The blog journey of
Jodie L. Guerrero





Opinions & Therapies



COMPLIMENTARY OR ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES FOR CANCER PATIENTS: A VERY COMPLEX ISSUE





Warning: if you are an active patient & wish to consider using/taking ANY complementary or alternate therapies, always speak with your doctor first. Some complementary or alternate practices/drugs may be a dangerous mix with your current therapies.



(NB: this is my personal view of complementary & alternate therapies for cancer patients,through my own experiences).


You could not choose a more complex & difficult subject to discuss & write about than alternate & complementary therapies for cancer paitients. It's a massive issue to analyze, discuss & consider with clinicians, patients, friends & family alike. Everyone seems to have an opinion about this. For a cancer patient, the choice of whether to touch this subject & try alternate or complementary therapies, is a big decision. Some cancer patients have always sought other therapies, (both pre & post diagnosis) so,the choice is much more clear cut & obvious. For myself, (pre-diagnosis) I sought the assistance of two alternate therapists, prior to finding the real sorce of my health problems.


Before I started to experience symptoms, I stayed well away from non-mainstream therapies for any health problem. Once I realised GP doctors would not resolve some of my medical issues & pain, I presented to 2 of these therapists, really out of desparation. My situation was that I was subjected to medical negligence from the beginning of my search for assistance & therefore as the cancer spread & caused damage, my pain increased. Of course, all advice points to which alternate therapist you need to visit to 'fix the problem'. When several doctors, including specialists have told you there is nothing wrong & possibly your a Hypochondriac- you do what you can, with all your current knowledge.


Whilst searching for answers and pain relief is but a dream, your frustration & despair is usually a private turmoil that no-one close-by can really, truly understand. Trying to find a mystery diagnosis is a very lonely journey indeed. After diagnosis, I knew then the root cause of all my health issues was Lymphoma & not the various causes, as told to me by the two alternate therapists. Therefore, from that point on, I had been witness first-hand to the industry of complementary& alternate therapies. For those seeking relief from the mild everyday health concerns we all encounter, this group of industries work on the concern and sometimes fear of health consumers. The fear I speak about is often used to drive these businesses. i.e: if you don't do this monthly, take this everyday -- you'll end up like this. Often pictures & video are provided to the potential customer to prove the claims of some therapists.


When many people take up complementary therapies, they are often searching, in an emotional state & looking for answers to pain or health discomforts. Having someone agree & tell you they understand, is a great incentive to return. In conclusion, many alternate (non-mainstream) health avenues were set up as a business to make money, to prosper the business owner and his/her stakeholders. The same may be said for some standard forms of western/mainstream medicine, although many doctors go into health to help people & most of them do just that.


However, the huge difference between the two is that the majority of mainstream/hospital medicines & clinicians work to heal and fix, aiming for a fast & final goal, whereas a good deal of complementary & alternate therapies, require the user or purchaser to continue returning over & over. Purchasing continually a product or service,as its main drive to fund its claims and continue it's revenue. Many people are tricked into thinking that many of these therapists are here to help& they care about me. The bottom line is often the bottom line and that is often in the form of revenue.


However, there is no question that the value of complementary therapies for some cancer patients, can be significant, if they make the cancer patient feel 'in control' or 'proactive' over their disease. Complementary therapies can be quite useful and some are endorsed by alot of mainstream medicine clincians, whilst undergoing the correct hospital treatments. The main concern is the usage of a cancer patients need to be cured, as a way of selling products to patients and ceasing hospital based medications, when doing so may not be in the best interests of the patient.


It's a very personal decision.



OPINION ABOUT DIET AND DISEASE CONTROL or DISABILITY CONTROL





Warning: if you are an active patient & wish to consider using/taking ANY complementary or alternate therapies, always speak with your doctor first. Some complementary or alternate practices/drugs may be a dangerous mix with your current therapies.



(NB: this is my personal view of diet and disease control for cancer patients, through my own experiences).


As a health consumer and having had Cancer x 2 - I've heard it all. Unfortunately there is a huge industry around organic foods and their perceived health benefits. It really all comes down to one industry against another. Some of us are duped into thinking that organics or changing our diet - omitting certain foods can halt or prevent certain diseases, enhance the mind, stop cancer & other diseases etc.


Organic foods and non-organic foods have the same nutritional value, as each other.


Much of the organic claims (industry wide, world wide) have become very popular with the general population - as a way to fuel an industry.


