29 October 2009

I believe there is definitely some differences between the specialist doctors in Malaysia and that compared to Singapore. Qualifications aside, the approach are also different. The doctors in Singapore are much more well trained in counseling and also open minded. Their offer more options and perhaps more importantly the willingness to be open and listen to the patient is thinking that makes the big difference. To cut the story short, I think the trip was quite fruitful as I did not expect to get much out of it. The recommendation of both the oncologist and urologist is to remove the right kidney that contains the major tumor. The rationale is that the body would have lesser burden to deal with the lungs and perhaps the liver as well. The urologist felt that even if the liver is infected, it would serve no purpose to remove any of the cancel cells in the liver as the lungs are already infected. (My KL urologist justified not having surgery in that cutting the liver is complicated and I could die from the surgery.) After surgery to consider treatment with expensive drug that I said earlier that costs S$9k (RM20+K) per month. Unfortunately this drug has to be taken a lifetime and it seems it has been proven effective within a 2 year period, most likely to mean that it prolong the patient's life by at least 2 years. Every treatment cycle last for 6 weeks with 2 weeks break before the next cycle begins. So for a two year treatment, it would cost approximately S$54K (RM133+K). After that, depends on your luck if the tumor goes into remission or not. While on the drug, it has the impact of restricting or perhaps reduce its growth. The downside is that besides the side effect of while skin and hair, the body always feels lethargic.

When you talk about cancer, many people have read and some even have indirect experience with it through their love ones. However, unless you have cancer, you will never have any idea what goes on in the mind and can never put yourselves in their shoes to imagine what it is like. Such people have very difficult decisions to make. The doctors coupled with some who insists that this treatment is better than that. Some of us are so lost in our own problems that we leave it to the "experts" to select the choice of treatment. All my friends who tells me about people they know and suffer from cancer had only one ending. Death! They normally go for conventional treatment and when that didn't work they went for alternative, most of them died within the year. There is a saying if you want a different outcome, then you must do things differently. That's why some of my friends and even my close family members at one point in time was so worried about my choice to go alternative treatment as the first choice. My Singapore oncologist after confirmation with the radiologist told me that my nodules in my lungs did not grow and in fact shrunk a little bit. This is good news and this is also why he recommended me to remove the tumor in my kidney. With lesser burden to deal by the immune system, there is good opportunity to contain or even shrink the nodules in the lungs. Whatever that I am doing now is the right because the oncologist had expected it to grow but it did not. My oncologist has advised to watch my weight to ensure I don't lose further weight and also get enough calories and not so much protein. My 11 cups of 8oz juices per day yields about 3,500 calories while the average intake per day is 2,500 (based on American standards). The Gerson is one therapy that allows me to eat whenever I am hungry, even in the middle of the night! They even recommend we leave apples and vegetables beside the bedside so that we can eat whenever we want.

Well I am not asking that you to follow what I am doing or that is the right thing to do. I am just sharing with you my experience and some of the thought process. You know, following the Gerson therapy is not easy. While you may have a maid to prepare the 11-13 juices a day (and boil the coffee) but you can't have your maid assist you to do the coffee enema (unless you are female). You see, I am naked when I do the coffee enema and it is very difficult to hold for even 5 mins. Also eating no salt, oil and sugar organic and vegetarian diet is not everyone's cup of tea. In fact it is still very difficult for me after one month. Since I am preparing it on my own, I am experimenting it with different vegetables to improve the natural flavour. That's why when things are so simple in principle, it is always so difficult to follow.