[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

One more thing about being diagnosed with cancer: Better and better equipment is finding cancer earlier and earlier, for those who go for regular check-ups. The problem with finding cancer in a very early stage is that sometimes, if left alone, it will either go away by itself or not progress. But, often, doctors will recommend some kind of treatment.

Here are a few examples: Almost all elderly people have a few cancer cells in their thyroid but dying of thyroid cancer is rare.

Almost all eldery men have a few cancer cells in their prostate but treatment is not always advisable.

Breast cancer, if discovered at a very early stage, may either go away by itself or not progress.

If you doubt this, read, "Should I Be Tested For Cancer: Maybe Not And Here's Why."

I can agree with everything you have posted here.....having read much that totally explains all of the above........with regard to everyone having cancer cells......that either go away on their own.......or simply never progress to anything with fatal consequences...........but, it's the harsh treatment of chemo and radiation that ultimately kill the healthy cells, sometimes leading to premature death.............of course, there also are helpful cures with some treatments. Ultimately, the decision is up to the individual.

Everyone we know who had drastic severe chemo and radiation developed terrible neurapathies (nerve damage of hands, feet, etc.) which diminished their quality of life...........the ones with Hodgkins Disease later got Leukemia from the treatment.........so all they gained was borrowed time. The ones who began at a young age with Leukemia and were successfully treated......later were diagnosed with Hodgkins...and told it was from the treatment...

One lady we know in her 50's who got the best space age treatment for liver cancer at Duke University Medical School Hospital.......supposedly is cancer free after having some type of radioactive isotopes inplanted into her liver.......great news. The bad news is they told her she now has early onset DEMENTIA caused by the treatment. Yes, they told her that. Caused by the treatment. She never had chemo....just the implants.

Those with breast cancer who only opted for lumpectomy or surgery with NO CHEMO and NO RADIATION.........are still alive. The ones who had the chemo and radiation lived a year or so and then succumbed to metasteces to the brain, adrenals, bones and various other organs........these were young women in their 40's.........who sadly left very young children.

It's a difficult decision for those put in the predicament of having to decide. Knowledge is power.....

I've also noticed those who chose NOT to have breast reconstruction after cancer surgery are still alive, but those who had the reconstructive surgery are sadly dead.
I've read that once the entire chest wall is opened for this reconstructive surgery, some rogue cancer cells can travel..........and create a return of cancer.
All of this surgery was done at a top teaching university hospital..........I read their research and they know this to be a fact. Cancer cells spread during surgery.

We do know some elderly men in their early 90s now who were told back when they were about 70 and 75 that they had prostate cancer and given the choice of treatment or doing nothing. They chose "doing nothing" and are still alive and living a good quality of life.

Besides cancer, I know young women who had been diagnosed with Sytemic Lupus in their late teens and/or early 20's and were put on heavy doses of Prednisone........which has some psychotic side effects. Back then it may have been different than what they use today......but they all died. One lady is still alive.......she went off the Prednisone herself as she did not like the "moon face" it gave her........she later was told that maybe her Lupus just "went away on its own". Go figure.

All drugs that many consider life saving.......may have alternate consequential detrimental side effects...............

I truly believe that so many cancers are caused by the environment.

We were just remembering a friend, WHO NEVER SMOKED, who died of lung cancer.........a year before she was diagnosed she decided to "rip up and scrape up" an old asbestos floor her grandpa had put into his kitchen; the home she and her husband later bought..........she wore no mask or protective clothing when she ripped up this floor, a bit each day. It creates a lot of asbestos "dust"........I'll always wonder if that contributed to her lung cancer.

[l2ridehd]

A lot of what is posted in this thread has merit. Always eat better and more healthy. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Limit your intake of red meat. Exercise more. Avoid medicines and treatments when practical and proven alternatives are available. Always explore and understand alternatives to suggested treatments and make the best decision for you.

However unless you are a qualified MD and have worked in the field of cancer treatment please refrain from providing medical advice based on anecdotal or the "I heard or I know someone" information. Based on the demographics of the people reading this forum I am sure there are people today making life decisions based on what their trained, experienced and qualified doctor is telling them. To create some false hope based on rumor and innuendo is not only harmful but criminal.

