Suzanne Sommers on Today show this morning.

[graciegirl]

I didn't hear all of it but Ann Curry didn't give Suzanne Sommers much opportunity to talk this morning.....Which is just fine with me. I think that Sommers views on chemo therapy are very dangerous.

I do agree that Chemo is a harsh ugly poison but it does work in many cases. In the future we will look back on it as archaic and barbaric.

I only heard part of what Sommers had to say about Cancer being a huge business and the occurence or death rate (?) only dropped five percent in the last so many years.

It really bothers me to hear the traditional medical community attacked in such a way as to make people think that the entire medical community relish cancer as an opportunity for doctors to make money.

[nONIE]

Oh Gracie, but in some ways Suzanne is right on. Cancer is BIG business! Very sad!:(

[graciegirl]

Nonie.

It is big business, just as any widespread disease causes a lot of expense. That doesn't mean that we can malign the medical community for that.

And cancer is sad. I am losing two good friends to it right now.

I think that the future will hold more promise for a cure for cancer as we understand the genetic origins of the disease better.

[nkrifats]

Cancer may be big business until you face it straight on. Then it is a different story. 3 year survivor and enjoying every day of life.

[Ooper]

I didn't hear all of it ...

You can listen and read more about her interview here:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/33347291/ns/today-today_health/

[graciegirl]

Me too. So grateful for the last five years, which wouldn't be so if I hadn't had that good ole chemo. But much more grateful for the past 12 years of our daughter Helene's life. Her cancer was much more deadly and so the treatment was a lot more powerful. She looked like death for many months but thank God she is with us today. And thank the wonderful physicians too.

[KathieI]

I agree with you GG. I wish they would have had something like chemo to save my mom, but it was already too late. We would have given anything to have a chance for her to survive.

Sadly, these big stars are all out of touch with reality and we all know some wonderful people who have been helped and saved by chemo and radiation and its bad press like this that makes people hesitate to give donations or funds for research. The advances that have been made in the past 20 years or so, have far outweighed the negative aspects of the therapy. That's my humble opinion. As I stated above, I wish Mom had had a choice.

[katezbox]

Gracie,

I know you thank God every day for your own and Helene's recoveries. I'm sure Henry does as well.

I have seen what chemo and radiation do to friends and family. It is horrible - but it can save lives. I also just read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. Still not sure how such a sad story can be uplifting - but it was.

My issue with Suzanne Sommers and other celebrities who write and speak on topics as complex as cancer, is that they often do more harm than good. Many patients will try any treatment that holds out a ray of hope - but so often these treatments have no merit in science.

I am not against alternative medicine - just against those who speak out without the credentials to do so. If you were on a jury in a murder trial and they asked an actress to testify on DNA evidence because she played an expert on TV, you would not take this seriously. Yet we frequently give "famous" people the same consideration we give those with hard-earned educations.

[carm310]

I lost my sister to cancer in 2003. She was only 51. Chemo was the last ditch effort to save her and I am glad she tried it but after only two treatments she died. Seeing what chemo did to her was frightening and I am convinced she died sooner than she would of had she not gone the chemo route. She died just a couple of weeks after the second chemo treatment.

I do believe in alternative treatments as well as traditional medicine, I wish the two would work together more for the good of the patient. My daughter has scoliosis and the traditional treatment of a rigid brace was brutal, we chose an alternative method with a flexible brace used in other parts of the world. But doing so was a major battle with doctors and insurance. I stuck it out longer than they were willing to deal with me (about two months of fighting with them) and the alternative treatment won out. It has helped slow the curve progression though she is not out of the woods yet. She is better off than she would have been in a rigid brace that she didn't want to wear. (Try keeping a teen girl in one of those things!)

If alternative medicine has worked for Suzanne Summers it gives me hope and successful traditional treatments give me hope as well, especially if some awful illness touches my life or the lives of those around me.

