Sunday, October 13, 2013

Cancer Patient Healing Story--Part I-Wake Up Call

Some of my church friends are suffering from the pain, agony of cancers; the suffering extends not only to the patients, but also to patients' spouses, family members and close friends.  Since cancer may strike anyone when a person is getting old, what shall we do if we face such a challenge?

I believe that the following healing story from a cancer patient (colon cancer) who is also a neurosurgeon in Taiwan would bring hope to those people whose life are affected by the pain and agony of cancer.  The original article and the You-Tube video is in Mandarin.  I will do my best to translate the article to share with my friends.  Also, since some of the readers of this blog read Mandarin, I will present the story  both in Mandarin and in English.

專訪 名醫許達夫 談罹癌的心境過程與抗癌的自然療法之成功見證
 Interview:  Testimonial of Dr. Hsu Ta-Hu (a neurosurgeon in Taiwan) of the struggle and the success of his natural healing.

腦神經外科名醫許達夫目前已經幫一萬多位病患開過腦部手術,但是他自己卻被醫師宣佈罹患末期大腸癌,活不過三年。今天,許達夫仍然非常的健康,迄今正常生活超過十年,他要分享抗癌結合中西醫的自然療法。

Dr. Hsu Ta-Hu, a famous neurosurgeon in Taiwan, has saved lives to more than 10,000 patients who had head injury trauma.  Unfortunately, he himself was diagonalized of having stage-3 of colon cancer.  His doctor told him that he had only 3 years to live.  However, 10 years after the diagnosis, not only he outlives his fate predicted by his doctor, he is healthier than ever.  He is sharing his healing story to those who are anxious to learn about the secret of natural healing.

The following story is taken from the excerpt of the interview of Dr. Hsu with a television reporter.
If you understand Mandarin, you can click the link to the YouTube interview.

PART 1: http:// www.youtube.com/v/0e56OsD36bc

Neurosurgeon Professional


Reporter:  Can you introduce yourself to the audience about your profession?

Hsu:  Yes.  I have been a neurosurgeon for 20+ years, specialized in head injury brain trauma surgery.  Sometimes, I operated 20 patients a night. Most of the patients were brought to the hospital due to motor-cycle accidents.  Back in the 80's, there was no law requiring cyclists to wear helmet.  That was why there were so much accidents.  After the law was enacted requiring cyclists to wear the helmet, the number of head injury was greatly reduced.

Fear 


Reporter:  As a doctor, how did you react when the other doctor told you that you had stage-3 colon cancer?

Hsu:  At the time I received this bad news, I had a patient in my office.  I was so frightened with the news that I did not know what did I say to the patient (In fact, I could not even compose a complete sentence.) but quickly sent him home.  Cold sweats were all over my hands and my feet.  I was shivering, and was very depressed and could not walk a step outside.  I reacted exactly the same way many cancer patients did.  I fully understood their agony.

Reflection and Lifestyle Changes


However, the difference between me and other patients was that, I only frightened for only 2 days.  After 2-days of great fear, I stopped.  I began to reflect and analyze my life style including stress and diet and I began to see why I got this terrible illness.

First of all, I noticed for the first time in my life that my life style would eventually get me into trouble.  In the operation room,  I often spent 72 hours straight working on patients; it meant no sleep,  very lousy, quick, calorie-loaded meals.  For each patient, I would spent 20-30 hours on brain surgery; sometimes I had to skip bathroom break.  Occasionally got a weekend break, I would eat big meals loaded with meat and other animal-based meals, very seldom ate any greens or other vegetables.

Before I got sick, I was a very famous neurosurgeon in Taiwan.  I spoke, everybody listened. Besides, I was an athlete in medical school.  I played rugby in school.  I felt that I was invincible.  That belief system crumbled the moment I got sick.

Although medical students were the best students in Taiwan, we never learned how to treat diseases, especially cancer effectively beyond our tools: prescription drugs, radiation, or surgery.  We were never taught in medical school about the nutrition, the mind-body connection, the importance of stress management, let alone the prevention of the disease.

Doctors are not God


Thus even medical doctors looked like kings (or queens) in the eyes of the society, they were the group of people knew least how to take care of themselves.  In fact, they often were much short-lived than the rest of the society.

Reporter:  Let's go back to 2002 when you had noticed something wrong in your system.

