Something hit me the other day.. i think it was when the nurse screwed up my dosage of irinotecan(chemo drug) while i was in the day therapy unit from 20ml an hour to 120mls, and my head was spinning, my eyes rolling into the back of my head and a dizzyness that i immediatly associated with death.

What followed was possibly the worst three to four days i've ever had to endure throught a chemotherapy course ever, anything i even attempted to eat, was soon brought back up, and with the heat at some of the hottest it's ever been, my lack of being able to swallow anything didn't help the dehydration.

My mum constantly worrying about me and the nurses urging me to go back to the hospital on tuesday to get a few hours worth of liquids didn't make me feel comfortable at all as the last thing i wanted to do was go to hospital, but i guess it could be better than dying.

I perservered and tried drinking anything i could, managed to drink some sars, and sucked on 3-4 ice cubes, i was running very low that day, i assure you.

If you don't know from previous things i've said about my chemotherapy, i actually also take home a bottle of it for 3 days Monday and taken out Wednesday in which it flows through my body slowly in said time, having a needle stuck in your chest for three days isn't the most pleasant experience and to be honest, normally i'm quite tough on the exterior but looking at it makes me nautious.

I'd always seen myself as quite a tough person, having beaten cancer twice and taking it head on for the third time, but with the spread of it from my liver, which it's quite extensively taken over, and gone onto my lungs, where there are currently two spots, and the word incurable ringing throughout my mind, i thought there has to be some other way, there's no way i want 12 months of half the time being sick just to "extend my life" when i could have 6 months and it be exactly the same.

I've decided today, after half recovering from what's left over of the treatment that my chemotherapy will, %95 percent chance, be stopping.

I've endured alot, but i can't endure anymore, it may sound weak, but don't disown me just yet, i've decided to try alternative therapies, rather then the conventional ways, one of which i've heard good things about from various different people who don't know each other and have all brought it to my attention.

That therapy is called apricot kernals, a seed which i have to eat quite frequently during the day, and apparently has quite a bad taste, but has cancer curing effects. now it's not guaranteed to work, but what in life is?

i'm also putting my name down for the radio wave therapy at the perth hospital and hopefully that will also come to fruition, and last but not least, although i'm not religious in anyway shape or form, i'm putting my faith into prayer and going to visit a pastor who believes he may have what it takes to cure cancer as he's done to 7 other people.

this may all sound a bit ridiculous to some of you, but i've realised that all through my cancer life i've been so narrow minded and i've never once stopped to think about the possibilites outside of conventional medicine. some may call me crazy, but i'm at the end of the line with chemotherapy, and those who have been there, and i know some have. will know how i'm feeling.

The update pretty much is that my cancer is incurable through conventional medicine, and there was probably a 10 percent chance that they could shrink the spots enough to operate.

Feel free to ask me any questions, i've researched the apricot kernals and all other therapies so don't think i'm making quite a rash decision as i've been thinking about it from day one treatment one of my chemo.

you should not be thinking how can i beat it but more, how can it get me laid?


seriosuly tho, good luck mate - i would do exactly the same in your situation.

i couldnt imagine what it would be like to have to go through all of that. you've been so strong tho so hang in there man.

btw do you get on msn much these days? cant seem to find your contact not sure if it made it onto my new email - hit me up would be good to catch up again, birdwiser84 att hawtmail.

dale!
you'll be right, you've done it before and you can do it again.
and for the last time, no more of this nonsence, soon enough you'll be living a healthy life.
Good luck dude. :)

big ups from me dale. just dont lose faith and turn your back on conventional therapy, sometimes all it takes is a break. im not slagging anything on unconventional therapies, or saying that conventional is the only way, but it could just need a mix of the two

Get 20 credit cards, run up 100's of thousands of dollars in debt, commit some major crimes - you are guaranteed to live.

good luck grunt, just make sure you use all the options you see fit. i couldn't possibly imagine how much this sucks for you, also try and keep your options open.

last edited by WhiteWolf at 23:34:03 09/Dec/05

You should look into and see if anyone does the same kinda thing that Dr John (i think) Holtz used to do before he retired. 1000's of happy paitents can't be wrong. Of course he was written off by the general medical establishment, but this can be compared to the big oil companies scoffing at renewable energy. Critisim not motivated by benefit for the end user. Oil is only money tho, medicine is peoples lives as well. Much more disturbing.

