Now that mum’s Stage 4 Colon Cancer is in remission with her PET-CT scan showing resolved metabolic activity and her CEA markers consistently in normal range, there are days even I tend to forget the details of this blessed journey we have been on this year. It has really been a very epic year from being told my mum had stage 4 cancer in February when all she had was irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, to being told in March she only had 6 months to live if she didn’t do chemotherapy, to her being in remission by Jun and now even healthier than before, without having to take her high blood pressure medication she was taking for 20 years before this. ALL in the same year!
Hence, I decided I will be slowly write on our journey to capture God’s blessings every step of the way, to remind us to be thankful for everyday and also to let all of you out there who might be going through similar struggles to know that you are not alone, and you too can overcome cancer.
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Following from Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,
On Mar 5, since dad was with my mum at the hospital, I decided to be useful and went to understand more about negative ion clothes as some people have told me it can help my mum’s immunity. Their instruction was that my mum needed to wear 4 layers of the negative ion clothings and change every 4 hours for it to hit 500,000 negative ions/cc of air for it to help boost her immunity to fight cancer. I waited almost 1 hour to get all the products for my mum and brought the key items back to TTSH ward and started wrapping my mum then. The physiotherapist also visited her today, and mum managed to get off the bed to walk around despite her wound.
On Mar 7, the doctor is surprised at my mum’s recovery speed as she is supposed to be in hospital for 1 week. But she is well enough today so they decided to discharge her. Thank God for her fast recovery. I believe the TCM, negative ion treatments she did before the surgery and the negative ion clothes she was starting to layer on helped heal her wound faster. I found out later that there has been research on how negative ion exposure accelerates wound healing in rats.
Over this short few weeks period from mum’s diagnosis, I lost weight as I couldn’t eat a full meal. I can’t quite explain the feeling but I just feel so worried and nausea so there is this full feeling at my gut all the time so I can’t eat. I also couldn’t sleep through the night, waking up to fearful nightmares then tossing and turning. How I put myself to sleep is reading through scholar.google.com on articles on many types of colon cancer treatments including alternatives. I felt like a zombie on most days. But I knew I had to push on with my reading and researching, because Stage 4 Colon Cancer only had a 5% 5 year survival rate.
On Mar 8 – I got a really random Mountainwings email which I have been subscribing to for years and read faithfully everyday.
“The doctor of the future will give no medication,
but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.
~Thomas A Edison~”
Was this another sign? No medication – really?
This was when I told my husband to start looking for his contact he met a few weeks ago for a reliable alternative cancer treatment option.
On Mar 13, we went back to the hospital to remove her stitches. The surgeon is not an oncologist but he says he always recommends chemo after surgery to clear off all cancer cells that might not be visible to the human eye. I discussed briefly with my dad about the TCM doctor’s view on no chemo but I knew dad decided to let my mum do chemo on that day already since it was a standard recommended practice.
The next day, when we were home by ourselves, Mum told me she was scared. We decided to do the Daily Bread devotion, and this was the passage for the day.
So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Indeed, He knows our fears, and holds all of our days.
On Mar 18, though I have left my charismatic roots behind for many years, I brought my mum to the “Kingdom Invasion” healing rally. There, mum was prayed for by 2 young ladies for her healing. Right after prayers, as we stood up to leave, I got a call back from the alternative cancer treatment centre my husband and I have been trying to contact for the past few weeks. I had quick chat with the patient coordinator and realized that the treatments have to be done in Bangkok! Oh man, it was going to be tough sell to convince dad to let us go, and for mum to want to travel. My mum dislikes travelling, and she doesn’t like Bangkok. I need a lot of prayers to make this work out.
The very next day, the clinic managed to arrange a skype call with the medical director, Dr Lodi, at 7pm. My dad joined the call too but he was clearly not too interested. My husband and I asked all the questions and learnt more about how alternative natural treatment can possibly reverse my mum’s cancer without using chemo. Dr Lodi became the 7th person (see the significance in my earlier prayer here) and a MEDICAL DOCTOR to tell us to use natural means and not pursue chemo if possible. He also warned us that the oncologists would say terrible things tomorrow. Dr Lodi mentioned that we would most likely be able to see effectiveness of the treatments in 6 weeks because they take cancer markers every week to monitor.
From today’s devotion – “Our God is too loving to be unkind and too wise to make a mistake. I’m thankful that He is our hiding place where we can enter and be at rest in such times. May His peace rule in your heart and family’s too.”
Mar 20 was the long awaited appointment with the oncologist. He used terms like “palliative” which my mum did not understand though we knew it meant no cure. Only when prompted, he said that my mumn would have an average of 6 months without chemotherapy and 2-3 years on average with chemotherapy. I felt a bit confused by the oncologist. He told us that colon cancer is a lifestyle disease, yet when I asked him what to change about my mum’s lifestyle even if it is to lengthen her life and not reverse the cancer, he advised to do and eat everything she used to do and eat.
While the oncologist said my mum only had 6 months to live without chemo, but he said she could take 4-6 weeks holiday before starting treatment. But my dad proceeded to book my mum’s mediport operation Apr 4 and chemo to start Apr 7.
I had a chat with dad to let me use the 4-6 weeks break to bring my mum to Bangkok for treatment. He thinks it would be useless and asked me why I was so insistent there would be a cure. I felt so bad but for the first time in my life, I knew I couldn’t obey my dad’s wishes…
(to be continued)
Mum’s Stage 4 Colon Cancer Recovery Journey Series:
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The complementary treatments my mum underwent to put her cancer into remission:
- Raw Diet, Vegan Diet and Juice Fast
- Electro Lymphatic Therapy (ELT)
- Colon Hydrotherapy (Colonics)
- Nefful Negative Ion Clothings from Japan
- Saline Flush, Coffee Enema, Wheatgrass Implant, Probiotic Implant
- Vitamin C High Dose IV
- Vitamin B17
- Ozone Therapy
- Insulin Potentiated Therapy (IPT)
- Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT)
- Breathing and Pilates Classes
The doctor (who lives what he preaches on 100% raw, vegan diet) who treated my mum, and health educator who transformed the way I look at a “healthy” lifestyle:
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