Hsu: Yes, back in 2002, I found blood in the stool.  First, I dismissed that symptom as hemorrhoid. To a brain surgeon who had seen more traumatic cases of brain injury,  hemorrhoid was just a minor nuisance; nothing to be worried about.  Well that symptom did not disappear and lasted 3 months; upon the nudge of other doctors, I finally went to hospital and did the colonscopy.

Treatment Journey


Reporter: As I read your book, initially you took chemo treatment.  Then your doctor suggested to do the surgery, you refused.  What had happened?

Hsu:  Yes, after I self-pity on myself for 2 days upon the bad news of colon cancer, I began to change my diet, reduce my stress, and completely changed my life style.  I even began to learn Qi-Kong ( a Chinese form of breathing exercise).  With those preparation in hand, I went to the first run of chemo.  I felt my health had greatly improved.

Three month later, my doctor told me to conduct a surgery.  That became a very serious decision for me to make.  My final decision was to say 'No' to the surgery.  First, I had felt for the first time in my life, my breathing exercise, or Qi-Kong, was doing good thing to my body.  I felt stronger and healthier with this breathing exercise.  This surgery would set the clock back to the original 'sick' state.  Second, I had seen many cancer patients in the hospital.  They looked terrible: hair loss, skin turned dark,  sacking eyes, crooked backs.  No one smiled.  Everyone looked so depressed.  Many of them died in the hospital, not due to cancer but the complications from the treatments: pneumonia, blood poison (septic disease) etc. 

To be continued on Part II.  Click "See Older Post"  to read Part II







Cancer Patient Healing Story, Part II--Hope Clinic

(Continued from Part I, cancer healing story)

Cancer Relapsed


Reporter:  In 2004, your doctor found that your cancer relapsed and cancer cells had metastasized to lymph nodes.  Your doctor recommended another round of chemo treatment.  You refused.  Why?

Hsu:  Once the cancer relapsed, it meant that cancer cell had evolved to adapt to the chemo.  Thus, unless the doctor used different chemo, the chemo would have no effects in killing the cancer cells.  On the contrary, the chemo would have devastating effects on the patient's well beings and vitality.  Besides, I felt that Qi-Kong, or the breathing exercise was having positive effects on my healing, another round of the chemo would set the clock to the miserable state of my health.

Thus, when I heard that cancer had relapsed, I said to myself:  I had to practice more Qi-Kong, and pay more attention to diet and exercise.

[End of YouTube Part I]

YouTube Interview:  Part II

PART 2: http:// www.youtube.com/v/LonXzyvJprY

Hope Clinic

Reporter:  In 2005, you had established the first  "Hope Clinic" accepting only the cancer patients within the Taiwanese mainstream hospital.  However, 3 months later, you gave up the "Hope Clinic" but establishing your own clinic.  Can you share this with the audience?

Hsu:  Yes, after I survived the cancer I wrote a book of my survival experiences.  I had received a lot of inquiry from many cancer patients. To help out those suffering cancer patients, I established the first Taiwanese "Hope Clinic" within the Taiwanese Health Care System.  The Clinic assembled Orthodox Western Medicine doctors, Chinese Medicine doctors, and Alternative medicine practitioners to treat cancer patient.  Being trained as an Orthodox Western Medicine neurosurgeon, I did not oppose Orthodox Western Medicine.  The purpose of the Clinic was to assist Orthodox Western Medicine for successful treatment of cancer patients.  Unfortunately, many people including many doctors within the Taiwanese Health Care system did not accept integrated and holistic appraches other than the Orthodox Western Medicine, the Clinic collapsed in 3 months.

After failure of the "Hope Clinic" within the orthodox Taiwanese Health Care System, I established my own "Hope Clinic".  This Clinic had accepted 3-4, 000 patients since its establishments.  Many of my cancer patients lived beyond 5 years after the diagnosis comfortably without pain.  In Orthodox Western Medicine, it was very difficult for the cancer patients to live beyond 5 years.  Moreover, the patients had to endure pain and agony within this 5 years undergoing the Orthodox Western Medicine treatment.

(to be continued on Part III)(Click "See Older Post to read Part III)

 

A Cancer Healing Story of a Taiwanese Neurosurgeon--Part III--How A Patient to heal himself

(Continued from Healing Story, Part II)

The single most important thing a patient can do for healing

Reporter:  You had survived cancer without surgery, and without the 2nd round of chemo.  Do you think your model would work for other cancer cases?