Anyhow your doing the right thing by seeking out alternative treatments. Just be sure not to get sucked into anything miricle-ish. Anything should have a high number of provable successes and also the practitioners should have long term reputable qualifications. Conventional isn't always the best, it's just the most used.

Relevent higher forces bless you Mav and may you get well again soon.

p.s you could sue that nurse for negligence if you had the $$$ for it. She could have killed you with an OD.

I wish you the best of luck, dude. You've shown a level of maturity and courage I never would have expected.

God that sucks!

It's good to see that you've actually put some effort into researching into the alternative cures rather than just jumping on random bandwagons (much like a number of forum goers usual do).

And it's interesting that it seems that you're also putting your faith in a religion. not that there's anything bad with that, but at least it should bring some peace into the whole situation. But during my youth when I was still a biblebasher, I've seem some weird s*** happen with those miricle healings.

Man given what you've said about your chances with chemotherapy I think you've got the right idea. Grab hold of anything that makes you feel better, anything you think makes a difference and you feel confidence in.

It's good to see that you've actually put some effort into researching into the alternative cures rather than just jumping on random bandwagons (much like a number of forum goers usual do).

I wouldn't exactly follow any serious bandwagons qgl has to offer, as it is all a joke, beside how f***ing girly obes' car is. die

f*** this is bulls*** man

^^ what? (to the bulls*** quote)

long time lurker first time poster in dale threads;

man best of luck hey, I hope you recover in anyway possible :)

What would the quality of life be like with the alternative methods vs using traditional methods?

what steps can i take to prevent cancer?

Get 20 credit cards, run up 100's of thousands of dollars in debt, commit some major crimes - you are guaranteed to live.

Or just leave his next of kin with the bill of credit cards.

Good luck brus, hope its painless. you'll be right, just have faith

s*** and I thought I was having a bad year with my health probs. A few questions, how old are you? and specifically what type of Cancer is it?

I have a workmate going thru the same s*** at the mo. He was a fitness fanatic, ran most days ect.. until he noticed a nasty lump in his leg. He thought it was a shinspliny from jogging ect.. Anyway it eventually started to make him limp and he finally got it checked out. Well it was a cancerous tumour, they bombarded it with radiation to shrink it to a size they could cut out, which they did and he came back to work. Anyway, I have been off work for a long time and I was told the other day that the cancer had come back and was in his chest and lungs and they were going to operate on him early December. I have tried to contact him but cant get an answer at his house (they may have operated already for all I know).

So Mav, I guess I would go with what Tung said, maybe a complimentary mix of both traditional and alternative medicines might be worth a go. BUT I would be vary warry of people offering miracle/religious/whacko cures and promises. Unfortuneately there are a lot of pricks out there that take advantage of people in desperate situations and prey on their weakend emotional and psyhical state.

Good luck dude.

p.s what hospital do you go to? I was at the Wesley the other day and there was a guy in front of me with his Mum and Dad talking to the Pharmacist about pain management ect..and he looked really crook. not you was it? I was standing in line for my morphine and was about to recommend them to him. :P

Coming from a science background I personally couldn't recomend the alternative therapies because most of the time they use annecdotal claims as evidence (or even worse "proof"). That's the issue with science it proves if something works so you can trust it but that takes time. It is possible that some or even several new treatments work better than the conventional methods but it won't be realised and accepted until a massive body of work has been done on it. The flip side of this is the smaller the body of evidence behind something, the less likely it is to be one of the effective treatments.

