Why do people with breast cancer need chemotherapy? The reason is that despite the best efforts of the healthcare team to remove all traces of the tumor, breast cancer can still recur. Even early stage breast cancer can return months to years after the original diagnosis and treatment. It can come back as a local recurrence (in the treated breast) or as a distant recurrence, also known as metastatic disease, elsewhere in the body, such as the bones, lungs, liver, or other organs. Due to this concern, many oncologists prefer to err on the side of over treating their patients with chemotherapy, lest the person be under treated and sustain a recurrence.
Two people came to mind when I am writing this article on colorectal cancer. Let me relate their stories. Story 1: Mat (not real name) is a 45-year old professional who was diagnosed with Duke’s C rectum cancer. Eight of 16 lymph nodes were involved. He had an operation and subsequently underwent chemotherapy with 5-FU + leucovorin. The first chemo-treatment made his life miserable due to severe side effects. He decided to opt out of chemotherapy and came to us for help. He was started on herbs and felt real good after that.
My first encounter with colon cancer that spread to the liver was with Tony in 1996. His doctor had told him that chemotherapy or radiotherapy would be of no use for him. Tony had a miraculous healing after taking herbs. Unfortunately, Tony died one and half years later after reverting to his “bad diet”. A video on Tony can be viewed at cacarevideo blogspot below. Another case that came to mind is Dass. He had a recurrent colon cancer after surgery and chemotherapy. He was asked to undergo chemotherapy again after this recurrence. He refused and came to us for help in January 1998. It has been nine years now and Dass is doing very well and is leading a normal and happy life.
Some medical pioneers in the study and utilization of information regarding mind-body medicine are writing books and spreading the word about how we can change our health and heal disease through our thoughts -doctors such as Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Christiane Northrup, Bernie Siegel, and Herbert Benson. Such techniques are finally garnering the attention of the AMA and medical facilities and schools. The benefits of stress management workshops in maintaining health and reversing such conditions as ulcerative colitis, chronic headaches, heart disease, and cancer have been acknowledged by doctors as well as employers, and are now routinely taught in most major medical facilities and covered by many health insurance companies.
The evening of the day my hair started to fall out, Christie, Barbara and I were having dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. Naturally, I had to tell them how it all happened. “Guess what happened this morning?” “What happened, Deb?” Christie asked, leaning forward in anticipation. “I reached up to pull some fuzz out of my hair and the whole clump of hair came out. I’m losing my hair!” “Wow! What did you do?” “I kept pulling pieces from different places on my head - then I showered and washed my hair to see how much more would come out.”
Two people came to mind when I am writing this article on colorectal cancer. Let me relate their stories. Story 1: Mat (not real name) is a 45-year old professional who was diagnosed with Duke’s C rectum cancer. Eight of 16 lymph nodes were involved. He had an operation and subsequently underwent chemotherapy with 5-FU + leucovorin. The first chemo-treatment made his life miserable due to severe side effects. He decided to opt out of chemotherapy and came to us for help. He was started on herbs and felt real good after that.
A person’s first instinct when they first are diagnosed with mesothelioma (or any cancer for that matter) is either depression and/ or panic. It’s an uphill battle. Everyone says that. Everyone is mourning something lost, when the person in question is not lost. In fact, it could be the beginning of a challenge of a life-time. Although there is never a comfortable battle in any war, there is always a battle. And that means there is always a winner or a loser. Why not set out to be a winner? |