Hsu:  My model of holistic healing would work in most cancer cases.  Unfortunately, Orthodox Western Medicine was a deep-rooted medicine practiced in almost every where for every Taiwanese doctors, not many doctors and patients accepted my model for treating the cancer cases.  However, patients who followed my advice could easily live beyond 5 years after the diagnosis.

Reporter:  Tell us, what is the most important thing you did to overcome cancer?  Was that your diet?

Hsu:  No, not the diet; not the exercise.  The most single important thing a cancer patient can do is to overcome his or her fear.  The fear itself blocks the healing process of a patient. (Dr. Chen's note:  This echos what Dr. Simon says in his book, "The Wisdom of Healing.":  If the patient surrenders, and leaves the issue of death to God, he or she has a better chance of remission.) The patient must have the confidence in themselves.  Our human body has more than 4 trillion normal cells who fight for you to survive.  Let go the fear is the most important step, and probably the most difficult step for a cancer patient.  Qi-Kong or breath exercise can quiet our 'Monkey Mind' to reach a peaceful state of mind that would be extremely helpful for healing.

There were 3 major themes for overcoming the cancer:

(1) Respect Life:  Normal cells are life, cancer cells are also life.  In the Orthodox Western Medicine, cancer is a foe and must be totally eliminated.  In my treatment philosophy, we don't need to completely eliminate cancer cells to live. We don't have to. The most important thing we can do is to live, not to kill.  We can co-exist with the cancer cells as long as we put the cancer cells in-check.

(2) Protecting the Body:  Orthodox Western Medicine only treats the disease.  In the process of treating the disease, the Medicine damages the body.  In my Clinic, we protect the body so that a patient can sleep well, eat well during the treatment.  Sleep and appetite are essential for a body to heal.

(3) Raising The Body Immune System: The treatments that Orthodox Western Medicine practice today suppresses immune system, interfere with patients' ability to heal himself.  They are all against the principle of healing. 

Ping-Sai-Kong 


Reporter:  In your book, you had mentioned about Qi-Kong and Ping-Sai-Kong exercise.  Can you comment on the so-called Ping-Sai-Kong Exercise?


Hsu:  The principle of exercise for health is that the exercise is simple and effective and you can do it at anytime and at any place.  I used to play rugby. But, rugby is not the exercise good for our health.  During my medical practice as a neurosurgeon, I used to play basketball after 10-20 hours at the operation room.  Basketball once a week or once every 2 weeks is not useful for good health either.  Moreover, you can get injury from playing basketball.

In doing the Ping-Sai-Kong Exercise, you stand on the floor with feet stay apart approximately your shoulder height.  Then you swing your both hands fro and back; every 5 swing, you slightly bend your knee and stand back.  (See video demonstration.)  The hand and knee motion allows you to adjust your spine.  Because all the nerves come from the spine, your healthy spine guarantee your healthy respiratory, circulation, digestion and kidney functions.   Furthermore, you can do this at any place and anytime. I told my patients to work on this exercise 20-30 minutes every 1-2 hours.


http://www.screencast.com/t/t4KcERqfH 

 End of YouTube Video Part II.  Click "See Older Post to read about Dr. Chen's opinion.)

What is my view on cancer treatment?

Dr. Chen is pragmatic regarding cancer treatments.  Orthodox Western Medicine would be useful if the treatment success rate is greater than at least 40%.  Examples of this would be early detection and treatment of breast cancer and prostate cancer.  However, if the success rate of treatment is low or impossible such as relapse of the cancer (It means cancer cells have evolved and adopted to the chemo.), I would suggest using the holistic approach.

In any case, surrendering the fear of death to God is the most important thing a patient can do for himself or herself.  Make sure, the patient eats well for the nutrients, sleep well (Many healing processes occur during sleep.) Laugh more.  and move around.  The best is to visit parks as often as a patient's ability allows, because the Nature has an amazing healing power.  Breathing Exercise and Ping-Sai-Kong as Dr. Hsu had demonstrated will be very useful.  Our mind can heal or kill.

May my heart goes to those people who are suffering the pain and agony of cancer.  Healing is possible.  Dr. Hsu did it.  So can you.


http://www.screencast.com/t/t4KcERqfH 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Turning into 67 Reflection #5 Spiritual Growth

According to Dr.Weil, director of the Integrated Medicine at University of Arizona, every disease has a spiritual ( deficiency) root.  I heard about this not only from Dr. Weil, but also from Buddist belief in Taiwan.  The Buddist says that you harvest what you sowed.  The so-called 善有善報, 惡有惡報 in Chinese language.   Although, today we no longer believe in this connection, because bad things can also happen to good people.  Nevertheless, spirituality does not hurt in promoting health.