I don't think the medical community should be attacked either - whether traditional or alternative - Most doctors do what they can, they are not God. One thing I learned watching my sister's illness (and then my mother 10 months later - she died from a different illness) was that doctors are "practicing" medicine. They don't have all the answers. But they do the best they can.

Gracie, I am so sorry your friends are hurting with this terrible disease. Hang in there, be there for them and create cherished memories. I wouldn't trade the time I had with my sister the last few months of her life for anything. I have precious memories that far surpass the painful ones. :angel:

[Hawkwind]

I believe on of the most promising treatments for cancer was again documented on 60 Minutes last night. You can see the video at http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml and click on The Kanzius Machine.

John Kanzius was a well known ham radio operator from Erie Pa. Although I have never met John a number of my ham radio friends in the area have known John for many years. John even tried his machine on himself as described in the video. Today I was talking to a friend that has known John for years he said that it was no surprise him that John tried the machine on himself because that was the type of person he was. John wanted to do something that would help cure this disease and is not one to wait for "official" trials as he felt so strongly about his machine.

R.I.P John

[graciegirl]

Hawkwind. I just viewed the clip about the Kanzius machine with your link.

You are so right. It is something like this that will ultimately stop this horrible killer. I also have great hope in the research that is being done now that science has unmapped the human genome.

Thank you Hawkwind, for pointing this out to me. I encourage everyone to view this. There are all kinds of smart, but we shouldn't lose our common sense.....or our trust in traditional medicine. Chemo and radiation are all we have for now.

[fgrider]

I did not see the show but I can tell you from experience that as bad a chemo is it saved my life. Over the past eight years I have had my original diagnosis of lung cancer and it returned three more times and if it wasn't for radiation treatments and four different series of chemo I wouldn' be here today. I was really scared undergoing one round as I was on a phase 1 clinical trial and the first person in the Boston area to agree to going on it and I did it not only for myself but for other people. It was a long six months of once a week treatments but in the end it saved my life. I guess it is a decison that each person must make for themselves which is the best course of action for them but I know that I made the right decision for myself and thank God that I had wonderful doctors.

[katezbox]

I did not see the show but I can tell you from experience that as bad a chemo is it saved my life. Over the past eight years I have had my original diagnosis of lung cancer and it returned three more times and if it wasn't for radiation treatments and four different series of chemo I wouldn' be here today. I was really scared undergoing one round as I was on a phase 1 clinical trial and the first person in the Boston area to agree to going on it and I did it not only for myself but for other people. It was a long six months of once a week treatments but in the end it saved my life. I guess it is a decison that each person must make for themselves which is the best course of action for them but I know that I made the right decision for myself and thank God that I had wonderful doctors.

Thank you for sharing your journey - may you be blessed with many more years.

Kate

[Freeda]

Factors that promote cancer (and other diseases) prevention are what need to receive more focus, and publicity; and in the future will become a much bigger role in health care. These same factors will also become the most effective approach for alleviation of disease.

Research funding, including both government and private sector sources, including the dollars contributed or raised by well-intentioned people and organizations, is heavily weighted toward 'cure' - or just 'treatment', ie, 'management' of chronic illness - rather than prevention; and we have to, and will, as a society challenge why this is so; wherein will lie the only real and lasting solutions to our healthcare costs crisis.

[Tamma49]

At times I wonder if there is a cure out there for cancer but it's suppressed based on the loss of jobs it would create.

[graciegirl]

At times I wonder if there is a cure out there for cancer but it's suppressed based on the loss of jobs it would create.

In my opinion,this argument is promoted by people who make money selling alternative (Alternative, meaning quasi cures, scams and money making supplements not based on good heath practices) medicine.

Almost everyone I know has personally faced cancer or had it attack someone they know. I can't believe that ANYONE, and certainly not a group, would suppress that information. World Wide? In my view It isn't feasible to organize an effective group to do such a malicious thing. Research on cancer is done all over the world.

Speakers who tout this argument will frequently appear at local "Health Fairs".

