What are your plans if you get Cancer?

[rethaier]

I would eat a good healthy raw food vegan diet and take cannabis oil, I certainly wouldn't let the doctors near me with there chemicals radiation and heroin.

Hey Buckoy, do you eat and live this way now? Just curious because you said "would."

I don't follow this diet strictly now, but I do eat only organic where I can and try and eat raw food every day. I don't eat processed foods or any refined food stuffs and only eat meat once a day. I have been eating like this since my mother died in 2010 of breast cancer and my father died of bladder cancer in 2011. I also consume cannabis oil as a preventive measure and a general health booster.

Thanks for taking an interest in my diet, I can send you a sample of my stools for you to check if you like.

Care to share where you get the oil?

[georgegeorgia]

I have metastatic colon/rectal cancer, diagnosed few months ago,

after I was complaining about, of all things a pain in my right rib,

I thought I had cracked/broken the rig after slipping and smacking my back against new stud wall, we were building

wife finally got tired of my whinging about the pain,

I kept saying the bloody thing will heal in 4 weeks if cracked, 6 weeks if broken, I have had broken rigs before

so of the local hospital I go, lovey Thai doctor say , something wrong here, you need better x-rays

great thinks me, more bloody money for nothing, but wifey says, you bloody go,

have better x-ray, she never swore before she met me, hmmm?

new expensive but very clear x-ray shows, my 8 rib starboard side, had a bloody big black lump

and then the dreaded words

"you have cancer"

the fastest trip to Australia ever

St V's hospital Melbourne with Peter Mac cancer hospital, PET and CAT scans

revealed the full extent

along with the missing rib, it's also in my Liver, STB Lung, with 2 more lumps attached to upper and lower intestines

so it's Chemo, I take a oral drug 14 days on 7 days off

have now had 2x 10 doses radiation to the STB rib, still bloody painful the rib

so the final plan!!

have as much fun with my wife and our small sons, when and where possible

live as long as I can, without being bed ridden

then eat the family revolver, when the morphine pills stop working

Yes same as my Mother had went to the Liver then Lungs.

Im sorry mate...I really am.

I really feel for you.

This is the time now to get yiur financial affairs in order and if you hsvent made a Power of Attorney and a Enduring Guardianship then its now time to see a Lawyer to do that.

Im not sure of your plans and where you prefer to stay in Melbourne or go back to Thailand for eventual palliative care.

But obviously you need to think about this and with your family before you eventually become bedridden.

You can hire home nursing cheaper in Thailand.

Did they give you a time 6 to 9 months ? Or they havent said anything yet.

Please do everything regarding financial affairs now .take care and do what you feel is right for you..not what others want you to do.

Edited February 7, 2015 by georgegeorgia

[inbangkok]

if diagnosed i would make a radical change to my bodies fuel source , i believe our bodies if given the right conditions can reverse many diseases including cancer , no drugs for me only what nature can provide ... i also have lost many family /friends to cancer , we all must make our own choices on how to treat cancer , for me it would not be dependant on the medical system.

Were the friends and family you lost following your brilliant method of letting the body naturally reverse the cancer?

[Crossy]

Let's keep this civil chaps, posts removed.

Please head off and review the local forum rules.

[georgegeorgia]

I dont really want to bring Religion into this you know so many things went through my mind...I did before all this Cancer treatment, and seeing people suffer and die,I did believe in a God..i stopped believing when all this was happening.

I even asked the Oncologists did they believe in God seeing all this suffering,I didnt get a straight answer except from one who said he "I believe in Science and fact based on evidence"

The Funeral director who done my mums funeral who was the most friendliest old chap me i ever met said in all of 40 years running his family funeral business he had never saw any ghosts spirits or believed in God.I was shocked.

I think you do become more spiritual though going through a traumatic event...whether there is a guy up there i dont know but i have definetely changed personally from this.

Edited February 7, 2015 by georgegeorgia

[buckoy]

I make it myself, there any many options if you are determined. I wish I could be of more help, but here in England the laws prevent me doing so.

[Dogbreath]

Pallietive care all they do is give u pain control medicine...sometimes too much.