I know the flamers will start throwing arrows based on this post, but think first about how you would want treatment if you or your child or loved one was diagnosed with this horrible disease.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

A lot of what is posted in this thread has merit. Always eat better and more healthy. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Limit your intake of red meat. Exercise more. Avoid medicines and treatments when practical and proven alternatives are available. Always explore and understand alternatives to suggested treatments and make the best decision for you.

However unless you are a qualified MD and have worked in the field of cancer treatment please refrain from providing medical advice based on anecdotal or the "I heard or I know someone" information. Based on the demographics of the people reading this forum I am sure there are people today making life decisions based on what their trained, experienced and qualified doctor is telling them. To create some false hope based on rumor and innuendo is not only harmful but criminal.

I know the flamers will start throwing arrows based on this post, but think first about how you would want treatment if you or your child or loved one was diagnosed with this horrible disease.

Well said as usual Chris.

[senior citizen]

But when one has lived on this earth a long enough time, they certainly know many cancer survivors as well as those who did not make it.....and can weigh the differences, not to mention having friends and neighbors in the medical field who share their own hands on opinions and experiences. We know many in the medical field who say they WOULD NOT go through chemo if they or their spouse was diagnosed with cancer. To each his own; this is just personal opinions of those in the know, from what they've seen and experienced first hand.

Back in 1968, and earlier, there wasn't chemo ( that I know of anyway.)
My 50 year old mother in law first was diagnosed with uterine cancer, then kidney cancer which then spread to her bones and brain. It was a sarcoma. She had no treatment as there was none, or so we all were told. She died a painless death.
Amazing but true. However, she was confined to a wheelchair at the end after it spread to her brain. Doctors later thought that it had been related to her x-rays back when she was pregnant with her 4th child in 1950..........they had thought he might be a twin.........at that time they didn't realize the dangers of radiation and xrayed her, often.........which "might" have resulted in her subsequent uterine and kidney cancer...........I wish she had stayed around on this earth longer as she was a good mother in law. That also is a rare comment, but I did have a very nice mother in law.

If my memory is correct, most recently, many doctors have said that so many "tests" involving a form of radiation, have now been deemed not really necessary......or not necessary as often as earlier thought. So, that would either be due to "cost restrictions" by the medical industry or else they know that too much over testing with radiation can result in other problems.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by senior citizen

But when one has lived on this earth a long enough time, they certainly know many cancer survivors as well as those who did not make it.....and can weigh the differences, not to mention having friends and neighbors in the medical field who share their own hands on opinions and experiences. We know many in the medical field who say they WOULD NOT go through chemo if they or their spouse was diagnosed with cancer. To each his own; this is just personal opinions of those in the know, from what they've seen and experienced first hand.

Back in 1968, and earlier, there wasn't chemo ( that I know of anyway.)
My 50 year old mother in law first was diagnosed with uterine cancer, then kidney cancer which then spread to her bones and brain. It was a sarcoma. She had no treatment as there was none, or so we all were told. She died a painless death.
Amazing but true. However, she was confined to a wheelchair at the end after it spread to her brain. Doctors later thought that it had been related to her x-rays back when she was pregnant with her 4th child in 1950..........they had thought he might be a twin.........at that time they didn't realize the dangers of radiation and xrayed her, often.........which "might" have resulted in her subsequent uterine and kidney cancer...........I wish she had stayed around on this earth longer as she was a good mother in law. That also is a rare comment, but I did have a very nice mother in law.

If my memory is correct, most recently, many doctors have said that so many "tests" involving a form of radiation, have now been deemed not really necessary......or not necessary as often as earlier thought. So, that would either be due to "cost restrictions" by the medical industry or else they know that too much over testing with radiation can result in other problems.

SENIOR.

CHEMO AND RADIATION CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE. I respectfully disagree with your statements, although at times true.

Unless and until you PERSONALLY have faced cancer or one of your children or your spouse has faced it and you know personally what is offered to you or to them, it is not a good idea to give controversial advice that could cause someone to consider a course of treatment that will more quickly kill them.

If nothing else, please consider the treatments given today as a means to buy time while other genetic treatment which will not be so harsh or dangerous are in the works.

Suzanne Somers may have good intentions too, but on the very serious issue of cancer diagnosis and treatment, we should consult the best oncologist our money can buy and follow their advice and leave theories and speculation to others.

Cancer is NO baby game and the treatment of it is not for lay people.

