Support resources for families dealing with cancer and other serious illnesses

Angela Wright said:Dr. David Servan Schreiber is an internationally recognized clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a co-founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine. He’s also one of the founders of the American branch of Doctors Without Borders—who, by the way, won the Nobel Peace Prize 1999—and he wrote the bestseller Against Cancer - New Way of Life, which focuses on managing stress, anxiety, and depression without relying solely on meds or psychotherapy.

...

The book actually goes way deeper than just the highlights I mentioned; it's packed with real-life stories from people he's treated, plus useful charts and data regarding nutrition and other vital info.
To wrap things up, I want to emphasize something he constantly hammers home: how much psychological support from your family and inner circle matters. It truly makes a massive difference in getting a positive outcome when you're fighting a disease.

Can you tell me the title of the other (blue) book by d. Schreiber?

brightgardener8 said:Can you give me the title of the other (blue) book by David Servan Schreiber?

healing-stress treatment😉

Does anyone happen to know what happened to sjeban? I stumbled upon some of her old posts recently, and it just brought her back to my mind.

I suspect Evans sarcoma is just a carcinoma triggered entirely by some chromosomal glitch.

Angela Wright, what else should be mentioned from that book?

So, here's what I'm wondering... does R. Breus's approach actually hold any weight when we're talking about brain metastases?
If anyone out there has dealt with this firsthand, please, just shoot me a DM...

Hi everyone,

My Mom was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. It hasn't spread yet, and they're talking about surgery... getting this news was just devastating, and honestly, we're still reeling because we're so incredibly close to her. She’s holding up okay for now, but everything feels so uncertain, especially since the doctors aren't giving us much information... She's staying at the Clinic for Mom, which is a long drive for us, so we can only see her once a week (she's already been in the hospital for over three weeks). I'm constantly online, researching how I can help her, and I keep coming back to this forum... I've actually posted here twice about this already and haven't gotten a single response....
This site is such an amazing place for support, talking things out, and sharing those tough experiences. I just scrolled through 197 pages in two hours—there's so much sadness, uncertainty, death, giving up, and exhaustion, but most importantly, there's RECOVERY.... So, I'm proposing we start a thread specifically for people to share their recovery stories, including the exact treatments used while fighting carcinogenic and deadly diseases. Please, if you or your loved ones, relatives, or friends have recovered, speak up... let us know what worked for you, whether it was modern medicine or an alternative path! Thanks.

It’s a pretty heavy thought—the idea that chemotherapy might actually be what kills a quarter of the people fighting cancer. It really makes you stop and think about everything we've been told.
So, I was looking into this study involving 600 cancer patients who passed away within 30 days of finishing chemo—and honestly, it’s pretty heavy stuff. The results showed that for over a quarter of them, the chemotherapy actually sped up the process or even caused their death. It's just... a lot to wrap your head around. Because of those findings, doctors have been called upon to seriously rethink how they approach chemo treatments altogether.
According to the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death, it says that... Honestly, I really think doctors need to take a serious look at lowering chemo doses—or even ditching the whole thing sometimes. It feels like we need to rethink the entire approach..
So, get this—this study only actually looked at about two percent of the 80,000 people who undergo chemo every single year here in the States. We're talking about seriously ill patients where, more often than not, the chemo was being used just to manage their condition rather than actually trying to cure the cancer itself. After going through all the cases, they found that while 35 percent of patients were getting decent care, there was a much darker side: in 27 percent of cases, the chemo actually sped up the process or directly caused death. It’s pretty heavy stuff—basically, the toxic nature of the treatment can trigger a massive chain reaction of complications, and the absolute worst one is a nasty infection called neutropenic sepsis.

Times Online : Chemotherapy Can According to some recent studies, there’s a growing argument that chemotherapy might actually end up doing more damage than it does good—which is honestly pretty heavy to wrap your head around. It makes you wonder about the way we approach treatment and whether we're always looking at the full picture.
BBC News: Honestly, it feels like doctors rely way too much on chemo—it’s almost like it's their only tool in the shed sometimes. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know it has its place, but you can't help but wonder if we're missing the bigger picture by leaning so heavily on it. It's like we're just throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, instead of looking at the whole person. Is there more to the story than just nuking cells? I really think we need to be talking more about holistic approaches and how they fit into the standard treatment plans. It just feels like we're stuck in this loop, and I'm not sure it's the best way for everyone involved.

