Cancer Talk....

Please watch that movie -- the really scarey thing is how, as a country, we have been so lied to by big pharmaceutical money (and the government grants that go to them and *not* to non-toxic treatments like this, and other alternative treatments).  And the REALLY scarey thing is the requirement that people can't enter into this dr's clinical trials until they have already been treated BY chemo & radiation. 

Erica, I am terribly sorry to hear about your losses.  (((Erica)))

My Nona had breast cancer, which she survived, thankfully, but it was a long and difficult process.  My mother has had cervical and skin cancer (at two separate times, years and years apart)  My brother currently has skin cancer and I am a very high risk for it.  My father had colon cancer, luckily they caught it in time.  And my former SILs mother passed away from lung cancer a few months ago.

My BFs father has colon cancer now, and is being treated with chemo, he was doing not too bad on it, but now has taken a turn for the worse.  My BF has said that he is no longer healing if he gets cut or bruised on something.  It has been very difficult for her family, because she is the only one working and paying the bills, and her father's health benefits from his work that he had to stop because of the cancer, has cut his benefits, so for a while it was a scramble for her to find alternate insurance in order to pay for his chemo (approximately 200$ every two weeks).  We are at the point now, where we might end up saying he lives at my address, to get him under my health insurance.  We don't know what else to do

What really bugs with me, though, is that with the cancer societies, it seems that no matter how much money and sponsorships they receive, no real treatment, other than chemo and radiation has been developed.  You would think that they would have something better now?  And still, the cost for these treatments are extraorindary and not covered under our health care system (I'm in Canada), it is all out of pocket, which is huge $$$$.  They should have something else by now

Erica and Michelle -- and everyone else reading this -- my sympathies for your losses.  But as with most of us, either we've been touched by it or fear *being* a victim of it because it's so prevalent. 

l.michelle

What really bugs with me, though, is that with the cancer societies, it seems that no matter how much money and sponsorships they receive, no real treatment, other than chemo and radiation has been developed.  You would think that they would have something better now? 

That's much of the point of the video -- there *are* other treatments but the big drug companies don't want them used.  Because they want *their* drugs used (and even the newly developed drugs are mostly based on the old drugs).  There are a *lot* of alternative methods -- did you ever wonder why so many high profiled people go to Europe for cancer treatments?  They're getting alternative stuff like homeopathy at a fraction of the price Western cancer treatment is and often very successfully, but the big drug companies will actually get a doctor put out of business here for daring to try such stuff.   The guy in this video article is treating stuff like brain cancer very successfully but one of the things that makes it almost impossible to achieve a successful clinical trial is because in order to be part of the "trial" a person has to already have had chemo or radiation and have it **fail** and by then there's so much tissue damage people are already well on their way to renal failure, etc.. so they may actually be fully treated by his cancer protocol and yet die from the side effects of the drugs they received previously. 

In the US folks honestly don't "get it" how much power the big drug companies and insurance companies have -- like you go to the doctor for something and he says "well Drug B is more effective but your insurance company won't cover it".  Much of that is because the drug companies *can* charge so much and insurance companies are allowed to only cover certain drugs that may be far less effective even if a doctor wants to use the other drug.  And yet alternative methods that are *cheap* to use (like acupuncture, for example -- not something out of this article) are NOT covered because the drug companies try so hard to keep them out of trials.

My aunt is currently fighting lung cancer.  As some of you know, the tumor could not be removed so they're working to get it to shrink and see if it can be removed if it gets smaller.  Otherwise.

I just wish people wouldn't smoke.  My uncle died from a cancer which is thought to be brought on or accelerated by smoking. 

My mom died of ovarian cancer at 44 and my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer at 41 (she was 5 yrs older than me) and so I've lived in fear of cancer most of my adult life. The treatments and side affects scare me as much as the disease itself. When my mom was treated, they injected radiated cobalt right into the abdominal/pelvic area. I remember we weren't allowed to be around her for days after each treatment because of the radiation danger. Not too long after the treatment, she started having many other problems and it culminated in her intestinal system being so damaged and scarred that it killed her.

I say that I'd think long and hard about accepting conventional treatment if it meant feeling worse than death but who knows. I've seen how powerful the will to survive can be and I'm not sure I'd be any different.

Regarding alternative treatments, I think it should be up to each individual as to what they choose. However, I watched a special that followed Farrah Fawcett thru her treatments over in Europe and yikes, it still sounded horrible to me and it didn't cure her.

