A few weeks ago on Mamamia, we ran a post about alternative therapies (you can read it here) including homeopathy, iridology, reflexology, kinesiology, healing touch therapy, aromatherapy and energy medicine.
Recently, the efficacy of alternative medicine was thrown back into conversation after the tragic death of Jim Stynes. Through his three-year battle with cancer, Jim Stynes followed a course of conventional medicine – chemotherapy, radiotherapy and more than 20 operations – but he was also known to have pursued alternative treatment.
Stynes’ wife Sam says she believes her husband survived for three years after diagnosis “defying oncologists’ expectations” because of a combination of “white-coat” medicine and alternatives. In a 2010 documentary she said that without alternative medicine “he’d be dead. There’s no doubt about it.”
According to news reports:
Jim Stynes
Jim Stynes, the AFL champion who died last week from the melanoma he was diagnosed with in 2009, took up meditation, yoga and reiki massage, ate raw food, underwent coffee enemas and Indonesian smoke therapy and even drank his own urine in the fight to survive.
A survey of more than 400 men receiving cancer treatment in Australian hospitals last year found 62 per cent had used complementary and alternative medicines. But, cancer specialists – while respecting people’s right to try anything to beat their illness – are concerned some treatments, often expensive and unproven, may gain in popularity given Stynes’s fame.
Dr Amanda Hordern is the Director Cancer Information and Support Service at the Cancer Council Victoria. She said it’s difficult to say whether the Indonesian smoke therapy and meditation Jim Stynes pursued had an effect on his life. “Did it make a difference to him? None of us will ever know. None of us will ever know the trajectory he would have had without it,” she said.
Dr Hordern said it’s natural for people to want to try things when they’re faced with cancer – recent studies show as many as 84% of women with breast cancer use complimentary medicine in addition to conventional therapy. She also said that when well-known people publicise their battles – there’s a tendency for people going through the same thing to look to them for guidance.
“We just want people to know that when you’re looking for hope and no one’s giving it to you – you’ll cling to any life boat. Just make sure it’s a reliable vessel. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
On behalf of the Cancer Council Victoria, here’s what Dr Hordern wants people to know: there’s an important difference between complementary therapies and alternative therapies.
Complementary therapies include massage, meditation, acupuncture and other relaxation methods, which are used ALONGSIDE medical treatment like chemotherapy to provide support and methods to relax and cope.
Alternative therapies are unproven remedies, including some herbal and dietary remedies, which are used INSTEAD of medical treatment. “If anyone is considering using an alternative therapy in place of chemotherapy or other medical treatments, it could be harmful,” Dr Hordern says.
Before using complementary therapies, people should talk to doctors and the people treating them – to make sure that all aspects of their cancer care work together.
The Cancer Council Helpline number is 13 11 20.
Have you – or do you know people who have tried complementary or alternative therapies for life-threatening illnesses?
Comments
81 Comments so far
There can be no question that apricot kernels are effective in the treatment of many cancers or the prolonging of one’s life. As a long-time advocate of apricot kernels and “alternative” modalities, I can attest to this with 100% confidence.
Apricot kernels aren’t only being used and prescribed by the ignorant, desperate and opportunistic. I have no doubt these account for a portion of users, but there are also an increasing number of medical practitioners taking notice of their apparent efficacy. It is not just physicians and oncologists recommending apricot kernels – veterinary doctors have long been recommending them for the treatment of human-like cancers developing in family pets. As far as I’m aware, dogs aren’t susceptible to placebos.
The fact of the matter is this – contrary to popular belief, apricot kernels do not pose any considerable health risks. Yes, it’s possible for a person to feel unwell if they overwhelm their bodies with too much too quickly, but death has never resulted from the ingestion of apricot kernels. They are natural analgesic (pain killer) and they provide considerable hope to a considerable number of people, and with good reason. Like it or not, a great many people are befitting from their use, which is why their use persists after so many decades and continues to increase. If people were experiencing no benefit, this debate would fizzle out into oblivion. People don’t continue to recommend products that don’t work.
Science has never looked at apricot kernels as a whole. They have pulled them apart and looked at individual constituents, but they rarely look at whole foods and their component parts as having synergistic benefit. To complicate matters, those who employ apricot kernels often combine them with other nutritional factors and these often provide synergistic benefit as well. There is no one-size-fits-all experience – which is what conventional wisdom wants to see.
Since when did ancient wisdom, natural remedies and genuine well-being become alternative concepts? Pharmaceutical medicine is the epitome of quackery.
http://apricot-kernels.blogspot.com/2012/09/apricot-kernels-for-doctors-and-skeptics.html
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http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au/
I’ve always found this website inspiring. I don’t have cancer (touch wood) but the website has always interested me.
Another fascinating source of information is the Food Matters doco. http://www.foodmatters.tv/content/buy-the-food-matters-dvd?gclid=CIfwna2aoK8CFQcipAodWUHVag
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The website intrigues me similarly to the way that one finds it hard to look away, agast, from a car crash about to happen in front of them.
Not treating epithelioid sarcoma is suicidal.