The Oncologists are liars and cheats and will try to bullshit you.

They get kick backs...free holidays etc from the medical companies.

They drive luxury cars and and cant cure you once you get this.

Seems like this is all a troll post rant against doctors and "big pharma"

I was cured of cancer by an oncologist who drove a Toyota.

My surgeon rebated the kickback offered by drug company for chemo. Price cut by 50%. Not many docs are that generous or charitable. Cancer is a big business with billions of dollars floating around. Unfortunately, not all docs can resist the money, vacations and other perks offered by Big Pharma to shill their vastly overpriced drugs. One course of the chemo I had here costs about $6000 US. In Thailand, about $600. I had seven courses and saved a pile. In the end, however, it was ineffective. Before I started, the doc said it would boost my 5 year survival possibility only 10-12% over doing nothing. In retrospect, I wish I had spent the money on something or someone else.

[georgegeorgia]

Yes I took my Mother for a second opinion and that Oncologist told me not to waste the $5000 × 3 treatments the other doctor wanted to give of his special clinical trial chemo.

Some people dont bother with chemo...theres no guarantee with it..

Edited February 7, 2015 by georgegeorgia

[cdmtdm]

if diagnosed i would make a radical change to my bodies fuel source , i believe our bodies if given the right conditions can reverse many diseases including cancer , no drugs for me only what nature can provide ... i also have lost many family /friends to cancer , we all must make our own choices on how to treat cancer , for me it would not be dependant on the medical system.

Were the friends and family you lost following your brilliant method of letting the body naturally reverse the cancer?

No, but they could read , so if you can read it is MY decision based on My experiences with cancer in MY family ... " if diagnosed i would make radical changes to my bodies fuel source"....

[williet98248]

Die. Chemo is out of the question. At age 72 I have had a great life and in excellent health. Looking for another 15 years? I hope I have the balls to end my life in a way of my choosing if I get a mortal disease. Maybe trying to swim to India?

[KhnomKhnom]

My plan is to die quickly.

[Sheryl]

Posts discussing illegal activities removed.

[VIPinthailand]

you can go to Switzerland Dignitas for euthanasia. it will cost you around 6 or 8000 dollars and they will take care of everything. (incineration...).

it s totally pain less, after eating some chocolate and have a talk with your friends & family, you are served a little cup of barbiturate . in 1 or 2 minutes you will feel sleepy and you will fall asleep, after 30 minutes, you will go into a coma and you will die In peace.

if you know you are going to die soon , don't wait for pain. you can arrange all these things in advance with the Company in Switzerland. of course you can change your mind anytime and not drink the potion and leave.

[Guitar God]

It costs considerably less in the Netherlands for euthanasia. A few hundred euros tops.

Cannabis oil is also readily available there.

I can't believe all the insurance companies that don't cover treatment for cancer. I must be lucky. I pay less than 2k a year and have very comprehensive coverage. Private hospital rooms, dental including crowns, bridges and cleaning 2x a year and medical insurance that covers conventional and alternative treatments for cancer.

[Toany]

The latest statistics say that more people survive cancer than die from it.

From personal experience, the cancer treatment at Chulalongkorn Red Cross Hospital is very good and relatively not expensive. They have some highly respected doctors there. Some of their doctors have trained lots of the doctors in the private hospitals. You need to speak Thai or have a good friend though. The doctors will speak English, but nursed and admin probably will not.

[Alwyn]

It's simple. If i had the power the build it in my body then obviously i have the power to destroy it. That's what i would do.

All well and good but the thing is that it's not about having the power to build it in your body and then obviously having the power to destroy it (whatever that means) It's about you not having the power in your body to prevent it.

[Alwyn]

I don't want to intrude on this with a big debate, as I have great sympathy for anyone who has lost relatives to cancer, as I have myself.

I just wanted to say that the reasons why people get cancer are very well understood now, and perhaps knowing the reasons will help sort out whether the conflicting advice often presented on various websites and by various posters is valuable or not.

