Colorectal Cancer Part 3: Must You Die if You Do Not Undergo Chemotherapy After Surgery?
Two people came to mind when I am writing this article on colorectal cancer. Let me relate their stories.
Mat (not real name) is a 45-year old professional who was diagnosed with Duke’s C rectum cancer. Eight of 16 lymph nodes were involved. He had an operation and subsequently underwent chemotherapy with 5-FU + leucovorin. The first chemo-treatment made his life miserable due to severe side effects. He decided to opt out of chemotherapy and came to us for help. He was started on herbs and felt real good after that.
Mat has a good friend who is a medical doctor. When his doctor-friend came to know that he had abandoned chemotherapy, he became agitated and came to see Mat and pleaded with him to continue with his chemo-treatment. According to this doctor-friend, what Mat did was wrong and he would not want to see his dearest friend die for nothing. He must go through the “proven path” of treatment. After all, to a medical doctor, herbal therapy is not definitive or scientifically proven.
Taken by his friend’s sincere concern for him, Mat relented and resumed his chemotherapy. The second treatment caused just as severe side effects as before. He felt like dying. Then, he came to a realization and asked himself: “What am I doing to myself? I suffered so much undergoing a treatment which I was not sure would even help me. Why, oh why am I “killing” myself? Am I doing this to please my doctor-friend or am I doing this for myself?” Mat was awakened to this fact and decided that he would please himself over all others. He decided to stop further chemotherapy.
The decision Mat made weighed heavily on me. When he came to me, I made it explicitly clear that the decision to undergo chemotherapy or not must be entirely his own decision. I cannot make that decision for him. So, he probably had made his decision based on his own guts feeling and we have to respect that. It has been some years now and Mat is still doing alright. One might want to ask: “Would Mat survive the six or eight cycles of chemotherapy, given the fact that even the first two cycles already caused severe reactions?”
It is a standard practice or golden rule so to say, that after surgery, patients are asked to undergo chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Sometime, when the doctor does not think chemotherapy is indicated, the patients themselves do not feel safe.
It was on 29 July 2001, 9.30 p.m. I was on the phone talking to a lady from England. Her Malaysian-born sister had colon cancer sometime in March 1999. She underwent an operation. The doctor in UK said that since the cancer was at its early stage (Duke’s 2), there was no need for her to do any chemotherapy. Not satisfied, she came to Singapore to see another oncologist. Since she was still young (46 years old) the oncologist recommended chemotherapy. This would be “safer” for her – preventive or insurance against possible problems later. So she underwent six cycles of chemotherapy in Singapore.
March 2000 — a scan showed a 3 cm mass in her liver. She again came to Singapore. Further investigations by doctors in Singapore showed that there was also a 1 cm mass in the lung. The doctors recommended surgery for the liver and /or the lung. However, when the doctors opened up the abdomen, they saw numerous nodules in the peritoneum. The removal of the liver-lung was abandoned. The abdomen was closed back. She underwent another eight cycles of chemotherapy. After the fourth chemotherapy the tumours decreased in size but subsequent chemotherapy did not show any further improvements. In short, chemotherapy did not achieve its intended purpose. She felt hopeless and decided to quit and returned to England.
She started on Gerson Therapy in Liverpool for five months. During that period the tumours had grown to twice their sizes. She then opted to participate in a clinical trial at one of London’s top hospitals. She was again subjected to another eight cycles of chemotherapy.
29 July 2001 — The purpose of the sister calling was to seek my help since there seems to be no other avenues left for her. Sometimes she was in pain, and she required sleeping pill.
This is the perception the world of today has with regards to cancer treatment. Chemotherapy is the answer and it must be done, otherwise you die from not doing it. With due respect, Mat’s doctor-friend believed that chemotherapy is the only key to Mat’s survival. Other ways are suspect and unreliable for lack of proof. So, Mat must go for chemotherapy or he will die. The truth is, Mat is still alive! But the lady from London, she was “emotionally a wreck ” and died not long after her sister talked to me.
Colorectal Cancer Part 3: Must You Die if You Do Not Undergo Chemotherapy After Surgery?
