I am thankful for our Oncologist. She is kind, communicative and really cares about my son. I am thankful for the research that has gone into childhood cancer treatment. And I appreciate the ability to have the option of medicine when it is necessary. I am also very thankful for the technological advances in medicine. They played an integral part in diagnosing my son with cancer. However, if we had had a choice, I am not certain we would have chosen to treat Kicker’s cancer with conventional medicine, chemotherapy, etc, and because we do not have that choice, we are making the most of being in the midst of a very helpful, yet corrupt, world of medicine.
The definition of medicine is…
“the field of applied science related to the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.[1] It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness in human beings.”
I like that!…”the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment and PREVENTION of disease.”
I mean, watching the hands of a heart surgeon, the intense and focused gaze of a neurologist as he reviews CT scans or the ability to reconstruct limbs via technology – THAT is art. And even though it is a blessing that we have come so far and have such talented individuals who choose to practice medicine, when medicine is wrong, our lives are jeopardized and the art of healing is lost.
In fact, we have become entirely too dependent on medicine to maintain our health! Physicians and patients widely accept the ‘cut, burn and poison’ mentality. And the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease by focusing on the underlying cause of the health issue has been lost. For example, when a gallbladder acts up, the more popular response is, “well, let’s just cut it out…you don’t need it anyway.”
WHAT?!
First of all, we DO need that organ to assimilate fat, detox and make babies. God was very intentional in designing our bodies! So instead, let’s first attempt to detox the gallbladder. Also, take a look at the diet and implement a supplement protocol that will support healing.
But ohhhh wait…that won’t make any money because diet and supplementation produce zero dollar signs for big pharma. And since big pharma funds medical schools, where our physicians get their education, well, addressing the underlying cause just got a whole lot more unlikely.
Have you ever heard the Latin phrase, Priumum non nocere?
It means, “first, do no harm,” and every medical student learns this foundational principle.
And what about the Hippocratic Oath…I am sure you have heard of it.
Well, upon graduation from medical school, every new physician publicly takes this oath on stage and in front of their peers. Let me remind you of what it states:
Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version
(Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein.)
“I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.”
Interesting, eh?
Well, first off…
I want to defend physicians by stating that as a culture, we are so unhealthy. We no longer take care of ourselves; therefore, we put a huge demand on doctors to make us better with drugs, surgeries, etc. In fact, it is absolutely necessary that we take responsibility for the way medicine has changed. Let’s put an end to using it as a ‘band aid’ and start using it for only acute situations.
It is also time that both physicians and patients felt some conviction about needing to address the underlying causes. I understand that there are reasons for physicians to use a knife and occasionally use a deadly drug, such as chemotherapy. However, in today’s practice of medicine, how much of the Hippocratic Oath is upheld? It is almost like we have gone backwards. We FIRST use the knife or FIRST use the deadly drug. Then, when NOTHING else works, there is a VERY slim chance that we are forced into looking at the underlying cause of disease through alternative medicine.
Additionally, I want to touch on the following statement in the oath:
“I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment.”
As I have stated in the past, researchers Dr. Otto Warburg and Dr. Thomas Seyfried found that when placing a patient on a mostly Ketogenic Diet and removing any sugar, the amount of chemotherapy can be reduced by upwards of 70%! Yet, if you ask most oncologists, they will say, “Oh, diet has nothing to do with cancer treatment. Just let them eat whatever they will eat…a calorie, is a calorie, is a calorie.”
Well, I beg to differ!
Look at a PET scan. It is the primary tool physicians use to detect and diagnose cancer. When a PET scan is given, a radio-traced glucose (sugar) is injected into the body. This causes the cancer cells to light up at the uptake of sugar. It’s very effective in assisting any detection because cancer cells uptake sugar at a rate of 40% more than typical cells.
So, I’m sorry…did someone say that diet doesn’t affect cancer treatment?!
I will also not donate to…
…any conventional childhood cancer research. This include the American Cancer Society, and I encourage all of my friends and family to follow suit. Why? Well, those funds go to pharmaceutical companies. Those companies then turn around and give $20,000,000 grants, for example, to a research group. Those pharmaceutical companies are not going to be very happy if the research groups research a ‘natural supplement or natural diet’ to cure cancer.
No…they want to see a drug produced that will make them a very large profit!
So then, let me ask…do some of those drugs prove effective?
Yes. However, we have been fighting this cancer war since Nixon declared the official “war on cancer” 40 years ago with the National Cancer Act. And what have we been fighting this war with? Drugs, drugs and more drugs.
According to the American Cancer Society, 569,490 people died in the US from cancer in 2010. In 2002, the death toll from cancer was 555,500. The American Cancer Society also declares that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer in their lifetime. Within 5 years, cancer will be the leading cause of death in America. So, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that despite the billions of dollars thrown at the cancer industry, we are loosing this war.
Actually, more people are dying from treatment and not the disease. Daily, pediatric cancer patients are suffering from medicine induced fungal infections, bacterial infections, severely compromised immune systems and organ failure. Seriously, what good is it if their tumors are shrinking, but their body is too weak to function?
Please hear me…I am not asking to completely get rid of medicine. Instead, I am asking for a treatment plan designed to heal the body without profit being the priority. I am asking for doctors and patients to consider diet and detox as a foundational part of cancer treatment. We can’t play dumb and ignore the evidence that what we are doing is not working.
Please also don’t get me wrong…I absolutely believe that childhood cancer research needs more funding. With a dismal 3.8% of all of the funds allocated to cancer research going to pediatrics, we are in desperate need. HOWEVER, until big pharma puts HEALTH before profit, that funding needs to go to private individuals or groups that bust their ass to do their own research for real healing and less toxic treatments. And then…hope and pray it is published.
So, we started the KICKcancER Movement.
And one of the things we raise money for is to allocate scholarships to kids with cancer. Those scholarships are then used toward alternative treatment options, supplementation, food and tools for at home detox because most likely, all of those items are outside of someone’s reach because they are not covered by insurance.
And THAT is the kind of funding we need!
In the meantime…
We personally have to take this responsibility into our own hands, and this is why our family has employed a team of alternative practitioners for Kicker, follow a strict Ketogenic Diet and practice a very intense regiment of detox remedies and immune supplementation.
Yes, we did all of the research on! our! own! Plus, insurance considers it as “preventative.” Therefore, they won’t cover ANY of it. Oh the irony…especially when we look again at the definition of medicine being:
“the field of applied science related to the art of healing by diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.”
THIS is exactly where medicine has gone wrong.
very concerned cancer mom
Bingo! Season, you summarized it beautifully. I am very thankful for modern medicine, yet, so much is still missing and not acknowledged by most oncs. They left me no choice but to pursue what I thought was best for my child. Unfortunately, I had to remain silent.
Talia
Reading this reminded me if my own experience with my sons cancer, battling doctors and standards of care for my son to get the best treatment possible. I wrote a book about our experience called The secret club.