Good lord, David Bowie passed away from cancer. I am shocked and saddened. I wonder what type it was. Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work. I'm sure with his money he could have tried all kinds of things. What a shame.
"Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work?"
Say WHAT?
Sorry to take this so personally……. But….
I have had three surgeons and four specialists in cancer agree that the “alternative” I used is the only explanation for my longevity; there is no other explanation why the growth of my very aggressive signet cell cancer was stifled for so many years.
There are other ways to fight cancer. Had I continued the herbal prescription instead of foolishly setting it aside since 2008, perhaps I’d have a different outcome. But as my present surgeon said, it doesn’t matter what you fight it with, cancer is a problem that doesn’t go away. It did stifle cancer from 2006 until now, and I haven’t used it since 2008.
It seriously bothers me when over three thousand years of improving the use of natural substances is so callously cast aside. TCM isn’t a three thousand year old practice, it’s been continually studied and improved for over three thousand years, and it works. It works without all the side effects and second cancers of the use of chemicals.
I don’t know what Mr. Bowie used, or Mr. Jobs, but to think that a failure or reoccurrence means it’s not worth the time, then it’s a seriously sad and prejudiced assumption.
I had a nurse ask: ”maybe you should think about chemo now?”….. Idiot. If I did chemo do you think she’d ask if it’d be a better idea to try herbs?
Cancer is a tough thing to battle if/when your body isn’t doing what it should. If your body (T cells) refuse to eliminate the defective cell, nothing else will either. The technology isn’t there (yet), and may never be in our lifetime.
As sad as it is, cancer is tough. There are no easy or foolproof remedies. There are however, more gentle ways to fight it. I said long ago, that I likely will die of cancer, but between then and the day I die I’ll be healthier than what the present harsh treatments would have left me with.
does that mean that they don't work either? Cancer is a wily beast - alternative therapies may work; traditional therapies may work, nothing may work. One therapy failure does not mean that the therapy should be thrown out as not useful.
Yes, I did traditional therapies. But I'm also on an alternative one - a mushroom extract that was recommended by my Integrative med dr and is in fact, part of the chemo protocol for some cancers, including colorectal cancers, in Japan.
Some of us will survive and be well regardless of the therapy direction we take; others will find no cures anywhere. Sorry to be so down, but while I support western medicine, I can't rule out alternatives just because they failed in one case.
John, please don't be offended if that has worked for you. I am someone who is upset by the number of suggestions I've been given from cannabis to tea and I don't believe any of it. And it makes me angry when people spend thousands of dollars on things that do not work. For me a great example is the Mexican therapy where they remove the blood and clean it of sugars along with some other things. It's fifteen grand a crack. I know two people who have died, one after two times having it done in Mexico and the other while he was there. It makes me think of the movie about the life of Andy Kaufman and he was in the Philippines having a treatment and he sees the guy faking removing the cancer from him. I am disgusted when people are ripped off trying to do an alternative therapy that does not work. Cancer patients have enough crap without their desperation being taken advantage of.
We had an individual here that spent hundreds of thousands on “alternative therapy” of various kinds. I did what I could to dispel the notion that any alternative should cost so much, but some individuals seem to feel that it has to be costly to be viable.
The herbs that have been very seriously tested and proven to help stifle the growth of cancer cells had cost me an average of $5~$6 per pound. One pound can last 1.5 months, other herbs can last months longer. It was inexpensive. The list is on my “blog” here, and more information on the link at that blog.
There is a very vast difference between “mistletoe oil” at $$$$$ per ounce with absolutely no historical fact of any benefit, and herbal mixes that have been experimented and tested with for longer than three thousand years. (mistletoe oil injected into a cancer cell will kill it, so will Pepsi Cola. Ingesting or injecting it subcutaneously does nothing to damage that same cell)
There is an extremely vast difference between chemicals that are produced and distributed within a few years time, and without notation of the extremely severe side effects that can be worse than cancer, and a very safe and viable natural alternative that has been proven to be of use in the fight against cancer.
Sure, there are thousands that have benefited via Chemical therapy, but they are in the smaller percentage of cancer patients. Some of the leading Oncologists have voiced their disgust with the lack of advancement in the cancer battle, but the industry is very, very large and very, very profitable; voices of protest are easily drowned by the sound of cash falling into pockets.