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As I said on the last post, my granddad was diagnosed with bowel cancer which they said he’d entire bowel would need to be removed if he were to have a chance at survival. He was otherwise fit and healthy (surfed every day in his 80′s) and knew living with a colostomy bag wasn’t an option. He changed to an alkaline diet and completely eradicated the cancer.
It was nothing short of a miracle and I don’t know why it worked for him and not others but it did and within 2 years we went from believing he would be dead within a year to a complete turnaround.
In an odd twist of fate, He died in a car accident a couple of years later. He was the kind of person than couldn’t live a half life if burdened by cancer so I guess it’s good he had a sudden death in that respect.
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As a pharmacist, there are very few natural products I recommend with absolute certainty (I can probably think of about 5 of which I am satisfied of the evidence). I never use them first line. I never recommend homeopathic products.
What I am surprised with is the huge, I guess you could call it placebo effects, of some of these products.
If a patient wants to give alternative medicine a go, I will consider it only if they are using or have used conventional therapy, they are still under the care of a medical professional, that it will not have an adverse effect on their health or other medications and they are not using it to treat an acute/critical medical problem that requires medical attention. Usually conditions that fit this criteria are things like chronic pain, stress, insomnia or lethargy unattributed to a definite cause, mild menopausal symptoms etc
In terms of cancer, I would always encourage patients to take the advice of their specialists. It’s something I never ever try to deal with because while I have a great understanding of the drugs used in certain types of cancers, I have no experience and very limited knowledge of the condition itself. To think that some alternative medicine practioners would try to take such complexity into their own hands is absolutely frightening. The specialist is a specialist for a reason.
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That being said, I appreciate it when a pharmacist recomments a “natural” product that fixes the problem rather than an expensive “medicine” that does nothing.
e.g. I had a really bad overgrowth of candida throughout my entire digestive system, which led to a really bad case of thrush. I tried EVERYTHING the dr recommended – including canesten pessaries and creams which are SO expensive. They did nothing.
My pharmacist recommended upping my water intake by heaps to help flush the kidneys (i think?) and to take garlic capsules as they’re a natural anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial.
and lo and behold it killed it all off in like a week. $3 for a jar of garlic capsules as opposed to $30 for a cream that did nothing.
That being said, I am very much in the camp of conventional medicine. Like Tim Minchin said “you know what they call alternative medicine that works? Medicine.” lol
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Thrush is one of the few examples (in my own opinion, obviously) where natural is better. Yogurt/Garlic/tea tree oil all the way!
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Did you have to change anything in your diet? What caused the candida in the first place?
That is amazing that garlic capsules cleared it all up! Wow!
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Well I already dont really eat carbs, and I did cut back on sugar intake a little, but nothing substantial. Apparently garlic is a natural antifungal!!
I’m really prone to it because I have to take corticosteroids for asthma and being on the pill can cause imbalance too which can make it grow out of control.
I have just been put on antibiotics as well which can cause it to come back so i have started taking probiotics to keep it away. But yeah, garlic is amazing!!
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You know sugar is a carb, right?
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While I would never turn away from conventional medicine when it comes to cancer I do believe that there is also a place for alternative treatment, the main ones being diet and mental stability related (whichever category you wasn’t to put them in). While they may not be directly responsible for healing the sick I believe that the mind is a very powerful thing, and that if we as humans believe that alternative methods ARE helping, it might just give our body that extra push to fight through the nasties. Even if it only means prolonging life for a period.
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Agree DKMum … but a good diet and mental stability are not alternative medicine
Doctors and nurses also advocate these things – it’s just that they often don’t have the time to actually explore strategies for achieving these with patients. But they’re real medicine, not an alternative!
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I am a cancer surgeon who looks after patient’s with cancer of the liver and pancreas. Everyday, I have to look people in the eye and tell them that their cancer is going to claim their life. Every cancer is different, but with the cancers I deal with once they spread outside the primary organ, there is no chance of cure with conventional medicine or otherwise. There are no miracles with certain types of cancer at certain stages of their evolution. Every patient handles this information in a different way and no one knows what they’ll do until they are in this circumstance. What is common to every single person who is facing end stage cancer in addition to the incredible dignity they all exhibit, are the the following questions.
1. How long do I have?
2. Should I try alternative therapies?
My reply is:
1. I don’t know how long you have, but you should have your affairs in order because it might be next week, next month or next year. Everyone’s path is different and you should make your peace and live each day like it is your last, surrounded by the people you love.
2. I understand the need to try alternate therapies. But if they worked, we would be using them. I would be the first to recommend carrot juice and apricot kernels if I knew they were successful. It is too late to try healthy eating, vitamins and stopping smoking after you have cancer. I advise people to try these things if it makes them happy but please make sure that these alternate treatments do not make you miserable, cause you pain or make big promises in exchange for big money. There are a lot of people out there who are willing to trade on people’s desperation with big promises to make a quick dollar.
