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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
No, we would not use chemo or radiation for cancer treatment in our home.
Getting the information out while people are paying attention is the goal here, not disrespect of a person’s life. I couldnt’ have even guessed who Steve Jobs was before yesterday. But my first guess when I saw that he had died in his mid fifties was cancer treatment. People, even those who are very successful will not escape the brainwashing going on in this country without taking time to question it.
I have to disagree with everyone saying wait until you have a diagnosis to say what you would do. You don’t have time to research once you have a diagnosis. Get your facts strait about the pharma promoting medical system. Then focus on nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle and about the alternative cancer treatments that are available.
I honestly don’t think that I would, but I can’t say for certain. I really do believe that they are more harmful than I would be willing to risk, but I would have to very carefully research and evaluate my specific situation and the alternatives, as well as statistics. Having never had to face that choice myself, my best guess would be that I would opt for natural alternatives. 🙂
I do not see anything at all in what Sarah wrote as being disrespectful to Steve Jobs. I also don’t see anything dangerous with asking the question Would You Ever Use Chemo Or Radiation For Cancer? Since when is a question dangerous?
NOT questioning what is done to your body is where the danger lies.
matt, i’m 99,9% sure that everyone that posted (or hosted) has either directly or indirectly been forever changed by cancer. we are all entitled to kindly and with respect voice our opinions. there is no need to hurl accusations and insults. we are adults.
I agree with Nicole, as a mom who is sitting in a Children’s hospital right this minute with my almost 3 year old son, diagnose with hepatoblastoma liver cancer, I don’t really think you can say what you would do until you are in the position of making these kinds of decision for you or your kids. My son surgery was successful, removing a softball size tumor from his liver and further treatment with chemotherapy was not a choice I was able to decline.
I was one to always say that I would NEVER do chemo but without someone to treat him (and I contacted several doctors that treat cancer with alternative treatments, all who said they did not work with children) what am I suppose to do? Losing my son to the state was not an option I was willing to take, if he has to go through chemo then I am going to be there to advocate for him.
Let me say that I am not happy about having the right to chose my child’s treatment options taken away from me. I contacted the Burzynski Clinic and they told me chemo was still my best option. What most ppl don’t understand with children is that you have no right to say no. Only after conventional treatment options have been unsuccessful are you allowed to try alternative treatment.
We have worked very closely with the integrative medicine team utilizing essential oils, foods, massage, and healing touch. Most importantly, we have hundreds of ppl praying with/for us on a daily basis. He is still nursing which helps support his immune system. I research each and every drug they give him. Our oncologist is perplexed at the fact that he has been through a whole round of chemo and has not lost any of his hair nor has he suffered any major side effects. We are kick’n some chemo tail.
I understand that what you are trying to do is get ppl to be informed and think for themselves, but you can not truly understand until you are in a position to make decisions that could mean life or death for your child or yourself and I pray that you never have to make those decisions.
Thanks, Megan. I am floored by Sarah’s response to my post. I thought I would never allow chemo on my child. I know that he would have been taken from us if we had refused, people just can’t fathom the use of alternative treatments for cancer on kids. There really is no choice. I breastfed my son (tandem with his newborn sister) through his treament and thank god he was still nursing at almost 4 when he was diagnosed. We also used the power of intention as a form of treatment, we had anyone and everyone we could praying for, thinking of and sending cancer cell killing intentions his way.
Sarah, I never meant to suggest that you haven’t had to make hard decisions in your life but being told my an oncologist that your child has cancer is a very unique situation, the feeling of which I do not think can be duplicated. I only know this because I have experienced it and I think that other parents of children with cancer know exactly what I mean.
Nicole
I DO know what you mean, Nicole, having walked in your shoes, and we followed the same path. My son is still in treatment and is doing very well. I wish I had known at the beginning what I know now about Real food as medicine, but unfortunately I am having to learn as I go. Had I the knowledge then, I still doubt I would have had the courage to take my son’s life into my own hands – not when he lay in the hospital with a white blood cell count of over 800,000, with blood so thick he could have a stroke at any moment…..