And I believe no matter how we try to practice good prevention, and no matter how healthy we keep ourselves, there will be cancer until we can unlock it's genetic link. I believe that there are many kinds of cancer and I also think that good medical research is coming close to at least the good questions, if not yet the answers. We are so fortunate to see the vaccine recently put in use that will prevent many forms of cervical cancer in the future.

[Tallulah]

Absolutely it is a big business. I always say that instead of Health Care Reform, cleaning up our food, water, and air would be BETTER options but I don't think possible. Big bucks in that too. I just read today that something about the plastic used in many cans and drinking bottled water causes cancer. Even simple things like soap and toothpaste: Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (just ONE bad ingredient) is sooo bad for us, yet they continue to sell products filled with this garbage that can cause blindness in baby rats! Meanwhile, we slather it on our skin and brush out teeth with it??!! Same with the aluminum cans (pop/soda) and the aluminum in our deodorants which some scientists believe contributes to Alzheimer's. (I've given up Pop for good!)

I think that chemo may be absolutely the answer in some cases but also, people need to look at what they are eating and how they take care of themselves (exercise and such). I sell teas/herbs at the Market of Marion on the weekend. I always have business even in these hard times. People seem to be sick and tired of all the side effects of their medicines and do herbs as an option to that, along with eating healthy however I believe there is a time and a place for doctors too!

I sell a lot of Essiac Tea. People in Canada use it as a cancer fighter. Google it, pretty interesting reading, invented by a Canadian Nurse.

Best,
Tal:thumbup:


Oh Gracie, but in some ways Suzanne is right on. Cancer is BIG business! Very sad!:(

[graciegirl]

Dateline will cover Suzanne Somers and the issues we discussed on here some time ago.

[jebartle]

Sooo glad you are still with us, you have been a breath of fresh air to TOTV and thankful for any and all treatments that have prolonged or saved our friends and loved ones but I have to wonder, since Susan G. Komens inception in 1982, and contributions of AT LEAST 35 million a year, WHY are we still dealing with this disease?

[graciegirl]

Sooo glad you are still with us, you have been a breath of fresh air to TOTV and thankful for any and all treatments that have prolonged or saved our friends and loved ones but I have to wonder, since Susan G. Komens inception in 1982, and contributions of AT LEAST 35 million a year, WHY are we still dealing with this disease?

Thank you.

Why are we still dealing with this disease? And with war? And with inhumanity?

I don't know. It is like the book of Job.

Cancer is not one disease but hundreds really. My friend now has breast cancer in her lungs. Which is different than a number of forms of lung cancer. Some cancers are curable, or at least permanently remissionable, like some forms of lymphoma and some forms of leukemia, and some are almost always deadly.

Out of 13 women in my family; cousins, aunts, sister and daughter, myself, who have had breast cancer, we have lost one. And it is NOT the familial form, not detectably genetically linked, (probably not a THIS time genetically linked, but I suspect it is) and their diets were full of fruits and vegetables and they were active and none smoked, one drank a lot of diet pop.. most of them drank wine and beer....and you can go on and on.

My thought is that it is triggered by genetics, the predisposition is I think, and in some cases aging cells, hormones, environmental factors, poor diet maybe, and I strongly suspect a virus in some cases, but that is my theory, worth not even two cents. It is always wise to eat smart and to exercise and to keep yourself healthy, but cancer still strikes the healthy.

Our means of fighting it are awful, in many cases we have to pour chemical poisons into out bodies that nearly kill us and do kill healthy cells along with the malignant ones.

But that is all we have right now but I believe with my whole heart that it is not the agenda of the medical community to get together and say, we aren't going to find a cure for cancer. That is silly. Those doctors are dying of it too and so are their wives and children.

Help me off of this soap box and forgive me for this rant.

But I am gonna watch this TV show tomorrow night about Suzanne Somers who I feel is completely off base.

[Challenger]

Thank you.

