Cancer Blog

WC was 58 years old when he was diagnosed with rectum cancer. He underwent a surgery on 26 December 1995. It was a Duke’s Stage C. Subsequently, WC underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Barely a year later, in October 1996, WC suffered a relapse and this time a growth was found in his pelvis. On 15 October 1996, WC underwent another operation. He declined further medical treatments.

WC came to see us on 9 May 1997 and was started on herbs and he was advised to change his diet. He improved. We were very happy to see him alive and well. He took herbs very regularly. He was one of our super star patients.

Almost SEVEN YEARS after we first saw him, i.e., 14 March 2003, WC’s wife came with a panic look on her face. She told us that since the past few months, WC had been eating “bad food” — the various hawker foods that we advised against eating. As a result of this, two to three months later WC’s health started to deteriorate. His legs swelled. He had severe back pains. He died soon afterwards.

This story showed us two important points. One, the need for aggressive treatments like radiotherapy and chemotherapy may not be necessary. With herbs and a change of diet and lifestyle patients can survive their cancer and do well.

Two, complacency invites cancer back again. No matter how hard we work or how long we spend time explaining, some patients just do not seem to understand. We used to say this: “When you are dying or have problems, you will not hesitate to follow our advice. But the moment you become well, you forget all those advices. You go back to your old ways again because you think you are already well.” Unfortunately, such attitude reflects total ignorance (or stubbornness?). Make no mistake, cancer does not go away and no one seems to be able to cure it (unless you accept the medical definition of cure as surviving for five years or more). So, we must always be on our guard. Once we feel well, let us continue to perpetuate that wellness so that we can continue to live a normal and meaningful life. Unfortunately, to some people meaningful life means going about their old lifestyle and eat whatever they like! One lady even said us this: “Your herbs help to clean me. So, I can go ahead and eat what I like. Why worry?”

We have seen this going-back-to-the-previous-lifestyle happens over and over again with many patients. When they feel well and alright they stop caring for themselves. They stop taking the herbs and revert to their old lifestyle and diet. Generally within two to three months, they will suffer a relapse.

We believe that there is no permanent cure for cancer and there is no one on earth who could cure you too. It is you and only you who have the power to cure yourself. So, your life is in your hands. The choice is yours!

So, our message to all cancer patients is: Do not be complacent. The dictionary defines complacency as “a feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.” That is right. If you are not careful you will have to pay dearly for your complacency. Plainly said you may die because of your complacency as shown by the above story.

Cancer is one of those words that everyone dreads. There are various types of cancer and any type of cancer is really bad news. All types of cancer are life threatening (this is what makes them so dreadful). Even with all that medical advancement we still don’t have a complete cure for all types of cancer. However, there is continuous research going-on for finding better treatments for cancer and to increase our knowledge on cancer in general. Though there are treatments currently available for some types of cancer, these treatments work only if the cancer is discovered in early stages.

Types of cancer

Generally, cancer is named after the part of the body in which it originates. Most common types of cancer are breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer. Though, this might vary across geographies etc, these four types of cancer seem to be the more notorious ones. The other types of cancer include: cervical cancer, pancreatic cancer, bone cancer, brain cancer, skin cancer, stomach cancer, bladder cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer and testicular cancer. Besides this, cancer is also classified as primary and secondary based on whether it originated in that body part itself or spread from another body part.

Diagnosis of various types of cancer

It’s not just the treatment of various types of cancer that is difficult (or impossible) but also their detection (or diagnosis). In fact, correct and timely diagnosis is the first step towards treatment of any type of cancer. The earlier you are able to detect cancer, the more effective is its treatment.

Treatment of various types of cancer

Though the treatment of all types of cancers is not possible, some types of cancer can be treated if they are diagnosed early enough e.g. detection of malignancy when it has just started to develop. The treatment for cancer is carried out in many different ways. These range from surgery to radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biologic therapies. Hormone therapies are also gaining popularity for treatment of some types of cancer. Transplantation of bone marrow and many other new procedures for treatment of cancer are being constantly tried and analysed in order to get a fail-proof treatment for cancer.