I know you mean well and many of us just love your advice on many subjects and the last thing I want to do is hurt you or set myself up as an expert on cancer which I am not, but I cannot remain silent when anecdotal information is offered to some who may be storing it and using it in a future diagnosis of cancer.

AND please read the last post on a thread and quote it before responding.

.

[senior citizen]

Everyone should do what is right for them and certainly follow their oncologist or surgeon's advice.....after doing their research. Get multiple opinions.

My memories are based on real live people that i knew, young ones at that........friends of my daughter and friends of our own.......people we sat with when they had their turbans on, watching their young elementary age children scamper around at birthday parties........being protected from what their 41 year old mom was going through. One had been a tall beautiful woman, professor at a great university, who had the charmed life, great husband, two kids, rural home with babbling brook.....everything she ever wanted.......struck down in the prime of life, treated at the best hospital in New England..........our daughter took her for her first wig and subsequent ones........our daughter's friend. She had that gene for breast cancer that targets younger women and is very aggressive. She had very potent chemo and radiation plus the breast reconstruction..........it got worse and the rest is history. She had a hospital bed in her living room..........as her hospital was about three hours away, a university teaching hospital.......so sad when I think of the happy moments. She faught it aggressively. All I can say is that there are some cancers that might be more mild than others.......or tumors that might be smaller and slower growing , than the young women we know who recently passed away after very aggressive chemo and radiation plus two or more surgeries, which do tend to turn a young family's world upside down. Another 40 year old passed much the same way, with the exact same treatment as the lady professor.....another intelligent woman.......with much to live for, a doting husband, no children......world traveler.
At the end...........when she could tolerate no more treatment, she just told her husband she wanted all the tubes pulled out.........she was tired of coming up and down the mountain into town for the treatments.......it had also spread to her brain, her adrenals, her bones and even her eyes.......very sad. Not just us, but everyone wonders if these two, in particular, might still be alive if they didn't have the harsh chemo and radiation treatments??????? Or, the breast reconstructions which does appear to spread some rogue cancer cells back into the blood stream. We have doctors and nurses as our friends. We've seen it all.....and heard it all. That said, everyone has to make their own ultimate decision. That said, we also know some elderly women who had breast cancer about 40 years ago when there was no chemo or radiation......they had simple surgery. Still alive. Perhaps it was a smaller tumor?

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

SENIOR.

CHEMO AND RADIATION CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE. I respectfully disagree with your statements, although at times true.

Unless and until you PERSONALLY have faced cancer or one of your children or your spouse has faced it and you know personally what is offered to you or to them, it is not a good idea to give controversial advice that could cause someone to consider a course of treatment that will more quickly kill them.

If nothing else, please consider the treatments given today as a means to buy time while other genetic treatment which will not be so harsh or dangerous are in the works.

Suzanne Somers may have good intentions too, but on the very serious issue of cancer diagnosis and treatment, we should consult the best oncologist our money can buy and follow their advice and leave theories and speculation to others.

Cancer is NO baby game and the treatment of it is not for lay people.

I know you mean well and many of us just love your advice on many subjects and the last thing I want to do is hurt you or set myself up as an expert on cancer which I am not, but I cannot remain silent when anecdotal information is offered to some who may be storing it and using it in a future diagnosis of cancer.

AND please read the last post on a thread and quote it before responding.

.

bump

[quirky3]

I am a cancer survivor. I recommend following gomoho's posted advice to prevent future cancer, and considering all treatments if you do already have cancer. Prevention is key to staying healthy, which makes that advice so helpful and important.

[senior citizen]

Many Americans overtreated to death - Health - Cancer | NBC News


Many Americans overtreated to death says NBC News..........(among others)

Perhaps this NBC News report might shed some light on similar things we’ve experienced among people we know.

Not all, but some or many even, are treated way too long............when a less aggressive treatment might give them a better quality of life.

Especially those with young children at home....such as those we have known and the woman in above article.

Also, our older friends who passed from lung cancer (non smokers by the way) were covered with black and blue spots from the chemo and radiation.

They could no longer walk, they could no longer knit sweaters (couldn’t feel their hands).....were on walkers........could hardly get out of bed or leave the house.

In the end, it spread to their brains and they could no longer communicate...........so logically, I cannot truthfully say that the extra year or two was worth it.

Perhaps had they been less aggressively treated, they might have had a better quality at “end of life”........but the general theme nowadays is to “fight it”.