Too cynical? Or maybe too true..
I agree, that there are so-called “alternatives” that are totally useless, but there are chemicals (chemo) that make people sick and are found to not work against the cancer that’s killing them. Yet, the chemicals continue to be used and trusted by those in fear of trying a different modality. Are they any different than those that use a useless alternative? When fear is the driving force, mistakes and errors in judgment are made.
I attempted to put as much information regarding Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on the blog here, and the link there will provide even more info. (Or click here: TCM Info).
There are “alternatives” and there are other modalities; don’t confuse the two.
By the way…. The use of TCM combined with western medicine is practiced daily in many areas, hospitals, and clinics. Johns Hopkins, The Mayo, Sloan Kettering, to mention a few? Take some time to read about it, you might find it more interesting than you first thought.
John - You've been great on this board and I for one appreciate your posts on what has worked for you. It makes it easier for folks like me to make that leap of faith into the alternative pool. I hope you are doing well. Are you still planning for that major surgery? Please keep us posted. I think about you often. Traci
I read on one web site that it was liver cancer, but only one site, so take that with a grain of salt. I have no idea whether David Bowie tried to treat it with western, eastern or crackpot medicine, they are being very quiet on what he did. Iam saddened by the loss of such a great artist and my heart goes out to his family.
For all of us who understand Cancer, we know that if we start with Colon Cancer and it spreads to the liver and then we die, we die of Colon Cancer. For those who don't understand Cancer. If we start with Colon Cancer and it spreads to the liver we die of Liver Cancer. They did that with Andy Gibb, who died of mets to his liver, but they were Colon Cancer mets.
And of course, there are just some Cancers that you don't want people to konw you have. Colon and Anal Cancer. I mean, they are yukki and we don't talk about them, right.
So, maybe he did have Liver Cancer. With the lifestly he chose to live, he could have died from a number of different Cancers. Heck, he was a smoker, so I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't lung. We do know that it took him very quickly. He seemed to be at peace when he passed, so that is a blessing for him and for those who knew the real David Jones.
Seems odd to live such a public life and then be so secretive about what's ending it, but then I ponder having news articles refering to my diagnosis as terminal and some sort of "death watch" with people trying to get at me, and all the bullsh*t that would go with that kind of fame. I realize it makes perfect sense to keep it from the news and the public. Fortunately, that won't ever be my problem, unless the Powerball ticket hits 6 of 6, in which case I might be offline for a while......................Dave
It would be positive if he'd passed on some advice about whatever cancer he had and encouraged people to get checked. Farrah Fawcett died of rectal cancer and everyone knew it. For some reason I have no problem telling people what kind I had/have. And then I say to get checked. I read somewhere that March is colon cancer month. I'm going to contact our local paper and ask if I can be a guest columnist or something.
Your comment would have been fine if this part wasn't there "Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work. I'm sure with his money he could have tried all kinds of things." I really thought we had gotten past this narrow line of thinking. It's a part of the reason why I'm not on here often anymore.
I hope people can remember to read what they write before they hit the post button. It's ready, aim, fire not ready, fire, aim...
Sorry if you found what I said offensive, I have no patience or time for snake oil salesmen who prey on desperate people. I had a woman on facebook contact me to thank me fervently for talking about the supposed cure in Mexico where they go and have their blood cleansed of sugars and are on a strict diet. It costs $15,000 and it doesn't work. Her husband had passed away and she'd been tortured by the thought that if they'd had the money maybe it was something that would have saved him. It gave her peace to know that it wouldn't have helped. A person can take all kinds of things like Essiac tea, cannabis, turmeric, any of those things and still not make it. Or they can do none of them and survive. I hate the idea of someone going on a restrictive diet and being miserable or spending a bunch of money on something and ruining whatever time they have left. I think it happens that a person who tries an alternative therapy will live and then they'll attribute it to the therapy but it might even just be that they've reduced their stress because they convinced themself that it's working. Or they'd have lived anyway. There's no way to be sure.
"Though stricken with terminal cancer, David Bowie wrote and demoed five new songs in his last week of life, according to his longtime friend and producer Tony Visconti.