Research on diagnosis on various types of cancer

The huge number of deaths that are caused every year by various types of cancer has lead to a lot of focus being put into the research on diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancer. Meanwhile, we can just hope that there will soon be a complete cure available for the most common types of cancer (if not all types of cancer).

It’s 8:00 a.m. in the central design office at Rifton, a New York firm that manufactures equipment for the disabled, and Carole Neal is at her computer, reviewing assembly documentation and revising drawings of parts for new products. Above the desk is a large painting of a beach, and a colorful sign: “Carpe diem!” For her the slogan (Latin for “seize the day̶ has special meaning: she often wonders how many more she’ll have. Three years ago, this mother of three was diagnosed with breast cancer. A first round of chemotherapy resulted in remission, but now the cancer has returned—with a vengeance.

Plough: What was your first reaction on learning that you had this thing?

Carole: I guess from the very beginning, before anything, I was just terrified, because I have always been terribly afraid of death. But that only lasted a few minutes after I heard the diagnosis. In fact, I felt somehow relieved—I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I had always been afraid of dying, and all of a sudden there it was—cancer—and I didn’t have to worry about it anymore.

Sure, I’ve gone to pieces over it since then. After the first bout of chemo, I was sitting there and I felt this lump under my arm, and I just fell apart. I guess I still hadn’t really faced the possibility of terminal cancer, not at that point anyway …

This is going to sound really dumb, but it’s the truth: I’ve been almost frantically afraid of cancer all my life, but then when it came, right there, square in my face, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I don’t like to use the word “gift” because it’s overused, but that really was a gift. My husband, Dale, and I looked at each other, and we said, “Here it is. Now we’re in God’s hands.” Of course, we’re in his hands the whole time. Where else—what better place—could we be?

Dale even joked about it when we found out that I had cancer; he said it would be a terrible shame if I died of something else, since I had worried so much about cancer all my life.

Plough: How has your attitude toward time changed? Has it changed?

Carole: Well, you saw that “carpe diem” thing above my desk. I guess it sort of expresses what I’ve been feeling more each day.

You know, we spend a lot of our time dealing with petty problems and thinking petty thoughts, and I’ve come to see that that just has to go. There’s anger, envy, every kind of emotion you have in a relationship with anybody. People hurt each other, and get hurt over little things. I’ve come to see that it’s stupid—just plain stupid—to waste time on those things.

With cancer you begin to realize that you have to make use of every day; each minute becomes precious. Dale and I have talked about how we’ve probably wasted years of our lives carrying little grudges and things that we couldn’t work out, or struggling to find enough humility to confront a problem, or apologize, or whatever.

The present moment—the time we have right now—is the same for you as it is for me or for anyone. It’s all we have. We tend to think, “I’ll do that tomorrow;” or “I’ll wait till I have time to follow through on that …” But we actually don’t have tomorrow. None of us does. We only have today and we only have each other—the person next to us, the person we live with or work with. Seeing this has been a tremendous challenge to me.

Each of us has a life to live—and once we’ve found it, we ought to live for it. We need to be ready to give up everything—our plans, absolutely everything, in order to go after what we’ve found. I’m not saying we all have to be intense or energetic. It’s not a personality thing. But to really live demands all our fire…

Plough: Where do you draw the line between accepting the fact that you have cancer, and fighting it off?

Carole: Well, obviously you don’t just lie down once you know you’ve got cancer. You don’t just fold up and crash. You fight to keep living with everything you have. That’s why I thought chemotherapy was the answer at first, because I felt I was really fighting the disease with everything I had. I was going to take the most explosive kind, you know—whatever it took.

Then I found out it was a hopeless cancer; that people just didn’t survive it. I think they told me the survival rate was basically nil, 1 to 99. But I hadn’t asked, and I didn’t care. I already knew from my sisters’ death [of the same cancer] that the statistics were pretty bleak. That’s when I said, “Forget the numbers. I’m not going to spend the rest of my life in bed, sick and vomiting and everything else. I’m going to live with everything I’ve got.”

Plough: So it’s more about living with cancer, than dying of it?

