Alternative Cancer Treatments

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showdownhero

showdownhero

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Oct 6, 2005
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Dear trusted posters of the Health and Fitness boards,

I'm reaching out to you in a time of need. My fiance's (god I hate that word) mother has just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which as you may or may not know is one of the most lethal types of cancer in existence and if the tumour has already metastasised to her liver her life expectancy is only 3 months. She had a biopsy on the tumour today so in the next 48 hours we'll have a better idea of prognosis and treatment options.

However in addition to any conventional treatments she will undergo my fiance has asked that we also look into alternative treatments and whilst this may turn out to be a worthwhile endeavour I'm obviously very wary of snake oil salesman and bull s**t artists.

So far she's looking into the ketogenic diet and cannabinoid treatments but at this stage I haven't had an opportunity to look at the scientific research on the efficiency of such treatments.

With all that being said I would love for you guys to post up any research you have on alternative cancer treatments generally and obviously anything you know of that treats or helps pancreatic cancer specifically.

I will keep this thread updated with anything I unearth as well.

Thanks in advance.

PS I would like to point out in advance that I recognise that alternative treatments may be entirely futile and that we are grasping at straws but straws may be all we have to grasp
 
Well my fiance has gone pretty far off the deep end with some of these natural treatments (she's even talking to naturopaths that believe power lines cause cancer ffs)

I don't think any of them are going to be successful but I'm not going to criticise her for trying to help her mum.

Nevertheless if you guys feel like posting anything here please go ahead I'd be interested to read it.

One point though, Cannabinoids did have success in preventing cancer cell growth in laboratory/mouse testing but never received a green light for randomised human trials, which I find strange.
 
Hey mate that's terrible news. I can totally understand her need to turn over any stone she can't find to try and help her mother.

Unfortunately this is when the assholes will try to take advantage as well as many well meaning people offering advice with the right intentions but wrong outcome.

I hope things work out and the results come back clear. Maybe someone will have something for you, best of luck.
 

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Gralin said:
Hey mate that's terrible news. I can totally understand her need to turn over any stone she can't find to try and help her mother.

Unfortunately this is when the assholes will try to take advantage as well as many well meaning people offering advice with the right intentions but wrong outcome.

I hope things work out and the results come back clear. Maybe someone will have something for you, best of luck.
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thanks mate
 
showdownhero said:
Well my fiance has gone pretty far off the deep end with some of these natural treatments (she's even talking to naturopaths that believe power lines cause cancer ffs)

I don't think any of them are going to be successful but I'm not going to criticise her for trying to help her mum.

Nevertheless if you guys feel like posting anything here please go ahead I'd be interested to read it.

One point though, Cannabinoids did have success in preventing cancer cell growth in laboratory/mouse testing but never received a green light for randomised human trials, which I find strange.
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Sorry to hear the horrible news mate.

I had a family friend who passed away 18 months ago after battling pancreatic cancer for 4-5 years. He was using a mushroom supplement, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was called. His doctor unofficially agreed it gave him more time.
 
saj_21 said:
Sorry to hear the horrible news mate.

I had a family friend who passed away 18 months ago after battling pancreatic cancer for 4-5 years. He was using a mushroom supplement, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was called. His doctor unofficially agreed it gave him more time.
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I'll look into it. Thanks for the info :)
 
Sorry to hear.
I’m not well versed on the topic as (fortunately) I’ve never had need to become well versed.
It might be a pain in the arse and potentially time consuming but you could try find opinion articles written by slightly more sane people that refer to at least plausible mechanisms then begin your own research into it to see if it’s legit.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your fiance's mother.

I don't have any helpful advice specific to pancreatic cancer, but unfortunately I've also been researching this for another (albeit less serious) reason.

Long story short - from my research, perhaps the only vitamins she could realistically consider are those that 'boost' the immune system. E.g. Echinacea etc. But even with that being said, even natural vitamins have their own issues - Echinacea for e.g. decreases the immune system when taken with:

'azathioprine (Imuran), basiliximab (Simulect), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), daclizumab (Zenapax), muromonab-CD3 (OKT3, Orthoclone OKT3), mycophenolate (CellCept), tacrolimus (FK506, Prograf), sirolimus (Rapamune), prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids), and others.' (copied from Webmd)

I guess I'm trying to say it's a double-edged sword. It's probably not very helpful in the grand scheme of everything, but sometimes it's best to leave it to the professionals (as hard as that is).