I lost my husband to cancer (melanoma) four years ago, and within three years all of his brothers died, all of some weird sort of cancer.  I suspect that it might have something to do with the refinery in town that belches this doG awful stuff into the air 24/7, but nobody wants to make waves because it employs a lot of people and nobody thinks they can go up against an oil company.  For a small town, that place really has an abnormally high cancer rate, so something must be causing it.

Joyce

(((((HUGS)))))  TO EVERYONE!  Cancer just plain sucks!

I lost my father, a grandfather, several uncles and aunts, cousins....on both sides of the family.  It's fairly prevalent on both sides so naturally it worries me.

Did you know that the FDA and I think even Health Canada (Canada's equivalent to the FDA) has been putting chemotherapy drugs IN certain foods as an experament.  Asparaginase...which is highly carcinogenic in itself!!!  I'd put money on it that people didn't see this in the news.  In Canada the news corp isn't allowed to post this news.  One agency did but it was forced to pull the article.

NOW, I didn't research this a whole lot so don't overly quote me on the ins and outs of it but this IS in the foods already!

I lost my aunt to a malignant brain tumor when I was 10.  I've always felt sad for her daughters to have lost their mother when they were so young, just getting started in life.  My best friend is an ovarian cancer survivor 5+ years post surgery and I cross my fingers every day that she will continue to do well.  I've lost two precious dogs to cancer - Orca, my Dobe at age 6 and Maska, my wonderful hound, at age 10.  A colleague and good friend lost her Rottie to lymphoma.  One of my dearest clients and friends has had three episodes of mast cell tumors with her Lab and another of our friends found a similar tumor on her Sheltie.  My Michael died of liver disease, but his mom, before her death from other causes, was a breast cancer survivor.  So, yes, I've been touched, too.  It's a horrible disease, and I was distressed to learn that our seniors are often denied treatment by the latest cancer drugs because Medicare and Medigap policies don't cover some of them.  Imagine being told that there is a drug that has worked for some victims but you cannot even try it because of that!  Where is our collective conscience????

I doubt there are many people who haven't lost someone they care about to cancer.  Personally, I'd hate for anyone to bypass conventional treatment to chase a possible alternate cure.  I'm not saying that the doctor in the video might not have a viable alternate treatment but it's also possible that he's another person cashing in on a disease that is so terrifying to many people.  It really bothers me when a doctor is selling a video about his "miraculous" cure.   I watched as much of the video as I could but it seemed to be nothing but scare tactics combined with the conspiracy theory that drug companies and doctors all want us to die after they steal our money. 

  There are so many life saving drugs that have been developed by drug companies and many people are alive today because of these drugs.  Research and clinical trials are hideously expensive and many millions of dollars are spent developing and testing drugs that never make it to the public.  Despite what many people believe, it's not wrong to make a profit on what you produce.  Try living somewhere that has a Communist take on business and see what sort of products and services you receive.  The capitalist method isn't perfect and yes, some companies make enormous profits but each should be judged on an individual basis rather than lumped in to the "all big businesses are evil" category. 

I wasn't going to post in this thread because I realize that I might be in the minority around here but it's not the first time and probably won't be the last time I held an opposing view.

Jackie - I don't think you're in the minority at all and I agree with everything you said.

The doctor didn't actually say he had a miracle cure.  The success rate for his treatments were around 25% for certain rare cancers.

There's absolutely nothing conspiracy theory about it.  Everything is factual and was made public through the freedom of information act. 

I'm all for conventional treatments but I also believe that each and every one of us should be allowed to choose the type of treatment we want.

IMO the pharmaceutical companies are crooks.

JackieG

I wasn't going to post in this thread because I realize that I might be in the minority around here but it's not the first time and probably won't be the last time I held an opposing view.

You undoubtedly are *not* in the minority at all -- and that's what makes it a discussion thread.  It's also part of what keeps all of us informed and thinking, and that's a good thing.  I also agree that I hate it when everything becomes a plea for money (which is what that was)

cakana

Jackie - I don't think you're in the minority at all and I agree with everything you said.

I'm just putting out a good wish into the Universe for my co-worker's father who just had bladder cancer surgery yesterday at 88yrs old and is all clear now and already at home.  Wishing Mr. M good healthy years ahead.