DEAR CAMPAIGNERS,
My name is Jan Anderson. I attended a Conference earlier this month in Adelaide, Australia, where the speaker was Phillip Day. I had previously listened to some of his tapes and some other tapes i.e. The Politics of Cancer. He was a fantastic speaker due to his enthusiasm for his subject matter, his very keen knowledge of the information provided and his need to share this with others. I managed to convince my husband to attend this Conference, not normally his thing, and he was enthralled. My husband was diagnosed with metastasis cancer in early September 1998. They were unable to find the primary but discovered his vertebrae had been eaten away in his L4 by 3.5cm and to a lesser degree on the L1. They also found cancer in his lungs. He was previously a smoker, although not really a heavy smoker, and had given it away three year prior to the cancer being discovered, after he had suffered a heart attack and had a stent fitted.
The fear that entered our life at the time the cancer was discovered is indescribable. My husband was 50 at that time and I was 55. Ian was my second husband and we have been married 14 years. I had lost my first husband Ken to illness and I felt I could have done more if I had been more insistent with the doctors or done something myself. I was not going to let history repeat itself. I had lost my first husband Ken of a gastric ulcer when he was 41 and I was 38. The doctors had told Ken it was only stress and he should relax more. He was like a skeleton when he died. The gastric ulcer, undiscovered in medical tests, had grown like a vine and wrapped itself around his heart and squeezed, causing massive internal bleeding, the shock of which killed him. Both Ken and I kept telling the doctors we thought it was an ulcer, but they didn’t listen. Both my father and my first husband’s father suffered from duadenal ulcers and their symptoms were identical. The Coroner called for all Ken’s X-ray to see why the gastric ulcer had not been discovered and treated as it was not a serious ailment. It was said it did not show in the X-rays as it was hidden in the folds of his stomach.
My husband was always slim. I am sorry I strayed off the subject a bit but I think my experiences have left me a little cynical about putting our lives in the hands of doctors, I was brought up not to talk back to my elders and to revere doctors. They are however, only human and not always given the means to mend our bodies. We must also take some responsibility ourselves. There are a lot of very caring doctors around but they have tunnel vision in relation to prescribing drugs. In the search for the answer to my husband’s cancer I discovered information on Essiac Tea from the Ojibway Indians and about B17. I started my husband on the Essiac Tea and started feeding him food with B17 in it. Mostly almonds as he loved them and it was easy to get him to eat them. I carried out lots of juicing with carrots, spinach, and one apple (including the pips ). Ian was very accepting of the Oncologist’s need for Ray treatment and Chemotherapy and felt he needed these to get well! All I could do was keep feeding him good things to try and rid his system of the poison as soon as possible. He humoured me. I also had him on four different Neways treatments and Noni Juice – all steadily emptying our bank balance.
Ian endured three lots of 10 days ray treatment. He also had chemotherapy, Carboplatin and Taxatere three weeks out of every four for approximately 14 months. Also he was given about four other drugs to stop him being sick; make him want to eat and to beat other side effects. It was hell for 18 months. After approximately 6 weeks of treatment, my husband was limping very badly and in pain. They gave him more X-Rays and discovered the cancer was pushing his spine trying to enter. I was told they would have to put him in a wheelchair as the cancer would make its way into his spine causing him to become a paraplegic. It was hell living with this information, of which my husband was not aware. It was a great strain for me as the doctor described what would happen and how the pain would be unbearable. Thankfully, this did not occur. He was rushed to hospital on four occasions, two with pneumonia. He also stayed in a wheelchair for 18 months.
Fortunately, his Oncologist, a younger woman, accepted my need to feed Ian natural remedies and had no objection to this, although the way she said it lead me to believe it would be to no avail. She tried very hard in her own way to help Ian get well and was always extremely helpful and made herself available as soon as he was taken to hospital irrespective of the time of night. On one of these occasions, when I had to call an ambulance because my husband’s temperature had shot up to over 40 degrees; he was hallucinating; had a huge gapping wound in his groin, which just happened so quickly, the oncologist asked me why he was so bad, as I had been keeping him in such good condition (sounds like a horse). I advised her his mouth and his gullet were so bad with thrush that after taking a pill with 2 glasses of water, it would pop up again into his mouth. He was unable to swallow any of the vitamins and minerals I had been giving him. The oncologist asked me to go home and get these items immediately and she would give him an injection to help him swallow my natural treatments. It was the closest she had come to acknowledging that whatever I was doing was of benefit to my husband.
My husband has not needed any Chemotherapy since August 2000. The holes in his spine are slowly developing encrustations. His body is trying to heal itself. The cancer did break out again further up his spine near his shoulder blade in February of this year, or so they say, and he was given a further 10 days of ray treatment. You should see his burnt back. They had not been in such a rush to carry this out this time and Ian was of the opinion it was because the cancer hadn’t started eating his bones. At the time my husband was diagnosed with his cancer the specialists did not, thankfully, give him an expected time to die, as they do with so many others. I spoke with them without my husband’s knowledge and asked them not to tell him or I. After the first 9 months of his treatment, when on a visit to his lung specialist, the specialist told us that he “doffed his hat to us”. He said that none of then had been expecting him to survive more than six months. This was the longest time for people with this type of very aggressive bone cancer. He said if you can last this time, you can last a year, six or ten years and we are watching you very keenly. Both Ian and I started crying. We have always been so positive on a recover for Ian. I have not allowed him to think otherwise.
On one occasion Ian’s local doctor was sent a letter from the government where Ian worked. It asked the doctor for the likely prognosis and the chances of Ian going back to work. The doctor completed this form and sent it back to Ian’s employer. Unbeknown to the doctor, the government sent Ian a copy of this. It stated that the prognosis was not good. That Ian would never be able to be employed again and he was not expected to live for long. Unfortunately, Ian collected this letter and read it before me. He stated that not everyone believes as I do in his ability to recover. I told him that doctors are not God and we must prove them wrong. Ian at this time was only staying up in his wheelchair for about 1 hour at a time as he was very weak and tired. As soon as he was asleep, I telephoned his doctor and gave him a peace of my mind. He was amazed that a copy of his report had been sent to Ian and apologised for this as he had not meant to upset either Ian or myself. He did however state that I was being unrealistic to expect Ian to survive more than about six months.
Well we have proved them wrong. Ian is now without a wheelchair and has been for about 11 months. He now has some quality of life and loves pottering in his shed making things for people. Some days he overdoes things and strains his back and he is in some pain for a few days. He is now saying that he feels better than he has for the last two years. Due to Ian’s remarkable recovery, other people who have cancer sometimes contact us or others ask on their behalf. I loan these people your tapes, and indeed at the Conference I bought another four of each of them to give to more people. Also at the Conference I took a couple of extra copies of the “Welcome to the Campaign for Truth in Medicine” Booklet. I have also been handing these out and suggest they get on to your website. Nearly all of these people have been asking where they can obtain some Apricot Kernels. The health food stores say that they are prohibited from sell them by the Government as they are a poison!!!! So, summer is just around the corner and here in Australia apricots will be plentiful. Which part exactly of the kernel does one remove and use. How can I store these and I would like to be able to grind some knowing they will keep for some time. There are some very interesting recipes in the “food for thought book which I would like to try which call for ground apricot kernels. I would really appreciate any information you can give me. Indeed, even suppliers of ground kernels if possible. Although that may be difficult if the government in Australia has banned them. My husband and I became a member of the Campaign at the Conference and look forward to future e-mail health updates. I know what you are doing is excellent and I am proud to be part of it. There will be a ground swell, and people can change things. I will keep passing on your website number to anyone who enquires.