Carole: Yes. That’s exactly where it’s at. And I think that’s why I just can’t handle these sweet songs that are sometimes sung around the dying or seriously ill. I’m not saying I prefer silly, superficial stuff, but I do love Mary Poppins, piano music from the 1940s, Ray Charles, black Gospel music …

I’ll be honest: when “the time comes,” I hope no one starts singing those hymns about floating around in heaven. I’d think I was already descending into my grave. You know, the words of those songs may be deep, but for some reason, hearing them sung reminds me of all the most depressing things in life. I know it shouldn’t be that way, but it is … I need energy, strength for the fight. The fight for life. And I can get that straight from the Gospels.

Dale and I start each day by reading the Gospels; we’ve read them over and over and over during the past few years, and Jesus—this most radical, revolutionary lover of life—absolutely blows my mind every time I read his words. He pulls me to where I want to be, in life or in death. He had this unheard-of compassion for the weak and sinful, yet he shouted at the strong and powerful (though he loved them as well), and he had a deep reverence for God, his father, our father. But he wasn’t pious. I’ll bet he had a whale of a time in everything he did.

Now, you’re going to think this is weird, but to me the battle has been like an adventure, the adventure of my life: the necessity of fighting something that is absolutely deadly. I felt from the beginning that I wasn’t going to let any part of this disease take me over. And I didn’t want to hear about suffering; I didn’t want to know about dying; I didn’t want to read about heaven and angels and all that kind of thing.

Again, in reading through the Gospels, I feel I’ve gotten a really good picture of Jesus. To me, that is where life is. Jesus fought everything, and did and said just what he felt, straight out. He loved everyone without reservation: the rich and the poor, everyone. And at the same time he tackled people so vigorously when they sinned—with compassion, but incredible straightforwardness. Not that I could ever do that. But that’s how I’ve wanted to live my life, with that kind of fervor.

Plough: Have you thought much about the actual day of your death?

Carole: Yeah, I guess so. It’s really the thing that scares me the most. It depresses the heck out of me to think of everybody standing around singing and looking all morbid or something. I don’t know; I guess every death is different. I hope there’s lots of basketball on the court outside my window when I go, and some hefty music coming up from Ruben’s corner downstairs. Thank heaven we’re all different, and I hope we can allow each other to experience death in different ways, just like we all look at life in different ways, and run with that.

Now, about the day I die: each one of us has to die. I guess it seems more significant, more pointed when somebody is dying at a younger age than you’d think they should, but it’s part of life. So I die today; somebody else dies thirty years down the road.

I guess I’ve been hit more and more by the fact that each day is all I have. I can remember yesterday, but I can’t relive yesterday, and I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. All I have is just right now.

Yesterday I didn’t think I was going to live another day, and the doctors and my family didn’t think so either. Today I don’t feel that close to death. But that’s what is so exciting, because it forces you to live in the right-now, in the present. It might seem crazy that I’m still coming here to the office every morning, but you have no idea how much it means to me. At work I run into all the people I love. I don’t want to be at home staring at four walls—I want to be around people, joking and laughing and sometimes crying too. I definitely couldn’t stand being alone in bed.

You know, ever since I was a child I’ve felt that hell—if you can define it—is separation, isolation. Being cut off, being alone. Not feeling connected with others. But it’s odd: just during the times when I’ve felt most alone, I’ve sensed the power and strength of the community as it prays for those who are sick or weak or struggling, and I’ve felt carried by those prayers and that love.

Plough: What advice would you have for the family of a dying person, or for caregivers? You don’t want to be alone, or in a hospital, but you also don’t want to be surrounded by mourners.

Carole: I don’t have any advice for anybody. I only know what I wish for myself. And I’m leery of any emphasis on the hereafter, on some other world that we really don’t know anything about. Even if you read and read and read, you still won’t really know anything about it. The best way to face death, I think, is to live. I guess I do ask God each day what he would have me do today, and I try to do it. But you know, you can get so enthralled in a prayer, and then the next minute you’ll go out and have a heated argument with someone. It’s terrible! So I say, forget the holy prayers. Of course, I do hope to follow God’s will in my life. I do wish for it.

