Cancer Chat online community

Hi Jan,

very sensible, and of course none of this would be any of my business if you weren't posting it on a thread intended to gather evidence of "what works" in alternative therapy. You however mention a number of things, so there may be some confusion here about what we are talking about. It seemed quite clear to me that you tried things recommended by unqualifed people, but I might have understood. Your care team agreed with every detail of the fasting; the supplements; the "anti-cancer diet"; the "probiotics" -  everything you mention? Did you realise you could have received detailed dietary advice from your care team's properly qualified diet advisor?

You mention for example taking an iron supplement as recommended by John, and using an "anti-cancer diet" . There is no such thing as an anti-cancer diet as far as medical science is concerned, but I can see from looking back at your posts that you are talking about Servan-Schreiber's cockeyed dietary ideas (though of course some medical professionals may humour us). Servan-Schreiber is a psychiatrist, and as far as I know, John isn't medically qualifiied.

Incidentally, something being in a clinical trial does not necessarily say anything about whether it works. Most things that get trailled turn out not to work, or not to be safe. Some call "treatments" that do not work or are not safe alternative medicine, but I can't see how this is a real alternative myself.

Hi sockpuppet

John may not be medically qualified but his wife is taking a supplement that is having a positive effect on her health and because he is a very caring man he wishes to pass the information on to other people who are sadly in the same situation in the hope that it can be of some benefit to them, which is why we are all here to get helpful advice and hopefully help someone else if we can.personally I have found johns advice very helpful and I am very grateful to him for that.

dear john

I am glad to hear everything is going so well for Mary.I am with you on the throught that i dont much care if something is a placebo as long as it is doing some good.I think this is a very useful thread.I pin my hopes on conventional medicine and i think the magic berry that will fix everything is sadly not real even if you can buy many and various versions of it on the internet,but no one on this site is trying to sell things they are just offering up their own experiences as a frame of reference.I do think that alternative medicine  and the right diet can make a lot of differance to your quality of life.Given that if you are to sick you wont be able to have the chemo then it is surely worth using what might act as a prop.I see a herbalist and i got through all the chemo without my blood counts crashing.I should add that i have been going for some years so it does not cure cancer.

Hi everyone,

I was thinking about starting a discussion along these lines but perhaps would be reinventing the wheel eh?  With all due respect to those who believe only current Western medical approaches are the valid ways of dealing with cancer itself,  I know I am not alone in being aware that a complementary approach of healthy lifestyle, diet and relaxation techniques etc can enhance wellbeing and improve the quality of ones existence before, during and after any kind of disease. Hospices and cancer support centres often offer free reflexology, aromatherapy, massage and Reiki healing sessions for instance and I've seen others on here mention the benefit they have felt from these.

To me, the key point is in the title of this discussion  ie. 'What works for you?' ...not what have you heard might be a new  or ancient miracle cure on the internet, in a book  or from a friend of a friend's second cousin! I'd be interested to hear positive stories of what people have found personally helps them feel better in body or spirit whether they are receiving 'conventional therapy' at the time or not. It could be your religion or your dog or watching  the sea...things not generally available on prescription but which should not worry the moderators at all...

Has anyone else been to the Penny Brohn Centre near Bristol for instance? They offer a number of workshops and courses on all manner of  well being related subjects for instance for a donation only and if you stay there you have the opportunity to meet health care professionals with a holistic approach. I had a session with an oncologist there whose 'day job' was within the National Health who drew up a personal plan for me which included doing some voluntary work to increase the feel good factor in my life and counteract the stresses in my own day job at the time.

Perhaps the best thing I have found myself as I move from the merely incurable to terminal stages, is acupuncture from a wonderful young woman working locally. I explained my situation and that my aim was to feel as well as possible for as long as possible both in body and in mind and she was happy to do what she could to oblige. The various doctors, nurses etc I encounter often remark on how well I'm doing and if these treatments and the supplements and various techniques I use are 'only' providing a placebo effect then why not? A placebo effect means you feel better than conventional science  says you should and, to be honest, that's fine by me!

angelinthemaking

My mum has used Homeopathy for the last 20 years.

When she was diagnosed with advanced HCC primary liver cancer follwing damage caused by HepC she has taken everything recommended by her homeopathist.  She altered her diet and 9 months later she is still going strong! She is still working, she has not even taken so much as a diuretic from traditional medicine.

I personally just humoured her the last 20 years about Homeopathy but SOMETHING  she is doing is keeping her.  Yes she looks totally different to 6 months ago but the tumour has grown little but her jaundice and Odema is controlled. It is frankly amazing. 

Soon she will need to decide if they offer chemo embolisation or sorafenib or both to take it or not.  They told us 6-9 months without chemoE/sorefenib but she got through 9 months already with just diet and homeopathy.

I told her I would support her whatever she chose.