While many of us should reduce our weight (or/and try to), reduce our salt & sugar intake (or/and try to): many health consumers may also feel that buying 'organic, vegetarian or vegan' quashes our deep-seated & individual fears about contracting cancer and other health problems or even learning disabilities.


We feel safer eating these foods or changing our diets, as a way to 'feel' like we are in control. Often we are not and no doctor in the world has any answers about this, although many 'practitioners of various origins & associations' claim to and make alot of money out of desperate people, in the process. Any claims about changing the course of disease or learning disability and your choice of foods (Organic vs. Non-organic, Vegetarian or Vegan), should be taken with a grain of salt and researched using the latest results from current medical journals. Science will always prove or un-prove any claim or theory that changing ones diet will impact on disease prevention or heighten learning abilities.


Diet, what you eat - don't eat - how you cook - etc. Has little to do with the development of most diseases....although some: breast, colon, bowel, prostate cancers, may be influenced by diet - but not always. The truth is organic foods are not scientifically proven to prevent any disease or learning disability. No-one really knows why these things happen. Although, doctors and scientist's, around the world have the best results and information on how we should live, diet wise. And we should ALWAYS consult our doctors or GP's on diet issues - in relation to our health. Consumers should get the most accurate information from their own doctor and if one is concerned about how diet or choice of diet may impact on individual health - one should be consulting with a most trusted health professional, not the next-door neighbour.


Amongst many medical journals - results from studies conducted and tested between that of organic vs. non-organic foods - and changing this part of our lives may make no difference whatsoever in terms of halting disease or disability.


BUT, if changing diet alleviates anxiety about contracting a disease or prolonging a learning disability - then changing your dietary habits to better suit your belief system - may halt anxiety and therefore make the consumer feel better, in control and/or improve the Psychiatric health of a consumer - rather than make any difference to the physical health of the same consumer. It's really all about marketing and money. There is a war out there and millions of players trying to convince us all that they know what is best for our health. The simple truth is this, only your doctor really understands your health needs, in consultation with you and your wishes and we should always spend time evaluating our health/diet needs with our doctor first.



OUR LOCAL PHARMACY, A GOLDEN GEM.





Warning: if you are an active patient & wish to consider using/taking ANY complementary or alternate therapies, always speak with your doctor first. Some complementary or alternate practices/drugs may be a dangerous mix with your current therapies.



Other than the clinically trialed & proven drugs available & prescribed to you by your doctor, there are many, helpful & powerful herbs/vitamins/minerals or supplements available over the counter that can assist a cancer patient, with a variety of problems that come with post diagnosis & post chemo daily life.The golden gem that we all take for granted on most of our street corners is our pharmacies. In many pharmacies, as well as the prescription medications from your Oncologist and/or Haemotologist, there are a huge amount of safe & helpful herbs/vitamins/minerals & supplements that can assist with common difficulties associated with cancer & treatments for cancer.


The drugs given to many cancer patients in hospital Oncology/Haemotology day clinics to destroy cancer cells, have diverse & difficult side effects that can leave us fatigued, in pain or experiencing a range of (sometimes odd) physical effects, post chemo. Some of these post chemo symptoms may go away after a couple of months, some take years to disappear & unfortunately those of us who have had massive amounts of chemo, may experience post chemo symptoms, in the long term.





This is not to say that as cancer patients we should give up on seeking to feel energetic and 'normal' again (as many of us did pre-disease).I am not endorsing some products or schemes that charge hundreds/thousands of dollars for programmes of vitamins/herbal remedies that claim to cure or remove cancer. There are plenty of these around. Most of the people selling these products know little (if anything) about the complex world of Oncology and/or Haemotology.


There are many people from both medicine/pharmaceutical & complementary/alternate therapy industries, making massive money from cancer & all that surrounds the fight.The only way many of us will win the cancer battle is through the chemotherapy drugs in our Oncology wards that save lives every day. Traditional chemotherapy drugs, as offered in most hospitals throughout the world, have saved many lives, including my own.


Then again many of us who have a deep faith in a God who loves us & wants to heal us, will find physical, mental & emotional healing from this disease & its onslaught, either here on earth or in heaven. We are all seeking a miracle & some certainly know that prayer & faith are often the key to providing a better quality of life, or the key to the healing we are all seeking.As a cancer patient I purchase & find the following simple & easy vitamin's & supplements all I need to balance my post-chemo health WITH all the drugs my Haemotologist prescribes for me:

  • Multi-vitamins Glucosomine (joints)
  • Magnesium (muscles) Iron (energy)
  • Calcium (bones)

PLUS

LOTS OF FILTERED CLEAN WATER & GOOD FOOD.