Admittedly I only work on plant genes that have versions in humans that can be responsible for cancer. So I'm only peripherally involved in this and the small amount of focus I have is on the causes not the cures. More importantly I don't know what it's like to go through what you're going through, so you can only take my advice for the very little that it's worth. Anyway, msn me at chakas89 at hawtmail dawt com if you want to talk more. Obviously I want to get back to having beers with you at Billy's place again and it goes without saying I'll help you anyway I can.

Anyhow your doing the right thing by seeking out alternative treatments. Just be sure not to get sucked into anything miricle-ish. Anything should have a high number of provable successes and also the practitioners should have long term reputable qualifications. Conventional isn't always the best, it's just the most used.

I say try anything and everything, even the miracles of religion. I just recently had an uncle who went to a priest (not sure who) thinking it would be his last confession seeing that the doctor said he only had about 1 month to live but when he got there the priest told him he was cured. Anyway next checkup he was cleared of cancer. Im not even sure if I believed that story when the man told it to me first hand but wtf did the cancer go?

Good Luck mate you have everyone on QGL on your side!!!! BTW how old are you, I just can't believe it!

Wow. I'm so sorry to hear this, Dale. Some people have had really great results from alternative methods, so it's good to see you're giving that a shot.

Best of luck, we're all rooting for you.

Best of luck dude.

Duder much much respect to you, your a touch little cookie AND damn fine looking too ;) if ya need anything give me a bell.
Good luck brother.

thanks guys, as much as i'm wanting one of these alternative treatments to work, and i will be putting all my faith into them, i'm not stupid as well, and as i said in my first post nothings guaranteed, i'm 19 by the way. and no psycho it wouldn't of been me, i'm the type of person when it comes to hospitals to do as little complaining as possible purely so i can get out of there faster. the only reason that they found out my chemo was going in too quickly was because i started falling asleep and my mum asked me if anything was wrong, and i said well.. i do feel a little dizzy. ehe

Personally go enjoy life while you can.

(note the numbers I am just making up)
3 months of kick ass fun, 3 months in hospital dying are far far better then 6 to 12 months of chemo, crap and still dying but no fun.

From what little I know about cancer, The fact that you have cancer that has metastasized in to multiple major organs is bad. Isn't Lance Armstrong pretty much the only person to have truely beaten a metastasized cancer (ie. beaten means no cancer cells present as opposed to partial remission) ?

is there a 'i hope obes gets cancer' bandwagon, because id surely jump on it

all the best dale

*shrug* the way I looked after my skin when I was a kid. I am a dead set cert for a minimum BCCs and probably melanomas (which if not treated are a death sentance). Smoked when I was younger so a chance of lung cancer. Plus a modern lifestyle (and a moderately unhealthy one at that) means I have a decent chance of testicular, prostate, liver, intestinal cancers.

Cancer happens, so does death. How you live matters how you die doesn't.

I am just one of those people that does not want to live on a ventalator or be revived. (I'd get a Do not revive tat on my chest but aparently it doesn't mean anything.. you have to have an advanced health care directive to prevent being revived/ventalated and it has to be carried on you at the time, and they have to accidentally find it)

who else is joining me on this awesome bandwagon

well if you come into the hospital ill be sure to not revive you
and i would crash your car

...as much as i'm wanting one of these alternative treatments to work...

an alternative to letting others do something for you? not in this society dude.


it's moments like this that scuzzy's imortal words ring true:

'natural selection at it's finest'

++motivation

best of luck with whatever way you choose to go dale

Dale, I haven't posted in any of your threads but read everything you have had to say. I just haven't really thought of anything to say. You have been a good friend. You have changed alot though over the time I have known you but I don't blame you having the s*** thrown at you that you have. I have always been here for you but really not known how to be that person if you know what I mean. Having to face something as extreme as cancer would really f*** with your head and I really can't imagine the thoughts I would think or what action I would take. People who say "wow you have shown a maturity I never expected" I really don't think is the right thing to say, it's not really about maturity, it's simply the will to live. That is what is most important. Where there is a will, there's a way. If you believe in yourself, the favour of an outcome can certainly swing in a far different way than the odds as it were would describe. Best of luck champ, I for one will be there if only for an ear to talk to and from personal experience that can be a powerful thing.

