Start recording ...

As with all well run projects, you need to keep proper documentations. There a list of things that you should consider tracking and filing

1) All expenses
2) Insurance claims and payout
3) Medical reports and blood test results
4) Medical appointment dates, doctor's comments
5) Scan dates and results
6) Chemo drug names and quality
7) Meeting minutes (if you run it like a project, why not?)

I have find it extremely useful to put some of these data in spreadsheets. The blood tests for example are extremely useful to Chinese Physicians to customised their herbs to help balance the body.

Run it like a project you need to deliver

If you are familiar with project management, you would agree with me that a successful project requires careful planning and execution.

The sad thing is that when something like cancer strikes and a lot of emotions is involved, we throw all that we know about project management out the window. Nobody takes charge of setting a goal, no one really plans, no one really does the budget, no one really bother about communications. It is like a mad house, bunch of indian chiefs running around.

So, if there is something that can be done. Before all of you start running all over the place to look for the miracle cures and overwhelm the patient with dozens of suggestions, all the key stakeholders (usually the family) should sit down and PLAN. Start it like a project and run it like one. Set the goals, divide tasks, set the guiding principles, make the decisions and followup.
They will be challenges along the way, more decisions to be made but the project framework still beats a few indian chiefs running their own ways.

A holistic approach to surviving cancer

Of the many people I talked to regarding my mother's condition, I must say that one particular Chinese Physician left a very strong impression. It is also from this that I came out with my Tipping Scale theory.

He explained to me this framework which I thought would be useful to many cancer patients. The approach is simple. First see cancer as a condition of the human body. In order to cure a person of cancer, the body condition need to be changed such that cells in the body do not turn cancerous anymore. In order to do so, there are 6 areas to focus on

1) Food - Eating well is important
2) Exercise - Moderate exercise can help in the overall well
3) Mind/Emotion - When the mind gives up, so will the body
4) Sleep - The body cannot be strong with not enough rest
5) Western Medication - Operation, Radiotheraphy, Chemo etc. Good for short term.
6) Tradition Medication/Supplements - Some herbs like Reshi has very strong anti-cancer properties. Good for long term.

Unfortunately, we tend to overlook or take for granted certain areas such as food and sleep but over emphasize on medications. That in turn cause a lot of stress to the patient which is not good for emotional health. In my mum's case, although she had the best chemo treatment and also chinese medicine, she didn't eat well, nor rest well and went into depression when the mind couldn't handle the stress of it all.

As such, for anyone looking for a cure for cancer, I would advise that you consider giving equal attention to all 6 areas. You would probably realised that the first 4 areas is probably the toughest to achieve because it would require plenty of support from family and friends as well as a lot of planning and changing of environment in some cases.

Operation is a good start...

Understanding that cancer is a condition and not a disease can change how we view things completely. For example, when my mother first went for her operation to remove her cancer tumor in her breast together with one breast, we thought that was it. Cancer tumor removed and what we can do is sit around and pray that it never come back again. Guess the "Scale" is still tipped all along and with time, the cancer cells regrouped again and our prayers remains unanswered.

So now, if anyone are to ask me for my opinion on operations, I would tell them this. Good that an operation is possible, because that would mean, most of the cancer cells can be removed at one time, however, treat the operation as a good start and not an end. Remember the tumor has been removed does not mean that the "condition" has changed. In many case, they have not. Try to imagine "Operation Desert Storm", that initial victory was swift, even sweet but is the battle really over?

There is more to be done and can be done. Although I cannot guarantee success, I truely believe that seeing the operation as a beginning is a good start and would already greatly improve your chances of surviving the condition.

My "Tipping Scale" theory

Many times people assume that cancer is a disease. We started of the same. We thought that if it is a disease and it is a matter of finding the right "cure to kill it. We visualized it as a battlefield where you choose the right weapon to eradicate your enemy (the Cancer cells). It is only later that I realised that with such an approach, you can never win the war. At best you can prolong the battle.

Why is that so?

As defined by Wikipedia, "Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these cells to invade other tissues, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis. Metastasis is defined as the stage in which cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system....."

In other words, cancer is a condition where our very own cells loses control of themselves and started to multiply uncontrollably and start to harm our body. It is like fighting a war against guerillas in your own country. History tells us that in such war, when the focus is to crush the resistance, it only means more destruction to the country.

