A Son's Story

This is the story about one's man journey towards survival of pancreatic cancer as told to me by his son. During the course of his illness, the family decided that their father would not undergo chemotherapy treatments. If he was to pass on, it would be after exhausting alternative therapies.

From the moment I received the son's email, I was greatly interested in his father's journey. During the later stages of my father's cancer, while he was undergoing chemotherapy, I went to a homeopath and got a regimen of liver detoxifiers and strengtheners, and sent them to him. My father was extremely compliant with his Western doctors and was a little leary about using homeopathy, but did agree to take the supplements that were nutritionally geared. I don't think he didn't believe in homeopathy but felt he would be betraying the Western approach that had been ingrained in him throughout his life - in addition to the general skepticism that has been allowed to exist in our society when referring to alternative medicine.

When I went to visit my father a few weeks later, I was able to engage him in dialogue about seeing an actual homeopath. My father said he was feeling some physical improvement with the supplements but was beginning to also experience some of the negative effects of the 5FU (prescribed after failing on Gemzar - CT revealed, after questionable prolonged Gemzar usage, continued cancer infiltration of liver). We went to a homeopath's office but my father was apprehensive about seeing him so I told him that I would get literature and information from the homeopath and then my dad could review it and make a decision. I went back home to Ohio and while he was taking the supplements, he never saw the homeopath. Shortly after, he started developing ascites and began to shut down from the final stages of his cancer and within three weeks he passed on. I was frustrated that we did not work with a homeopath. I had heard promising results from other people who have gone to them for various reasons.

When I received the son's first email I was totally intrigued by this whole alternative approach the family decided to take. Having been schooled in Western medicine but dabbling in alternative medicine, I knew that in theory, this approach held as much promise as some of the clinical trials that are being conducted. The son has some alternative-based background but this was going to be a new education for him. While he strongly believed in the promises of alternative medicine, he avoided radical philosophical ramblings that typically result in the annihilation of Western medicine credibility in favor of alternative treatments. He supports Integrative medicine (Western and Alternative in concert with each other) as much as I do. I asked the son if he would be willing to share his personal protocol with me to use on this site and he agreed to it. It has always been my hope that I would eventually be able to present this to the visitors of this site to show what one family decided to do to help save the life of their loved one. So, after 14 months I am pleased to bring you, in chronological order, the communications between the son and I.

There is little literature available as to the all-around success of alternative therapies and pancreatic cancer. While some experience success with Western medical intervention via surgery, chemo or radiation, the overall survival rate for pancreatic cancer remains low. Does alternative medicine yield positive results in terms of survival? According to literature by Dr. Andrew Weil, Gary Null and others, there is data available on people who have rid themselves of their cancer (there are several books that cite pertinent literature.) This son's story is going to give us a "fly on the wall" view as we follow his father's journey.

NOTE: This story is not being presented as an absolute protocol to be followed but to show that, with research into available therapies, you can create healing therapies to help you with your pancreatic cancer. Always discuss any supplements or personal protocols you are using with your doctors. A working health team partnership is your best chance for survival with this disease.

Hi there, my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few weeks ago. He has a mass on the head of his pancreas and it looks like it has gotten into his lymph nodes so, it seems like chemo is the next step to remove it from the lymph nodes. The doctor feels that chemo is the next step to shrink the tumor or remove it. Maybe at that point the Whipple procedure can be used. Anyway, my program is a little more natural (until we decide if the chemo starts), after numerous studies on natural cancer remedies I have come up with this:

I think a healthy detoxified diet may help his body kickstart into fighting again, so that's what we are shooting for. My father is 58 and very healthy looking, he feels great and strong. I know this cancer works very fast. I have little faith in what doctors are being taught today. The cancer education system does not impress me. I have read testimonies of how this disease has been cured via natural remedies. I think cancer starts from a build up of toxins that don't exit the system. If it can exit with some natural help, maybe we'll hav a chance - could be a shot in the dark but our other alternative is to just wait for the doctors.

