Help regarding cancer needed

[Stunt66]

I found out on monday my older brother has lung cancer, they say he's stage 3 of 4 and its pretty bad. They've given him between 3-5 years to live but there's still a couple of appointments he still has to go to so were not 100% sure on the 3-5. I'm hoping i can get some honest opinions regarding chemotherapy and any other treatment. We've been talking to a lot of people and it's almost like its 50/50 whether to do chemo or not, some say it worked while some say it was the worst decision they ever made. If any of you guys know someone thats gone through chemo can you please tell me anything regarding it good or bad? Thanks in advance

[5fivespeed]

Sorry to hear that :(, Hope you get some answers.

[EK 2.0]

First off, I am sorry to hear about your unfortunate news...

No matter who you ask friends or strangers, the chemo debate is a mixed one. I have 2 family members dealing with cancer right now and I can tell you it is quite the ordeal when it comes to deciding on chemo.

What has to happen your brother has to sit down with the oncologist and "map" out his illness. They need to take in all the factors of chemo to see if the "ordeal" is worth it. The chemotherapy route can be extremely taxing on not only your brother but to you and your family. And when I say taxing I mean this...I see people almost daily going through treatments. To some, it makes them slightly sicker, but they forge ahead with treatment. And others, it makes them so sick, and put them through so much pain and distress which always carries over to the family. As I feel an illness like this is felt by more than just the patient.

And in the event that the chemotherapy does not work, your brother MIGHT have gone through a painful series of treatments for no reason. Or, it could iincrease his standard of living...so really as much advice and first hand information we can offer you, it's best left to your brother and his oncologist...

[Redlyne_mr2]

Dammit I hate to hear about stuff like this.. really sorry to hear man. I can't offer any advice just my support.

[Kritafo]

sorry to hear the news. Cancer is such tricky business. He needs to set up an appointment to discuss his options. Chemo isn't for everyone. You have to weigh your negatives and positives.

Never listen to the numbers I don't know why they give them. My sister was given 6 months it's been 6 years.

My father for instance who died of lung cancer that spread to all his internal organs was against chemo and radiation. For the family he suffered, watching us pray for a miracle. When we look back on it now, we should have just left him be, but for my mothers and my 3 sisters and I it gave us hope. It took away his zest for life. Like EK 2.0 says, it effects the entire family.

Just stand by his decision.

[st184]

I dont know much about your brothers decision on chemo, that's a tough one... but I do have a few tips from when my mom had cancer. She tried this tea called "Essiac tea" in conjunction with eating healthy while she had cancer and she claims it helped with the pain. I remember myself that she was stuck in bed for the longest time but when we started giving her the tea she started getting up and cooking dinner etc. After she started the tea she went to the doctor and she was amazed to see the tumor had gone from very inflamed and hard to small, shriveled and soft (this was before she did chemo radiation which has so far cured her). If you want, you can try that- you have nothing to loose. I might even be able to get a box of it for you from our house, I think my mom still drinks the stuff. Just send me a PM if you want me to snag you one.

[Kritafo]

My mother was the queen of alternatives and Essiac she swore by. . My mother had Multiple Myeloma which is a cancer that has severe bone pain.

There are copy cat version of this tea. She used to use the one you had to brew yourself in a pot. She did find a difference between the supplements and the tea. I believe Bowness Health food store has it.

My mother really did everything possible to be pain free with Multiple Myeloma, she had nothing to lose and everything to gain. She did battle for 3 years, which is longer than her prognosis of 24 months.

[Stunt66]

My brother went to some appointment today to talk about treatment and they're saying he's got about a 15% chance with chemo. They're telling him to do it, but from what we've heard they will always say that. He's literally at the point where he's given up. Our main concern regarding chemo is his health, he wasn't in the greatest shape before and were really concerned that with chemo it may make what he has left really unbearable.
I couldn't imagine the painful choice of having to choose between quantity of life over quality. :( Thanks for all your help so far

[zipdoa]

Watch 'The Secret'... The woman who beats cancer through positive thinking is pretty interesting. It's amazing what will-power and a positive attitude will accomplish.

