Is There a Cure for Cancer?

Updated 01/05/2006

In my opinion, which isn't shared by the AMA, the best treatment for cancer involves proper diet, proper exercise, and lots of mental therapy involving not just the patient, but the entire family.

The trend identifying illness with emotional distress is rising. This is not to say that any illness is psychosomatic, but that when the mind is ill at ease, the body will soon follow. In other words, in the patient's mind, is there some needling little thought that goes something like this: I don't want ____ in my life.  Find this, turn it around, and the cure will soon follow. (For a more complete treatment of this method, see The Work.) Most likely, the patient's values and belief systems are rooted in family matters, which is why the 'cure' has to be a family thing.

My throat cancer (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) made its appearance in 1993, within two years after a divorce. When the breakup occurred, I made a decision that I was not good enough to be in a marriage, nor to have any kind of relationship with another woman. With nothing left to live for, I actually looked forward to dying. The sooner the better. But I knew I would not commit suicide. When cancer poked it's ugly head out in my throat, I actually laughed.

However, within a day or two, I did go through the normal stages of fear, anxiety, and depression. But I soon came to my senses and started looking at my life in a different way. I saw what I was doing to myself to bring on cancer, and I decided to do something about it. Moreover, I realized that choosing to end my own life was a decision better left to some higher power.

First, I refused the radiation which was to follow the "minor" surgery (remove the lump, leave the rest to me, please). Then I looked up a hypnotherapist, a Qigong master (pronounced chee-gung; Qi-energy, gong-practice; similar to Tai Chi), an Ayurveda physician (a 4,000 year old India medical practice), a chiropractor (who was also a nutritionist), a cancer support group, and a friend well versed in Neuro-Linguistic Programming. In other words, leave no stone unturned (except for the AMA, which I do rely on for setting bones and sewing up wounds). My belief is that even if I let the AMA do all they could, it would be for nothing if I didn't also look after my mind, and if I took care of my mind well enough, the doctors wouldn't be needed.

And that's the way it has turned out.

I mentioned that the 'cure' is a family thing, but I didn't mention that my mother accompanied me on the 10 week program at the Cancer Support and Education Center in Menlo Park, CA. I invited her more as my "security blanket" (and I was 54 at the time). Bonding with her during that time helped to relieve me of the idea I had that my family didn't matter to me.

There are endless such stories around. And there are ample studies by prominent doctors who have been shunned by the AMA for their outrageous statements that patients need not spend money on surgery and radiation, but rather on diet, exercise, and mental therapy. Dr. Deepak Chopra is one them. Dr. Andrew Weil may soon follow.

Doctors are useful, but in my humble opinion, not when it comes to curing cancer. They freely admit they have no cure for (most) cancer. And the cure they offer is often worse in its side effects than dying of cancer is. But I do expect that in time they will find a "magic bullet" for cancer. I also expect it will be something of the order I am suggesting here. Preventive medicine for cancer will always be proper diet, proper exercise, and proper mental health. And it is *never* too late to start.

Had my cancer required surgery other than the less severe "tonsillectomy" I would have refused it as well. So, with this in mind, it seemed rational to me to look the other way, into alternative therapies.

The bookshelves are full of alternative therapies for cancer. Few of them mention anything about the mind. Dr. Deepak Chopra does. So does Dr. Andrew Weil. And any Ayurveda physician will support the concept that the body follows the mind. Who am I to argue with 4,000 years of experience? The interesting thing about the results of Western medicine vs those of Eastern and Far Eastern medicine is that manufactured drugs often have more dramatic effects than herbs and diet do. This is because the use of herbs and diet requires a greater mental discipline to follow than it does to swallow an expensive drug. This is not to say that drugs aren't useful, either. We have cured Polio with drugs. But look at the simple cures that were found with proper diet alone, such as rickets and gout.

I really don't know what it would take to heal any given person of any given health problem. A Course In Miracles tells me that nothing you can say or do will help, that only Love heals. Based on my own experience I can see the connection. It wasn't so much that I developed a positive mental attitude and directed the body to heal itself as it was that I developed a strong sense of self-worth and appreciation for myself. All the other stuff I did only gave my body the essentials it needed to try to get healthy once my mind was no longer in the mode of wanting to die.

Enough about my point of view. You can find out for yourself by reading a few books. Here's a recommended reading list:

Miracle Healing From China: Qigong,  Charles T. McGee, M.D., & Qigong Grand Master Effie Poy Yew Chow, Ph.D.,  Media Press,  ISBN 0-9636979-5-1

Racketeering In Medicine: the suppression of alternatives,  James P. Carter, M.D.,  Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.,  ISBN 1-878901-32-X

Quantum Healing: exploring the frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine,  Deepak Chopra, M.D.,  Bantam Books,  ISBN 0-553-34869-8

Perfect Health: the complete Mind/Body Guide,  Deepak Chopra, M.D.,  Harmony Books,  ISBN 0-517-58421-2

Options: the alternative Cancer therapy book,  Richard Walters,  Avery Publishing Group, Inc.,  ISBN 0-89529-510-5

Getting Well Again,  O. Carl Simonton, M.D., & Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, & James L. Creighton,  Bantam Books,  ISBN 0-553-28033-3

Conquering Cancer,  Paul Johnson, M.D.,  Zondervan Publishing House,  ISBN 0-310-53781-9

Goodbye To Guilt: releasing fear through forgiveness,  Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D.,  Bantam Books,  ISBN 0-553-34182-0

You Can Heal Your Life,  Louise L. Hay,  Hay House,  ISBN 0-937611-01-8

A Course In Miracles,  Foundation For Inner Peace,  Viking Press,  ISBN 0-670-86975-9

8 Weeks To Optimum Health,  Andrew Weil, M.D.,  Knopf,  ISBN 0-679-44715-6

Spontaneous Healing: how to discover and enhance your body's natural ability to maintain and heal itself,  Andrew Weil, M.D., & Tony Grecco,  Knopf,  ISBN 0-679-43607-3

I've presented my evidence and offered my choice. The rest is up to you.