TOP 10 questions patients ask me and my response based on my experience.

1. What are your cancer treatment statistics/Prognosis?

• Answer: Too many variables to give an answer. The Bottom Line:  it depends on finding the treatment(s) that work. If you respond well your prognosis is good/better/best. Finding that most effective treatment  is the priceless question to not only see improvement but also a potential for remission or cure. It should be noted that in reality patients come and seek help because their cancer is progressing rapidly and standard treatments have failed or stopped working, no other options are available except hospice or for patients who defer standard of care.

Variables that can determine your clinical outcome include but are not limited to:

• Your general health status and current condition: clinical trials can give fairly reliable statistics but that is because  they are in a controlled setting and enroll those who are relatively healthy.
• Comorbid conditions that can limit treatment response  such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, liver and renal dysfunction, insominia hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, stroke, emphysema, lifestyle risk factors(smning such as clots(DVT/PE), infections, anemia, cachexia or severe malnutrition, edema(ascites, pleural effusions, organ dysfunction, bleeding, hypoxia, electrolyte imbalances, uncontrolled inflammation, etc. These "fires" have to be addressed timely and effectively and put out or they will turn into  firestorms. Even if cancer treatments work, addressing these conditions affects overall outcome.
• I will be honest: I cannot garauntee a cure but I tell patients that as long as you are improving you are heading towards a cure. Sometimes it takes persistence in being open to finding other ways to treat, to find the treatment that WORKS! (refer to #1 above re: prognosis) . Don't give up!

2. How long do I have to take this treatment?

           It is not uncommon to see a patient whose condition has deteriorated  to the point of a terminal state yet if a treatment helps them, their immediate and biggest concern is  "how long do I have to take this?"

No matter what the treatment is, the answer is logical:

1. as long as it works satisfactorily 
2. as long as there is still disease present 
3. as long as it is relatively  well tolerated and without significant harm to the body 
4. as long as it is available ( affordable, obtainable, legal)

On the flip side:

1. if the treatment is not working satisfactorily, stop it
2. if there is no evidence of disease, can stop it
3. if it is not tolerated or is causing harm to the body, stop it
4. if it is not available, you cant take it, a reality in many cases

 3. Is this treatment a Chemotherapy or Immunotherapy?

Using semantics chemotherapy is any CHEMICAL(chemo) that is used to treat cancer or other conditions:

• natural  chemotherapies such as alkaline water, ozone, laetrile, vitamin C, foods, supplements/herbals, vaccines, stem cells, coley's toxin, cannabis, homeopathics, essential oils, etc
• conventional pharmaceuticals  such as cytotoxic agents, hormone blockers,  noncytotoxic targeted therapies, off-label drugs such as metformin, low dose naltrexone, doxycycline, mebendazole, bromocriptine, statins, corticosteroids, COX-2 inhibitors, 

Immunotherapy is ANY treatment that can help the immune system:

• Prayer, meditation, sleep, relaxation, laughing, music therapy, energy treatments, stress reduction, and even placebo effect, massage, acupuncture, hyperbaric chamber, far-infrared sauna, etc.
• conventional pharmaceuticals such as PDL-1 inhibitors, interluekin-2, interferon, CAR-T,   GC- CSF, 
• nonconventional treatments such as dendtiric cell vaccines, auto-hemotherapy, mistleotoe injections, Intravenous and oral neutraceuticals(high dose vitamin c), dietary regimens, etc

4. What are the side effects of this treatment?

• it depends on what treatments it is. Specifically for oral noncytotoxic targeted therapies, most of the time there are little to none especially if started at low doses, escalating and titrating to a less than maximum dose. Side effects are therefore uncommon but can be addressed either by stopping the medication if significant or by adjusting the dose. 
• every pharmaceutical in their monographs list essentially every side effect possible, some more than others and it is scary to read those. One naturally thinks they will get them all. It is also displayed for liability reasons. For this reason, for many patients the biggest side effect is mental(anxiety and stress from anticipation) which itself can create physical side effects and give them a reason to stop(mind body connection or the "reverse placebo" or nocebo effect). This is especially true for those who have never taken pills before and dont want to. They may have an engraven mindset that pharmaceuticals are innately harmful. 
• other types of chemotherapies and immunotherapies (refer to #3 above) natural or not can have potential side effects but it can vary. 

5. Are treatments working?

First off the answer is a digital one: YES or NO

• If NO: Stop treatments and make an educated and informed decision to undergo another approach
• If YES, then how well is it working and how long will it last? It can range from mild, moderate, major to excellent response.  It has been my experience that unless a person goes into remission, even if treatments work very well for a considerable period of time, the treatment may stop working and the disease can progress again. This is the frightening aspect about cancer: it can return and adapt in which case the treatment must also change. One strategy is to limit treatments  to see how much they can work and how they are tolerated. Another strategy can be to integrative multiple or numerous different treatments at the same time to increase the likelihood that there will not only be a good response but an exponential effect based on a synergistic effect. As far as which treatments are working in many cases is not important when the bottom line is to see improvement. Down the line through a reverse elimination process, determining wich treatments are really beneifical can be done. 

This is a graph I show patients to illustrate my point.

