Is natural way best or chemo and radiation?

Sunshinechsabyti

Today I am going into surgery for pictures to be taken inside my body to see what stage I am inb ut Dr suspects that I am in stage 3 for I keep choking on food and could not eat I am only ablel todrink liquids and eat ice cream

 

I am told that I might be in Stage 3 but want pictures to show more proof my stomache seems to be okay and is growling iwth hunger now, but can't eat anything anyway until operation

 

I am told htat I will get three week sof radiation and then chemo at end of month if I remember right and I will go in and get chemo then nurse will come in my home and give me chemo at evenings if I understand right

 Nest week on Wed and Thursday I will have Doctors meetings to discuss what I will need to go through and make treatment plan after they see pictures of my body today 

I wonder what is odds oof beating esophageal cancer? Did anyone die of stage 3 even with chemo and radio is it best to get herbs and go natural way?? My family is very adamant and told me not to go natural way and I do not wnat to go thru radiation and chemo

paul61

I would recommend standard treatment protocols

I would definitely recommend you follow the standard treatment protocol for esophageal cancer. That protocol includes a tri-modal approach that includes chemotherapy, radiation therapy, followed by surgery.

I know of a number of cancer survivors (including myself) who have received traditional treatment and continue to be in remission 5 or more years after diagnosis. I do not know of anyone who followed a “natural” herbal based approach that is in remission after several years. I am not suggesting it is not possible, I am just saying I have no personal knowledge of a success story using a “natural” approach.

I had surgery and chemotherapy. I will admit it was difficult, but it is survivable. You will find shortly after to begin treatment the mass in your esophagus will shrink and it will become easier to swallow.

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy has side effects that are not pleasant but your oncologist has other medications that can be prescribed to address the side effects if they occur. Not everyone has significant side effects from chemotherapy and not everyone has the same level of severity of side effects.

I would recommend that you go to your next appointment with an open mind related to potential treatment approaches. If you do wish to use a “natural” approach in conjunction with “traditional” treatment, discuss that with your oncologist and see how open to the idea they are.

 

Best Regards,

Paul Adams

McCormick, South Carolina
DX 10/2009 T2N1M0  Stage IIB - Ivor Lewis Surgery  12/3/2009 - Post Surgery Chemotherapy 2/2009 – 6/2009
Cisplatin, Epirubicin, 5 FU - Four Year Survivor

 

JKGulliver

Based your decision on what you are trying to achieve

You don't say where you are located, or where you are being treated.  This matters a lot.  I hope you are getting good advice.

I understand how you feel.  All I can offer is our experience, and tell you what we did.   It might help you make your decision.  Cancer is a condition caused by genetic mutation.  The cells in our body are dividing all the time, in fact, replicating themselves.  Sometimes, the replication results in small deviations, or mutations.  Cancer occures when five specific mutations show up in the same cell.  When this happens, cancer starts.  Cancer cells divide much faster than normal cells, and they have no natural mortality.  Thus, they continue dividing, finally causing a detectable mass.  Cancer does not spread, so much as it colonizes.  It is known to send out proteins and enzymes in advance of colonization to "prepare" an area for the future.  These preparations occur at the sub-cellular level.  In other words, it cannot be detected with current technology.  So, even if there is no evidence of spread at the time of original diagnosis, the esophagael cancer may already have colonized other locations or prepared other locations, but at a level that cannot be detected by PET or CT.  Or, it may not have.  In each individual person, there is no way to know.

Herbs and other natural things can help you feel better.  They can dispose your general health one way or another.  They can also help you weather treatment.  But, they will not alter the root cause of cancer, i.e. cell division.  Neither will chemo or radiation.  These treatments try to eradicate cancer cells, but they go about it in different ways.  Radiation is targeted at the specific tumor site.  Chemo is systemic.  That is, it affects the whole body.  The medical assumption is that if the chemo successfully kills off X% of the cells at the cancer site, it is also killing off X% at the colonies.  In truth, this is a heroic assumption.  Our current level of science does not know how to detect early colonies and does not know how chemo affects these cells.  In fact, all you need for a new tumor to grow is one cancer cell that survives treatment.  Because cancer cells, unlike normal cells, divide forever, that one cell can establish itself opportunistically, after surgery.  

You have a tough decision to make.  Only you can make it.  I will tell you that we, personally, used everything within our grasp to fight EC.  This is such a vicious and serious cancer, that we did not think we could afford to rule out anything.

All the best.