Most of the above can be purchased very cheaply at your local pharmacy and should not clash with what your Oncologist or Haemotologist are recommending or prescribing.As a rule, I usually say no to all other offers of non-mainstream therapies of pills, potions, special juices, patches, powders, etc. My theory is if it's not recommend by my specialist and there is no clinical trial beside it, it's a waste of my time and funds.


If it's recommended by my pharmacist and is not associated to a MLM group AND it will help me with whatever I am dealing with at the time, then (in my opinion) it's worth considering.



OPINION ABOUT HEALING





In terms of religious perception and why someone ends up with an illness and/or disability - some scriptures may be used to qualify the theory that someone with illness and/or disability are being punished for what they continue to do in their everyday lives to bring on 'judgement'. However, my firm belief (in relation to the character of God) is that He is a loving, forgiving God who does sometimes allow us to go through hardships.


"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18


It seems in every society, there exists a notion that the reason someone is ill and/or disabled is simply because the afflicted person has major problems with their soul/spirit or mind and that they are the cause of their own problem. This includes belief that when seeking healing from God, one must keep quiet about one's illness and/or disability - as speaking about it or or not 'keeping our tongue' in line will cause greater problems with one's illness and/or disability.


Some groups believe that other believers are deceived to think that God can use bad situations, terrible situations to benefit His kingdom and His people. That bad situations (in health or other) do not have the purpose to teach and grow and move. The belief also goes on to purport if you are not being physically healed you have a 'blockage' in various areas - 'because, God wants to physically heal everyone' and if the problem is not God (and it's can't be, as God is perfect) - then it must be you.


I BELIEVE THAT THE CORE OF GOD IS (AND SHOULD BE REFLECTED AS) EMPATHY FOR THOSE THAT SUFFER.


For example, anyone who has a 'bad' circumstance happen to them, whether health or other - should not have judgement cast at them - but rather kindness and love. The mental state of anyone also dealing with 'bad' circumstances must also be taken into account and the possibility of this judgement causing further mental trauma to the judged. How does this type of teaching impact on the mental health of those being told they have a 'blockage' - I run from it - however, I also pray for those that believe this.


In all of this perception - we need to stop and ask ourselves 'what is our personal belief system about God & Goodness'? Personally, I believe in Jesus Christ - I do not believe He came into this world and went through a terrible death for nothing - He died for our sin & our disease (physical & mental). I believe God allows illness and/or disability for reasons, we may never understand on this earth.


With all of man's accumulated knowledge, through medical science about why our human bodies do what they do or why disease behaves in such a way - we still don't have all the answers. I believe that our feeble human minds will often try to find ways (using popular perception or even scripture) to explain away or quantify 'the unknowns' about why some people have incredible healings and why some do not. Our brains simply can't take the fact that disease and illness/disability can happen to anyone, at anytime for a variety of physical reasons, including random damage from viruses, DNA injury, acquired disability or even disability/disease we may be born with.


I truly believe that knowledge is power, power is knowledge and ignorance comes from a lack of knowledge. So, in conclusion (& my firm opinion is), illness and/or disability today is NOT caused by spiritual problems/bad luck or karma. NOT AT ALL and telling anyone who has such an affliction is a cruel thing to do to anyone. RATHER, if you don't understand why someone has an illness/disability, make sure you EDUCATE yourself on the disease and/or the disability and understand the everyday suffering and difficulties that person must endure. Remember, we may never understand why we have to endure these things on earth, but I believe that God is in control, regardless.


"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."



An email to Jodie from a prominent pastor in Australia:


Hi Jodie,


Thanks for your email.


Yes, I do understand your point about Denomination 01/Denomination 02. Denomination 01 generally have a strong theology of healing, but a weak theology of suffering. There have been huge changes in thinking over recent years, but we have a long way to go. You're right, people often don't know what to say to people with long-term, major health challenges. They simplistically (and naively) attribute it to the devil or some cause in your own life (i.e. sin, unforgiveness) and don't fully appreciate that sickness, health, suffering and wholeness are very complex areas. There are no formulas. Often there aren't answers. Some things are unexplainable and inexplicable. The ONLY sure thing is that God is good, God is faithful and God is with you throughout the ordeal. Aside from the reality of Gods character everything else in a mystery.


I am really pleased you found a community of people who provide the level of support you need.


What you feel deep down is what you and everyone around you must hold on to ferociously. We're standing with you also.


Blessings on you all, too.

Pastor B.



Cancer Conspiracy Articles (as below)







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Queensland, Australia | jodie@jodiesjourney.com