Why are we still dealing with this disease? And with war? And with inhumanity?

I don't know. It is like the book of Job.

Cancer is not one disease but hundreds really. My friend now has breast cancer in her lungs. Which is different than a number of forms of lung cancer. Some cancers are curable, or at least permanently remissionable, like some forms of lymphoma and some forms of leukemia, and some are almost always deadly.

Out of 13 women in my family; cousins, aunts, sister and daughter, myself, who have had breast cancer, we have lost one. And it is NOT the familial form, not detectably genetically linked, (probably not a THIS time genetically linked, but I suspect it is) and their diets were full of fruits and vegetables and they were active and none smoked, one drank a lot of diet pop.. most of them drank wine and beer....and you can go on and on.

My thought is that it is triggered by genetics, the predisposition is I think, and in some cases aging cells, hormones, environmental factors, poor diet maybe, and I strongly suspect a virus in some cases, but that is my theory, worth not even two cents. It is always wise to eat smart and to exercise and to keep yourself healthy, but cancer still strikes the healthy.

Our means of fighting it are awful, in many cases we have to pour chemical poisons into out bodies that nearly kill us and do kill healthy cells along with the malignant ones.

But that is all we have right now but I believe with my whole heart that it is not the agenda of the medical community to get together and say, we aren't going to find a cure for cancer. That is silly. Those doctors are dying of it too and so are their wives and children.

Help me off of this soap box and forgive me for this rant.

But I am gonna watch this TV show tomorrow night about Suzanne Somers who I feel is completely off base.

People like Suzanne Somers do a great disservice to many folks who have or will contract cancer. Anyone who finds a cure for a cancer,would become extreemely wealthy overnight. On this subject as on many others, the conspiracy theorists are and will always be with us.

[ladydoc]

I am also a survivor...two years post treatment. but still on meds that have done a real number on me. better then the alternative though. i decided against chemo because the % of additional protection beyond surgery and radiation was so low it was outweighted by the % that having chemo would cause additional cancers. i have 3 more years of meds and then can get off the meds. i have not regreted my choice of no chemo for one second... we currently live in a remote rural area and i think being around all the good people in TV will be a blessing for us!

[pooh]

"but cancer still strikes the healthy.".....without a doubt, Gracie. It can and it does. Granted lifestyle choices may keep us strong and feeling well, but there is more to this disease than preventing its happening by "good living." Genetics plays quite a role in what our bodies do when faced with initiation factors, by that I mean various stimuli that initiate molecular changes within our cells, our bodies. At this point, we have some clues about various triggers, but the entire chemical process is still shrouded.

My father lived to be 97 years old. His diet was loaded with fat, he smoked, drank every once in a while. My grandmother, Dad's mom, was in her late 90's when she passed...as was her mother. My father in law was the picture of health, eating correctly, exercising, he'd given up smoking years and years and years ago, and yet he was a cancer victim who lost his battle in his early 70's. His doctor said his good health and strong body kept him going, but his cancer was incurable.

Cancer is a horrible disease, a varied and multifaceted disorder and I have no doubt that one day it will be "conquered." Hopefully that day will come soon.

[Jhooman]

I'm a cancer survivor for 13 years. I made a decision to use a combination of traditional and holistics methods. Each day I'm grateful for my life and I make it my job to care for myself to the best of my ability. However, cancer is insidious, sneaky and will have it's way.

My Sister passed away five years ago from breast cancer. She was a holistic nurse practitioner. Her needless death still saddens me, she turned her eye from proven methods that would have given her life. But this was her choice, she was an adult.

Somewhere there is balance, each person must decide their treatment. The more you understand your disease the more power you will have as a patient.

God bless all of you who are survivors and those of you who are in treatment.

Life is precious, lean into the love.

[eweissenbach]

Dr. Nancy Snyderman is scheduled to interview Chrissy (Sommers) on Dateline NBC Sunday evening. I will watch as I have had debates on this with my sister who is a Sommers disciple.