CANCER STORY: Success & Hard Truth

Surgery for Cancer

 

Surgery for Cancer

Richard Evans, one of the founders of the Texas Cancer Center wrote:

  • Over ninety percent of the patients who are cured of cancer made it because of surgery – and surgery alone.
  • Radiotherapy, chemotherapy … contributed little to the overall survival of patients with cancers.

Reference: www.texascancercenter.com  

Beware of Unwarranted Surgery!

Surgery can only cure early-stage cancer.

If the cancer has already spread, then cure by surgery is not possible.

The role of surgery in advanced-stage cancer is limited.

Dr. Andrew Weil (in Health and healing) cautioned that surgery:

  • is often performed unnecessarily and carried out to drastic extremes  … sometimes in the honest belief that the operations were indicated, sometimes as a crass way of upping their incomes.

 

Surgery

More Surgeons, More Operations!

A research study found that an area with:

  • 2.5 surgeons experienced 590 surgeries per 10,000 population.

Every doctor needs to perform about 200 operations a year to cover overheads and maintain his/her desired income.

The more specialised the doctors, the more expensive the procedures they utilize.

Unfortunately, this has not led to improved health. 

Reference: Joseph Pizzorno, Total wellness.

The Operation Is A Success But The Patient Died!

In 1893, Compton Burnett wrote:

Surgeons may think (of) the cutting-out and cutting-off process as curing. I think of them as a last refuge of helplessness.

A lady came to me for a tumour of the breast. The lady’s husband declined my treatment … she was successfully operated on, and thoroughly cured of her mammary tumour. 

Nine months later, she was again thoroughly cured of another tumour, by a perfectly successful operation. 

A few months thereafter, she was again successfully operated on for another tumour, 

And just as she was getting well, she died.

Reference: Compton Burnett, Curability of tumours by medicine.

Good Money, Emotionally Unrewarding

Dr. Bernie Siegel, a surgeon wrote:

Since people often don’t get better and since everyone eventually dies, I felt like a failure over and over again ~ Love, Medicine & Miracle.

Too many doctors are depressed because they only see their failures – all you know is that everyone has cancer, everybody dies. And it just wears you out. ~ Cancer and Consciousness.

Reference: Bernie Siegel, Love, Medicine & Miracles.

Barry Bryant, Cancer and Consciousness. 

Surgery Could Spread Cancer or Make Dormant Tumours Grow and Proliferate 

  • Surgery could be a cure for early, small tumours that have not spread to other parts of the bodies.
  • Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to tell whether a tumour is localised or has metastasised. For example, in breast cancer, 30% to 75% of women after undergoing surgery experienced recurrences of their cancer.
  • Surgeons routinely tell patients: I got it all out or Every thing is clean. Studies have shown that some cancer cells are left behind in 25% to 60% of the patients allowing malignant growths to recur.
  • Surgery is often responsible for the spread of the cancer. Careless manipulation of the tumour tissues by the surgeon can spill literally millions of cancer cells into the blood stream.
  • Similarly surgical biopsy can contribute to the spread of cancer.
  • Once the main tumour is removed, isolated cancer cells or small abnormal groups of cells that would have otherwise remained dormat can begin to proliferate and grow.

References: R. Demicheli et al. Annal of Oncology 10 June 2008.