I don’t know how to say it … eternity sometimes seems very close. Yesterday I was really discouraged—I’ve hardly ever had a day like that. I was thinking how much I’d miss Dale and the children, and wondering what it would be like to be separated form them. Then Dale said that the closest we’ll ever be is when we’re all together in eternity. That brought me so much peace and so much joy, when I thought about it, that I could just like back, and I asked God, “Please take me now,” because I had had such a wonderful, happy thought.

Plough: But he didn’t. And today you’re at work.

Carole: Yeah, shucks, I thought I was going to go yesterday! I could hardly lift my head, and I was getting down, but then I said to myself, “I’m not going to give into this. I want to be with the people I love.” So that’s what I did today. I got up at six and took a shower, and invited a child from the neighbors over to breakfast. It’s wonderful to be able to live just as if you’re going to keep going. I guess that’s the advice I’d give anybody: to go on a long as you can, in whatever way you can.

With increasing pollution and unhealthy lifestyles, particularly related to diets, the instance of colon cancer is on the rise. One way of tackling the disease is by preventing the formation of colon cancer in the first place. We all tend to brush our teeth, or take a shower on a daily basis, but we ignore cleansing out insides until some form of disease strikes. With this being the case, colon cleansing formulas are known to clean our entire digestive system, thereby ensuring a healthy life.

Toxins are known to accumulate in the digestive tract and lead to poor digestion along with colon build up and other complications like constipation. This, in turn, leads to long-term health problems that sometimes result in serious disease. This being the scenario, there are a number of colon cleansers that are available in the market to treat the problem. The formula of these colon cleansers varies according to the system used. For instance, there are traditional formulas that are based on certain chemicals. There are also alternate systems that have their own age-old formulas, consisting of herbs and other natural ingredients. The advantage of formulas with naturally occurring herbs is that don’t lead to future side affects even after prolonged use. One can find literally thousands of colon cleansing products on the market. Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic compositions from India are good examples of colon cleansers with natural ingredients in them. Although there are a variety of colon cleansing formulas available, perhaps the best formula lies in your diet. A healthy low-fat, high-fiber diet is perhaps the best formula when it comes to prevention of colon cancer and diseases related to the digestive system.

Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that affects woman. The most common victims of cervical cancer are older woman (i.e. 40+). Cervical cancer is generally caused by HPV (human papilloma virus) which gets transmitted through sexual contact and over a period of time (which can last for years) leads to cancerous cervix cells.

Prevention against cervical cancer

Since HPV gets sexually transmitted, having multiple sex partners can increase the chances of occurrence of cervical cancer. The anti-bodies produced by our body are the best guard against HPV and anything that causes our immune system to weaken can also aid in development of cervical cancer. In that sense, taking good care of your health too is a preventive measure for cervical cancer.

Symptoms of cervical cancer

The most common symptoms of cervical cancer include pelvic pain or pain during intercourse, unexpected vaginal discharge or bleeding, increase in the frequency of urination etc. However, the occurrence of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily imply cervical cancer. These symptoms just suggest that cervical cancer could be a possibility and hence point to the need of undergoing other cervical cancer tests

Detecting cervical cancer

One of the best ways of detecting cervical cancer is to undergo routine/ regular cervical cancer screening tests. The cervical cancer screening test (i.e. the pap test or the pap smear test) is one of the best ways of catching cervical cancer in early stages. This test is not at all painful and just involves brushing off of cells from your cervix for microscopic examination. The pap test results are generally given as a rating on a scale of 1 to 5 where in 1 indicates normal cervix cells and 5 indicates serious cancer signs. Though medical research is constantly trying to create new and better ways of detecting cervical cancer, Pap tests are the best technique that we have available today for early detection of cervical cancer. However, pap tests are not always accurate and if other symptoms strongly suggest cervical cancer, a second round of cervical tests might be recommended by the doctor.

Treatment of cervical cancer

The treatment of cervical cancer is effective mostly when the cervical cancer is detected while it is still in its early stages. The treatment involves surgical procedures (including removal of uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries), chemotherapy and radiation. The earlier you are able to detect cervical cancer, the better are your chances of cure. In fact, pap tests can even detect pre-cancerous stage and hence make the treatment of cervical cancer even more effective.