Tell you bro to believe he will beat it and live a health prosporous life, and also make the lifestyle changes associated with this belief (hit the gym, and hit it hard, new diet, become a vegan, stop smoking, etc).

This is what I would do if I were diagnosed (although this is already what I do, the only change would be becoming vegan/no more shisha)

[Darkane]

I might be flamed for this but whatever I'd don't give a fuck. If it's as serious as you say it is, get him on HRT.

HRT = Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Basically medically administered steroids. Chemo is hell on blood cell count and immune system. With the added testosterone he will feel like a million bucks, add muscle (which will be dearly needed after chemo) and have a positive outlook.

It will strengthen his body against colds, and infections after the chemo if that's the path decided.

[Toma]

Originally posted by zipdoa
Watch 'The Secret'... The woman who beats cancer through positive thinking is pretty interesting. It's amazing what will-power and a positive attitude will accomplish.

Oh fuck.... :nut:

[TKRIS]

Listen to the doctor. Make decisions based on real evidence and logic. Not bullshit alternative healing.
It's going to be a tough enough fight this without burning calories on retarded bullshit suggested by stupid fucking people.
Don't let your brother waste valuable energy on new-age woo woo bullshit.


I wish your brother all the best.

EDIT: Jesus fucking Christ. The people in this thread...:facepalm:

[Genjuro]

You should watch the movie "The Beautiful Truth".
It talks about natural therapy for cancers.

[Toma]

Google "Johanna Budwig" and do that for sure. It is basically Flax Seed oil, mixed with milk protein, and you eat it.

Most common way is a good 3-4 table spoons "Oraganic" Cottage cheese, with 2 tablespoons good organic flax oil (MUST be from the refrigerated section of the health food store!!!).... eat it twice a day.

Then the 2 anti-estrogen's are supposed to be top notch. DIM (diindolylmethane), and indole-3 carbimol. This is a must for a man with cancer.

The AHCC extract from Japanese mushrooms is also kick ass.

I would for sure, 100%, no doubt supplement with all this.

Also,low carb. You need to kill the Cancer, and Cancer loves sugar.... eat a shitload of veggies (cruciferous ones have been found to fight cancer), and anti oxidant berries like blue berries.

ZERO junk, ZERO artificial, no processed, whit flour, pasta, bread...that shit has to go. .... and work out!!

[Darkane]

^^ agreed for the most part. Don't go on any anti-e's without Estradiol confirmation on blood work.

You could end up lowering estrogen to the point of terrible joint ache, low-no libido, low energy etc.

EDIT: Just to add some power foods to be aware of:

Broccoli
Grass-fed beef
Cinnamon
Blue berries
Ginger
Wild atlantic salmon
Onions
Avocado's
Beans

There is a huge list. I recommend reading Dr. Johnny Bowdens "The 150 healthiest fodos on earth".

Fight this piece of shit cancer head on.

[Toma]

Originally posted by Darkane
^^ agreed for the most part. Don't go on any anti-e's without Estradiol confirmation on blood work.

You could end up lowering estrogen to the point of terrible joint ache, low-no libido, low energy etc.


I disagree....what they claim is 'normal' in blood work is far too high for a healthy MAN.

All a doctor will tell him is "it's normal".

Or you could go see my dad's Doctor. Dr. Johnson in the Market Mall professional clinic. Legit Doctor that concentrates on natural health. Initial visit is now over $200, but it's worth it.

Be warned, he can be rude, if you have bad habits and refuse to kick them, he will be condescending, abrasive.... but he may save your brothers life.

222-4935 40 Avenue NW, Calgary, AB T3A 2N1, Canada‎ - (403) 202-0724‎

He will order blood tests to make your head spin.

[st184]

Originally posted by TKRIS
EDIT: Jesus fucking Christ. The people in this thread...:facepalm:

With 15% chance of chemo working he doesn't have much to loose. Plus, there are many cancer survivors such as my mother who still swear by both methods.