The fact that cancers are so hard to cure, and treatments are primitive, is that each cancer is different, and so "a" cure is not possible. Also, because of how cancers are caused, the problem is very hard to solve, so saying 'why can't science cure cancer yet?' is a bit like saying 'why haven't we got teleportation devices yet?'. It's just very difficult.

Here's what causes cancer. Your body is made up of billions of tiny cells, arranged into organs: liver, blood, kidney, brain, and so on. For your body to work, each cell must be rigidly controlled, so that it stays as a liver cell, does not divide until necessary, does not move around the body but stays in the liver and so on.

Because of the problems it would cause if cells did not obey these rules, they are rigidly controlled by 2 to 300 genes inside each cell. Each usually has a back up so if one gene, say one that tells a cell "don't divide now", gets damaged, a back up gene will stop the cell dividing even though the primary one has broken. Cancer is cells dividing when they shouldn't, travelling round the body when they shouldn't and forming huge masses everywhere which kill you.

Genes are made of DNA, and the most common way a gene gets broken is by damage to the DNA, so things that damage DNA cause cancer. So one of the most important safety pathways are many DNA repair genes that function to detect mistakes in DNA and repair them.

Unfortunately these DNA repair genes can be broken themselves by things that damage DNA, because they are themselves made of DNA. Things that damage DNA are often chemicals that are known to react physically with DNA and break it ( cigarette smoke, benzene), or radiation which breaks DNA by hitting it physically, or creating body chemicals that destroy it (sunlight/ UV radiation, atomic fallout).

Because cells have backup safety genes, a cell only becomes cancerous when more than one of the safety controlling genes get damaged. That means in a single cell, gene A has to break, say from repeated cigarette smoke exposure, then gene B, then gene C. Once all the back ups in a pathway are damaged cancer starts, because the cell divides out of control. Not surprisingly it is often cells where a DNA repair gene is damaged first that go on to get cancer, because the next gene that gets damaged can escape repair.

This explains why cancer increases with age- it takes time and bad luck for 3 or 4 safety genes in the same pathway to get damaged in the same cell, and the longer you live, the more likely these mutations are to build up. This also explains why some people are genetically predisposed to cancer (eg Angelina Jolie): they are born with one of the safety genes (BRCA1) already broken, in every body cell. It explains why chemicals that react with DNA give you cancer.

It also explains why there can't be one cure for cancer- there are 2-300 genes that can possibly cause cancer if damage to any 3 , 4 or 5 of them accumulates in one cell. Each combination of damaged genes will make a cell do different dangerous things, because they control 100s of cell pathways.

Knowing this, scientists have identified the exact number and identity of the genes that have gone wrong in very many cancers. Armed with this knowledge they have managed to develop specific drugs that are aimed at restoring normal function in a specific pathway that has gone wrong in a specific cancer. There are a handful of drugs now which work because the faulty genes have been identified and targetted.

Most pathways are still not fully known, and once known there is no guarantee that any pharmaceutical compound can be developed to fix it. This is the luck of the draw. Many think that repairing the actual faulty genes by gene therapy will be possible. There are other avenues too.

Given these reasons, dietary changes and will power seem unlikely to be very fruitful in my opinion. But that is a matter for individuals. It is just deciding without knowing the background is never wise

Having some "skin in the game" myself I can tell people that what you're saying is spot on. It's also a by-product of medicine as modern medicine is enabling us to live longer. 80 years ago when people were living until 45 or so years cancer wasn't the problem it is now but we live longer and "wear out" so to speak. I'm 6 months into treatment for prostate cancer (T3b) which is definitely a product of age! Although I'm not exactly ancient at 58! Prostate cancer is fed by testosterone and not sugar as a lot are. But I digress; There two companies that are making massive leaps forward at this moment. One of those is in Prague, my oncologist was telling me about this a few weeks ago over a coffee! The oncologists here (I'm in Newcastle UK which is one of the two best cancer care centres in the UK) take cancerous cells from the patient and send them to Prague where they make a vaccine specific to that cell - made to measure vaccine if you will. Apparently they're getting brilliant results. The other, which I know a bit more about is an Israeli company called Vaxil. They have developed a vaccine called ImMucin which has so far been incredibly successful in trials. It seeks and attacks the T cells by looking specifically for the Imucin protein. It's even been successful in certain blood cancers that have until now been unmanageable. Unfortunately for me it won't be available until 2017 but it does sound promising! http://www.vaxilbio.com/ Cheers

[Alwyn]

if diagnosed i would make a radical change to my bodies fuel source , i believe our bodies if given the right conditions can reverse many diseases including cancer , no drugs for me only what nature can provide ... i also have lost many family /friends to cancer , we all must make our own choices on how to treat cancer , for me it would not be dependant on the medical system.