......my father was diagnosed a few weeks ago after pain in his stomach from a blocked bile duct. They have performed the normal tests; MRI, CT scan, biopsy, etc. and we will know the outcome this week. I feel confident just from my own reading that the mass is cancerous (they did find out that he had swollen lymph nodes and the chemical analysis looks like cancer). My father is going in for a chelation treatment tomorrow to clean all toxic metals from his bloodstream. He will have several sessions in hopes that it will help stop this growth.

He is also doing colonic irrigation to aid the body in ridding itself of toxins. I have read many statistics on survival rates for pancreatic cancer (who used Western approach) and you know that they aren't good. That is why I chose another route (natural). My dad will still go in for chemo unless something good happens between now and Jan. 6, 2000. Our plan is to detoxify and apply castor oil packs to pull toxins out of the area and reassess his lymph node state on Jan. 6. If the swelling has gone down, then something is, at least, partially working.

We are really trying to strengthen his liver with natural remedies for liver detox and cleansing. Did your dad go on an all natural diet? Juicings, etc?? Castor oil packs come from Edgar Cayce and others, look him up on the net. My father is willing to accept this stringent diet. We are just trying to integrate this way with what the doctors say, However, I don't have much confidence in what they have been taught in some areas. Sometimes I feel they work with symptoms and not with the root problem.

Hello, things are going pretty good. We have my father on 3 different natural holistic therapies that I could find.

I will send you more information on each of these so you can read if you want. Treatment #1 is actually found in Alternative Medicine magazine, January 2000 edition. Very good results against cancer. The chaparral tea, natural diet and colonics worked on a friend to remove lymphoma completely. We will see if this is an old wives tale or something.

Sorry I emailed you so much information, this is a compilation of material I have taken bits and pieces from. There is a great article on cancer in the Jan. 2000 edition of Alternative Medicine. This therapy looks to be fairly successful. We found a local D.O. who has attended seminars in Mexico. He was a surgeon for 30 years. My father has been with him for a few weeks and is receiving vitamin infusions. He started out on 50 grams of vitamin C (IV) and some amino acids, then after a few days he worked his way up to 100 grams of vitamins C and amino acids. This has boosted his immune system. He has received oxygen treatments to drop insulin levels. Cancer cannot survive with high amounts of oxygen and no sugar. Anyway, we are hoping for positive results. We are still praying. After seeing the numerous testimonies on this cancer and the terrible statistics, we just didn't want to do the chemotherapy thing. Besides, the doctor said it wouldn't help do anything anywa! y as he is in stage 4.

Hello there, My father still feels great. He new treatments we think are doing well. His doctor who is administering this www.biopulse.com cancer treatment got a blood test yesterday. The results that came back were great. His liver and other organs according to tests are performing great. He should receive other blood work back tomorrow. We should know more about the mass at that time. He has experienced some pain from the sent.

p.s. His doctor has other physician friends in San Antonio who have had great success with this biopulse treatment on pancreatic cancer.

Hey, things are going ok still. My father hasn't had any shrinkage (we don't think) of the tumor. However, I think the lymph node problem is going away. He still feels great. He does have gallstones that are causing him a little discomfort but he is going to get those broken up. The treatments he is on will last for about 2 or 3 more weeks. He is still strong and healthy. We had a CT scan done and the tumor appeared to have remained the same size. His blood work looked great. His cell count was high (signaling fighting something off) but it was also good. His immune system is still really strong. Today is the first day for radiation (localized). He (doc) is hoping that helps shrink the tumor. We are hoping the tumor is weak because of the treatments over the past weeks. The medical doctors still don't understand why he won't do chemo. My father realizes that chemo probably isn't the best in this particular situation.

Things are still going well. My father still feels great. He had to have his gallbladder removed because of pain from gallstones. When the doctors removed it, they did a deep inspection of his kidneys, liver, etc. and were really perplexed that he was as clean as he was. They made the comment, "if we hadn't seen your chart, we would have thought you were a perfectly normal individual". They are more curious as to what is going on. He is still strong and looks to be in great health. He blood work looks great. We should know in a few weeks the status of the mass. Our prayer is that it is gone, small at least. We are hoping for a restaging.