[westbeach70]

My dad went thru Lung cancer.. Terrible WICKED disease, & wish your bro all the best dude. If he is a smoker definitly do not tell him to quit cold turkey that is what happened to my father & he passed on quite quickly..

As stated above you will find the chemo does take a toll on someone he will loose weight like crazy & feel weak as all hell but tell him to keep his spirits high & eat as much healthy foods as all possible.


All the best dude, to your family & him...

[A790]

My ex girlfriends uncle had cancer, gave him 12 months to live. That was six years ago. Chemo worked well for him, though his general health is not quite what it was before. He gets sick fairly often.

But, he's lived 5 years longer than he was supposed to.

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by st184


With 15% chance of chemo working he doesn't have much to loose. Plus, there are many cancer survivors such as my mother who still swear by both methods.

Except wasting valuable energy on retarded woo.

Your mom is an anecdotal case, and you recommending tea to help with cancer based on her experience is the exact same as me recommending cocaine, cigarettes, and copious amounts of booze, because that's what my friend took, and he was supposed to be dead over 10 years ago.

Correlation does not equal causation.

Animal testing of Essiac tea has shown absolutely no anti-tumor activity, and tests done with humans done by the Canadian Health Department correspond with this. It's snake oil.


OP: Tell your brother to listen to DOCTORS. Let me clarify that: Tell your brother to listen to real medical doctors that specialize in cancer treatment. There's a reason they won't tell him to not bother with real treatments, and to just wish really hard, or drink magical tea or shove coffee up his ass.

There are few things in this world that piss me off more than people who seek to make a buck by selling false promises and snake oil to those most vulnerable.
I will, however, agree with Kritafo: It doesn't matter what brand of snake oil you buy. They all work equally well, and that is to say, not at all.

[Kritafo]

you have to remember that "snake oil" can bring enough belief to keep fighting.

My sister never for a moment thought she was going to die, she is positive and your brain is a very powerful tool. So far she is 5 1/2 years past her expected survival. Primary GBM brain tumor 2 surgeries and primary kidney cancer.

[TKRIS]

The placebo effect only works if you don't realize it's a placebo. If you're just using "hope", then why do you need the placebo?

I agree that having a good attitude and fighting hard makes a huge difference, but why would you choose to do it at the edge of a cliff where one simple realization could push you off the edge?

Why base all your positivity and hope on something so easily disproven? Why waste energy, money, and time setting yourself up for failure like that?

Keep a positive attitude and fight that motherfucker because you know you're going to win, not because you think a magical tea is going to do it for you. Because the second you realize the magic tea is just fucking tea, all that evaporates.

The argument that simply keeping yourself stupid and ignorant and allowing yourself to believe in bullshit is a good idea because it'll keep you from knowing any better is fucking insulting.

Fight that motherfucker because you're too strong to let it win, not because you're pretty sure you can lie to yourself good enough to trick your brain.

[Kritafo]

Well for my mom I know that when she got into a great deal of pain she made the tea, if it took some extra cash to make her feel better we did it.

Either way, people/patients are usually pretty opinionated when it comes to treatments. They will either do the traditional with support or try anything. My mother was in the try anything group. We took her to a medicine man, Indian drumming sessions, chelation, you name it we were there. In total we maybe spent $500.00 more than we had to if we followed traditional methods. She had been a vegetarian for 10 + years when she was diagnosed. That day she went out for a bacon cheeseburger at Wendy's before we even got home.

anyhow all the best in the fight.

My father did the traditional route. The cancer spread like wildfire after his radiation.

[em2ab]

2 of my aunts were diagnosed with stage 4 in October and were given 5 weeks. They died same day.

That's terrible but make sure you get all the appropriate tests done, they were given more time at first but when the specialized tests came back that's what it came down to.

[TKRIS]

So your mom wasted a lot of time and money and energy of stuff that did exactly jackshit, so that's your advise.
Awesome.