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As a person living with cancer I agree with you on the statement of eat healthy if it makes you happy, but totally disagree on ‘too late’ to do so once you have cancer! Your body can heal. That has been proven many times. And healthy food is a good start. However, to my opinion it’s the mind that makes all the difference. And yes, you are right, noone knows how long does one have left to live, but a fantastic news for all of us is, it applies to absolutely everyone, having cancer or not! I am all for complementary treatments or should I call it ‘integrative medicine’. It has been proven around the world (especially Germany & USA) to improve health enormously, prolonge life, and in many cases put advanced cancer patients in remissions, sometimes complete remissions. Cancer, no matter what stage, should no longer be considered a death sentence, as there are survivors of all types out there, but rather a chronic illness which can be managed! I, for one, am a living proof and I am doing it with integrated medicine ….
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“I advise people to try these things if it makes them happy but please make sure that these alternate treatments do not make you miserable, cause you pain or make big promises in exchange for big money.”
Isn’t this EXACTLY what chemotherapy does?
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No. Chemo is free through the public health system, and although has side effects that will make you feel pretty miserable, unlike snake oil natural “cures” can actually kill cancer cells and fix the problem.
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Who is charging you for chemotherapy? It is free to everyone with a Medicare card.
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Complimentary therapies and alternative therapies are essentially the same thing it just depends on whether you choose to use them as well as or instead of conventional medicine.
I believe the complimentary approach works. Massage is proven to be helpful in dealing with the side effects and recovery from chemo, yoga and meditation help reduce stress levels – stress being a major suppressor of the immune system. I have a friend who works as a palliative and oncology nurse and she has also more recently trained as a naturopath and so with extensive knowledge in both areas specializes in using naturopathy to help support cancer patients through their treatment.
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While white coat medicine certainly has it’s place (and thank god for it), I strongly feel it’s not the be all and end all. I’m humbled daily by the determination and strength of Jess Ainscough and her battle with the big C. check out http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au
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Alternatively, a very grounding and confronting analysis of her chosen path
http://depletedcranium.com/jessica-ainscough-is-going-to-die/
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Sorry Jane DJ, but to me it reads more like a vicious personal attack on her. Emotions and opinions always run high on this topic and I sincerely hope that Jess has the last laugh!
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Jane DJ,
what I want to know is: how can the person writing that attack/article KNOW all that detailed information about Jessica’s health & her condition?
I would think that someone writing about their own health & body would be A LORE more accurate than someone who has an axe to grind.
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The article is based on the scientific and medical data known about the usual progression and outcome of the type of cancer she says she has.
“Not treating epithelioid sarcoma is suicidal.”
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My Stepfather was diagnosed with untreatable terminal cancer early this year, he was told by an Oncologist there was nothing they could do and sent him on his way with no information about his cancer or how it would affect him, no support what so ever.
So he had two choices go away and die or try and extend his life by trying alternative treatments, he has a wonderful GP who specialises in Environmental and Nutrtional Medicine who has helped him immensely not only physically but mentally.
He has 90 mg of vitamin C intravenously twice a week and this has been working very well for him, at this stage his Cancer has not spread, so we will continue with this treatment for as long as we can.
It makes a lot of sense to change your diet, to use organics, to remove processed foods and as many chemicals from our lives as possible.
Ultimately the decision is up to the person who has been diagnosed with the cancer, we all want our loved ones to be cured to live as long as they can, and if you’re give no choices at all why not try anything you can as you have nothing to loose.
It’s a shame that we focus on alternative treatments as being bad but we don’t think twice about the amount of chemicals and toxins that are in everything we eat and use daily.
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I choose conventional with natural approaches, only because the wealth of clinical studies on the ability that foods and supplements have on various cancers, which is established, is not taken further into studies on cure rates. So while there are studies that foods can and do make tumours shrink or prevent spreading, there are not trials on how and in what quantities they effect cure. Intuitively cancer patients know that bombing your system with chemo can’t be good for you, we are trapped through lack of data and it is an intrepid soul who takes the non validated alternative route by itself. but we should have that choice and we should know how and when it works. I hope I haven’t messed my immune system too much with the chemo and radiation, and that the change in food and lifestyle will prevent recurrence. But more is needed: we should know what to eat to prevent cancer, I have only found out about it since diagnosis. On Foodforbreastcancer there are many scientific research articles listed about foods which prevent, reduce or cure various cancers. I don’t blame the medical establishment for now knowing, it is not their area, but false information and closed mindedness as well as the profits that chemo drugs make for the companies seem to determine the studies that are done. The body ‘cures’ cancer all the time, it is only when too much has gone wrong that it succumbs to the rogue cells. Come on keep insisting on better information about food and health and food as part of the cure. Drug companies should be compulsorily non profit, it is too easily a conflict of interest, the whole debate would be very different if they were.
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“But, cancer specialists… are concerned some treatments, often expensive and unproven, may gain in popularity given Stynes’s fame.”
To be blunt, I doubt it. He died. If he’d lived, that would be a reason for their popularity to rise.
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Two words Kris Carr – http://crazysexylife.com/about/
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I’m all for complementary (as opposed to alternative) therapies. Mainstream medicine is excellent at treating symptoms but I feel like illness is often a physical manifestation of unresolved stress and musco-skeletal problems (physio- and occupational therapists are actually pretty mainstream and often talk about the damage done by, eg, sitting all day).