Hi. Things are still going well. My father's ultrasound last Friday shows the tumor at ½ it original size. He was originally diagnosed with a tumor 5-6 cm and Friday it was 2-3 cm. We will get a CT-scan this week to confirm this information. He will have his sent replaced this week. The bilirubin was elevated, probably due to the sent problem.

Yes, we are still going with the "insulin induced hypoglycemic therapy (IHT)" Also, he is getting periodic colonics to keep colon clean. He takes many supplements throughout the week. After his IHT therapy, he takes elevated levels of vitamin C (50 or 75g) and other minerals by IV He feels pretty good. Still works 4 days/week at his job. He thinks that he has a colon problem from the scar tissue caused by the radiation. He is constipated often. The colonics are making him feel much better. His diet appears so-so. I try to get him to eat only good things but he's older and set in his ways. He has changed his diet but not to the extent that I would like to see. The cancer is still there but ½ its original size and appears to not be metastasizing. Still in the one lymph node closest to the head of the pancreas. Not sure what our next step should be? The doctors are frustrated that my dad will not do chemotherapy now. They get offended so easily, even though their tre! atments don't necessarily work. I will tell you this, I learned about PC-spes, this is a pancreatic cancer treatment that is supposed to be really good according to our holistic doc. You ought to look into it, just for general information knowledge. They have been having incredible results with this stuff. http://www.pc-spes.com

Hey, things are going ok here. My father is having a lot of back pain and some minor stomach pain. We can't tell if its his degenerative disc or a tumor problem. His tests show no tumor progression. Blood tests show normal, CT scan is also good. Not sure what to do to determine if he has tumor or is it his back problem that is causing pain? Any ideas??

Don't know what a CA19-9 is (ed. I asked him whether a marker had been taken in addition to CT). He is scheduled for another CT scan next week sometime. The last one was a few months ago and everything was still normal. Do you recommend a CT scan or MRI? He is taking Gloratab pain pills or muscle relaxers, not sure what it is (muscle relaxers). They help. The pain is mostly in lower back, sometimes kidney area. On a scale of 1-10, it is 9 sometimes and 1 at other times. When it hurts, it hurts whenever he moves. When not moving he's ok. His testicles hurt bad and are a little swollen? He does feel his back loosen up after taking the Gloratabs. His last blood test was about 1 month ago. He had all normal readings. His appetite hasn't changed much. Not sure if this will help, but we are taking him to an accupuncturist to see if pain can be alleviated temporarily. The doctors at the hospital don't really know what is going on. They don't see changes in tumor size but! can't explain his pain. The are perplexed and blame it on tumor (I think because they don't know what is going on with his tumor not changing in 8 months). Maybe it has changed and is moving in a direction that can't be seen by CT scan or anything? Can't say. Wouldn't his blood work come back abnormal if there was? He was diagnosed with 2 herniated discs back in 1996 and hasn't done anything about it.

Thanks for your help. He hasn't had a CA19-9. He doesn't have insurance and is going to a county hospital. Sounds bad, however, it is a renowned hospital despite being a county hospital (hospital name will not be revealed to respect anonymity). He got better treatment months ago. Lately, they are low on money and having budget problems. He has good doctors but the problem is that they are tight on money and not eagerly suggesting procedures above and beyond the usual. They don't understand why he has had no tumor activity in 8 months after being diagnosed at stage 4 back then. We will make sure they conduct a CA19-9 (we will need to forcefully request one). He has those 2 degenerative discs in his lower back (not sure which ones), and we think that's where his pain is coming from. I was told that they can't get a MRI because of he has that sent. The doctors are not addressing the back issue. They can't explain why there's no tumor activity but have believed for a ! long time that his time is short. Its tough to get them out of that paradigm and do some real treatment or provide effective bedside manner. If he is having back problems, I would think physical therapy would help? I agree with you that it should be addressed since his pain seems more back related given the chief complaints. I think he is supposed to be doing some type of sit up to help strengthen his abdominals and to ease the pressure in his back. Feel free to email me if you come up with other issues to address. We will keep you posted.