Interesting point.

So, I guess you don't vaccinate your kids (or wouldn't yourself), don't take penicillin (or any antibiotic) if you have an infection, or an aspirin for a headache?

Morphine is from a natural plant - a certain type of poppy. Its medicinal properties are remarkable. Penicillin has arguably had the largest impact on humanity of any medication and it too was from a naturally occurring organism. Many (most?) medications are found in nature and then developed from there.

I am not advocating the use of meds to solve every problem with the human body, but they do have efficacy. One needs to be intelligent about these things and work with their doctor and make informed decisions in concert with the doc, where possible.

I guess we agree - it is best not to be dependent on the medical system. And regarding chemo... I have seen both sides of the coin, so I would not immediately accept it - it depends on so many things. I have a close friend who has survived 20 years with 2 bouts of leukemia and chemo was the key to get him cancer free. He is also lucky in that it does not make him sick.

It is ignorant to ignore or dismiss the the massive amount of good doctors and medicine do for people.

no my kids dont get vaccinated , i am allergic to penicillin and i use baking soda for headaches ..i too have seen both sides of the equation and strongly believe that doctors/medicines have a role to play, however this is about personal choice , given my history of experiences with cancer ..i chose to prevent cancer occuring rather than try to treat it after the fact ...however i would not have chemo or radiation under any circumstances if it was to happen ... but again thats my choice not my doctors ...

I've just finished a 4-week course of radiation treatment on Wednesday. The equipment now is so advanced (in the UK anyway) it's amazing. I was under a new arc treatment machine which is accurate to 100th of a millimeter which means much higher doses but over a short period. 6 months ago it would have been an 8-week course. If I had stayed in Thailand it would have been a 12-week course but that was never going to happen! I have prostate cancer which has spread locally out from the prostate. Prostate cancer feeds on testosterone so baking soda, carrot juice and whatever are pointless for me. The testosterone needs to be either killed (which is what is happening to me with hormone treatment) or 'locked away' with drugs like Casodex (which is what my oncologist is changing me over to). Kill the cancerous cells with radio treatment and kill/lock away testosterone to shrink the prostate and stop the feeding of testosterone. Everything else (in my condition) is pointless. Good attitude doesn't kill cancer but it does however lead to a better quality of life. Eating cooked tomatoes etc? It helps in one way as it makes people think they are doing something to take back control but other than that.... Nah, when you're actually suffering with it, things become very different!!

[Alwyn]

I have prostate cancer (T3b) which basically means advanced but slow progressing. I read on hear people saying how they would not take any meds, no radiation treatment etc Drink cannabis oil or drink a glass of carrot juice to cure it etc (or the power of the mind..) Trust me, when you're told you got cancer your whole perspective on it changes! There're a few people commenting on their cancers and I would bet any money they feel the same. Once you get cancer everybody suddenly becomes an expert "eat cooked tomatoes" and "have turmeric" and so on and while everybody has great intentions, would you risk your life to a can of tomatoes or get the radiation treatment? Not all chemo is bad these days either, I have a friend who is on courses of chemo tablets, he's doing fine! While there might well be a cure for cancer by eating leafy greens or something I don't know anybody who has had the bottle to try it when they've actually been diagnosed! On the other hand, there is a definite plus point and that is that you're putting yourself back in control of your life a bit. I did everything, turmeric in coconut milk with cinnamon and pineapple and so on. But there was no way I was trusting my life to it so I had (am having) treatments and supplementing it with these things. 50% of us/you will get cancer it's reckoned, but for the first time ever there is a 50% success rate in mortality. As my oncologist told me, the aim is that you die with it, not from it!