I also recognise that diet probably plays a huge role that we are as yet not fully aware of. I have a suspicion that resolving the stress and physical issues described above would lead to a naturally more healthy diet for many of us as we stop self soothing with sugar and fat and all things delicious and take pleasure in enjoying the right amounts of these nutrients so that they benefit us. I used to take a daily multi vitamin but stopped when I looked at the evidence for doing so.
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I don’t have a problem with people trying what ever they can. I get it and I might do the same thing in their place just for the feeling of doing something is better then nothing.
But I do have a problem with people selling stuff that is not proven and has shown no promise. I call that fraud and so many alternatives are.
I had my sister o. The phone last week claiming her homeopathic drops cured her babies reflux. I pointed out he just shut up because he liked the taste. She was not swayed by scientific argument. he started screaming again so it obviously is not working now. I hate companies like that who sell stuff that does not work and people believe it does due to coincidence. It is not ethical and pharmacies should not stock it
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We had a heartbreaking situation a few years ago where a family friend with 3 small boys passed away from breastcancer. She was quite young but the prognosis was positive and the cancer grade was stage one.
She followed conventional medicine to begin with but refused a mastectomy, which the doctors said as it was caught early was an ok risk to take if it was important to her. She had radiation, chemo and took steroids. She was then given some ‘advice’ that apricot kernels could get rid of her cancer completely.
As she had put on weight with the steroids and lost her hair from the chemo she stopped both treatments against the advice of her doctors and took apricot kernels for 6 months. When her health began to deteriorate a year later she went back to doctors and they said her cancer had spread to the lungs and the prognosis was bad. She very quickly asked for the treatment she was offered before including a mastectomy and was told that it was too late and palliative care was all that was available now. 6 months later she very sadly passed away, leaving her young family behind.
I don’t want to scare people with this story but I think it is a very sad example of the danger of choosing alternative medicine over conventional medicine, not matter how much more pleasant it may seem. Her outcome went from very positive to being terminal in two short years, all because conventional medicine was the more uncomfortable/ unappealing option (which lets face it, cancer treatment can be truly torturous for some).
My mother also got breast cancer around the same time. She had a similar prognosis followed conventional treatment and has been cancer free for 6 years. Some things are not worth the risk
Very long winded story I apologise!
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I cannot believe the apricot kernels are still around, I remember those being discredited when I was a young person.
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This is very similar to Steve Jobs’ story. He had one of the “best” forms of pancreatic cancer you can get and refused conventional treatment until surgery and radio surgery were little more than palliative treatments.
I think I’d prefer Jim Stynes’ approach (with the exception of the urine drinking). At least he could say he left no stone unturned. Conventional medical treatment isn’t a constant in a cancer patient’s life. I’m sure there is room for some supervised alternative medicine there.
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Such a sad story. The promises of ‘cure’ based on anecdote feeds right into the denial we all want to have that the cancer is there and can kill us if we don’t do everything we can. That is why I didn’t go the alternative route but am trying to do those lifestyle changes that make sense to me, such as good food. I am still working on the happiness angle and no stress angle.
I am so sorry this is what happened to your friend and her family. So sad.
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There was an article recently about what Doctors do when faced with terminal illness, and the vast majority choose not to have any treatment, especially experimental treatment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/08/how-doctors-choose-die
The rationale? They know how good palliative care is nowadays and they choose to manage the way they die instead of trying to prevent it…
I think I would be the same…given the choice between endless operations and hospital stays, knowing that there was a different option of managing the pain and living a mostly normal life for whatever time I have left seems, to me, a much more sensible option…
I certainly wouldn’t bother with what some people call “alternative medicines”…if they really worked, they would be called “medicine”.
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Hey JJ – What constitutes a terminal illness? I had a brain tumour – should I have just lived with it in my head and ultimately died? Or, should I have chosen to have an operation and radiation, even thuogh it may or may not prevent it from coming back? I chose the latter and I hope I’m one of the lucky ones who survives this disease. But only time will tell…
Even if the doctor told me “you wont survive this” but an operation or treatment may give me more time, I’d take more time. Death comes when it comes, but until my kids are old and grey, I’ll fight for every second.
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Same here mumisphere. I hope you are one of the lucky ones too.
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Terminal as in “there is no cure…we could extend your life by 6 months, but it would require x number of operations, but you will still die…”
If a Doctor said to me “We should be able to cure this with a series of operations, after which you should have a normal life” then yes, I’d take the treatment…
I should have clarified that in the original comment.
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I guess the “cure” is the unknown here – many doctors don’t know if treatment will cure or not. They just know the best course of action for your best shot at life…
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On the flipside, I think (I don’t know of course, because I haven’t been there) if I was in the situation I would be keen to be in a clinical study for an experimental medicine. Everything medicine and science knows now was learned by experimentation, and if I was given a bad diagnosis I think I’d want to help the next generation who could get my disease. If it worked – great. If it didn’t, then at least the researchers would know that it didn’t and would then devote their energies to something else that might be the cure.