Today I have a lot less trust in doctors and in conventional medicine, but as a parent looking at a 90% cure rate with chemotherapy, I don’t regret our decision. If I met someone who made the opposite choice, I’d support them (and pick their brain if they were up for it)! I am definitely worried about long-term effects and I hope that the diet and lifestyle we’ve adopted now will help prevent any of those effects. The way I see it….every day is a gift for my child who was, literally, on death’s door – and so I am both horrified by and extremely grateful for the treatment my son has received – It doesn’t make sense to me, either.
Sarah, I truly hope that you have never had this personal of an experience with any life-threatening illness or allergy – and you are right, we don’t know, we can only hope your shoes had never gone there. If they have….I am sorry . But just in case you haven’t, if I may explain….a devastating diagnoses for you or your child changes you – cuts and hurts so deeply that even perceived attitudes of indifference or judgement can send you spinning. We all deal with pain, fear and outrage – but cancer leaves you raw. That’s only my experience, and I think that we all appreciate it when our experiences are honored. I honor your experience, shared or private, and I honor Nicole’s and your other reader’s. I think that’s all anyone is asking for.
It is clear that the conventional treatment did not work for one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on earth, who surely had the best doctors and treatments.
I would never accept poison(chemo) or radiation. Almost everyone I know who has had those treatments has eventually died, with horrible suffering over a long period of time. This includes several who were pronounced “cured”, because they survived five years after the first diagnosis. The cancer came back later and they died horribly.
The healthy peoples studied by Dr Price did not have cancer. I trust in eating a good, traditional WAPF style diet, avoiding toxins, refusing to fear any illness, and maintaining a calm loving thankful state of mind to the extent I can.
Beautifully said Stanley. Thanks for this comment.
When I returned to my inbox just now it was to find an ad for a book called Bah to Cancer. This is not a recommendation—since I haven’t read it. But there is lots of stuff out there if you look. Brandon Bays wrote a great book—if I have the name right.
Cancer treatment is by far one of the most personal care decisions we have to make if we face it in our lives. What’s upsetting is the news that chemo is truly only effective on 3 types of cancer, but that there are treatments out there that are winning the fight with cancer and they have been around a very long time. But the docs and whoever else controls these things, have decided not to make them mainstream. One is glucose chemotherapy, where by the idea that cancer thrives off sugar they deliver a much smaller dose of chemo mixed with glucose and it goes directly to the cancer and not the rest of your body. Another man is curing cancer with baking soda on the actual cancer, if he can get to it. If you read Suzanne Somers books she details her journey but also the fact that there is so much more out there you just have to fight for it. The bare facts are that there is a much better way to eat (Thank you Sarah-Healthy home economist), a much better way to treat our bodies, and truly a much better way to treat our world and eachother. It’s all a cycle that we have to be aware of so that we can make better choices for ourselves and our family members so that cancer and other diseases aren’t an issue because we know what we’re putting in our bodies.
I truly believe you can cure cancer without chemotherapy and radiation. The problem is that changing your diet, taking gross tasting herbs, and all the other things you need to do are hard. That, and people will probably tell you that you are stupid and ask why you are letting yourself die. It is difficult when everyone around you thinks you should go the chemo/radiation route. My mother did this and my sisters were very mad about it. They told me she was just going to let herself die. She did die in the end, because people weren’t willing to support her so she struggled to change her diet. I KNOW she could have lived had she been able to stick to what she knew she should do.
The timing of this post is almost overwhelming to me.
Two weeks ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I meet with my surgeon this afternoon. I have had two weeks to consider all my “I would never” statements. I agree with the comment that pointed out that until you hear those words, you don’t know. I have four children, aged 10 and younger. I want this cancer out of me NOW! It is not about me but about being here for my children.
