http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/08/30/chemotherapy-warning-as-hundreds-die-from-cancer-fighting-drugs/

I really question the premise that if a patient died within 30 days of chemo, it was the chemo that killed him. My husband had chemo within 30 days of his death, but that is NOT what killed him. He had a blood clot (prostate cancer patients are at higher than normal risk for clots) and was given Lovenex for this. It caused an abdominal bleed which shocked his remaining unblocked kidney and he died from kidney failure. If he hadn't, the prostate cancer would have gotten in probably 3 months max.

Fighting any cancer is a balancing act. Without treatment, death in a short time is certain; with treatment, there is also a risk of death but one may buy some quality time and most patients are willing to take that chance. I have no knowledge as to how the British health system works, but my husband and I were very clearly warned of all risks from all treatments. He lived 28 months after being diagnosed with a highly aggressive cancer which would have killed him in 3 months if untreated.

You don't have to tell me anything about fighting cancer. I live it daily. :)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12094134 Here's an American source if that makes you happier, Anglophilia. :)

Sometimes I think people get put off my mainstream medicine with the expense and rules and insurance companies and long waits and even the 'bad apple' doctors who of course get the press.

All of life is a gamble, no matter how much work you put into being a good, informed patient (and you should) there will always be the medication given in error, the doctor who is incompetent, etc.

It is all like Russian Roulette. But in the case of professional M.D.s who have spent many years in training and practice and being monitored by licensing entities, it is like picking up a gun that has one bullet and thousands of chambers.

Some of these quacks are completely uncredentialed, inexperienced, ignorant, and have slid into a 'nature' niche and are catering to those who have had to deal with the very real shortcomings of mainstream medicine. Your chances of getting the bullet are a lot higher with these scammers.

I don't see this IV as being a good idea either. But I certainly wouldn't condemn all treatments because of a quack and a "patient" that is... well I won't even finish it.

The problem is most of these "cures" heal SOMEONE. I think it is generally known Chemo given to cancer patients is poison. It does plenty of damage in many situations--but it ALSO helps MANY MANY cancer victims survive. When in a fight for your life I would never disparage a person's choice to try what ever they are convinced might help. Sometimes that hope is all they have and I think often it is the HOPE that is the cure.

As a cancer "survivor," I just *love* being told how I should feel and what I should choose, and that "hope" is the "cure" for cancer. Be sure and get a patent on that "hope cure" thing, because that's what all the researchers have been looking for, for so many years. :/

Do you know how many of my online cancer support group people died, even though they had HOPE and kept a POSITIVE ATTITUDE?

Hope, turmeric, chemo, garlic, prayers, positive attitude, voodoo, anti-oxidants, shark cartilage.... Surely something will work. lol

I am currently undergoing treatment for triple negative breast cancer. I've had two surgeries and have had the first of eight chemo treatments. My prognosis is good and I haven't suffered a lot of ill effects but one still needs a lot of hope, support and will to keep going. The steroids in the anti-nausea meds have made me gain four five pounds in two days even though I'm eating the same and haven't had a drop of alcohol in three days. I;m just ranting here because I didn't read the link but cancer is a scary business and people will do anything.

As most of you folks know, I have lymphoma. Initially, my odds were approx. 80% of achieving a remission of 5 years or greater. Someone forgot to give that message to the cancer. After the standard 6 cycles of R-CHOP chemotherapy, my PET/CT scan was clear and I had "won". Three months later, it is back with a vengeance, showing not only in my lymph system and associated organs, but also in my hip. I've now had 5 doses of radiation to the hip and just completed the 2nd cycle of R-ICE chemotherapy. Let me tell you, this chemo makes the R-CHOP look like a walk in the park! IF I am able to complete all 3 cycles of this chemotherapy and get another remission, I will have my stem cells harvested. Then the real fun begins with High Dose Chemotherapy to kill all my bone marrow and then return my stem cells to me. With luck, I will survive all of this, or I will die at age 56. If everything works and I survive the "cure" I have about a 40-50% chance of an extended remission.

The point of all this is not to bore you with the "details" of my illness, but rather to help you understand that not everyone is able to accept their fate. Even if the treatment offered sounds hokey--the likely outcome is death. That is the same death possible from many accepted mainstream treatments.

Rather than pass judgement, walk a few steps in a cancer patient's shoes. You'll discover the "fake" and "real" cures don't look all that different to someone unable to accept death.

Lisa

Edited to correct spelling error.

Speaking strictly based on my own personal experience,
having that tiny glimmer of hope, however unrealistic, may be all one has to carry
on.

Summer: having hope is good. Having a turmeric drip, maybe not so much.

Can't hurt posse? Pure condescension, that'll change people's minds.

Lucille - I did not say having a turmeric drip was a good idea. Where did you get that?

Rob has a word of the week.

Unless of course, you weren't trying to be kind and help them understand? Somehow, I seriously doubt you were after gentle correction.

Trying to help.....yes.

Posse=group

Still seems dubious...

Summer, I was addressing you, not quoting you. I was pointing out that your idea about hope is one I agree with. But in my opinion a turmeric drip is not a good idea.

I'm so glad I'm already old (76). I'm pretty sure I've had my last 'preventive surgery'. I want to stay out of hospital, where there's always "something we can do." I don't want cures that render me a mere shade of my normal self and are unlikely to cure me for long.

Yes, I know, that's what I say *now* -- but now is a good time to think ahead.

There are plenty of people who believe they've been cured of an ailment (even cancer) that their immune systems would have handled absent 'a diagnosis'. They were cured by modern medical therapies or the laying on of hands, or whatever -- seldom free -- and some of it nasty. ("This must be beneficial; it tastes awful/burns/nauseates me.")

There's Hope, and there's Irrational Hope. I hope I will be able to see the difference. I hope I will be able to weigh any "something" offered.