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I believe in research and experimental therapy too. Sometimes you’ve just got nothing to lose and others may have lots to gain.
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I would never choose managing the way I die over managing the way I could possibly live longer.
‘They choose to manage they way they die’… now, I plead ignorance on a research level here, but the people I’ve known to receive palliative care, have been ‘made comfortable’ with a huge amount of drugs until they passed away (usually very quickly). That’s fine if you can’t ‘fight anymore’, but I’d fight and fight first.
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I thought that was Tim Minchin’s quote: “Alternative medicines which have been proven to work are just called medicine.”
Cassandra Wilkinson wrote an article on just this topic in the “Weekend Australian” last weekend.
She said “alternative medicine” is an oxymoron.
I would opt (and have done) for conventional (ie barbaric mediaeval) medicine to treat cancer. However… if I was told my life-span was limited, then I’m sure I’d grasp at any straws, proven or quackery, that I could find.
I think…
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My sister has just become a qualified Bowen Therapist, she also practices iridology & kinesiology. I let her “treat” me when she needed to practice or get her prac hours up. It’s very interesting & she swears by it. She also makes & sells oral drops using Australian bush flower essences and are catered to the individual ie: help with grief, infertility, anxiety etc….
She has coped alot of flack from certain “non- believers” in our family.
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Are her home-made oral drops tested to ensure they’re safe before she sells them on?
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Hi JM, Tested for what?
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Hi LKW,
I guess there’s lots of things – pesticides, other contaminants that may adversely affect people’s health. I would assume that if she’s selling anything with any kind of “medicinal” effects that there would be checks and balances to ensure the safety of her clientele.
I suppose there’s also the risk that some of her active ingredients may also interact with other medications.
Just a thought.
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My uncle is one who opted for surgery and then chose the alternative path rather than the suggested chemotherapy treatment course. He ate a very strict diet of organic and herbal foods, he drank herbal drinks, and took some other sort of natural therapy and vitamin tablets. Its now 10 years down the track and he is perfectly healthy but still eats a very strict organic vegetarian diet and still has his herbal drinks.
They tell anyone and everyone who listens that he was cured by his herbalist. I think the truth is his surgery cured him and his healthy diet helped him feel wonderful.
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Anyone thinking of using alternative medicine should have a squiz at these website (among others):
http://www.quackwatch.com/
http://skeptoid.com/
These sites aren’t as extreme as they sound, they just provide a balanced, scientific look at alternative ‘medicine’.
Basically, things that work can be measured and proven, and the experiment can be repeated, always with the same results.
I think it more likely that Jim Stynes’ amazing state of mind and will to live helped him stay strong for so long. And I think it’s great that he used the alternatives as well as conventional medicine, why not (as long as they weren’t harmful – some of them are). Maybe he would’ve survived as long without the alternative therapies; no one will ever know.
It’s dangerous when vulnerable people are led to believe that alternative therapy of any kind will definitely work, and they shouldn’t pursue the medical treatment that they need. The alternative medicine practitioner is a salesperson. Of course they want you to think it will work for you, they’ll tell you whatever you need to hear – because then you’ll give them your money.
All of that said.. don’t waste your money on homeopathy. Some of their ‘dilutions’ involve a ratio so high that the volume of water would need to be greater than the whole of planet earth to include any of the ‘medicine’ at the given ratio. You’re just paying for water.
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Why does this cause such fierce debate? Natural health has been around since the beginning of time. It is not a new phenomenon. How many situations have you heard about a person suffering cancer and using only natural therapies through the advice of their complimentary health practitioner? what is the harm of combining both treatments (chemo and natural herbs to replace what chemo has killed?). I’m sure if you were told you had only years to live and conventional medicine won’t do much for you alternative health would have a place. No body knows what they would choose until they or a loved one are put in that position. And I don’t hear any Naturopaths screaming from the rooftops for people to stop seeing their GP’s, do you? Freedom of choice, people.
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I use to work with a Naturopath who told a patient to stop his blood pressure medication (that he was well maintained on) and commence treatment with something or other that she gave him. Ooooh I got very annoyed that day.
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I understand. But you say the Naturopath put them on ‘something or other’. People are commenting on Natural Medicine like they know all about it. Maybe a bit more research will help. The Naturopath you work with would have studied for at least 4-5 years. The Patient chose to see her for whatever reason. Most Naturopath’s I know are very careful not to put Allopathic medicine down and they believe that both systems can work together.
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I could do 4-5 years study to get a docorate in theology – that doesn’t mean prayer can cure cancer. A naturopath friend of mine tried to convince me to give up my elipepsy meds for supplements – supplements don’t stop seizures! would she have taken responsibility when I had a seizure and stopped breathing – doubt it.
she is now putting on Facebook that vaccines contain toxins and antifreeze – she is dangerous and is currently doing her Masters in Natropathy – she is being taught this crap at University!