If you or any one of your loved ones is diagnosed with cancer, there are a number of cancer treatment centers located all over the country. These cancer treatment centers offer a whole range of treatments, both traditional and holistic, to help treat not only cancer but also the body, mind and spirit too. A number of cancer treatment centers conduct research on an ongoing basis, and patients can take part if they qualify in a series of clinical trials. There are new cancer treatments that are developed continually, and once research has advanced to where trying it on humans is warranted, clinical trials are conducted. Great results are being seen with new cancer treatments; in comparison to the past when some types of cancer were considered as a death sentence are currently being treated successfully and hence patients can enjoy living cancer free due to this continual research.

Today cancer treatment centers are easily accessible to everyone located in many metropolitan areas. A number of them are affiliated with large university based hospitals, and provide the latest technology available to treat different types of cancers. These types of facilities are also research based and offer several new treatment alternatives to participants in a range of ongoing studies. If for any reason one of these major cancer treatment centers are not within a reasonable distance, or not accessible due to other limitations, one can receive treatment through local oncologists and cancer treatment centers. These also have good facilities, and can provide the cancer patient with professional care and support. Cancer treatment centers vary in the types of services they offer, for instance it can be traditional or alternative treatment based, and the corresponding fees may also differ. You can either find a cancer treatment center within your means as well as those that provide additional amenities and have a more non-traditional approach. Those seeking other upscale private facilities that offer gourmet organic meals, natural herbal spa treatments, and additional pampering services to the cancer patient can also be found along with deluxe room accommodations. Such type of non-traditional cancer therapies help the patient recuperate and enjoy living again.

Cancer treatment centers are no more just sterile hospital environments that offer stale food, and stiff sheets. Comfort is of utmost important for all cancer patients, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Cancer patients who are in search of a cancer treatment center can look up online for different alternatives, where a range of cancer treatments are discussed, plus other considerations such as diet and nutrition, and spiritual health. Cancer treatment centers all share the same goal, to offer the best care possible, to provide continual support to cancer patients and their families, and turn what can be a distressing situation into a more optimistic experience.

People facing cancer are naturally concerned about what the future holds. Strange then that the most common cause of one of the most lethal cancers of all, lung cancer, is generally of peoples own doing and pretty well avoidable.

Nine out of ten people who develop lung cancer are smokers and the bad news is that the diagnoses of lung cancer are rising. Whilst some rare types of lung cancer are not related to smoking, most certainly are directly attributable, and the figures for survival rates from lung cancer are poor throughout the world.

The two main types of lung cancer are small cell and nonsmall cell, and patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) survive for variable lengths of time, even when adjustment is made for the pathological stage. Each and every year, 31000 cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in the UK, whilst lung and prostate cancer are the top cancer killers for men in the United States.

Want more scary news? Only 1 in every 10 people with lung cancer are alive 5 years after diagnosis, and for reasons not yet well understood, a greater proportion of women who develop lung cancer are non-smokers compared to men who get the disease.

Now, a new study finds tobacco may act as an environmental trigger for patients with an inherited genetic predisposition to pancreatic cancer.

Treatment for any cancer will depend on the type of cancer; the size, location, and stage of the disease; the person’s general health; and other factors. Nanotechnology promises new methods for noninvasive treatment of cancer with minimal side effects.

While we can’t do anything about risk factors that are out of our control, it’s been shown that all aspects of our daily lifestyle can have a huge impact on cancer risk. Stopping smoking greatly reduces a person’s risk for developing lung cancer, whilst exposure to tobacco smoke clearly multiplies the risk of developing lung cancer.

It’s a no brainer, really. Stop smoking and increase your chances of a long and enjoyable life!

Accounting about for 14% of all cancers and 28% of all cancer deaths, Lung Cancer is now the major cause of deaths (of both men and women) in the United States apart from being the most prevalent species of cancer. Lung Cancer is different from benign cancer tumours (which do not generally spread to other parts of the body affecting only the part which is hit by it) as Lung Cancer (having the ability to start anywhere in the respiratory systems or lungs) CAN spread to different organs of the body.

