Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
The world lost a true visionary yesterday with the passing of Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. I remember back in the late 80’s when I was a young computer programmer/designer fresh out of grad school using the (Apple) MacIntosh computer for the very first time.
The MacIntosh user interface was so intuitive and such a leap ahead of the predominant Microsoft DOS operating system (remember? type commands at the green screen prompt) that I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
This new and emerging user interface in the 1980s that is taken for granted today rocketed the task of computer design light years ahead and allowed the development of computer systems to at last be something users could be involved in and easily understand.
There is no doubt that Steve Jobs’ passing at 56 years old was premature. He had much more to contribute to the world and I for one feel the world has been cheated now that he is gone.
Pictures of him in his final days showed a frail, shockingly thin frame consistent with a person who had undergone chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
While every single detail of Mr. Jobs’ cancer treatments over the years are not publicly known, one can’t help but wonder if his chemotherapy and radiation treatments contributed to his demise.
Just a few weeks ago, Kara Kennedy, daughter of the late Senator Edward Kennedy died at age 51 from a heart attack. Her brother, Patrick Kennedy said that her many years of chemotherapy to treat lung cancer took a severe toll on her health and weakened her physically to the point where “her heart just gave out.”
Is Conventional Treatment for Cancer Worse Than the Disease?
It seems that chemotherapy/radiation treatments causing death rather than preserving life are becoming more common.
Radiation in particular ups the risk of heart problems in women undergoing conventional treatment for breast cancer. The May 2000 issue of The Lancet reported that women who had undergone radiation for breast cancer increased their odds of dying from other causes, usually heart related, by 21% compared with women who had not undergone radiation with the 20 year survival rate for breast cancer improving by only 1%.
Does that seem worth it to you? It sure doesn’t to me.
Chemotherapy is another conventional treatment for cancer that seems to hasten people’s death. The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death in the UK reported that its review of 600 cancer patients who died within 30 days of treatment revealed that over one quarter had in fact been killed by the chemo and not cancer.
The extreme toxicity of chemo treatments is what causes the rapid demise, usually infections such as the very serious neutropenic sepsis.
In the case of Mr. Jobs, this appears to be what happened. According to reports from multiple sources, he had received chemotherapy treatments in recent months at the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto California and his devastating physical deterioration from these treatments almost certainly contributed to his quick passing.
Would You Ever Use Chemo or Radiation to Treat Cancer?
If you received a cancer diagnosis, would you ever agree to chemotherapy or radiation treatments or would you explore nontoxic alternative therapies?
I, for one, would not consider conventional cancer treatment as such an approach to disease seems more than a little misguided. How can use of toxic chemicals and/or radiation possibly be beneficial when both of these treatments actually have been shown to cause cancer in the long run?
It seems that a more holistic approach to cancer would be wiser than the slash and burn approach of conventional cancer treatments.
In his article A Holistic Approach To Cancer, Dr. Tom Cowan MD writes:
“… the job of the doctor is to distinguish between the therapy and the illness. What I mean by that is if you get a splinter in your finger, and then your body makes pus to get the splinter out, is the pus the therapy or the disease? We know that pus indicates infection and the presence of microorganisms, and we learned in medical school that doctors should kill the pus. But I don’t think it is that far of a stretch to see that if you have a splinter in your finger, the pus is the therapy for the splinter. If you don’t take the splinter out, the pus will do it for you. If you mistakenly think that the pus is the disease and you destroy the pus, the splinter will stay and your body will attempt this process again. If you destroy the pus again, your body might repeat this process three or four more times. Then you have a chronic infection as the body keeps trying to remove the splinter. Eventually it will either succeed, or it will encapsulate the splinter, which is a tumor, a new growth. It is not a cancerous tumor but a benign cystic tumor of the splinter. The understanding that the pus is the therapy allows you to predict what is going to happen in the future.
Now think of this example. Joe Bloke is a smoker. In other words, he puts a bunch of splinters in his lungs every day. Twice a year Joe gets cough, fever, mucus–all to get the splinters out of his lungs. I prefer to say “cough, fever, mucus” rather than “bronchitis” because the word “bronchitis” separates you from the reality of the situation. His body is producing an inflammatory response–it is making a mucus-pus-fever response to cleanse his lungs of splinters. If Joe goes to a doctor who makes the mistake of thinking that the response is the problem, he will give drugs to stop the bronchitis–which is actually the medicine. So Joe will be left with the splinters. That scenario will happen twice a year for thirty years and then Joe has a big bag of splinters in his lungs, and we call that lung cancer.”
Holistic approaches to cancer help resolve whatever caused the cancer in the first place. Conventional chemo/radiation treat only the “pus” of the cancer as described by Dr. Cowan.
Stopping cancer symptoms by “killing” the cancer cells with chemo or radiation is not in any way a cure as Mr. Jobs tragically discovered in his long running quest to regain his health.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
Source: Doctors Rely on Chemo Too Much
It’s not just the medicine. I believe all these diseases we have today are manmade from the crap food we eat to the air we breathe. It’s so sad what people go through in dealing with cancer.