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I attended the funeral of a dear friend weeks ago who died from a nearly 9 year battle with ovarian cancer. It was advanced when she was diagnosed and she was given a maximum of 5 years to live by the oncologists etc. She had intenstive chemo, radiation treatment and surgery.
She then followed a strict eating regime advised by a TCM doctor, saw a psychologist regularly, along with an Osteopath and Naturopath.
Everyone, including the Oncologists and her other traditional medicine doctors are convinced she lived almost twice as long due to her continued complimentary therapies/treatments. She fought so bloody hard.
In my opinion, anyone would be stupid not to take advice from their doctors and oncologists first. Have whatever treatment necessary to kick that bastard tumor. BUT then to seek whatever treatment/therapy you could to keep your head and your body as strong as possible. Let’s not forget that treatments like chemo and radiation therapy can themselves cause so much damage to the human body.
When my dad had throat cancer 10 years ago, he actually wasn’t that ill. But after his intensive treatment (and thank god he had it, he is still alive today), well, that was when he was so ill. I looked at him on what I thought was his deathbed for a long time. And it was the harsh treatment that caused that. BUT again, thank god he had it and thank god he then sought other treatment to build up his system again to be a fit and healthy guy.
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When my MiL had cancer she said one of the hardest parts was not knowing what was going to happen to her. She couldn’t make long term plans because she didn’t know if she had a long term, and she couldn’t make short term plans because she was too exhausted.
Eating healthily, meditating, gentle yoga exercise would have all been things she could have tried* that would have made her more relaxed and healthier and given her a sense of control.
Obviously you undertake nothing without consulting your doctor, but I think complementary medicines have a place.
*I have no idea what she tried, I was stuck overseas with a complicated pregnancy and newly diagnosed autistic child, and MiL didn’t want to talk about cancer much, so we didn’t.
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I work in health and have seen some terrible outcomes in people who have sought alternative treatments to tumours often at great expense and in other countries. The saddest thing is when they come back to the original surgeon with a tumour that is now untreatable and with only a palliative prognosis when had they had the earlier recommended resection they may have had a much better prognosis. I am all for complimentary therapies however the best of western and eastern medicine together.
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If I had cancer I would try everything – in consultation with my doctor. There is no question that I would be attacking it with western medicine, but there are plenty of complimentary therapies that can help. However things like acupuncture can cause adverse reactions with some medicines, so I would be discussing it.
My mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer about 5 years ago. She was told that it would kill her. She was a nurse so did have the treatment offered, but when she was told there was no other treatment available she started looking at alternatives. She meditates, drinks a special mix of juice, does something with ozone and olive oil, probably other stuff too. 5 years later she has had no new tumours grow, is a vital healthy woman. Her sister who was diagnosed with breast cancer at a similar time has also had excellent results.
Neither of them would say that it was the complementary medicine alone that has them alive today, but they would say that it was a big part in them still being here.
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This has been a topic of discussion in our house in recent times. My husband is being treated for a brain tumour. Mixed oligoastrocytoma (WHO Grade 3) with focal anaplastic transformation, for those who know anything about brain tumours. He has chosen to follow conventional medicine. Within days of his diagnosis I had a friend contact me with a story about how a friend of her father’s was cured of cancer because he followed a diet recommended by another friend who cured himself of cancer and how if this friend hadn’t followed the diet then he would be dead by now an how amazed the doctors were at his speedy recovery. (Lots of ‘and’s in that sentence but that’s how it was told to me.)
It presented us with yet another really tough decision to make. Do we follow conventional medicine, which may or may not get rid of this cancer? Or do we try an alternative? The doctors certainly weren’t making any promises, they like to cover their own arse when it comes to prognosis. But who’s to say that following this recommended diet was going to be any better than what the doctors were offering. We know nothing about the treatment of cancer and we had a very short space of time to make a difficult decision regarding treatment in a very stressful situation. I toyed with the idea of not telling my husband what she had said. I decided I didn’t want him to follow a diet recommended by someone who knew someone who was related to someone else, even if the man in question is still living ‘cancer free’ today. I say ‘cancer free’ because we won’t know for many years if it really worked, until one day he can say ‘I haven’t had cancer for 20 years, I’m most likely cancer free’. But after thinking about it, I decided it wasn’t my decision to make. I had to tell my husband about this option and let him decide for himself which road he wanted to take.
We have both decided that conventional medicine is the way to go, for us. We have put our trust in his doctors, who all have many years of experience and knowledge. It’s worked so far. The surgeon was able to remove every bit of tumour he could see. No more tumour has shown up on the subsequent MRIs. He has been through combined chemo and radiation therapy, and the side-effects were manageable. He is currently doing a 6 month course of chemo, again, no horrible side-effects. He is back to work full-time and has his drivers licence back. Today for the first time in 6 months he has driven himself to work. So far, everything is looking positive. I have no doubt there is a good combination of medicine and luck involved.
But he hasn’t been told there is no more that conventional medicine can do for him. I’m sure if I had no other option then I would drink my own wee too. It’s really about doing what you think will work for you.
As for those people who make money scamming patients with ideas of a ‘cure’, they should be shot.