Not all cancers are equal. Some are smaller tumors or less aggressive.....or perhaps the ones that if not found, might not even cause any trouble.

The ones we knew have all had aggressive tumors..........and were treated very aggressively , both in our hospital here and at Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Oncologists at our hospital have told friends of ours that they have to follow the hospital policy. Perhaps there is milder chemo......but again, the ones we know even had seizures from the treatment itself. It was a vicious cycle.

[senior citizen]

No one has more compassion than I do for a person's suffering.
I was not giving medical advice. Only expressing an opinion based on personal experiences with dear friends and dear friends of our own family members.
People we have been with near the end of their journey............and prior to the diagnosis........and seeing what the chemicals and radiation did to their bodies.
Again, not all cancers are the same. Everyone should abide by their own doctor's plan for their ultimate recovery. However, they can also do research on alternate , perhaps less harsh treatment.

P.S. And not to give Dartmouth a bad name.......as they are an excellent school and medical school, etc........but some cancers are fatal.
We also had friends who passed (the vegans and vegetarians that no one wants to hear about; the athletes)......who went to Sloan Kettering in N.Y.C. over and over again.
They still passed even though they tried to "fight it".......lung cancers.....again non smoking MEN who ate no junk food.

Not everyone is created equal and not all cancers are created equal. Perhaps those that survive, and we do know a few......had smaller tumors or less aggressive forms.
Best health to all..........

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by quirky3

I am a cancer survivor. I recommend following gomoho's posted advice to prevent future cancer, and considering all treatments if you do already have cancer. Prevention is key to staying healthy, which makes that advice so helpful and important.

I want to point out that gomoho is someone I respect mightily but the article she printed is NOT from Johns Hopkins according to Snopes. Gomoho acknowledged that in a prior post.

[quirky3]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I want to point out that gomoho is someone I respect mightily but the article she printed is NOT from Johns Hopkins according to Snopes. Gomoho acknowledged that in a prior post.

To me that didn't diminish the value and helpfulness of the information at all.

[lightworker888]

It seems to me that this thread is going in 2 directions at the same time with paths that cross.

I don't think that anyone is trying to convince others of what to do, but each person is really passionate about the position s/he is taking based on life experience.

Those that have been successful with conventional treatment are usually grateful to still be here and many have modified their lifestyle to do their best to stay as long as they can. They are appreciative of their medical practitioners and feel that they "owe" their life to the interventions that were given.

My late husband died in 1978 at 37 of colon cancer and at that time we were told that diet was not a factor. He deliberately chose to follow his medical doctor rather than his chinese heritage and I knowing what I know now, he had many body messages that he ignored and at the time our diet was largely red meat in large quantity. He also had the "personality" that internalized everything so vibrationally he was supporting the disease. Genetically he was from a large family and all of the other members are long lived so I don't think that genetics was a major factor.

All that being said, I think that the other path that is being discussed is related to prevention and to make others aware of how our choices in food, thought and being, play into the big picture. It is well documented and eastern and ayurvedic medicine understand the connections. Western medicine is the new kid on the block and has lots of new and wonderful tools to add, but it does not have the long history as yet. Add to that the influence of Big Pharma on all the different aspects of our lives and it makes choice making that much more of a challenge.

I am happy that so many are still with us through their conventional cancer journey. I would love to see the day when all of us could know in our own being that the choices we are offered are truly in our best interest and we didn't have to rely so much on "experts" to tell us what is right for us. It has been said that we are our own worst enemy and that we also know what is best for us. It would be great to have such trust in self that we could tell the difference!

For anyone interested, I recommend Louise Hay, a metaphysicist, who works with those with AIDS now. Her understanding of the body and disease connection is of real value to anyone who is on this path. She had cervical cancer and recognized the vibrational and historical connection and was able to shift the internal soup. She has been teaching for many years and has written many books including, "You can Heal your Life". I keep a copy of Heal your Body by my bed and in the office and I find that the connections are always relevant.

I think that one of the biggest factors is belief in your decision and for those on a cancer journey I wish you strength and trust in yourself and the choices you make.

For those who are on the preventative path, there is TONS of info available to help you take active charge of your life. Remember that it is your life and you are the one living the consequences of the choices you make, so do your best to make an informed decision about your life choices. That's all that you can do and that is all you need to do. No decision is also a decision by default, but the consequences are still yours.