Records of (modern) diseases such as Parkinsons, Huntington’s, and Schizophrenia date back before the Ancient Greeks. This is evident in medical texts portraying individuals with very specific characteristics specific to these disorders Tumors (cancers) have been dated back to times just after the ancient Greeks, when it became custom to open up the human body for surgery or autopsies.
While “crap food” and the “air we breathe” may not help these conditions, they are certainly manmade. Even Aristotle viewed neurological afflictions as “naturally occuring diseases of the brain”, rather than something supernatural or manmade.
It is so sad to read about all those people affected by cancer here on this blog.
Here is my private advice:
1. Everyone diagnosed with cancer should immediately stop eating ANY kind of carbohydrates! Carbohydrates (= sugars) are the only fuel to cancer! Stop feeding your cancer! You can stop the growth by not feeding it!
2. The prime cause of cancer is lack of oxygen in the cell (“Old” but still the best science from Dr. Otto Warburg from the 1930s). What is responsible for cell’s oxygenation? => essential fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6; those two fatty acids you have to take to bring oxygen back to your cancerous cells and stop other cells from becoming defective too! Best and cheapest way in my opinion: take biological high quality flax seed oil + the same amount of biological high quality sunflower oil.
3. For the (finest!) science behind this very very short and private advice: please read “The Hidden Story of Cancer” by Brian Peskin! It is the best book I have ever ever read in my life!
4. I would also recommend Canadian ESSIAC to all cancer patients, please get informed about it, read the books that have been written about nurse Rene Caisse and her natural treatment of cancer, they are available via Amazon/used books . Please make sure, that you buy the REAL ESSIAC from Resperin and no useless hoax that is offered in the internet! Essiac would be my first choice as a cancer treatment!
5. Taking essential fatty acids as recommended makes regular cancer treatments MUCH MUCH more effective and if taken regularly prior to radiation it saves your (still) healthy cells from being affected by it! This is no story but pure and best and newest science!
Bring oxygen into your cells! But do NEVER take fish oil as a source of Omega-3! Fish oil products do NOT contain essential fatty acids – they may be labled “omega-3” but they just contain derivatives of omega-3! Fish oils affect cancer treatment negatively! Do not take fish oil, especially if you are undergoing cancer treatment of any kind!
As far as the internet states, Steve Jobs was a vegetarian for almost 30 years, he obviously never got enough proteins and essential fatty acids from his diet..
If, God forbid, any of our family gets cancer, we will not use drugs, chemo/radiation, or surgery, if at all possible. We will try the Gerson Therapy, as it is an organic, dietary, cleansing way to rid the body of cancer cells. Yes, it is a vegan diet, but you don’t stay on it forever. I would much rather eat like a vegan for a few months or even over a year if I have to than destroy my body’s systems with drugs and radiation.
After watching my dad die from cancer, and seeing how the radiation of his major tumors just seemed to make him WORSE, I would have to say it is NOT worth it. I keep thinking of the Star Treck movie where Bones says that radiation and chemo are “BARBARIC!”
My sister-in-law was diagnosed with colon cancer. She tried alternative treatments aggressively for quite a while but the tumor grew quickly and began to spread until it advanced to stage 3c. She finally gave in and opted for chemotherapy. It was hard to go through but the chemo along with surgery completely eliminated the cancer and she is now cancer free several years later. I don’t believe western medicine is the devil here.
I was diagnosed 5 1/2 years ago with leukemia and lymphoma, stage 3. My dr. called and said he wasn’t sure when he saw the diagnosis because this just doesn’t happen to someone my age (45 at the time). This form of cancer is for old people, and I was definitely not old…at 46, I had 4 children, 20, 17, 8, and 4. My husband and I cried, then took a deep breath and got on the internet. We also purchased a great book called “Cancer: Step Outside the Box.”
I don’t begrudge (or judge) anyone for deciding differently than I did. We’re all free to choose our path, and yes, cancer is scary…terribly scary. If you’ve never had a panic or anxiety attack before, a cancer diagnosis will provide that opportunity as well. Waking in the middle of the night wondering who will raise your children, who will love your husband…wow. Just writing this makes my stomach tighten all over again. It’s a Truth: if you haven’t faced this, you can’t know what you’ll do. On the flip side of that…thinking about it BEFORE a diagnosis is like teaching our teens what to do when they’re faced with an offer of alcohol or drugs…if you decide now how you’ll react when you’re faced with it, you’ll be much more likely to choose according to your deeply held beliefs.
