CANCER STORY: Success & Hard Truth

The file of KT (S346) was on my table. She was a 42-year-old Indonesia lady who had been battling with her breast cancer for about 12 years. I was taking my time wanting to write her story. But today, 29 May 2013, I received this e-mail from her husband.

Dear Madame Beng Im ,  Dr. Chris Teo,
Dengan sedih dan menyesal kami informasikan bahwa  KT sudah meninggal dunia Selasa 21May at 02.55 a.m. (early morning). Dan sudah dimakamkan Kamis 23May, at 11 a.m.

Friday, 17 May  kesehatan drop, makan dikit/tak ada selera , minum obat herb tea juga tidak mampu. Monday 20 May at night, so weak. We carry to hospital. Dokter said that she was in bad condition, no hope.  She just stayed in hospital 1night only. Tuesday 21 May, at 02.55 she was gone / dead. Many thanks for CA Care’s support for my wife.

About two months ago, 22 March 2013, KT and her husband came to seek our help. She stayed in Penang for almost a week.  This was her tragic story.

About one and half years after her second child, KT found a 1.8 cm lump in her right breast. On 16 May 2001 a biopsy was performed and confirmed that it was malignant –  a ductal carcinoma, positive for estrogen and C-cerb-B2 receptors but negative for progestrone.

On 19 May 2001, KT underwent a lumpectomy at a cancer hospital in Jakarta. It was a Stage 1 cancer. From June to October 2001, KT received 6 cycles of chemotherapy, followed by 25 sessions of radiation treatment in November to December 2001. She was not prescribed any medication.

About three years later, 12 July 2004, the cancer recurred at the previous operation site. A biopsy confirmed it was a ductal carcinoma again. USG and bone scan were performed. No metastasis was detected.

On 21 September 2004, a mastectomy of the right breast was performed at another hospital. And this was followed by 20 radiation treatment. The doctor suggested ovarian ablation and more chemotherapy but KT refused the treatment.

About five years later, in 2009, the operation site developed an open wound with recurrence of cancer around the wound.  USG and bone scan on 20 November 2010 did not show any metastasis.

On 3 December 2010, a biopsy was performed of the regrowth and histology indicated lobular carcinoma. The doctor suggested chemotherapy but KT refused the treatment. She did nothing after that.

In June to August 2011, KT went to China for treatment.  PET/CT scan showed the wound was 14 x 12 cm and the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, lungs and bone. This was a Stage 4 cancer.

In China, KT received the following treatment:

10  June 2011:

1.  Patient received iodine seeds implantation and cryosurgery in the lung,
2. Iodine seeds implantation in the axillary fossa metastatic lymph nodes.

17 June 2011: Patient received recurrence tumour resection, dermatoplasty and PDT (photodynamic therapy).

16 July 2011: Patient received re-dermatoplasty in the back ulcerates.

15 June to 23 June 2011: Patient received DC-CIK immunotherapy.

20 September 2011: Patient received re-dermatoplaty in the back ulcerates.

27 September 2011:  Patient received iodine seeds implantation in the scapular region and left costal bone.

KT was again asked to undergo chemotherapy. She again refused the treatment.  But she agreed to take Tamoxifen.

On her return to Indonesia, KT started to seek out alternative therapies. She tried sour sop leaves, Mahkota dewa, benalu kopi, etc. She also tried radiofrequency jacket.

On 22 March 2013, KT and her husband came to seek our help.

Comments

When I saw the picture of her breast, I must say I was terribly upset. How could such a thing happen? The first thing that came to mind was, Was this not a work of a bomoh or quack?  After all, too often we read in the newspapers that things like this only happen to patients who go and seek the help of alternative healers. But no, the reality was that she sought medical help from the very beginning after discovering a 1.8 cm lump in her breast. And mind you, it was an early stage cancer – Stage 1. I could not understand how she could end up like this.

What can we learn from this tragic episode? Ask these questions:

1. Is medical treatment of cancer really that proven or scientific?
2. When you have cancer – can you really achieve a cure?
3. What could have happened if she were to take a non-medical route?

Robert G. Wright, founder of the American Anti-Cancer Institute wrote in his book, Killing Cancer Not People:

• Slash, Poison, Burn. The Big Three. What you probably don’t know is that they have no possibility of healing your cancer. Let me repeat that. They have absolutely no possibility of healing your cancer. They actually cause cancer.
• The saddest and most tragic part of all is that we’re not only dying of the “disease” now, we’re dying from the treatments. Cancer cannot be cured with drugs, surgery, chemo or radiation; not now, not ever, not possible.
• When it comes to cancer, your doctor / oncologist will fail you.

It is up to you what you want to do with the above statements by Robert Wright.  Looking back over the 16 years helping cancer patients, I must say such episode happen often enough. It is NOT unusual or exceptional.