You have been dealt a card that most will never be dealt, obviously you have thought in great depth about this card as it were, and with no obvious winning hand I can understand the frustration you must feel. I know if this happened to me I would wonder why, the answer to that is what you are no doubt finding out but I certainly wouldn't shut down from the world, much the opposite. I hope you can draw the courage and strength you will no doubt need to face the obstacles thrown in your path and I certainly hope they will be overcome so we may reminisce about this time much much further down the track over a drink or two, on me.

All the strength in the world to you my friend.

All I can suggest is not to close the door on ANY treatment.

Come on guys, not really appropriate to turn this into a kat bashing thread.

Good luck Mav

As one of the people who sits by watching the chemo go into Mav every fortnight...and the person who has to empty bucket after bucket (especially this past week) I am also the person who cannot make decisions for Mav anymore as he is over 18. I only found out this morning about his decision to stop his Chemo and go the alternative therapy route...and I would like to see him at least finish the last 2 Chemo treatments and get a scan and see if it has made any difference. However...I am just his mother... what I want to see my son do doesnt matter... I am all for alternate treatments and would do anything I could to take this whole thing away from him, but I am useless. I even had to come to this site to read his thoughts because he doesnt tell me. Whatever treatment he decides on I will be with him 100% of the way (hey Ill even go to the pastor for the healing session)!!!!

way to be a twat spidz.

Goodluck Dale, haven't seen you in awhile but maybe we'll catch up again someday.

I guess this wouldn't be an appropriate time for a Grunt mum joke.

Best of luck Dale.

pmsl.. OMG is there Grunt mum jokes... sorry if i upset anyone by being emotional...

Smoked when I was younger so a chance of lung cancer

You live in a urban culture, that has a higher chance of lung cancer right there.

wouldn't it be better to delete than nuke?

Agreed. Let's try to keep the thread about the original subject. In appearance too.

wouldn't it be better to delete than nuke?

Deleting is too subtle for some people, they take it as an invitation to continue being stupid. It would have been nice if there wasn't any reason to need to delete or nuke at all, but I guess this is QGL after all, can't expect too much.

Good luck Dale, whatever path you end up following.

After reading this post, I'm not gonna worry about the 'little' things anymore.

I hope the apricot treatment works, dude.

It can happen, my old lady was given six months to live when she had thyroid cancer - that was eleven years ago now and she's made a full recovery with a mix of conventional & non-conventional medicines.
best of luck mate

Sucks :(

Good luck Grunt and family.

If you go the path of alternative remedies from here I hope that works out for you. Your mum has a point though, it might be worth giving chemo a go for a short while to see if it has any positive effect (but then its not my body and I'm not the one enduring it).

Just hope you get better :\

My brother was given 2 weeks to live and completely taken off all drugs 3 times during his bout with cancer. He came through it all, sometimes your body needs to just recover from chemo to get better though I would reccomend finishing the course you are on before dumping it completely.

At the end of the day, this is your life, and your body. You are the only one that will truely understand what you are going through. You are the only one that will know how your dealing and how much you are prepared to take. You are the only one that needs to feel comfortable with the decisions you are making.
You obviously have alot of people that love you and want the best for you, and its so special that you have that support. You should listen to their opinions and at least take them into consideration.
Look after yourself though, because this is about you, and personally I know I would be trying everything before giving up. Alot of people dont put much faith in alternative medicines, but if conventional methods of treatment arent working for you either, then what have you go to lose?

Listen to yourself, I wish you the very best and you will be in my thoughts. <3

Matey, I've never met you but I know someone who has and if what everyone has been saying in your threads for the last year or so is anything to go by you must be an absolute mad c***. All the best in whatever you do, stay strong buddy.

Good luck dude. Keep positive.

Also, keep an eye on this company: http://www.novogen.com/
Hopefully they should be commercialising their anti-cancer compound soon...