In an interview conducted for a memorial in the next issue of Rolling Stone, Visconti reveals that Bowie knew since November that his cancer was terminal but believed he had a few months left.
Bowie contacted the producer about a week before his death on January 10 and told him via FaceTime that he wanted to make one more album. With his final release, Blackstar, due out on January 8, Bowie’s birthday, he was thinking about what he would do next."
So it sounds like Bowie did do the Chemo if he lost his hair and eyebrows.
Still, in the end he went fast, and I can't help but think thats good for the patient. I personally hate the idea of a long, drawn out, painful demise. I'd very much like to be out and about and smiling, two days before my passing, as Mr. Bowie was.
Again, cancer is different for everyone. I always say that when someone talks to me about the 'cure for cancer'. My mom passed from pancreatic cancer. While she was in the hospital her aiater-in-law's brother was also dying from it. My mom suffered terribly and was on painkillers so strong she could barely function. She had also been on a feeding tube for the last couple of months. He went out with his family for dinner three days before he passed. Just the different way it spread, I guess.
Joined: Aug 2012
We are sad too. My 15 yr old
We are sad too. My 15 yr old just started listening to and performing his music. He's sad.
His Christmas duet with Bing c. Is one of my favorites.
Joined: Jan 2007
Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work?
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"Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work?"
Say WHAT?
Sorry to take this so personally……. But….
I have had three surgeons and four specialists in cancer agree that the “alternative” I used is the only explanation for my longevity; there is no other explanation why the growth of my very aggressive signet cell cancer was stifled for so many years.
There are other ways to fight cancer. Had I continued the herbal prescription instead of foolishly setting it aside since 2008, perhaps I’d have a different outcome. But as my present surgeon said, it doesn’t matter what you fight it with, cancer is a problem that doesn’t go away. It did stifle cancer from 2006 until now, and I haven’t used it since 2008.
It seriously bothers me when over three thousand years of improving the use of natural substances is so callously cast aside. TCM isn’t a three thousand year old practice, it’s been continually studied and improved for over three thousand years, and it works. It works without all the side effects and second cancers of the use of chemicals.
I don’t know what Mr. Bowie used, or Mr. Jobs, but to think that a failure or reoccurrence means it’s not worth the time, then it’s a seriously sad and prejudiced assumption.
I had a nurse ask: ”maybe you should think about chemo now?”….. Idiot. If I did chemo do you think she’d ask if it’d be a better idea to try herbs?
Cancer is a tough thing to battle if/when your body isn’t doing what it should. If your body (T cells) refuse to eliminate the defective cell, nothing else will either. The technology isn’t there (yet), and may never be in our lifetime.
As sad as it is, cancer is tough. There are no easy or foolproof remedies. There are however, more gentle ways to fight it. I said long ago, that I likely will die of cancer, but between then and the day I die I’ll be healthier than what the present harsh treatments would have left me with.
There are other ways. Believe that.
You don’t have to get sick to get better.
Be well,
John
Joined: Jun 2006
?
has anyone heard what kind of cancer Mr Bowie had? Why is that fact so many times a mystery
Joined: Mar 2010
Question: what about all the people who die on standard therapy
does that mean that they don't work either? Cancer is a wily beast - alternative therapies may work; traditional therapies may work, nothing may work. One therapy failure does not mean that the therapy should be thrown out as not useful.
Yes, I did traditional therapies. But I'm also on an alternative one - a mushroom extract that was recommended by my Integrative med dr and is in fact, part of the chemo protocol for some cancers, including colorectal cancers, in Japan.
Some of us will survive and be well regardless of the therapy direction we take; others will find no cures anywhere. Sorry to be so down, but while I support western medicine, I can't rule out alternatives just because they failed in one case.
Joined: Jan 2013
Damned the Cancer!
I tried to google what kind of Cancer, but it doesn't seem to be released at this time. I'm sure it will be soon.
18 months was a quick time, so maybe Pancreatic. Ah, it could be anything.
I must admit I hate the use of 'Courageous battle' I told Ed not to put that in my obit. So twee!
I loved allot (but not all) of his music. Of course, he was an icon during my teen years.
Well, rest in peace, Mr. Bowie. So glad he left such a lively legacy.