Concerned!! You have a reason to be and make yourself rest assured that a little information will not suffice and thus, you need to know more. This is where the website comes in; to make you more aware about the causes and the results of such a disease or rather we can call it such a life threatening disease. It is said ‘Prevention is better than Cure’ and we thereby to safeguard you against this deadly disease provide you with the best of information so that you can avoid being engulfed by it because we care.

For acquiring knowledge about anything I think one should start from the basics and that is precisely what is offered to you by the site as soon as you visit it. The very basics of the disease are provided so as to make it much simpler for the pursuer to comprehend and assimilate the information associated with the said disease and provided in the site further. The site here deals with the nature of the disease. The next information tab on the website is of the causes of the lung cancer followed by the symptoms of the disease. Here it provides material relating to the different factors which can cause the disease. The website further deals with the symptoms that can indicate and help identify the formulation of the preliminary stages of the disease (though difficult to be detected) so that adequate measures can be taken at the earliest possible opportunity. A basic question can arise now that what is the result of the disease? If you are worried about life, then yes it can take it away and this is precisely the reason the website promotes information on this disease in the interest of the masses so as reduce the number of the people affected by the killer disease. The site apart from the above also provides information of what kind of diagnosis will help, what treatment to be adopted and what surgery to be undergone. Quite handy!! Isn’t it?

Viewing the site on the whole, the site provides a perfect blend of information and warning about the disease. The material collected is very comprehensive and the mode of communicating with the viewer of the site is commendable. Looking at the way of depicting the information creates an impact on the viewer and gives an effect of the information to be reliable.

An enema is a procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon. Enemas are usually carried out for medical reasons, like treating constipation, or as part of alternative therapies. In the early days, they were known as “clysters.” Enemas are a popular way of detoxifying the digestive tract. One can find extensive information on the various types of enemas by visiting leading online resources devoted to the subject.

Enemas act as a bowel stimulant. When an enema is performed, the patient expels feces. Bowel simulating enemas usually consist of water, sometimes with baking soda or a mild soap dissolved in it. This helps draw additional water from the bloodstream into the colon and increases the effectiveness of the enema.

Enemas generally cleanse the lower part of the colon, the sigmoid and the descending colon. Unlike colonics, enemas involve a single infusion of water into the colon. And unlike colonics, enemas do not have to be administered by a professional. One can find many types of disposable enema kits available in drugstores.

Modern times have seen many kinds of enemas hitting the market. The coffee enema is a term often heard. It is believed to detoxify the liver by quickly emptying the colon and increasing the flow of bile and the elimination of toxins through the bile. The entire process provides immediate relief from toxicity symptoms like indigestion, headaches, pain and congestion.

Sometimes, for surgical purposes, anesthetic agents are administered by way of an enema. This is done to reduce medically induced vomiting during surgery. Similarly, a barium enema is used as a contrast substance in radiological imaging of the bowel. Though there are disposable enema kits available, it is always preferable that one administers them in consultation with a qualified physician.

The companies exposed to the hazardous effects of Asbestos continued to expose their workers to the deadly element. No protection from the Asbestos dust and no information on its health hazards were provided to the Asbestos workers. Many died. The result observed was ugly, and it was therefore an essential need to bring justice by law to those who suffered ailments from Asbestos in the environment.

Asbestos Lawyers are the lawyers that specialize in the cases dealing specifically with the hazardous effects induced by Asbestos exposure. They work in the area of law and bring home justice in the form of compensation to those who suffered ill health, because of Asbestos in the present and/or past environment.

A patient of Asbestos-induced health problems, or his family, is eligible for filing a lawsuit. It is important for the patient to choose a lawyer on the basis of his success in the industry of law and justice. The number of successful cases presented to the affected individuals can be a testament of the lawyer’s credibility. Experience in the same or similar area is always an additional benefit.

The lawyer of choice shall then assess the case, answer pertinent queries, predict the direction for the Asbestos lawsuit, and bring home justice in the form of compensation. It is also important to provide clear, true and full information to the lawyer. This adds to the efficiency of the lawyer and his confidence in the case assignment. If one is unable to open all facts to the lawyer, the law firm may choose to hire a person for investigation about the exposure of Asbestos to the patient, and this all is done at no extra cost. The best thing is that all Asbestos Lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, so the patient or his family members are not required to part with any money before their lawsuit.