I drink green smoothies, I supplement with “living” herbs, I use essential oils as my cleaners, I use plant based laundry soap, the only oil in my pantry is coconut oil, I treat colds and infections with holistic approaches, I buy organic and/or local produce, we eat very little meat and free range when we do, my eggs come from a neighboring farm, we drink raw milk.
While I admit that I follow more of the 70/30 rule (strict adherence 70% of the time – but won’t turn down a dinner from a friend that I know is not the same strict guidelines) I am farther down the “let they food be thy medicine” road than many.
And I still have cancer.
I worked as a nurse for seven years before becoming a mom. I worked on a terminal unit for two of those years and I still remember a patient that went completely holistic for her cancer and ended up dying a painful, SMELLY, drawn out death, literally suffocating to death.
Yet a dear friends father used holistic methods and is the picture of health nearly 10 years later.
I could find similar positive and negative outcomes of those that used conventional medicine.
I still don’t know what I am going to do. But I have not ruled out the surgery and radiation that has been suggested – because, again, I want this cancer gone now. I am scared to death to try holistic and have it not work (because I am already doing so many of those things) only to have the cancer spread and even lose the option of having conventional medicine work.
While I may not know what treatment I will have, what I do know is that my days are known and that a loving God will not take me before my time. He is ultimately in charge and my choice of treatments will not alter His plan for me. And should this be my time (which I don’t believe it is) then I will gladly go, knowing it’s a better place than where we all are now.
My prayers are with you.
-Pavil
Likewise. Katherine, let your faith be your guide. I’ll pray that God tells you the right path to choose for treatment.
Kathrine, please read this and give it to your doctors:
It is an excerpt of the book The Hidden Story of Cancer by Brian Peskin, which he put online to provide those who are already affected by cancer with important scientific information, their doctors are unlikely to have. Time is very important!
As I already posted before: the prime cause of cancer is a lack of oxygen in your cells. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) (omega-6 and omega-3) are responsible for cell oxygenation. To maintain maximum oxygen tranfer to the cells you have to take sufficient parent omega-6 and parent omega-3 essential polyunsaturated oils daily.
Optimum blend is at least 1:1 omega-6 : omega-3 to 2,5:1 omega 6 : omega-3 (do not use fish oil for omega-3! – it would be harmful to you, especially during cancer treatment, it does not contain parent omega-3, just derivates!).
Coconut oil is not an essential oil, you require essential oils like flax seed oil and sunflower oil.
Get enough of the minerals copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc, in a bioavailable form (truly chelated!). These minerals influence and maximize the respiratory (co)enzymes for maximum oxygen transfer to occur.
Eat sufficient organic animal based protein, eat a minimum of 8 oz. a day for a 150 lb. person.
Minimize your intake of carbohydrates! All carbs = sugars => it feeds the cancer cells!
Consider the original Canadian Essiac from Rene Caisse as a herbal detoxifier. I read in several books that Essiac helps especially with breast cancer since it kind of concentrates the tumor to a small site so it is much more easy to operate/cut it out.
Take the parent EFAs along with your doctor’s recommendations. If you will be receiving radiation treatment, take the parent EFAs at least 2 week prior and 2 weeks after treatment! By this you will minimize the risk of having the radiation create lots more cancerous cells in the future!
This is no theory but scientific fact! It is the newest and best science, you and your doctors will be able to make your treatment much more effective.
You are a mother of 4 so your babies have deprived you of those essential fatty acids during the pregnancies. The babies needed them essentially for their development and they took it from the only source they had, their mother’s body. I think this could be the main reason why cancer hit you. Probably along with some hidden trans fatty acids we are exposed to everywhere if we do not cook and eat at home. And the various negative effects of carbs and missing minerals in today’s foods.
Consider not to drink smoothies again, they are concentrated carbohydrates!