Sue - Trubrit
Joined: Oct 2009
Perhaps liver,perhaps mets to liver
from lung cancer;surprised still being kept secret (went with friend who had won free tickets at the Garden in the 70s-i think ,mid-;late 70s)
Joined: Sep 2014
John, please don't be
John, please don't be offended if that has worked for you. I am someone who is upset by the number of suggestions I've been given from cannabis to tea and I don't believe any of it. And it makes me angry when people spend thousands of dollars on things that do not work. For me a great example is the Mexican therapy where they remove the blood and clean it of sugars along with some other things. It's fifteen grand a crack. I know two people who have died, one after two times having it done in Mexico and the other while he was there. It makes me think of the movie about the life of Andy Kaufman and he was in the Philippines having a treatment and he sees the guy faking removing the cancer from him. I am disgusted when people are ripped off trying to do an alternative therapy that does not work. Cancer patients have enough crap without their desperation being taken advantage of.
Jan
Joined: Jan 2007
Alternatives to poison..
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Alternatives to poison..
We had an individual here that spent hundreds of thousands on “alternative therapy” of various kinds. I did what I could to dispel the notion that any alternative should cost so much, but some individuals seem to feel that it has to be costly to be viable.
The herbs that have been very seriously tested and proven to help stifle the growth of cancer cells had cost me an average of $5~$6 per pound. One pound can last 1.5 months, other herbs can last months longer. It was inexpensive. The list is on my “blog” here, and more information on the link at that blog.
There is a very vast difference between “mistletoe oil” at $$$$$ per ounce with absolutely no historical fact of any benefit, and herbal mixes that have been experimented and tested with for longer than three thousand years. (mistletoe oil injected into a cancer cell will kill it, so will Pepsi Cola. Ingesting or injecting it subcutaneously does nothing to damage that same cell)
There is an extremely vast difference between chemicals that are produced and distributed within a few years time, and without notation of the extremely severe side effects that can be worse than cancer, and a very safe and viable natural alternative that has been proven to be of use in the fight against cancer.
Sure, there are thousands that have benefited via Chemical therapy, but they are in the smaller percentage of cancer patients. Some of the leading Oncologists have voiced their disgust with the lack of advancement in the cancer battle, but the industry is very, very large and very, very profitable; voices of protest are easily drowned by the sound of cash falling into pockets.
Too cynical? Or maybe too true..
I agree, that there are so-called “alternatives” that are totally useless, but there are chemicals (chemo) that make people sick and are found to not work against the cancer that’s killing them. Yet, the chemicals continue to be used and trusted by those in fear of trying a different modality. Are they any different than those that use a useless alternative? When fear is the driving force, mistakes and errors in judgment are made.
I attempted to put as much information regarding Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on the blog here, and the link there will provide even more info. (Or click here: TCM Info).
There are “alternatives” and there are other modalities; don’t confuse the two.
By the way…. The use of TCM combined with western medicine is practiced daily in many areas, hospitals, and clinics. Johns Hopkins, The Mayo, Sloan Kettering, to mention a few? Take some time to read about it, you might find it more interesting than you first thought.
Be well.
John
Joined: Jul 2007
eastern medicine guru
John - You've been great on this board and I for one appreciate your posts on what has worked for you. It makes it easier for folks like me to make that leap of faith into the alternative pool. I hope you are doing well. Are you still planning for that major surgery? Please keep us posted. I think about you often. Traci
Joined: Jul 2007
sad about Bowie
I read on one web site that it was liver cancer, but only one site, so take that with a grain of salt. I have no idea whether David Bowie tried to treat it with western, eastern or crackpot medicine, they are being very quiet on what he did. Iam saddened by the loss of such a great artist and my heart goes out to his family.
Joined: Jan 2013
For those who don't understand
For all of us who understand Cancer, we know that if we start with Colon Cancer and it spreads to the liver and then we die, we die of Colon Cancer. For those who don't understand Cancer. If we start with Colon Cancer and it spreads to the liver we die of Liver Cancer. They did that with Andy Gibb, who died of mets to his liver, but they were Colon Cancer mets.
And of course, there are just some Cancers that you don't want people to konw you have. Colon and Anal Cancer. I mean, they are yukki and we don't talk about them, right.