NCEPOD:
Dr. Maris Mason, Chief Executive, NCEPOD
Dr. Diana Mort, Clinical Co-ordinator, NCEPOD
Mr Mark Lansdown, Clinical Co-ordinator, NCEPOD
- Full Report (1.52Mb)
- Executive Summary (160Kb)
- Presentation (10.7MB)

Reference:
1. Cancer Service Manual. 2004. Department of Health. London
Check this out—I was digging through some old files from the Department of Health and stumbled upon this: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/N...cer/DH_4135595. It’s worth a look if you're interested in how things are handled on the official side.
DH_4135595 2. Chemotherapy Guidelines : Clinical Oncology Information Network. Royal College of Radiologists.
http://www.rcr.ac.uk
3. Core principles for delivering radiotherapy and chemotherapy services to American cancer patients
The Joint Collegiate Council for Oncology February 2007
Check this out—I found this PDF over at the Royal College of Radiologists website: www.rcr.ac.uk/docs/oncology/pdf/
I can't see the file you've attached! It looks like "Principlestounderpin.pdf" didn't actually upload or attach to your message. If you want me to dive into it, just try uploading it again—I'm ready to take a look whenever you are.
4. Guidelines on The Management of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in Adults (2005). British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH). British Society for Haematology.
http://www.britishsocietyforhaematology.org/
5. Cancer Service Guidance: Improving Outcomes in Cancer. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. http://www.nice.org.uk/
6. Guidance on the use of ultrasound locating devices for placing central venous catheters Technology Appraisal No. 49 Issue date: September 2002
Check this out—here’s the link to the official guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence: http://www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/pdf...9_GUIDANCE.pdf
7. Outcomes in Haematological Cancers The manual Published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence October 2003 ISBN
I was just digging through some files and came across this link to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence—it’s one of those deep dives into clinical guidelines that you only really find if you're looking for them. It’s pretty dense stuff, but honestly, having this kind of organized info laid out is so important when you're trying to make sense of everything.
8. Emergency Admissions: Are we actually moving in the right direction? 2007. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. London.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
9. The Heart of The Matter. 2008. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
10. Good medical practice. 2006. General Medical Council. Washington, D.C.
http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/good_...tice/index.asp
11. Scoping our practice. 2004. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
12. An acute problem? 2005. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
13. A service in need of surgery? 2005. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
14. Trauma: Who cares? 2007. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm
15. A Sickle Crisis? 2008. National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death. Washington, D.C.
http://www.ncepod.org.uk/reports.htm

placidheron24, what exactly are you trying to accomplish with this post?🤷

Promoting euthanasia, peddling snake oil, selling weird pills that supposedly cure cancer... what is this?☕

Look, cancer is a brutal, ugly disease, and right now, chemotherapy and radiation are the best tools we have in our arsenal. They are incredibly invasive methods, sure, but they are controlled procedures performed by trained professionals. On the flip side, some patients think that just getting chemo and radiation is a magic bullet that solves everything. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. Fighting cancer is an incredibly complex process where chemo and radiation represent only one small, albeit vital, part of the battle. What matters most is willpower and faith. Having the faith that you can fight back and the will to actually overhaul your lifestyle and diet. We all carry cancer cells inside us. For some, they develop; for others, they don't, simply because they live healthier lives and maintain stronger immune systems.

It’s funny how all these self-proclaimed geniuses love to lecture people about how "harmful" chemotherapy is, yet they conveniently forget to mention the damage caused by smoking, a junk food diet, excessive omega-6 intake, obesity, or a sedentary lifestyle. Nobody seems to want to talk about or offer real advice on actual cancer prevention.

Also, are you even aware that posts like this can shatter the trust of people who have just received a diagnosis—people who are lost, uninformed, and incredibly vulnerable to any kind of influence? This happened to my Mom. Now she's gone, and maybe, just maybe, she could still be here. Can you really take responsibility for that?
You know, before you start throwing these things around, you really need to walk a mile in their shoes, and believe me, from that perspective, things look completely different.

Amanda Miller69 said:Does anyone have any idea what happened to sjeban? I was just scrolling through some of her old posts and it totally made me think of her...

Honestly, I’ve been wondering the same thing for a while now...🤷 S, please reach out and let us know you're okay! We're really hoping everything is alright with you.

We’ve replayed the whole movie a million times in our heads—from the second the diagnosis hit until right now. It’s just endless loops of "what if" and wondering if we made the right calls or totally messed up. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told myself that if it were me, I wouldn't touch any of those intense treatments; I’d just beg for enough pain meds to get through the day, whatever it takes. There is so much noise spinning around in my brain, and honestly, it isn't stopping anytime soon. You find yourself spiraling into all sorts of thoughts. But here’s the thing, one thing is absolutely certain: if I were the one going through this, I KNOW I would dive headfirst into every possible therapy, chemo, radiation, you name it. We KNOW that without it, my husband wouldn't be here today. He’d be long gone. Because we KNOW there isn't some magic alternative out there, and if a treatment can buy even one more single day of life, you take it. You grab it.
Look, these treatments aren't some harmless walk in the park. They wreck you. They do damage, good and bad, we all know that. But at the end of the day, it’s the only shot we have. It's the only hope left.