The path we chose did not include conventional treatment. I told my doctor we would try our way first, and then we’d consider his way, but also made no promises. He didn’t like it, but agreed to keep me as a patient. We made drastic changes to our diet…yes, all of us. What affects one, affects us all. We found a source for raw milk, clean meat, etc. I went on a combination of antioxidant supplements and cod liver oil (gobs of it!), found a chiropractor who understood the battle, educated myself and my family, and prayed like crazy (realizing I wasn’t immortal was also quite a blow! lol). I also had Dr. Nicholas Gonzales on the back burner in case Plan A didn’t work. After 6 months of “Cancer Boot Camp”, I was re-staged to stage 1 (where I remain today). There was the longest silence in the room when my oncologist told us this…and not a dry eye. His exact words were, “I’ve never seen or heard of anyone with this cancer re-staged without treatment.” The majority of the people who treat cancer conventionally are good, honest people who have dedicated their lives to helping people, but they can only see one paradigm of treatment. Because I don’t choose their path/products does NOT make them my enemy. I found I needed these people for diagnosis purposes, and relied on them for interpreting tests. They’re my neighbors, my allies, and as long as we have a good working relationship, I’ll stay.
So will I ever have radiation/chemo? I don’t believe so. Several mentioned the “end” for people they’ve known who chose not to have conventional treatments as being pretty gruesome. I’d have to counter that by saying the end WITH treatment can be just as gruesome. Death is just that: death. It’s uncomfortable for others to watch, painful at times, and yes, even smelly. I’ve lost loved ones to a variety of dis-ease. Not one of them had last days without difficulty, but all of them had last days with peace. When I get to the end, whether it’s tomorrow or in 30 years, I do want to be comfortable, and there are drugs to help with that. I just try not to make decisions based in fear or regret. At the same time, these are MY decisions. You don’t have to choose the same ones…just ones that are in keeping with your values.
Thank you so much for sharing your inspiring story!!
Interesting post. I didn’t know about about natural treatments for cancer until recently. I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries about the topic and thinking about it. I have a cousin who died from pancreatic cancer. Knowing what I do now about treatment options I don’t think I would get chemotherapy for cancer. I know there are plenty of people who would say that would be a bad choice, but after looking into alternatives it seems to be that those alternatives are the best option. Here is a link to the Burzynski movie
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/burzynski-the-movie-cancer-is-serious-business/
I also watched The Beautiful Truth about the work of Max Gerson.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/beautiful-truth/
This post was honestly not intended to be provocative only to ask what others would do and share what I would do. I was simply commenting on the sad news of Steve Jobs’ passing and writing about some of the things that crossed my mind in reading those reports. I am shocked at the judgmental response of some of the comments and how a few folks are seemingly missing the point entirely of what I intended to get across.
Sarah, most of us are grateful for this post, and the truth you are bringing out. There are some wonderful comments above that are far more meaningful than the judgmental ones. What you are doing here is good.
Thanks Stanley. It’s days like this that I truly wonder why I bother blogging.
Please don’t be discouraged. Along with a lot of other things that happen in peoples lives, healthcare can be so divisive. Those that disagree with you and cannot find a happy medium will drop away, and those of us more able to moderate our emotions on the topic will stay, waiting to hear what you think next week! You just can’t make everyone happy all the time, and I, for one, hope that it doesn’t cause you to stop blogging. There are so many other bloggers out there who are all sunshine and rainbows, and perhaps a lot of your followers who thought they wanted to discuss alternative health really just want to be somewhere like that instead. Unsubscribing is really just a click away!
Thanks Ann. Sunshine and rainbows this blog is NOT. I would be so bored with authoring that type of blog I would have quit long ago. We tackle the hard issues here and are not afraid to ask and discuss the difficult questions.
Chemo sucks, and if it works, which it does for many, it was worth it, and if it doesn’t, it’s a terrible disappointment and the loss of quality of life. Chemo is about probabilities, not absolutes, and we don’t know which side we’re on til it’s over. I know more saved by conventional treatment than lost to, or despite, it.
I get so much from Sarah’s posts and love that she is blazing the way and encouraging discussion. She is a trailblazer. She is getting us to think ouside the box. She is offering her point of view to us all because she wants to see change in the world and believes that if enough of us change the world will change. I am really greateful for your work and this blog Sarah.
Responding to some here who are raising objection to this post, I think the question is legitimate and the timing is fine. I also feel a bit of a holier-than-thou vibe from this post, which, honestly, I feel from time to time with the posts on this blog.
Whether Steve died yesterday or not, I think subject could possibly have been dealt with in a more tactful way…especially knowing that there are bound to be people reading who have chosen to go chemo/radio and who may be real Steve Jobs fans.
So in that case I think we are also allowed to say, well I’m a bit offended by your approach, Sarah. I don’t think it’s fair to judge her for bringing this up today; after all, we can just not read it. Also, Sarah is not asking us, “how am I doing” though she may want to know that, or she may not.
It looks to me from her responses here that she doesn’t want to hear it. OK, we learn something about her, and take what she has to offer with great gratitude. If someone is being provocative we have to decide whether we are going to let ourselves be provoked or not.