[Please click on link at bottom of page] 

6.  How do I know if treatments are working?

We must look at the whole picture:

• based on how you feel and how you look. Most patients when they respond, they feel better as pain swelling, shortness of breath, nausea, energy, mood, appetite sleep, etc improves. They also look better as physical exams show palpable tumors shrink, they gain healthy weight, swelling reduces, oxygen levels and vital signs improve and their mental and emotional state turns around in a positive way. It should be noted, however, that there are situations where patients may be responding to treatments but they dont necessarily feel and look better. I can call this a healing crisis or in medical terms there could be a tumor "flare" or tumor lysis syndrome in which case things look worse temporairly before they get better. This can be explained by the toxic or stress related changes the body has when tumor cells die and release toxins into surrounding areas or systemically.  Also if somebody has a sepearate clinical condition that is not directly refletive of cancer actiivty such as a broken bone, major organ dysfunction, bowel obstruction, infection, etc. they can still feel miserable and mask the postiive effects of cancer treatment.
• based on lab serial lab testing: there are blood tests called tumor markers like a PSA which can be routinely monitored and can give in most cases a fair pattern to determine treatment response. There are many tumor markers available , however, they can vary  from one individual to another as to how they present. It is not always accurate and sometimes misleading as markers can sometimes be abnormallly elevated due to noncancer related conditions, usually some type of inflammatory process. in addition as mentioned earlier with a tumor lysis or healing crisis, markers can sometimes "spike" temporarily before they drop. Regardless, an abnormally high marker that consistently decreases is always a good sign of improvement.
• radiologic imaging: chest xrays, ultraosunds preferred for close monitoring  of easily identifiable lesions, and periodic PET/CT, MRI, CT scans can be done to give a much more accurate and definitive assessment of treatment response. 

 7. What do you think about "THESE"  treatments?

I am open to any treatment, strict standard of care protocols, integrative and alternative regimens.

• allopathic medicine can provide most benefit especially in the palliative and emergent setting(radiation for severe localized bone pain, surgery for complicated tumors causing pain, dysfunction, wounds, infections, etc) and to treat potentially life threatening conditions such as major blood clots, bleeding, sepsis/infection, anemia, hypoxemia(criticaly low oxygen levels), seizures or neuroloic damage, obstruction(bowel, urinary), organ dysfunction effects(elevated bilirubin, ammonia, uric acid electrolyte imbalance, hormone dysregulation, etc)  
• integrative care: when patients elect to undergo standard treatments but not the fully recommended protocol and seek additional options for adjunctive care due to quality of life conerncs and poor statistically outcomes assoicated with particular standard of care approaches. Integrating natural and other alternatie approaches may give the patient a better chance rather than doing nothing.
• alternative treatments(once agian please refer to #3 above). I am open-minded to any treatments patients decide to do elsewhere if they choose to make that informed decision. I will support them but will also monitor and provide supportive care as indicated. I believe in immunotherapies such as vaccines, although I do not offer them myself. I truly believe that the CURE for cancer lies in our own body's innate ability to eradicate cancer through our immune system. 
• As far as supplements and other natural "cures" that are literally endless in this day of the internet information highway and books written claiming miraculous cures, I dont discount them but do know that there has to be a ilne drawn somewhere as one cannot take thousands if not millions of reported cures. In gerneral as long as the treatment appears relatively safe and reasonable I say it likely can other help. Whether I would consider one of these therapies as the one and only treatment for lets say my mother with end stage cancer it would depend on my observation and experience in what I seen over my 14 years of experience as to its potential. 

8. What do I do when I return home?

• Continue your home protocol as outlined by your treating doctors at the Institutation you were at: followup with them regarding any questions or concerns you have.
• followup with your local oncologist and primary care providers or other specialists as indicated
• If you have decieded to allow me to provide aftercare and/or treatment,  I would recommend close communication, monitoring(labwork, vital sign checks, addressing symptoms and the "fires" (refer to Afterercare in #1) and changing of plans appropriately if treatments are clearly not controlling the cancer  satisfactorily
• find a local alternative or integrative clinic who can provide alternative treatments such as high dose Vitamin C infusions, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, massage, acupuncture
• Call, text, email me ANYTIME when you have a medical concern or question.
• when in doubt for critical medical issues, call 911 and go the ER. It is better to be safe than sorry.
• Dont give up if you choose to fight this enemy.

9.  How do you cope working with patients and family/friends who are suffering,

      have an "uncurable" or terminal disease state and when patients pass away?

• Witnessing the improvement and recovery patients develop as a result of my care gives me hope just as much as for them is rewarding enough to give me strength and courage to keep on the fight against cancer
• Spiritual practice of prayer and meditation, faith in my God, support from family and friends,exercise, vacationing, sleeping in when I can, my therapy dog "Horus", music relaxation, massages, dancing, crying(not sorry to be human) with energetically infused tears(more than water and salt) that could cumulatively equal the great flood, for the loss of  patient(s). 
• Extreme demoralization when I feel that I do not have the knowledge and skills to do what would be considered a miracle by conventional medical standards, is alleviated and revitalizing when I hear gratitude from patients and families for my intended unconditional care, dedication and efforts for their well being. 
• Being a textbook Pisces.
• Now more than ever, beating cancer has transformed my outlook on life, death and purpose

10.  What kind of diet do you recommend?

• I believe food and diet are essential for healing. There are many dietary cancer protocols that have reported curable powers, which I believe is possible. 
• I do not focus much attention into this matter and like to refer to nutritiaonl specialists for guidance and support what patients have already dedicated to a specific protocal. 
• In general I recommend minimizing foods with added sugars(it is known through Dr. Warburg and the whole principle of how FDG/PET (modified radiotracer glucose) monitors cancer activity,  organic and nonGMO, preservative free and everything in moderation. 
• With cancer in many cases paitents are already malnourished due to intractable nausea/vomitng, anorexia, bowel obstruction, constipation, cancer related pain associated with eating, and cachexia(cancer stealing vital nutrients). 
• So I am inclined to say, do your best on your dietary protocol but do not stress over it to the point where it becomes counterproductive and detrimental.