According to Dr. Weil, attending church, giving money for donation,contributes very little for spiritually.  For true spirituality, one must provide care for other people without asking for any return.    According to this definition, mothers, grandmothers, and care givers are those person blessed with spirituality.  For those people who do not have to care for other people, Dr.Weil suggests those people to volunteer in hospital, visit shut-in, or volunteer in either the emergency shelter or warming shelters.

I am glad to report that I take Dr. Weil's advice seriously and begin to engage in this type of activities.

How about reading and writing about inspirational stories?  Dr. Weil did not mention that, yet I found writing alone is also a very powerful tool to grow spirituality.  Let me illustrate this with a story from one of my painting friend, Judy (name has been changed to protect the identity of the individual).  She had a very bad first marriage;  the experience was so bad that those bad experiences haunted her either in sleep or in awake even she has been happily married to Nick, her second husband.  She began to write about those haunting stories and the strategy to overcome those fear.  When she finished writing, miraculously, those haunting experiences disappeared.  Her husband, Nick went into deep depression after his son took his own life at age of 21.  Nick also overcame his depression by writing.  My own experience of writing stories in blog or writing e-mail with a friend on "Trust in God" and "Forgiveness", also helps my spirituality.

In short, for spirituality I will continue to volunteer in shelters, writing inspirational stories in blog,  meditate or say prayers, and read inspirational stories.

Turning into 67. Reflection #4. Life saving life style changes

The most important life style changes is that I stick to Joe Furman's diet almost religiously to improve my digestion system.  Furman's diet is stricter than the ordinary vegetarian diet.  A vegetarian diet, the dieter can eat pasta, breakfast cereal, or bread and bagel.  Not for Furman's diet. According to Furman's, theses refined starch substances is no different from table sugar, can produce havoc to buddy's  insulin regulation producing body's inflammatory response.

My regular diet for breakfast:  Kefir/yoguart(plane)/home-made sauerkraut/garlic, as aside dish;  steel-cut oat meal with sweat pepper, berries, tomatoes, grapes,and avocado as the main dish.   Lunch will be a big salad with greens, carrots, sweet peppers, berries, grapes, apple, nuts, and avocado.  Dinner will be primarily cooked vegetable.  Sometimes, I would have egg and fish.

When I disclosed this diet plan to one of my tennis buddy, he laughed at me saying that diet was a typical 'rabbit food.'  Yes, maybe it is a 'rabbit food'.  But rabbits don't get cancer, type-2 diabetics or heart attack like us.  Many studies have shown convincingly, a vegetable-fruit-probiotic based food saves lives as they have been documented in the citations of Dr. Furman's books, "Eat to Live" and "Super Immunity".  I do not know whether this diet will eliminate my precancerous conditions in the stomach.  However, I do see clearly two positive outcomes:  (1) My seasoning allergy symptoms are greatly reduced since I adopt this diet.  (2) My antibiotic-resistant H Pylori is gone, at least for now.

Other important life style changes is that I incorporate meditation into daily routine.  There are many meditation CD available in the market.  Listening to these meditation music in a quiet environment can effectively quiet our busy mind.  No one can dispute mind-body connection with the good health.

  

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Turning into 67, Reflection #3--Triumph

The biggest triumph this year is eradicating antibiotic-resisting H-Pylori in my stomach.  Since H. Pylori is a primary carcinogen for stomach cancer and since I already have precancerous conditions in my stomach, I was devastating when I learned that I had antibiotic-resistant H. Pylori in my stomach.  The infectious disease doctor wanted me to try 21-day another antibiotic regiment; yet he gave me no guarantee that the new treatment will eradicate the bug.  Besides, if the 21-day treatment failed again, this H. Pylori would become non-treatable, or a super-bug.

I refused.  Instead I tried to use diet, pro-biotic, and herbal medicine (Mastic gum and Matula tea) to see if they are effective.  According to my research, these approaches were very successful in the reported case.

In June, when I had endoscope and culture studies with both 1 day and 1 week culture work at Mayo Clinic found nothing on this bug, I was elated.

This was the biggest triumph of the year.