"Just be stupid and don't research anything. Once you're gullible enough to believe anything, then you'll be able to believe tea is going to cure your cancer."

Fight cancer through being an ignorant sucker. Great fucking idea.

I'd suggest getting an 8-ball, a Texas mickey of Crown Royal, and a carton of John Players Specials, because it totally cured my buddy Rob.

Like I said before, anecdotal sample sizes of 1 are precisely fucking useless.

Some people die of cancer, and some people don't. Drinking tea, reading The Secret, or having coffee poured into your ass has no effect on which group you'll fall into.

Getting the best possible medical care is the only tangible that's going to have any impact of your chances of survival. Full fucking stop.



Full Disclosure: Rob was given 6 months to live about 12 years ago. He had chemo, and any other treatments his doctors told him to have. And no, I DO NOT advocate cocaine, cigarettes and booze as a cancer treatment. Of course that's a stupid idea, my point was purely illustrative.
Of course, if you are just going to blindly follow one stupid idea or the other, I'd like to point out that mine is WAY more fun than sitting in bed drinking tea that tastes like a frog's diseased asshole.

[Stunt66]

Thanks for all the support so far! He's scheduled for chemo next month so let's hope it helps. He's trying hard to keep his spirits up but i know its not easy for him. He went from a very happy and carefree guy to pretty much someone whos lost literally evreything in life in a matter of weeks. There's so much different ideas about cancer it's overwhelming, I mean who do you believe?
were gonna just take the docs advice with the chemo and healthy eating for now but who knows what after. :(

[Stubby]

Originally posted by Stunt66
Thanks for all the support so far! He's scheduled for chemo next month so let's hope it helps. He's trying hard to keep his spirits up but i know its not easy for him. He went from a very happy and carefree guy to pretty much someone whos lost literally evreything in life in a matter of weeks. There's so much different ideas about cancer it's overwhelming, I mean who do you believe?
were gonna just take the docs advice with the chemo and healthy eating for now but who knows what after. :(

I have heard wonderful things about apricot seeds (kernels). The air dried ones, not the cooked ones. They are illegal in Canada, but they are not that hard to find. From what I have heard you can get them from missionaries or some people get them shipped. I believe you can go to a organic/health food store and ask for them and they will be able to point you in the right direction. The apricot kernels contain vitamin B17 which has been known to "cure cancer". I don't know first hand, but their is lots of evidence backing it up on the web.

My $.02

Doesn't hurt to look into it.

Chris

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by Stubby
The apricot kernels contain vitamin B17 which has been known to "cure cancer".

No, it hasn't. And "Vitamin" B17 isn't a vitamin, it's Amygdalin. Legendary quack Ernest Krebs marketed it as a "Vitamin" in an attempt to get it classified as a supplement so that he could get around federal regulations on drug testing and marketing. He knew damned well that he couldn't produce any evidence that it worked, and that it wouldn't pass safety inspections. That was his only shot at slipping it under the radar and selling it without having to adhere to any of the FDA's standards.

There's a very fucking good reason it isn't readily available, and an even better one why a real doctor (real as in, not a disgraced dentist who ran away to Mexico so he could call himself a doctor and shove coffee up people's asses) wouldn't recommend it.
Here's why:
Cyanide is bad for you.

Originally posted by Stubby
I don't know first hand, but their is lots of evidence backing it up on the web.
No there isn't.


Originally posted by Stubby
My $.02

I'd argue that value...


Originally posted by Stubby
Doesn't hurt to look into it.

If Steve McQueen, Chad Green, or any of the other people who've died as a direct result of this bullshit were still around, they'd probably disagree.


Originally posted by Stubby
Chris

Here's a wacky idea: How about have a clue about what you're talking about BEFORE recommending that someone fighting one of the most difficult diseases known to man send away to some quack doctor in fucking Mexico so he can start megadosing on apricot seeds and give himself cyanide poisoning.

:facepalm: