired when walking or even talking.
His chest felt tight.
His ear started to produce a humming sound throughout the day.
His sleep was disturbed.

Sam and his wife came to seek our help on 8 March 2009 and decided to give up further medical treatment.

Comments:

This is a very tragic story indeed. Professor Jane Plant wrote: Conventional cancer treatment can process patients to the extent that they no longer understand what is really being done to them. It started with a threat or instill of fear in patients. Your liver is rotten – if you don’t get it out it is going to kill you. And you must do it fast! And look what has become of Sam now? Dr. Richard Fleming (in Stop inflammation now) wrote: … all forms of surgery cannot provide a long-term cure because they do not deal with the underlying cause of the disease, which is inflammation … Surgery often triggers an even greater inflammatory process, which encourages the illness.

Sam handed us the reading of his alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) below.

Study the above numbers carefully. Sam’s AFP value was only 3.0 before the gall bladder operation. After the operation, his AFP started to increase, from 50.5 to 3,201. Then he came to Penang and underwent a liver surgery. The situation got worse. As of March 2009, Sam’s AFP has exceeded a quarter million.

AFP (alpha-fetoprotein) Reading

19 December 2007	3.0	Done in Sarawak
7 May 2008		Gall bladder Operation in Sarawak
11 July 2008	50.5	Done in Sarawak
25 September 2008	2,433	Done in Sarawak
4 October 2008	3,201.97
6 October 2008		Liver operation in Penang
5 December 2008	18,550	Done in Penang
30 December 2008	17,857.8	Done in Penang
10 February 2009	5,845.0	Done in Penang
6 March 2009	239,595.0	Done in Penang

When Sam tried to seek clarification with the surgeon, he was snubbed. The surgeon did not even want to talk to Sam and his wife. Sadly, patients like Sam were left in a limbo. Sam was then passed on to another doctor.

Sam was prescribed an extremely expensive drug – at RM 20,000.00 per month. Of course, Sam had no choice. Accept it or die. But the point is: Was Sam told that the drug would not cure him? No, and he did not have the slightest clue about the truth. The data provided by the drug company’s website clearly indicated the following: For liver cancer,

Patients who took Nexavar – median survival = 10.7 months
Patients on placebo (sugar pill) – median survival = 7.9 months.
Nexavar only increased survival by 2.8 months. No where in the website does it ever say Nexavar cures liver cancer.

If ever there is anything we can learn from this story, it is this: Ignorance can kill. For years, we at CA Care, have been trying to empower patients by providing them with knowledge. However, patients are not interested to read or find things out for themselves. Far too often, patients prefer to find an easy way out and remain ignorant. And then when they reach this desperate end stage they would say to us: Oh, but we do not know all these. We trust the doctors.

Note: In mid-April 2009, we were informed that Sam died. Sam was operated on in October 2008 and by April 2009 he was dead. That was just six months after surgery.

What do you think has hastened his death?

Was it the surgery or his cancer?

What could have happened if Sam did not do anything?

Could he have lived much longer (minus the hefty hospital bills)?

More related stories:

Liver Cancer: Surgery and Chemo Did Not Cure Him

Surgery for Liver Cancer: Eighty Percent Success?

Liver Cancer: He Died After a RM 10,000 Open-Close Surgery

The Doctor Said: “No More Hope” After a 60-Million-Rupiah Operation for Bile Duct Cancer

Healing of Metastatic Liver Cancer

The World’s Most Well Fought Battle Against Colon Cancer

I give this article the title – the World’s most well fought battle… Why? This is because the man involved in this battle against colon cancer, Tony Snow, used to walk along the corridor of power in the most powerful political office on earth. For many of us in Malaysia, what happened in the United States of America is always the greatest and the best. What America says we agree or have to agree and what America does we follow or eventually have to follow. I would imagine that the most powerful man on earth would be able to do something great to help his beloved staff and fellowman who was in great distress. I believe that Snow would have gotten the best – the best advice, the best doctor, the best drugs and the best hospital – for him to fight his war against cancer. So, to me, this battle against cancer would probably be the most well fought battle ever waged in America– the world’s most powerful nation.

Also in almost all countries in the world and most of the time, those with wealth and/or political power are All-Powerful – they can get anything they want or they can get away with anything they do. Oop – except of course, as this story will show; they cannot (always) win the war against cancer. The lesson we can learn from this story is: No one on earth should take cancer for granted.

The facts:

Tony Snow was the press secretary of President George Bush – the current (2008) president of the United States of America.
He was married and had three school-going children. His mother also had colon cancer and died when Snow was 17.
Snow was first diagnosed with stage three colon cancer in 2005.
After surgery he underwent six months of chemotherapy.
He was said to be cancer-free after the medical treatments. He was appointed President Bush’s press secretary in May 2006.
In late March 2007, Snow’s cancer reappeared in his abdomen and also his liver.
He underwent a surgery in April 2007 followed by more chemotherapy.
Slightly more than a year later, Snow died at the Georgetown University Hospital – on a Saturday morning in July 2008. He was 53 years old.

The following are quotations from the press about his battle against metastatic colon cancer:

The Associated Press. 27 March 2007.

He had recently reached the two-year mark of being free of cancer. The White House deputy press secretary said: He told me that he beat this thing before and he intends to beat it again.

Dr. Allyson Ocean, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Weill Cornell Medical College said: This is a very treatable condition. Anyone who looks at this as a death sentence is wrong.

USA Today 27 March 2007: Robert Mayer, former president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology… suggests surgeons won’t be able to cure it with surgery but may be able to control it with chemotherapy. When cancer returns in multiple organs, the goal is not cure, but maybe control for a good long time, which can be measured now in years as opposed to months.

Daniel Laheru, a colorectal cancer specialist and assistant professor at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said patients a decade ago with widely spread tumors survived an average of 12 months. Now, new chemotherapies have doubled that to about 24 months.

The Cheerful Oncologist. 28 March 2007 wrote: Chemotherapy plus targeted therapy, however, does have a chance to prolong the lives of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The average survival of patients who receive no anti-cancer therapy … 4 to 6 months, while those with treatment 20 to 21 months and hopefully more. This is an example of why medical oncologists give treatments designed to kill, disable and humiliate cancer cells.

The Washington Post – 28 March 2007. reported: Snow, who beat cancer two years ago, suffered from colitis for 28 years and in February 2005 he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Snow said: seventeen days after the diagnosis, we go in and take the whole colon out and throw it in a garbage bag. After the treatments, Snow got a clean bill of health from a doctor and he went on to take the job at the White House.

Snow called Bush about 7 a.m. to tell him about the recurrence. Bush later told the press: He is not going to let this whip him and he’s upbeat. The blood test and other scans turned up negative for cancer. Anyway, Snow decided to have the growth removed to be followed by chemotherapy.

People 14 May 2007. In an article: Fight of His Life, Sandra Westfall wrote:

6:30 a.m.: National Security briefing; 10 a.m.; Press briefing; Noon: chemotherapy, hospital; 3:30 p.m.: Pick up kids from school

That was the typical every-other-Friday schedule for the President’s press secretary Tony Snow. The cocktail of drugs he’s taking to keep his cancer in check includes one he took when first treated for stage III colon cancer. Snow said: I’d be exhausted for two or three days. The pace of innovation is breathtaking. Anyone who can survive a few years has automatic hope.

The Associated Press. 30 April 2007. Tony Snow was back on the job Monday, five weeks after doctors discovered a recurrence of his cancer. He said he would soon undergo chemotherapy just to make sure we’ve got the thing knocked out.

Slate 4 September 2007. Snow said: I finished chemo two weeks ago today. We did CAT scans and MRIs in the last week and it indicates that the chemo did exactly what we hoped it would do, which is hold serve. The tumors that we’ve been tracking have not grown. … We’ll be doing what’s called a maintenance dose of chemotherapy just to keep whacking this thing. He also noted that he’d be having scans every three months, just to stay on top of everything.

Snow conceded: I’ve been lucky I work at the White House. Snow noted that oncologists and patients have made heroic strides in turning cancer into a chronic disease rather than a fatal disease.

The Washington Post. 12 July 2008. After the relapse, Snow said he would undergo an aggressive regimen of chemotherapy followed by further treatment, and hope to throw it into remission and transform it into a chronic disease. If cancer is merely a nuisance, for a long period of time, that’s fine with me. He had lost considerable weight and his thinning hair had turned white during several months of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Comments:

I am writing this article with a sense of deep respect for the deceased and also for the living. I do not want to add more grief or hurt to anyone. I respect what the patient and his family had done and would not wish to give my opinion about this case except to say that everyone had tried their best to help Snow but the inevitable had happened – the battle was lost.

Even if the battle was lost, it would be a great tragedy if we in Malaysia or those in the developing countries do not take this opportunity to learn something from this episode.

If you have not read my book: Understanding Cancer War & Cure, you can download it for free by clicking this link. We at CA Care manage cancer in a much different way than what is currently practised in the advanced countries of the Western world.

Allow me to pose some questions regarding the media propaganda and spin with respect to this case. You can use your own commonsense to answer these questions.

1. This is a very treatable condition. Anyone who looks at this as a death sentence is wrong.

What does the reality of this story tell us? Slight more than a year after the second battle, Snow died – dead wrong or dead right?

2. What do you think is the real cause of his death?

3. The recurrent tumour in the abdomen has been taken out. Only some cancer could have been left in his liver. Could this kill Snow? Or was it the treatments used to treat the cancer that killed him?

4. This is a treatable disease. What do you think of such a statement? Surely, any disease is treatable but can it ever be cured? Treatable does not mean curable at all.

5. Cancer patients should take note of this medical claim: Patients a decade ago with widely spread tumors survived an average of 12 months. Now, new chemotherapies have doubled that to about 24 months. Is survival for two years with new chemotherapies is enough or sufficient for cancer patients? Most patients who undergo chemotherapy have the misconception that the treatment is going to cure them.

6. CAT scans and MRIs … indicates that the chemo did exactly what we hoped it would do … The tumors that we’ve been tracking have not grown. If that is the good news and result, why was the battle lost? Is the temporary shrinkage or stoppage of tumour growth just a meaningless, false security?

7. Oncologists and patients have made heroic strides in turning cancer into a chronic disease rather than a fatal disease. How true is still statement? Death, after a year of chemotherapy is not fatal?

8. Snow got a clean bill of health from a doctor and his first surgery and chemotherapy. What is the worth of such a statement? In one hospital, cancer patients are given a Certificate of Achievement after completion of their six cycles of chemotherapy. Is such certificate worthy of the paper it is printed on?

9. Snow had lost considerable weight and his thinning hair had turned white during several months of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments. What is your say about this? Is this not what most cancer patients suffer before they eventually die?

10. Medical oncologists give treatments designed to kill, disable and humiliate cancer cells. Is that so? The reality is: who gets humiliated? The cancer cells got killed or the patient?