I'll get off the soap box now. Sorry for being so long winded, but I am passionate about encouraging anyone to be actively involved in the decision making process of their life choices. Be the driver of your own bus!

LW888

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by lightworker888

It seems to me that this thread is going in 2 directions at the same time with paths that cross.

I don't think that anyone is trying to convince others of what to do, but each person is really passionate about the position s/he is taking based on life experience.

Those that have been successful with conventional treatment are usually grateful to still be here and many have modified their lifestyle to do their best to stay as long as they can. They are appreciative of their medical practitioners and feel that they "owe" their life to the interventions that were given.

My late husband died in 1978 at 37 of colon cancer and at that time we were told that diet was not a factor. He deliberately chose to follow his medical doctor rather than his chinese heritage and I knowing what I know now, he had many body messages that he ignored and at the time our diet was largely red meat in large quantity. He also had the "personality" that internalized everything so vibrationally he was supporting the disease. Genetically he was from a large family and all of the other members are long lived so I don't think that genetics was a major factor.

All that being said, I think that the other path that is being discussed is related to prevention and to make others aware of how our choices in food, thought and being, play into the big picture. It is well documented and eastern and ayurvedic medicine understand the connections. Western medicine is the new kid on the block and has lots of new and wonderful tools to add, but it does not have the long history as yet. Add to that the influence of Big Pharma on all the different aspects of our lives and it makes choice making that much more of a challenge.

I am happy that so many are still with us through their conventional cancer journey. I would love to see the day when all of us could know in our own being that the choices we are offered are truly in our best interest and we didn't have to rely so much on "experts" to tell us what is right for us. It has been said that we are our own worst enemy and that we also know what is best for us. It would be great to have such trust in self that we could tell the difference!

For anyone interested, I recommend Louise Hay, a metaphysicist, who works with those with AIDS now. Her understanding of the body and disease connection is of real value to anyone who is on this path. She had cervical cancer and recognized the vibrational and historical connection and was able to shift the internal soup. She has been teaching for many years and has written many books including, "You can Heal your Life". I keep a copy of Heal your Body by my bed and in the office and I find that the connections are always relevant.

I think that one of the biggest factors is belief in your decision and for those on a cancer journey I wish you strength and trust in yourself and the choices you make.

For those who are on the preventative path, there is TONS of info available to help you take active charge of your life. Remember that it is your life and you are the one living the consequences of the choices you make, so do your best to make an informed decision about your life choices. That's all that you can do and that is all you need to do. No decision is also a decision by default, but the consequences are still yours.

I'll get off the soap box now. Sorry for being so long winded, but I am passionate about encouraging anyone to be actively involved in the decision making process of their life choices. Be the driver of your own bus!

LW888

""It is well documented and eastern and ayurvedic medicine understand the connections. Western medicine is the new kid on the block and has lots of new and wonderful tools to add, but it does not have the long history as yet. Add to that the influence of Big Pharma on all the different aspects of our lives and it makes choice making that much more of a challenge. ""

A very wise and well thought out post above..........as usual.
I am familiar with eastern and ayurvedic medicine and the mind body connection to boot..........

Don't get me started on the "Big Pharma" corporations......and we even had a Ph.d pharmacist in our family grouping who worked for one of the big companies in New Jersey..........Shering Plough Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey.........we'd have interesting discussion on chemicals, etc. as his background was as a chemist.........everyone surely must know the harmful side effects........and how they flip and flop once the deaths pile up from "side effects".........poisoning a body to get a cure?

I think the Asians were on to something long before western culture......

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

A lot of what is posted in this thread has merit. Always eat better and more healthy. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Limit your intake of red meat. Exercise more. Avoid medicines and treatments when practical and proven alternatives are available. Always explore and understand alternatives to suggested treatments and make the best decision for you.

However unless you are a qualified MD and have worked in the field of cancer treatment, please refrain from providing medical advice based on anecdotal or the "I heard or I know someone" information. Based on the demographics of the people reading this forum, I am sure there are people today making life decisions based on what their trained, experienced and qualified doctor is telling them. To create some false hope based on rumor and innuendo is not only harmful but criminal.

I know the flamers will start throwing arrows based on this post, but think first about how you would want treatment if you or your child or loved one was diagnosed with this horrible disease.

Chris: Good post, sensible approach.