[Travel Dude]

what package is that? Platinum? Please advise. Thanks.

Then i guess you dont have health insurance in Thailand.

I have the very best health plan offered by BUPA and cancer is not covered. From my understanding, this is quite common. I think cancer coverage can be purchased separately. Considering I am in my late 20's, I have taken the gamble that I won't get cancer. If I do, I will probably have to return to America where my health coverage does indeed include coverage for cancer.

What package do you have? Platinum? Please advise, thanks.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Travel Dude

[Tolley]

Cancer doesn't have to be a death sentence.

Early stage cancers can be controlled in many cases.

Even chemo can work for some cancers.

eg testicular cancer has a good response rate to chemo

If you get a late stage cancer get yourself over to one of the great cancer clinics they have in Germany.

They use many treatments that can prolong life and in some cases they get remissions without poisoning your body with high doses of chemo and radiation.

If you have a few years to live then there is always a chance to return the body to normal. Thousands of people have turned around their late stage cancers and gone on to live long lives.

Read Dr Kelleys One Answer to Cancer.

He had thousands of documented cases of late stage cancer patients who lived long lives.

He used a combination of diet based on metabolic type, detoxification and high dose pancreatic enzymes along with vitamins and supplements.

The diet varied according to metabolic type with some people responding better with high meat diet and others with a vegetarian diet. Dextox including liver, gallbladder, kidney flushes, skin brushing, intestinal purges, Epsom salt baths, daily coffee enemas. High dose pancreatic enzymes were taken to kill the cancer in the body and various minerals and vitamins taken to help support the body.

There is always hope.

[KonaRain]

Lots of good posts above. My friend got plenty pain killers/sedative @ uni. hosp C.Mai.

Sugar slows the immune system, therefore allowing mutation in the cell.

Alcohol also as agreed. We just need to balance nutritional needs and stress.

We also need 90 vitamins, minerals, and amino acids(2). Still learning after years of...

learning!

Aloha & all the best!

[georgegeorgia]

Very interesting to read about the eunthasia in Sweden.

I guess however you have to decide at what stage you go there.

[maidee]

chemo & other stuff is about 3% real effective , as they cheat the statistics, in stead of 5 years, they take 6 months ...

is it worth dying in pain in a hospital bed & broke ?

check your diet, check what you put in your mouth ...

why so many people give up without a fight

try alternatives first

at a fraction of the cost

get informed, many interesting websites

many cancer cures supressed by big pharma as they only have to lose their big income

[shirtless]

The bbc claims 50% of people born after 1960 will contract cancer, due to our environment this could sadly be true.

[umbanda]

It's simple. If i had the power the build it in my body then obviously i have the power to destroy it. That's what i would do.

As a cancer survivor I found your comment ignorant, condescending, and outright rude.

"Let your body fight it by itself" arguments lead to death.

Please read the report the John Hopkins Institute published some years ago about cancer.

With so many kinds of cancer, and on different stages, it is not easy to make decisions about treatments available, but no doubts that our bodies have the power to heal serious deceases. The Institute report, from probably the biggest Hospital and Research Center in the US, told about this, even saying that in our life time we can get more than 10 malign tumors and we never know, because its do not developed. Our immune system took care. And we know what to do to help our body....and many do not do it. If a smoker do not get cancer, it is because its was just lucky.

After my experience, and others, sometimes is a lot better not to know if you got cancer. How many times a small problem becomes big after surgery, radiation and chemo...and that is what most oncologist will prescribe, because its are making money with that.

My journey with cancer was very long. I wrote about, and it is online, and was not easy to decide what to do. But, after a lot of bad experiences with doctors, and a lot of research, I healed by myself....but...I have to say that I was lucky too. Not magic "recipes" to cure cancer. My only advice will be to take the time, and no rush following the first doctor opinion. Doctors, like any professional, may make BIG mistakes....irreversible mistakes.

[umbanda]

Please read the report the John Hopkins Institute published some years ago about cancer. It is online.

