About Son in Law's cancer

[Guest guest]

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I had spoken to Jan, when she was first diagnosed with her latest bout with cancer, about Essiac, an herbal tea, that has been around since the early 1900's. I was skeptical of it, at first, when my brother in law's sister started using it, for lung cancer....and refused chemo.

Her original petscan showed the cancer cells were in her lymph glands, esophogus (sp?), possibly her adrenals and her lung. She was told to "get her affairs in order...Lung cancer can't be cured". They gave her 6 mos to live if she had no chemo and, at best, 1 yr if she did.

She opted to not take chemo and, instead, started brewing the Essiac tea. She took it for 3 mos and went back in, for a new petscan. While the tumor in her lung had grown 25%, there were NO cancer cells in any of her other organs. So, this time, she agreed to do chemo...but continued to drink the tea. She never lost any hair, was never sick to her stomach, and lost little weight (she is 4'!!" and is tiny).

After her chemo, another petscan showed that the tumor in her lung was now 80% smaller so she agreed to a reduced, 2nd round. The petscan after the 2nd round of chemo showed the tumor was so small that it was barely detectable on the image.

I'm not saying that it would work for everyone or on all types of cancer. I can tell you that MD has done a study on it, however, since the patient's also received chemo, they can't say it does nor that it doesn't cure cancer...but they obviously took a serious look at it, if they did a study.

If you are interested in looking into it, I will be glad to find out where my sister orders her herbs to make it (they are certified herbs...I think that means they are pesticide free or "organic") and how it's made.

Faye

PS Even if your daughter has a good salary, they may still qualify for MD . While income is a factor, they also take into consideration their living expenses PLUS whether her income would be able to cover major medical expenses, like this....so tell her not to be too discouraged, yet...there is still hope. It's not like a county indigent care system where the income has to be extreme poverty level to be eligible.

Subject: My Son in Law---Thyroid, Metatsisized CancerTo: Texas_Thyroid_Groups Date: Sunday, October 19, 2008, 12:23 AM

How ironic is it that my oldest daughter's husband, whom she only married this past February (and it's her first marriage and probably the only marriage) was diagnosed two weeks ago with thyroid cancer, which, by scan, has metastisized to his lungs (both), around his "C" spine, with a very large "mass" in the left lobe, which has pushed up next to the carotid artery and has his esophagus bent into an "S" shape. He doesn't smoke, nor has he ever, nor has he ever been diagnosed with any thyroid disorder until now. About two months ago he started feeling bad (or maybe even before that; so many men aren't alerted to feeling a "little" bad or "down", muscle weakness, etc....). He is 36, has worked ALL his adult life, but when he married my daughter, he went out looking for another job, as the one he's had for yrs now required him to be on long hauls all the time, and he wanted to have a job where he could come

home every single evening. (He is a truck driver, HAZ-MAT, etc..). So he gets another job, the boss was an @$$, and the boss hired a much younger guy, evidently. Later on, when my Son in Law applied for unemployment, he found out that this guy has a very bad reputation for many things. Anyway, he didn't have insurance with that particular job, always had it with his former job. All this happened within about 6 months or so. (I'm thinking he was already having a lot of symptoms, but didn't recognize them as such, the way so many men do.) So anyway, he goes to a doctor who examines him, but also refers him to an ENT, who does the scan on him from the neck down through the lungs or maybe even further. (I haven't SEEN the scan, but this is the description my daughter gave me. She read the entire thing to me, and this is what I got out of it, because of the "lingo".)

But wait------no insurance-----the ENT SAYS that HE can't do the biopsy to see what type it is, what type of cells are there, that is. (I personally think this doctor is lying and won't touch him because he has no insurance. Once again, another one of our "locals".) So he "advises" him to M.D. (which IS a great place) and says, after much pressure from my SIL and my daughter, that he will make the referral to them FOR them. After my daughter calling and badgering his office and after approximately 3 to 4 wks or so, he FINALLY makes the referral and gets the forms for them. That part was just today. And we don't even know what type of cancer cells are there yet. No biopsy yet. I pray to God that it's not in the Medulla or that it's not "anaplastic" or some such.

My daughter says that he is now talking about life insurance policies and is so depressed because he believes he's going to die, as he has absolutely NO other info on what is going on in his body. There are definitely nodes in his lungs that do come from the thyroid, and this doctor was afraid that it is also in the bone. (Ha, afraid??? As an ENT, I'm thinking that he's done plenty of biopsies of these things, but no insurance, right???? So he "can't".) I have been trying to encourage them, telling them that we will hope it may be follicular or papillary, so that the RAI after thyroidectomy may work, but I just don't know. All I know is what you all have said and what I've read in the descriptions of staging and treatment scenarios.

The forms submitted are for low income, but they are now married, not just living together any more, and I'm afraid they are going to now take her income into account here. Well, they ARE taking it into account. And she has had a much higher paying job for the last 6 months or so, as she went to school for it. But it's not enough to get them into M.D. . She has talked to them also, and went through about 3 people, and THEY said they HAD to have the doctor's referral, then the financial forms, but those forms are for an indigent care program. AND that can take up to 90 days for "processing". (Gee, wonder if they are hoping he'll die in the meantime.) Sorry, I just had to say that----might as well, I was thinking it anyway.

I and they surely need emotional support at this time, and I feel very sad. How ironic that this would carry over to her new spouse, when he would not have even realized what a thyroid was just 6 months ago, except for what he's heard me say, pertaining to mine and his wife and her sister.

Thanks for lettting me vent this, and I've known for the last couple of weeks, just haven't said anything.