Information Overload

This cancer business is tough, and I guess that's part of the problem, there is a definite business side to it. Sometimes it's hard to figure out where the facts end and the business begins.

When we found out that my mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, I think all of her kids instantly jumped on the computer to try and find out as much about this type of cancer that they could find. We learned about how the doctors would treat it. We learned about procedures to help ease her pain. We learned about primary treatments, we learned about alternatives treatments, we learned about supplement treatments. We learned as much as we could as quickly as we could. We talked to cancer survivors, who all had ideas about what helped them. We talked to doctors. We talked to family members who cared for loved ones who were struck with cancer.

At the end of the day, we had accumulated a ton of knowledge, but a lot of it conflicted with each other. Some people said you need to alter your diet to give your body the best chance of fighting off the cancer. Others said you should eat whatever you want, and that it's just the total calories consumed that are important. Some people suggested we go to one of the big specialized cancer centers for treatment, others thought the established mainstream teaching hospitals were best.

And then there are the "wonder drugs." If you go on the web and start searching for cancer treatments, it won't be long until your turned on to these wonder drugs that supposedly kill cancer cells and cure patients. Things like Essiac Tea, Careseng, Tian Xian, and other pricey options are all over the place. However, finding actual facts on these products usually proves to be a pretty fruitless undertaking. Sure you can find survival stories and even important sounding doctors with M.D.'s attached to the end of their name endorsing the product. But usually these people are all somehow associated with the same website selling the product. Are they real experts and survivors, or are they paid endorsers? My skeptical side says don't believe it, but I want so bad for the claims to be true. I want there to be hope.

I wonder, is that what is being sold on those websites? Hope? The one common thing that I have found among people who beat cancer is that they all have a strong spirit and underlying feeling that they can beat this. The never give up hope. Perhaps some people are just born with this, maybe some people need to get that hope from medicine, but they have it. For my mom, I know where she gets her hope, and she doesn't have to spend a dime to get it. If you look in the top drawer of most hotels you'll find a copy of my mom's hope medicine. God's Word is my mom strength, and it is the sole source of her hope.

At the end of the day, when we were going over all the treatment options for our mom, we did what we always did. We asked simply asked her. And just like always, our mom showed us, in her simple confident ways, what we were going to do. She was going to eat what she wanted, but we all knew she has always been a sensible, healthy eater, so chances are eating what she wanted to eat would be just fine. She felt comfortable with her doctor at Elmhurst and wanted to receive treatment there. And then she reminded us that it isn't the chemo or the medicine that would cure her. It is God's healing hand that will decide her future, and there is no insurance referral needed for that treatment (Thank God for that...but that's another blog entry entirely).

Of course, we can't keep things that simple. We're still investigating and searching for the thing that is gonna help her. So we ask you, what have you heard? Do you have experience with a food or alternative treatment that worked for someone you know (or even yourself)? If so, we'd love to hear your story. I had the comment section accidentally locked down when I first started doing this, but I have since opened it up, so please comment with whatever you have on your mind.