Complimentary medicine: yes
Alternative medicine: no (only if I had tried everything else first and had no other options)
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Thank you- you have just placed perspective on the misery I was feeling towards the damn pesky cold that I have!!
Hang in there. It sounds as if you are doing a wonderful job supporting your husband.
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Floraly, cancer shows lots of things in a different perspective. But you are still allowed to wallow in self-pity when you have a cold
Spend some time on the couch watching daytime tv, that will scare any cold away!
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Hi becausei’mthemum – I too was diagnosed with a grade 3 brain tumour in august of 2010. I had surgery and radiation, but no chemo. I had a different tumour to your husband – it was a mixed bag of cells and not easily defined. I am now given a MRI every three months to check for regrowth. I amd due for my 21-month-post surgery scan in May. Fingers crossed. I agree with you and your husband – rely on the doctors, then compliment with therapies if you feel you need or want to. Good luck to you both.
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mumisphere, yours is the type of story I need to hear, thank you. We are only 6 months post-diagnosis. My husband has an MRI scheduled every 3 months. He’s due for another one in 3 weeks and already he’s worrying about it. I don’t worry about it so much, but I’m not the one with it in my head. I like to hear positive stories from others with brain tumours. Good luck for your next scan.
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Thank you for your story. My husband was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour 8 months ago and has had surgery and just undergone 6 cycles of chemo. We get the results tomorrow from the tests to see if the chemo has slowed the growth of his tumour to give him more time.
We have been told that for my husband’s brain tumour will be terminal (too extensive and close to the hypothalamus) but that has actually given us peace in a way as we can now get on and make the most of the time we have together instead of searching for an ever elusive ‘cure’.
Like you we were sent lots of information by friends about ‘alternative’ treatments for brain tumours but like you we decided to go with conventional treatment and added some complementary treatments – relaxation techniques, acupuncture for the nausea, vitamin supplements to boost his immune system etc.
It can be very difficult to deal with well meaning family and friends who ‘find cures’ as they don’t understand why you wouldn’t give up the conventional treatment for the alternative. They mean well but they sometimes fail to understand that all cancers are different and even in the case of brain tumours there are many different types with different symptoms depending on location.
I personally believe that if we can halt the growth as long as possible and make the time he has left comfortable and peaceful so he can enjoy the remainder of his life I will be happy.
Our oncologist is fantastic and said to us from the start that we could try other things if it made us feel we were doing something but to remember you still have to live.
If the diet/ drinking urine/ alternative treatment etc is not something you are enjoying it is not good for your mental state and so the negative will outweigh the benefit. If it is something you are happy to do and can easily fit into your routine then go for it as it will be good for your mental health which appears to be as important as the physical body.
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kathl29, I found freedom in facing the fact that this brain tumour might just take my husband much sooner than we had planned. Once I stopped crying, it was like a weight had been lifted and we could go on living. I mean REALLY living. Life is very different from what we planned. We are seeing doctors weekly. Some weeks it’s more than one doctor. We love all his doctors. There isn’t one I wish we didn’t have. The kids are back to their usual selves, so for them life is normal. We seem to have found the right balance, for now.
It sounds like you have found that peace too. Good luck with his results tomorrow.
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I wish the best for all of you. Your stories make me so grateful for having a benign tumour. I’m 26 months post diagnosis and 25 months post initial surgery. I got back my licence last month, after the second surgery and am also back at work. Its so nice being independant again. The MRIs are always anxiety inducing,
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Faybian, it must feel so good to be getting your life back to some sort of normal. I love hearing stories like yours. I’d love to show all these posts to my husband but he wouldn’t understand sharing this sort of stuff with people you don’t even know. If only he understood how good it really is to share with others who have been through something similar. Good luck Faybian.
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I truly hope that the treatmens buy you all that much wanted time. Like Faybian, I am so grateful my tumour is benign (a meningioma in the cerebello-pontine angle). I am coming up to 6 months post diagnosis, and it is 2 months today that I had radiosurgery. I don’t think I have found my new normal yet. I am still filled with paranoia (and this throbbing pain in my head isn’t helping). I have to accept that I may need surgery down the track if the radiation doesn’t work. Life isn’t what I would call “fun” right now, but one day at a time and all that
I too would consider complementary treatments, but not alternative. I’ve found going to the gym and being active incredibly helpful. Getting fit and therefore healthy as I can be is my goal.
Having support is wonderful too. Through mamamia, Faybian and I have made contact, and she is just wonderful, amazing, and strong. I hope that you have been able to reach out and get support too.
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Baby steps Oopsyboobs, baby steps.
My husband worries every time he gets a twinge or a tingle or an ache, all the time really. I take a notebook to all his doctors appointments and write down significant things the doctor says, especially the positive stuff. I find he leaves the doctor and can’t remember much of what was said, I think because he’s trying so hard to injest all the information. Having the notebook to go back over helps to remind him that things are progressing well and what is happening to him is expected, dare I say ‘normal’ for his type of tumour.