Please consult with your doctor for assistance in implementing these guidelines in conjunction with your medical treatment. And read/let others read for you, since you are not in the condition for a book right now: The Hidden Story of Cancer by Brian Peskin.
What I have written here is a very short summary – but please trust me in that, time is very important for you!
http://www.facebook.com/notes/brian-peskin-bsee-mit/fish-oil-reduces-effectiveness-of-chemotherapy/10150375208821189
“Professor Peskin’s note: IF anyone is considering/taking chemo…..BEWARE…..
ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2011) – Researchers at University Medical Center
Utrecht, the Netherlands, have discovered a substance that has an adverse
effect on nearly all types of chemotherapy — making cancer cells
insensitive to the treatment. Chemotherapy often loses effectiveness over
time. It is often unclear how or why this happens.
It now appears that chemotherapy is made ineffective by two types of fatty
acid that are made by stem cells in the blood. Under the influence of
cisplatin chemotherapy, the stem cells secrete these fatty acids that induce
resistance to a broad spectrum of chemotherapies. These substances are
referred to by researchers as ‘PIFAs’ which stands for platinum-induced
fatty acids. Cisplatin is a type of chemotherapy that is widely used for the
treatment of cancer, including cancer of the lungs and ovaries.
Tumors under the skin
The researchers studied the effect of PIFA’s in mice and human cells. The mice studied had tumors under the skin. Under normal conditions, the tumors
would decrease in size following the administration of chemotherapy. In the
study, after administering the fatty acids to the mice, the tumors were
found to be insensitive to chemotherapy. The fatty acids were isolated from
the medium in which chemotherapy exposed stem cells were grown. But also
stem cells in the blood of patients produce the fatty acids that desensitize
tumors to chemotherapy.
The fatty acids are also found in commercially-produced fish oil supplements
containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids as well as in some algae
extracts. In the experiments conducted in mice, the tumors became
insensitive to chemotherapy after administration of normal amounts of fish
oil. Natural products that include fish oil are frequently used by cancer
patients in addition to their regular treatment.
“Don’t use these products”
Professor Emile Voest, a medical oncologist at UMC Utrecht, supervised the
research. “Where resistance to chemotherapy is concerned, we usually believe
that changes in the cancer cells themselves have occurred. Now we show that
the body itself secretes protective substances into the blood that are
powerful enough to block the effect of chemotherapy. These substances can be
found in some types of fish oil. Whilst waiting for the results of further
research, we currently recommend that these products should not be used
whilst people are undergoing chemotherapy.”
Researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, describe these findings, that will appear online on September 12, in the
journal Cancer Cell.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University Medical Center Utrecht, via
EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Journal Reference:
Jeanine M.L. Roodhart, Laura G.M. Daenen, Edwin C.A. Stigter, Henk-Jan
Prins, Johan Gerrits, Julia M. Houthuijzen, Marije G. Gerritsen, Henk S.
Schipper, Marieke J.G. Backer, Miranda van Amersfoort, Joost S.P. Vermaat,
Petra Moerer, Kenji Ishihara, Eric Kalkhoven, Jos H. Beijnen, Patrick W.B.
Derksen, Rene H. Medema, Anton C. Martens, Arjan B. Brenkman, Emile E.
Voest. Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induce Resistance to Chemotherapy through the
Release of Platinum-Induced Fatty Acids. Cancer Cell, 2011; 20 (3): 370 DOI:
10.1016/j.ccr.2011.08.010
Katherine, I see this was written in Oct of 2011. I am just now reading it in May of 2013. I was wanting to know what you decided to do and what the outcome has been. My pantry and lifestyle sounds a lot like yours (70/30). My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer at 27 and died at 38. I am 34 and a mom of two toddlers, boys. I think of breast cancer daily. I currently have a knot in my right breast that I have to have checked out – don’t even know yet what approach I will take with even that. I’d love to hear from you. ([email protected])