With so many kinds of cancer, and on different stages, it is not easy to make decisions about treatments available, but no doubts that our bodies have the power to heal serious deceases. The report, from probably the biggest Hospital and Research Center in the US, talk about this, even saying that in our life time we can get more than 10 malign tumors and we never know, because its do not developed. Our immune system took care. And we know what to do to help our body....and many do not do it. If a smoker do not get cancer, it is because its was just lucky.

After my experience, and others, sometimes is a lot better not to know if you got cancer. How many times a small problem becomes big after surgery, radiation and chemo?...and that is what most oncologist will prescribe, because its do not know better, or because its are making money with that.

My journey with cancer was very long. I wrote about, and it is online, and was not easy to decide what to do. But, after a lot of bad experiences with doctors, and a lot of research, I healed by myself....but...I have to say that I was lucky too. Not magic "recipes" to cure cancer. My only advice will be to take the time, and no rush following the first doctor opinion. Doctors, like any professional, may make BIG mistakes....irreversible mistakes.

[Moonlover]

I do not want to write all my journey with cancer, but this may help....like second opinions do.

I was very healthy in 2007 in the US. Without any bad symptoms, I got "terminal colon cancer", and after all the testings, the oncologist called for an immediate surgery to remove the splint and half of my stomach. No more comments. Just 3 days before the surgery, and after all my friends "preparations for my funeral", I got lucky. The surgeon told me what that surgery will do it for my future life, and also told me that if he was in my situation he not will do it.

In doing that, he didn't make the money, and also took the risk to lose the connection with the oncologist....probably he saves my life.

I canceled the surgery. I looked for a second opinion with a gastroenterologist. He told me that he can take, without big surgery, part of the big tumor, and wait for my body to fight it with better chances to win, before thinking in do something major.

He did a colonoscopy/surgery. After new testings, the tumor still positive, and the oncologist insisted in doing the big surgery.

The gastroenterologist told me that I need to take time to RELAX. I was with a lot of stress because financial problems with my company. I was broke.

I come to Chiang Mai for 2 month of relax, meditation, and good nutrition. At my return to the US, new testings showed that my tumor was gone and I was FREE of cancer. I retired, and move to Chiang Mai in 2010, to keep a very active life, a perfect health, and living the best time of my life, at 70. with a wonderful 48 years old beautiful Thai wife...that is giving me all the reason to enjoy any time left in my life.

By the way, I am writing this after seating at the table with my in laws, sharing a very spicy menu. The only stomach testing I keep doing for the last 5 years. Never visited a doctor or a hospital again.....

Thank you for sharing this inspiring story with us Umbanda.

I recently read a book by Roger Jahnke called 'The Healer Within'. His 'medicinal tools' are: Movement, Massage, Meditation and Breathing. As a practitioner of Qigong and being fortunate in having an excellent therapeutic masseuse for a wife, I know which route I shall be taking should I ever fall victim to cancer (Or any other illness). I recommend this book to anyone who may be concerned about their current, or future health.

Thanks again Umbanda and my best wishes for the future.

[georgegeorgia]

SOME of you may have overlooked the fact that 1/ your cancer may be advanced cancer meaning any treatment is for pain only..palliative.

2/ you may change your mind about gettibg chemo if your in your 80's and i saw lot of people do that.The chemo could even kill you at that age.

3/ you may get to the stage where you've had enough...easy to say fight it etc etc...but even the bravest give up on chemo making them sick everyday and if its just going to prolong your life by a month or two to slow the cancer down then you have to think if its going to be worth it.

Edited February 8, 2015 by georgegeorgia

[inbangkok]

what package is that? Platinum? Please advise. Thanks.

Then i guess you dont have health insurance in Thailand.

I have the very best health plan offered by BUPA and cancer is not covered. From my understanding, this is quite common. I think cancer coverage can be purchased separately. Considering I am in my late 20's, I have taken the gamble that I won't get cancer. If I do, I will probably have to return to America where my health coverage does indeed include coverage for cancer.

What package do you have? Platinum? Please advise, thanks.

Yes, it is the Platinum package. It is expensive, but I have found for my medical needs, it has been well worth it and have save thousands and thousands of dollars by having it.