So, maybe he did have Liver Cancer. With the lifestly he chose to live, he could have died from a number of different Cancers. Heck, he was a smoker, so I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't lung. We do know that it took him very quickly. He seemed to be at peace when he passed, so that is a blessing for him and for those who knew the real David Jones.
Sue - Trubrit
Joined: Aug 2013
Seems odd to live such a
Seems odd to live such a public life and then be so secretive about what's ending it, but then I ponder having news articles refering to my diagnosis as terminal and some sort of "death watch" with people trying to get at me, and all the bullsh*t that would go with that kind of fame. I realize it makes perfect sense to keep it from the news and the public. Fortunately, that won't ever be my problem, unless the Powerball ticket hits 6 of 6, in which case I might be offline for a while......................Dave
Joined: Sep 2014
It would be positive if he'd
It would be positive if he'd passed on some advice about whatever cancer he had and encouraged people to get checked. Farrah Fawcett died of rectal cancer and everyone knew it. For some reason I have no problem telling people what kind I had/have. And then I say to get checked. I read somewhere that March is colon cancer month. I'm going to contact our local paper and ask if I can be a guest columnist or something.
Joined: May 2005
Whoa Nellie!
Your comment would have been fine if this part wasn't there "Just shows that the so-called alternative therapies don't work. I'm sure with his money he could have tried all kinds of things."
I really thought we had gotten past this narrow line of thinking. It's a part of the reason why I'm not on here often anymore.
I hope people can remember to read what they write before they hit the post button.
It's ready, aim, fire not ready, fire, aim...
Joined: Sep 2014
Sorry if you found what I
Sorry if you found what I said offensive, I have no patience or time for snake oil salesmen who prey on desperate people. I had a woman on facebook contact me to thank me fervently for talking about the supposed cure in Mexico where they go and have their blood cleansed of sugars and are on a strict diet. It costs $15,000 and it doesn't work. Her husband had passed away and she'd been tortured by the thought that if they'd had the money maybe it was something that would have saved him. It gave her peace to know that it wouldn't have helped. A person can take all kinds of things like Essiac tea, cannabis, turmeric, any of those things and still not make it. Or they can do none of them and survive. I hate the idea of someone going on a restrictive diet and being miserable or spending a bunch of money on something and ruining whatever time they have left. I think it happens that a person who tries an alternative therapy will live and then they'll attribute it to the therapy but it might even just be that they've reduced their stress because they convinced themself that it's working. Or they'd have lived anyway. There's no way to be sure.
Joined: May 2005
I also have little patience for those types
but your post is making many assuptions. There's no magic bullet to cure cancer. Period, the end...
Joined: Feb 2015
A Lesson From David Bowie
"Though stricken with terminal cancer, David Bowie wrote and demoed five new songs in his last week of life, according to his longtime friend and producer Tony Visconti.
In an interview conducted for a memorial in the next issue of Rolling Stone, Visconti reveals that Bowie knew since November that his cancer was terminal but believed he had a few months left.
Bowie contacted the producer about a week before his death on January 10 and told him via FaceTime that he wanted to make one more album. With his final release, Blackstar, due out on January 8, Bowie’s birthday, he was thinking about what he would do next."
http://www.guitarplayer.com/artists/1013/david-bowie-demoed-five-new-songs-in-his-final-week-planned-new-album/55969
Joined: Jan 2013
Chemo
So it sounds like Bowie did do the Chemo if he lost his hair and eyebrows.
Still, in the end he went fast, and I can't help but think thats good for the patient. I personally hate the idea of a long, drawn out, painful demise. I'd very much like to be out and about and smiling, two days before my passing, as Mr. Bowie was.
Thanks for the link, NewHere (NotSoNewHere)
Sue - Trubrit
Joined: Sep 2014
Again, cancer is different
Again, cancer is different for everyone. I always say that when someone talks to me about the 'cure for cancer'. My mom passed from pancreatic cancer. While she was in the hospital her aiater-in-law's brother was also dying from it. My mom suffered terribly and was on painkillers so strong she could barely function. She had also been on a feeding tube for the last couple of months. He went out with his family for dinner three days before he passed. Just the different way it spread, I guess.