It is because of this that I realised that instead of visualizing it as a battlefield, it is more useful to see the body as a "Tipping scale". When a person is healthy, the "Tipping Scale" is in balance. Although at this point no one can pin point exactly what causes cancer, but I think it is quite safe to assume that some thing that we eat, we breath, we drink, we touch and our genes got to do with it. Each of this factors, good or bad will affect the balance of our "Tipping scale". In most people, the scale stays in balance until too much of "bad" stuff tips the scale over and Cancer would then occur. From that point onwards, the cancer cells would continue to grow as long as the scale remains tipped.

If you only focus on killing the bad cells, the situation would be you kill some, the grow somemore, you kill more, they grow more, you kill more. The only problem is that like conventional warfare, we usually kill more than we intent to and your good cells get killed along with the bad ones too. As your body gets weaker, more bad cells would appear.

If there is any chance to recover from the condition long term, I would think the best way is to focus on restoring your "Tipping Scale" ultimately. Reducing the bad cells can only be a short term solution to buy you more time. The root of the problem was never the cancer cells themselves. You need to restore the "Tipping Scale" to balance again.

Our journey

It all started in Jan 2001. A routine checkup discovered a tumour in my mother's right breast. The recommendation from the doctor is to operate on her and remove her right breast together with the tumor. That is to reduce the chance the the cancer cells would spread to other parts of the body. She did just that. The operation was declared a success and she was discharged with no need for chemo or radiotherapy. The initial healing was slow due to some infection of the wound but over few months, she was back to her old self.

Following the op, my mother had to go back for routine screen to make sure there was no signs of the cancer cells spreading to her other breast. Her last scan was Sep 2004. She was declared cleared. No signs of the disease and that is of course good news to all.

Despite this, she had earlier since June 04 started coughing. What sounds and looks like normal cough turns out to be more than meets the eye. After numerous doctors failed to determine the cause of the cough, a young family doctor recommended for my mother to do an x-ray of the chest and be admitted to the hospital for further tests. That was in Jan 05.

A CT scan of the chest confirms the suspicion of the doctor. Despite getting a all clear from the Cancer doctor only 3 months earlier, my mother actually has tumors growth on her lungs and that was the reason behind the coughing.

That's bad news, very bad one. How can this have happened? The doctors that attended to her was not optimistic about her condition. To them, this is last stage of cancer, it has started to metasize, to spread. The only option left is chemotheraphy.

The family decided that it is best to seek a second opinion and we trust that we can find a better oncologist through recommendations from friends. After some running around, we settle for one of them running a private practice. My mother was comfortable with him and so are we.

2 months of chemotherapy went by. The side effects was obvious. Lost of hair, appetite etc. It is agonizing watch my mother go through it and I can imagine how much worse is it for her to be going through it. An assessment after that shows that that only manage to reduce the tumor by 30%. No bad but no cause for celebration. She was still cough a lot and had to have liquid removed from her lungs. At one point there was more than a litre of liquid just in her right lung!

On the third month, we received some good news. The lab test has shown that my mother's tumor will response to a new drug call Herceptin. This drug has little side effect except that in 1% of the patients, there is a chance to cause heart failure. We opt for the new treatment despite the high cost.

Another 3 months went by. My mother's condition began to show visible improvements. Another scan was done and we were all hopeful that she will recover. Her tumor had reduced by a good 80%! However, before we could celebrate, more bad news. The echo test on her heart shows that she was having a heart failure already. This only means that Herceptin despite being effective for her tumor could no longer be an option at least for some time until the heart recovers.

My mother was admited for a few days to stabilize her heart. Chemo was discontinued temporarily the next 2 months. During this time, my mother switch to Chinese medicine to help with her heart. By Oct 05, a checkup showed that the tumors continues to be reduce in size and can hardly be picked by on the scans. We were still hopeful then.

By Dec 05, the cough is back. A scan in Jan 06 shows that the tumor has started its growth again. It was back to 30% of what we started with. With Herceptin out of bounds, we had little choice but to continue with the other chemo treatments.

After changing the drugs a few times, the growth seems to be kept at check. However, by then, my mother's body having gone through a year of chemo was weakening very fast. She started losing weight very fast and went into depression in Mar 06.

A failed suicide attempt in Apr 06 weaken her body even more. My then, the family was on 24hrs survelliance around her. Chemo was stopped and we brought her to a pyschiatrist. She was also breathless throughout the day and requires a oxygen tank to help her breath. She never really got out of that state and passed away in her sleep on the 20 May 06.