All the best :hearts:

EDIT: I just wanted to clarify, for some reason I equated natural with vitamins. Ignore if this is not what you meant.
 
DazalenkoUBewty said:
Not nice at all...

So what are the options? Chemo and 3-ish months?

Curious.. How did the diagnosis come about? I guess a scan or what not...but was it from discomfort, or just something else that lead to the discovery, or?
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We're still not 100% sure on treatment options as some of the test/scan results have come back contradicting one another.

We were hoping that it had been some horrible misdiagnosis however she had some blood test results come back today which showed very high levels of cancer markers which is obviously very bad news. If it is pancreatic cancer which has metasticised to her liver (which now seems most likely) they may not even bother with treatment and just use palliative care once she starts to experience a lot of pain. She has a specialist appointment at peter mac on Wednesday which is when we'll have the best idea of diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.

In terms of how her diagnosis came about she has been experiencing mild digestive discomfort and lethargy since September and had been initially been given a diagnosis of a virus (not sure of the name) eminating from unsanitary water. However since December she started losing weight and then 2 weeks ago she found a lump in her abdomen and had been experiencing pressure in her lower back.

It was then she was sent for an ultrasound which uncovered the tumours.

She had initially thought the lump in her abdomen was a hernia, imagine how devastating it was to go to get her test results and end up being told you might only have 3 months to live
 
The scariest part is it's not uncommon for people with stage iv pancreatic cancer to wake up one day feeling relatively normal have a bout of searing abdominal pain (my understanding is its equitable with the worst pain humans experience) and then being dead by that night.
 

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She starts chemo on Friday, I believe it only has a success rate of 1% when you're at stage 4.

In the meantime she's been put on a full (alkalised) vegan diet and has been taking a THC canabanoid oil, a bottle of which set her back $1000. Not sure how many doses that equates to or how long it will last but we're basically in need of a miracle at this point so watevs.
 
I wanted to recommend consuming only raw fruits and vegetables. And drinking just water, and juiced/blended fruits/vegetables (home-made). Daily exercise (walking is fine). I-F would be good too, although, it may not be easy.

I personally feel that this is a time when u need to get the immune system as strong as possible asap.

I'd have tried to avoid the chemotherapy, but that's just me. But we can only do what the 'experts' tell us to do, especially in desperate times like this.

All the best.

edit: I'm curious of her life style, diet and weight etc.
 
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Nothing to add except for condolences and best of luck.
Will be interested to read what you (and others) find.
 
DazalenkoUBewty said:
I wanted to recommend consuming only raw fruits and vegetables. And drinking just water, and juiced/blended fruits/vegetables (home-made). Daily exercise (walking is fine). I-F would be good too, although, it may not be easy.

I personally feel that this is a time when u need to get the immune system as strong as possible asap.

I'd have tried to avoid the chemotherapy, but that's just me. But we can only do what the 'experts' tell us to do, especially in desperate times like this.

All the best.

edit: I'm curious of her life style, diet and weight etc.
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Has never been overweight, always eaten a balanced omnivorous diet and has always been relatively active due to her being a housewife (with a fairly large house to maintain) and avid gardener plus she would go for daily walks of about 30-45 minutes.
 
showdownhero said:
>she's convinced that sugar feeds cancer growth
>feeds her mum heaps of fruit...

o_O
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my wife argues with people who post sugar free recipes that are full of honey or maple syrup etc, warms my heart

how you holding up through this?
 
Gralin said:
my wife argues with people who post sugar free recipes that are full of honey or maple syrup etc, warms my heart

how you holding up through this?
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Yeah mate it's been a bit tough. First week I was just in shock and felt pretty numb, now the reality has set in and I go through ups and downs.

I've now resigned from my job and given notice to move out of my apartment. Today's job is to book a flight home and start packing up

Flying home 07/04 gotta pack our life in London and get ready to start fresh in Melbourne
 
showdownhero said:
Yeah mate it's been a bit tough. First week I was just in shock and felt pretty numb, now the reality has set in and I go through ups and downs.

I've now resigned from my job and given notice to move out of my apartment. Today's job is to book a flight home and start packing up

Flying home 07/04 gotta pack our life in London and get ready to start fresh in Melbourne
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Is your fiance's mother getting treatment over here, or is she staying in England? You've left us hanging a bit here with this info of the move and the date of it.
 
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DazalenkoUBewty said:
Is your fiance's mother getting treatment over here, or is she staying in England? You've left us hanging a bit here with this info of the move and the date of it.
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I was under the impression his fiance’s Mother was already in Australia
 
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