They are gonna do the CA19-9 early this week and a CT scan. We will meet with the doctors on Friday to discuss the results. Also, the acupuncture is relieving his pain. He had a really good day after the second treatment. Don't know how it works but it does!!

Hi. Things still going ok here. Dad has been through a lot but has come out pretty well. He had emergency surgery because he had a perforation of his abdomen. They didn't expect him to pull through the surgery because he was fully septic. Not only did he pull through but was out of ICU in 2 days!! They were all amazed he is even alive. We attribute it to prayer and the heavy vitamin and mineral IV's that my dad has taken over the year to keep his system really strong. He had a partial obstruction (could be from radiation, inflammation, etc.) Dr. said perforation was due to recent wretching. They anastomosized his jejunum to his stomach. We understand that this type of drastic surgery, you are at risk for malabsorption. At his post-op appointment they only checked his incision and did not do any blood work. He is feeling ok, eating more and hopefully will have no malabsorption problems. Will keep you posted.

We have fought for over 1 year and still fighting. Dad's emotions are low and he is getting worn out. We are keeping him motivated. We also purchased some "essential oils" that will lift his spirits and give him a positive attitude. Yes, he has no insurance and so we must go to the county hospital. When a person doesn't have insurance, they go to county hospital because they can't refuse them treatment. My family is keeping documents of the events. It is very thoughtful of you to post in information on the web. We appreciate your prayers.

My father really does seem to be doing ok. He is healing from incision and surgery that he has undergone. This surgery takes a few months to get back on your feet. He appetite is low and he is borderline anemic from this. We are worried about this. He may have a transfusion soon. His alternative doc is still giving him vitamin infusions (IV), etc. We have found a new treatment. There is a book called, "The Cure For All Advanced Cancers" by Hulda Regehr Clark Ph.D., N.D. She appears sharp. I have read her books and seen her science. I believe she is onto something. She has an advanced program that will shrink tumors in 21 days. I believe it is a book worth reading. We are going to start him on that program. I have also contacted Dr. Clark in Tijuana where she has a clinic. She has accepted my dad into her program. She has a high success rate. We will see if he can go and how much it will cost.

We are keeping our fight on but growing weary. I spend many hours a day and on weekends putting together a plan for my father. Whew, we could use some rest. My father is either going to get over this cancer thing soon, or he will pass away. This new treatment will hopefully make or break it. The alternative treatments that he has received in the past has given us another CHRISTmas with him. That is great. May not have many more, who knows. Our family agreed in the beginning that if he was going to die, it was going to be while doing alternative therapies because, we don't believe Western medicine holds much help in his end stage condition. Take care.

That's very kind of you to help us. We could definitely use any financial help that you could bless us with. You seem like the type of person who brings great honor to your father's name. I try to do the same. My recommendation is: there are now numerous M.D.'s out there who have "transformed" their practice to a combination of homeopathic and the best that Western medicine has to offer.

Ron Kennedy, M.D. www.medical-library.net check out his library articles on many different illnesses. His book that I purchased, I cherish big time "The Thinking Person's Guide to Perfect Health". A ton of info. is in this book.

I subscribe to Alternative Medicine Magazine. www.alternativemedicine.com good articles in there and on their web site. Science is coming a long way on alternative treatments.

There are some tremendous benefits to natural herbs. The reason my dad hasn't had his cancer travel to his liver is because we have him on Milk Thistle and Alpha Lipoic Acid. The latter is the only herb on earth proven to rebuild liver tissue. No joke! You won't find it any medical books, and few typical doctors know about it. The liver is so important. digestive enzymes, filtration, etc....

You have to decipher between good and bad information on alternative medicine. Much reading gives better ideas to distinguish between false advertising and what is really good. Dr. Kennedy has many great articles, I can't even begin to start. I cross reference his information often.