end stage disease

THis is a wonderful article on what to expect with end-stage disease:

http://www.virtualtrials.com/btlinks/death.cfm 

I get really upset with clinicians who say there is nothing else that can be done. There is ALWAYS something else that can be done - at a very late stage it might not stop the disease, but might contribute to better quality of life, and that's hugely important.

I am a very firm advocate of using natural treatment to fight cancer, boost the immune system, improve nutrition, and enhance one's sense of well-being.  There are many foods, herbs and botanicals, and supplements that contain powerful cancer fighters and marvelous elements that our bodies need to be well.   Many leading professional advocates of alternative therapies recommend that anyone fighting cancer at the very least take these five supplements (and I recommend adding a sixth):  

selenium:  200 mcg/day (can start with 400mcg/day but only for a few weeks)
magnesium:  200 - 250 mg/day (350 mg/day max), take with food
zinc:  50 mg/day (can start with 100mg/day but only for a few weeks), take with food
manganese: 10 - 15 mg/day, take with food
calcium: 1200 mg/day

We need Vitamin D-3 to be able to absorb and utilize calcium. Our bodies manufacture D-3 if we get adequate sunlight (15 - 20 minutes exposure/day) - but I do not believe in leaving this to chance, so also recommend a Vitamin D-3 supplement, 1000 - 2000 iu/day (10,000 iu/day max) 

 If you are interested in learning more about natural alternatives that may well enhance your health, these are all excellent sites:

 http://www.cancertutor.com
http://www.lefcancer.org
http://alkalizeforhealth.net
http://alternativecancer.us

If you have access to a naturopathic practitioner (or anyone who deals with holistic medicine - an osteopath, homeopath, accupuncturist or practitioner of traditional chinese or ayurvedic medicine), I recommend that you make an appt with them to learn about those remedies that might be most helpful for you in your specific situation.

I don't mean this advise as a panacea for all who have been told they have end-stage cancer.  The fact is that not everyone is going to be able to change the outcome through the use of natural treatment.  However, even those for whom natural intervention comes late, it can still improve quality of life, especially by virtue of knowing that you are doing something to take good care of your body and not just giving in to this vicious beast.

Also, make sure to focus on including laughter and humor as part of your day, everyday.  Mirth brings about significant physical chemical changes that contribute to health, as well as lifting our spirits at the same time.

I wish you the very best.

Sincerely,

Tre

I'm not sure what you mean about not being able to do anymore. Where is the tumor? I assume you have had radiation, surgery, chemo? Were you stage 4, smoker? Have you been to MD Anderson? As a last resort, how about Cancer Treatment. Centers of America? There is never a give up. Never, ever.

I had tonsil cancer one year ago. In fact, today would be my 32nd radiation treatment a year ago. I'm back at MD Anderson for a biopsy on Monday for a suspicious sore throat. I already know what it is, but I will fight to the end. Death is not an option at this point.

Never give up, never give in, never accept it.

Fight on. God bless. We'll have a reunion in a year to celebrate.

Rick

On 2/21/2009 katie8 wrote:

hello...i have end-stage disease (tonsilar cancer)  there are no more treatment options at this point.  although i am not afraid of dying, i am terrified of the way i might die.  i would be interested in hearing from anyone who has taken care of someone with this disease throughout the terminal stage. my immediate concern is whether or not i will have a warning as to when i will be unable to swallow or will this be sudden onset.  my other concern is pain management as this is a well documented problem with this type of cancer.  finally, my dr is unable to tell me a general time frame until my death.  my general health is good, however, my tumor is growing rapidly.  thank yoo for any information you might be able to provide.

Hello - I definitely agree with the previous posts.  My husband had the same diagnosis as yours - it had spread from three tumors in the throat to the lymph nodes.  They very aggressively treated his cancer.  He finished chemo and 37 tomotherapy treatments three weeks.  He goes back in a few weeks for PET scan.  Our Drs. have been very positive with us and that has kept us positive.  Somethimes I think clinicians give us the worst case scenarios to protect their back sides.  I agree with the supplements - we are doing everything anyone is suggesting!  We are using Flor-Essence Green Tea also.  It can be purchased at any health food store.  It is a detoxifier.  Good luck with your journey and keep us posted.  This is a wonderful site - I wish that I had found it earlier.  Cheryl Oklahoma City

I really don't know if you are at the end of your treatment options or choose to be.  If it is by choice I well understand as I too, have tonsilar cancer and God willing am still clean but it has only been 6 months.  I am a nurse that ran many ICUs for decades and know this one thing.  there are truley things worse than death.  I had a very difficult "cure course" and said if the disease don't kill you sometimes the cure will.  I have already decided if I get a recoccurance I will not go through it again, I will let nature take it's course.  I am not a pesimist but rather an optomistic pragmatist. 

Having said all this doom and gloom crap, if you want other treatments there clearly are other things out there, get another opinion.   If you don't contact your local Hospice.  There is no reason for pain these days and those guys are expert at balancing cognitive function and pain relief.  They don't call it the gift of Hospice for nothing!

Whatever your situation, whatever your choice may Gid help with your journey and best of luck with life.

Regards

-  Lynn 

I agree with the previous notes: there is no point when there is nothing to be done. There is always some more things that we can/should try.

I don't know if it helps, but I found amazing articles about a very old Chinese herbs - Artemisinin. If only 30% of the claims are true, then it is still amazing. Supposed to be better than most existing chemo drugs and some of the stories of recoveries (if true) are really remarkable.

Since I found these, I take two Artemisinin capsule a day.

Here is one scienfic article (there are quite a few published)

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Effects of artemisinin and its derivatives on growth inhibition and apoptosis of oral cancer cells
Woong Nam, DDS, MSD 1, Jungae Tak, MS 2, Ju-Kyoung Ryu, MS 3, Mankil Jung, PhD 2 *, Jong-In Yook, DDS, PhD 3, Hyung-Jun Kim, DDS, PhD 1, In-Ho Cha, DDS, PhD 1 *
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
2Department of Chemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
3Department of Oral Pathology, College of Dentistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Background.
Artemisinin is of special biological interest because of its outstanding antimalarial activity. Recently, it was reported that artemisinin has antitumor activity. Its derivatives, artesunate, arteether, and artemeter, also have antitumor activity against melanoma, breast, ovarian, prostate, CNS, and renal cancer cell lines. Recently, monomer, dimer, and trimer derivatives were synthesized from deoxoartemisinin, and the dimers and the trimers were found to have much more potent antitumor activity than the monomers.

Methods.
We evaluated the antitumor activity of artemisinin and its various derivatives (dihydroartemisinin, dihydroartemisinin 12-benzoate, 12-(2-hydroxyethyl) deoxoartemisinin, 12-(2-ethylthio) deoxoartemisinin dimer, deoxoartemisinin trimer) in comparison with paclitaxel (Taxol), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cisplatin in vitro.

Results.
In this study, the deoxoartemisinin trimer had the most potent antitumor effect (IC50 = 6.0 M), even better than paclitaxel (IC50 = 13.1 M), on oral cancer cell line (YD-10B). In addition, it induced apoptosis through a caspase-3-dependent mechanism.

Conclusion.
The deoxoartemisinin trimer was found to have greater antitumor effect on tumor cells than other commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs, such as 5-FU, cisplatin, and paclitaxel. Furthermore, the ability of artemisinin and its derivatives to induce apoptosis highlights their potential as chemotherapeutic agents, for many anticancer drugs achieve their antitumor effects by inducing apoptosis in tumor cells. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2007.
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Best luck to you,

Laszlo