Tags: Person Communication and Meetings, medical doctor, Colorectal, C rectum cancer
One other issue is when you are in a circumstance where you do not possess a co-signer then you may actually want to try to make use of all of your financial aid options. You could find many grants and other free college funding that will ensure that you get money to aid with school expenses. Many thanks for the post.
Excellent read, I simply passed this onto a colleague who had been doing a little research on that. And he actually bought me lunch because I found it for him haha!
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
rather useful material, all in all I picture this is worthy of a bookmark, thanks a lot
This really answered my problem, thank you!
Greetings from Los angeles! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to browse your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I love the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, excellent site!
Strange , this post turns up with a dark color to it, what color is the primary color on your web site?
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you prevent it, any plugin or anything you can recommend? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any assistance is very much appreciated.
very useful material, all in all I picture this is worthy of a bookmark, thanks a lot
Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Kudos!
Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any issues with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no data backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?
Great blog you have here but I was wondering if you knew of any community forums that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get suggestions from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Cheers!
Awesome post! I will keep an on eye on your blog.
http://makemarketlaunch.hubpages.com/hub/Make-Market-Launch-It
I’m still learning from you, but I’m trying to reach my goals. I absolutely love reading everything that is posted on your blog.Keep the posts coming. I enjoyed it!
Great post!
It’s hard to find experienced people on this particular topic, but you appear like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
The core of your writing whilst sounding reasonable in the beginning, did not settle very well with me after some time. Someplace within the paragraphs you were able to make me a believer but only for a while. I however have got a problem with your leaps in assumptions and you would do well to help fill in all those gaps. If you can accomplish that, I will surely be fascinated.
Howdy! Quick question that’s totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my apple iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Appreciate it!
I carry on listening to the newscast speak about getting boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i find some?
really good things here, just thanks
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the page layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, thanks . “A man may learn wisdom even from a foe.” by Aristophanes.
Subscribed to your blog, thanks
Very effectively written article. Will probably be precious to those who uses it, including myself. Keep up the nice work! For sure I will take a look at your articles in the future.
I was basically curious about if you ever thought of changing the design of your blog? Its well written; I really like what youve got to state. But maybe you could include a a bit more in the way of written content so people might connect with it better. Youve got a great deal of wording for only having one or two pictures. Maybe you can space it out better?
Howdy I am so glad I found your web site, I really found you by accident, while I was researching on Askjeeve for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a incredible post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the superb work.
Hello, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam responses? If so how do you protect against it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any assistance is very much appreciated.
Thank you, I’ve been seeking for facts about this subject matter for ages and yours is the best I’ve located so far.
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back down the road. Cheers
thank you for you ,great blog. that is help for me with your information.What you say about inchiriere vila vacanta ? Thanks again.
Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Appreciate it
Do you have a spam issue on this site; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; we have developed some nice practices and we are looking to exchange strategies with other folks, please shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Your home is valueble for me. Thanks!…
Excellent blog you have here but I was curious about if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics talked about in this article? I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get feed-back from other experienced individuals that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you!
Amazing article, thanks, I will subscribe to you RSS soon!
Greetings! I’ve been reading your weblog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be bookmarking and checking back frequently!
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?
Hi there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Hello, I’ve been reading and enjoying your posts for some time now. I appreciate your spin on things. I’m finally planning to bookmark your website so I can keep returning to it. I continuously stumble upon it and keep thinking it’s amazing but never saving it. See you next time! Keep posting us with these great essays!
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to look it over. I’m definitely enjoying the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Superb blog and brilliant design and style.
Howdy would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and visual appeal. I must say you’ve done a very good job with this. Also, the blog loads super fast for me on Firefox. Superb Blog!
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same results.
I like the website layout ! How was it made? It is rather sweet!
Wonderful!!! Bookmarked this page. Will come back to see if there are any updates. Thanks I discovered your blog last week and started follow your posts religiously. I have not commented on any blog just yet but I was thinking I would love to. It’s really exciting to actually contribute to a article even if it’s only a blog. I really don’t know exactly what to write other than I really enjoyed reading through 2 of the articles. Nice articles indeed. I sure will keep visiting your blog weekly. I learned quite a bit from you. Thx!
Awesome post! I will keep an on eye on your blog.
Do you have a spam issue on this site; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; we have developed some nice practices and we are looking to swap techniques with others, why not shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Great post!