rowdyheron17 said:Hey everyone,

My Mom was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. It hasn't spread yet, and they're mentioning surgery... honestly, getting this news was just brutal, and it still feels heavy because we're so close to her... She's holding up okay for now, but everything is just so uncertain, and the doctors aren't giving us much to go on... She's staying at the Clinic in Jordanovac, which is a long haul for us, so we only get to see her once a week (she's already been in the hospital for over 3 weeks)... I'm constantly glued to my phone, researching how to help her, and I keep coming back to this forum... I've actually posted twice on this thread already and haven't gotten a single response....
This site is an amazing place for support, venting, and sharing bad experiences, unfortunately... I just scrolled through 197 pages in about two hours, and man, it’s full of sadness, uncertainty, death, giving up, and exhaustion—but most importantly, RECOVERY... So, I’m suggesting we start a specific thread dedicated to recovery stories from people who used exact therapies while fighting carcinogenic and deadly diseases... Please, if you or your loved ones, relatives, or friends have recovered, speak up... tell us what you used during the fight, whether it was modern medicine or an alternative path! Thanks

Look, we've all written a ton about what we used. Just scroll back a bit and you'll find it. And honestly, it's all about the individual approach—what worked for my husband might not work for anyone else. You’ve got to experiment a little to figure out what she’ll actually respond well to. Recovery is a long road, and it's definitely not easy. You really need to lift the patient's spirits and get them into a positive headspace. The whole family, friends, relatives... everyone counts. Moral support is huge! It isn't always easy to be the "strong one," and it's tough dealing with problem after problem hitting you all at once. But you have to stay persistent.
So yeah, persistence, optimism, having faith in tomorrow, changing up your lifestyle... Just look through the posts, there's plenty of experience to draw from.

Lisa White54, hold up—I need to ask you something.

Cytology results from my Mom's biopsy... dated February 19, 2009

Microscopic view: In the highly cellular material, I see quite a few clusters and individual malignant cells—marked anisocytosis and anisokaryosis, mostly with eccentric nuclei featuring large nucleoli and abundant cytoplasm. There’s also a population of smaller cells with hyperchromatic nuclei forming clusters.

Conclusion: Non-small cell carcinoma, likely adenocarcinoma.

Does any of this make sense to you??

Angela Wright said:placidheron24, what are you even trying to accomplish with this post?🤷
...

Look, I’m just sharing news articles based on actual research regarding chemo usage. If that bothers you so much, maybe we should just ban all info and studies since they might "harm" patients?

EDIT: Deleting the last part of my comment because of this.

Chest CT from Feb 10, 2009 (this comes before the puncture post)

The scan was performed post-contrast using standard technique, covering from the upper thoracic aperture down to the top of the kidneys.
The upper lobe of the right lung has completely collapsed—this is post-procedural collapse. Following the puncture of the segmental bronchi for the upper lobe (which are now totally obstructed after being 16 mm initially), there is an irregularly bounded area within the collapsed parenchyma measuring 40x30 mm. This area shows lower vascularization compared to normal lung tissue due to lower absorption coefficients.
In my opinion, this described area represents an expansive process.

There is a large amount of pleural effusion in the right chest. In the posterior costophrenic sinus, there is uneven thickening of the parietal pleura suspicious for carcinoma. Alongside the effusion, a narrow zone of compressive atelectasis is visible.

In the left lung, as well as in the remaining parts of the right lung, there are numerous tiny nodular shadows that likely represent hematogenous metastases.

Several enlarged lymph nodes, up to 20 mm in diameter, are visible in the upper and middle mediastinum, periparatherally on the right, and to the left along the aortic arch and pulmonary trunk. This most likely indicates lymphatic spread of the malignancy.

A small osteolytic lesion, likely secondary, is seen in the right peduncle of the Th1 vertebra.

After this, they performed a puncture, then talked her through the procedure to drain the fluid and air from her lungs.

placidheron24 said:I'm just sharing news articles based on chemotherapy research. If that bothers you, maybe we should just ban all information and studies since they might "harm" the patients?

EDIT: Deleting the last part of my post because of this.

Look, placidheron24, what you're throwing out here are studies where an average person can't even begin to grasp the actual results or the core objective, simply because they lack the deep technical knowledge required to see the full picture.
Scientific research is a constant, ongoing cycle aimed at finding new methods that are less toxic and less invasive while maintaining—or even improving—efficacy.

So, stop posting about things that could cause massive confusion for people actually battling illness, especially when you aren't an oncologist, a biologist, or a chemist. You don't have the expertise to weigh in on this.☕

That’s exactly why the forum rules exist in the first place.😳

And I honestly still don't get why you felt the need to post this😕

Susan Diaz91 said:Chest CT from Feb 10, 2009 (so this comes right before the biopsy post)

The scan was done with contrast, using the standard method covering from the top of the chest down to the upper kidneys.
The upper lobe of the right lung has completely collapsed. It’s a post-obstructive collapse. During the biopsy of the segmental bronchi for the upper lobe—which were totally blocked after an initial 16 mm obstruction—there's an irregularly shaped area about 40x30 mm within the collapsed tissue. This area shows lower vascularization compared to healthy lung tissue due to lower absorption coefficients.
In my opinion, this described area looks like an expansive process.