He is only 6 months post diagnosis too. But he has recently been able to tick a few big things off his list: he got his licence back (started driving again yesterday), got back to work full-time, has been able to stop taking steriods, his hair is growing back over his scar, in most places, he was going bald anyway
. He finds exercise is good for his head (pardon the pun) mentally. When he can drag himself out of bed he has a better day if he can do some exercise. He is taking chemo for 5/28 days and is zonked for that week but otherwise ok.
I hope you can start ticking things off your list soon.
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Youre making me blush. It’s been great for me too, to find you and be able to unload on you instead of my long suffering family.
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Its wonderful. My whole outlook on life has changed and everything has been put in perspective. I know I’ll be paranoid when my next MRI is due, but what will be will be. I feel more in control of it now.
I’ve donated my tumour to dr teo’s cure for life foundation and have sent DNA to the cancer councils forgotten cancers foundation. I hope it helps someone…
I hope your husband has as long as possible and I wish all of you the best of luck (fingers crossed).
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Thank you for your beautiful story and your perspective on life!
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I saw a single mum of a 2 year old die last year after she sought out heat therapy overseas for her early breast cancer. She realised too late that heat wasn’t going to do the trick.
Im all for complementary medicines used WITH the advice of your oncologist. Yoga, eating well, meditation etc can make you feel lovely and that’s what improves quality of life, but perhaps not quantity. Im very much against alternative therapies that make unfounded promises, send people of for ridiculous therapies and often cost a heck of a lot of money. Colonic irrigation, super restrictive diets and massive dozes of vitamins while on the whole cost you a lot, give you some wacky bowel motions and give you very expensive urine but on the whole I vey much doubt you’ll feel any different (maybe a bit windy) and it undoubtedly will make no difference to your cancer. Don’t waste your potentially last years or months of life on having tubes up your bum and eating awful food! Bring on the fancy cheese and decadent banquets I say!!
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People often take on alternate therapies when it may be too late. Preventative therapies like meditation, eating enzyme rich raw foods, elimination enhancing therapies such as yoga, colonics and saunas, are fantastic to help the body to function at it’s optimum and ward of dis-ease. Sometimes it’s too late. RIP Jim Stynes.
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This is a worthwhile read about vitamin supplementation for cancer patients:
http://theconversation.edu.au/a-helping-hand-vitamins-may-be-dangerous-for-cancer-patients-907
Recent studies have shown (often unexpectedly, even for the researchers) that some vitamin supplementation can actually increase cancer growth.
I personally would pursue complementary medicine if my doctor thought it worthwhile.
But it just goes to show that even something like vitamin supplementation, which seems so benign, can be dangerous. So it is important to involve health professionals who are on top of the latest evidence.
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Thank you for posting this article. I was told I had pre-cancerous cells in my cervix recently and immediately went out and bought a truck-load of vitamin supplements such as DIM, Vit C, Beta Carotene, Vit B, etc and I have been taking a little more than it says to take on the bottle, knowing that in clinical studies the doses are much much higher than the usual recommended dose.
This has given me something to seriously think about. I will continue to take them but maybe 1 a day, instead of 4, and rely more on eating healthy raw, organic foods for my nutrients. Thanks again x
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No worries! It really surprised me when I came across the studies as a nutrition student. I guess it makes sense (when you think about it) that cancer is out-of-control cell growth – so anything promoting cell growth and cell health will help the cancer grow, too. But still, it was a surprise!
Keep on eating the healthy stuff and take vitamins according to the label or your doc’s advice
Xx
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Hi Em,
Apparently smoking is the absolute worst for those pesky cells – it was the motivation I needed to quit – so if you do, give it some thought, it could make all the difference you need x
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A friend of my mother’s who is very ill with cancer has taken a similar approach to Jim Stynes – complementary therapy to accompany traditional treatment (chemotherapy). The prognosis for recovery is sadly not good, but the additional treatments and lifestyle approach seems to have made a difference to their general well-being and quality of life. Of course, as said in the post above, you don’t know what their trajectory would have been without those treatments.
I would never use alternative medicine as a replacement for traditional medicine such as chemotherapy, but I do think that things like reflexology, reiki and diet changes might give you a better quality of life and help get you through what can be a pretty horrific medical treatment process. I think it should be complementary, not used as a replacement.
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I would go with my doctor. My university qualified, degree bearing, well studied doctor. And if I were to want to try something else – and I sure would be open to it – I would check with my doctor first.
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Totally agree Lana, but the question is which Doctor. I would want the Charlie Teo of Doctors. It is difficult to tell if you have one.
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I can understand how people who are desperate to survive will try anything and everything available. I know I would. Though I think its quite ignorant to reject traditional medicine completely, especially when its life and death.
I have an old friend who is a Radiotherapist with 20 years experience and she is often upset when patients come in for treatment, who had previously rejected mainstream medicine for an alternative path to treat their cancer. Often once they return to mainstream medicine its then too late to help them. If they had traditional treatment at diagnosis, she believes they could have been cured.
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Personally I know I would go the conventional doctor/medicine route first but I would be definitely open to trying other techniques. I think it’s silly to rule things out before you give it a go first.
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