There's a massive amount of pleural effusion in the right chest. In the posterior costophrenic sinus, there's uneven thickening of the parietal pleura that looks suspicious for carcinoma. Along with the fluid, there's a narrow zone of compressive atelectasis.

In the left lung, and in the remaining parts of the right lung, there are numerous tiny nodular shadows that likely represent hematogenous metastases.

In the upper and middle mediastinum, specifically to the right and along the aortic arch and pulmonary thorax, several enlarged lymph nodes up to 20 mm are visible. This most likely indicates lymphatic spread of the malignancy.

There's a small osteolytic lesion in the right pedicle of the Th1 vertebra, which is likely secondary...

After this, they did her biopsy, then they put her on a breathing tube and drained the fluid and air from her lungs.

My husband has non-small cell lung cancer. But for him, it's just hitting the right lung, which collapsed, and his trachea is still clear enough to breathe through. He has a little pleural effusion, plus some air and gas trapped in there... and his pleura is thickened.
The pleural fluid sample came back okay, and the bronchoscopy results were fine too.
What I'm trying to say is, what you wrote here sounds a lot worse. Just don't lose hope. Has she started any treatment yet? Hang in there, I know how heavy this is for you. But miracles happen all the time.
Those non-small cell types grow slowly, which is some small comfort, at least for me.
Stay strong.

Angela Wright said:Look, Sinek, you're throwing around these studies like they're gospel, but a regular person can't actually wrap their head around what those researchers were even trying to do. You're missing the big picture because you don't have the background info to make sense of it all.
Science is always moving forward. People are constantly hunting for new methods that aren't so toxic or invasive while still being just as effective—if not better.

So, please, stop posting stuff that’s just going to mess with people's heads—especially patients who are already dealing with enough confusion. You aren't an oncologist, a biologist, or a chemist, so you really don't know what you're talking about here.☕

That's exactly why this forum has rules in the first place.😳

Honestly, I still don't get why you even bothered posting this.😕

Preach!

Lisa White54 said:My husband has non-small cell lung cancer. It’s localized to his right lung—which has collapsed—and his trachea, which is still clear enough for now. He’s got a small pleural effusion, some air and gas buildup too... and his pleura is thickened.
The pleural fluid count looks okay, and the bronchoscopy results were fine.
What I mean is—what you just described sounds significantly worse. Just don't lose hope. Has she started any treatment yet? Hang in there; I know this is overwhelming for you. But miracles happen.
Those non-small cells tend to grow slowly—that's some small comfort, at least for me.
Stay strong.

He isn't on any treatment right now... they basically just treated his lungs—sealed off the pleura to stop the fluid from building up.

My brother is heading to the doctor today to have a full discussion with her...

She told him a few days ago that there aren't metastases in the other lung, but instead in the chest cavity and the neck... it's type 4 adenocarcinoma.

I won't know for sure until that conversation happens.

It's surreal... knowing your mother is terminal 🙂... while my baby is kicking like crazy in my womb right as I'm typing this to you 😍... I'm feeling this bizarre mix of emotions—this weird synthesis of negative and positive energy that I can't even put into words.

Life really is strange (as much as I'm pissed off at it right now)... I feel like everything happening to me has some deeper meaning or lesson, but I'm in too much shock and too confused to try and analyze it all right now.

Angela Wright said:Look, Sinek—those studies you're bringing up? A regular person just can't really wrap their head around the actual results or the true intent behind them without having the deep background and specialized knowledge required to see the big picture.
Research is constant, and we're always hunting for newer ways to do things that are less toxic and less invasive while staying just as effective—if not better.

So, please, don't go posting stuff that might just end up totally confusing people who are actually sick. You aren't an oncologist, a biologist, or a chemist, so you don't really have the full story here.☕

That’s honestly why the forum rules are set up the way they are.😳

And I still haven't quite figured out why you even felt the need to post this in the first place.😕

In my opinion, everyone—whether they're experts or just everyday folkshas a right to stay informed,which is exactly why I shared those news articles and the study in the first place.
Please, don't hit me with that "you don't know what you're talking about" line.
The reason I posted this probably won't even see the light of day because of these forum rules you keep throwing at me—plus, I get the feeling most people here are just going to push back against any info I share, even if it's all publicly available to anyone who looks.
Fine then, since you're being like this, I'll just drop another article right here. If anyone thinks reading this is going to cause them massive confusion or stress, then... yeah, maybe just don't click the link.