Re: alternative solutions

November 16, 2002

Hi, , and welcome.

I'm not sure what alternatives you are thinking of, but unless they

have PROVEN track methods (I'm not aware of any), I'd be EXTREMELY

skeptical of them. With a combination of surgery and RAI, our

prognosis is generally excellent.

Cheers,

Alisa

Currently off Levoxyl and on Cytomel for scan 12/16/02

2/15/2002: Nodule found 2/27/2002: FNA

3/4/2002: Hysterectomy/oopherectomy-possible ovarian cancer - BENIGN!!

4/9/2002: TT - Stage 2 pap 2.5 x 2 x 1.6 cm nodule, dx Hashimotos

5/28/2002: TBS and 100 mCi RAI 6/6/2002: TBS - No sign of mets

Age: 48 -- Location: near Seattle WA --- Check out my posts:

Radioactive Girl - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Thyca/message/19472

My LID - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Thyca/message/15872

My RAI - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Thyca/message/15873

> I just joined this support group.

>

> Is there anyone in this group that has decided to try alternative

> therapies before or instead of going ahead with surgery and

radiation?

>

> If there has been any discussion about this previously, could

> someone direct me to the postings?

>

> thanks

> erika

November 16, 2002

erikacs wrote:

> I just joined this support group.

>

> Is there anyone in this group that has decided to try alternative

> therapies before or instead of going ahead with surgery and radiation?

>

> If there has been any discussion about this previously, could someone

> direct me to the postings?

Dear ,

Welcome to the group.

Can you give us a little more information about your situation? Do you have a

particular therapy in mind, or are you hoping to find some recommendations here?

There are many of us who take advantage of " alternative " treatments, but to the

best of my knowledge, no one here has opted for such a line of treatment in

place of surgery. I think several

have adopted an integrated line of treatment, meaning we use acupuncture or

nutritional supplements, etc., as an adjunct, to help us through our treatments.

There have been some strong words written here about using " alternative "

therapies instead of the traditional ones (I think the word " hooey " may have

been used), but the bottom line is that this

listserv was created and remains a forum for proven protocols, and anyone

recommending an alternative therapy had better be prepared to provide some

serious documentation. This does not mean

that such therapies aren't to be discussed here, just that proven methodologies

are what we know and what we follow.

As you must know, thyroid cancer is considered to be a highly treatable disease,

and while the treatment protocol is not a recommended alternative to, say,

wintering on the Riviera, in the scheme

of things it's not all that bad. Most of us find the thyroidectomy to be

surprisingly not terrible, as surgeries go.

None of us wants to go through surgery if there's a way to achieve the same

result without it. Ditto for swallowing nuclear waste. However, we have

seen enough examples of people who delayed

(or refused), for any of a variety of reasons, surgery or RAI, and sadly, we've

seen people who once had a readily treated disease now having to deal with much

more serious treatments, such as

external radiation.

It's not news to say that the medical community doesn't know everything, but if

an alternative therapy were truly successful, it would no longer be considered

alternative.

Please believe me, I am very open to therapies based in schools of holistic,

naturopathic, Eastern, etc. I've probably tried most of them at some point.

But I honestly believe that when it

comes to fighting cancer (and it IS a fight), the proven way is the path I'll

follow, unless and until that path has failed me.

Please let us know more about what you have in mind.

-

NYC

TT 2/99 dx pap/foll; RAI 100 mCi 3/99 & 4/00; clean scan 3/02;

current TSH ~.06 on .225 levothyroxine

PS - one more thing:

I had a conversation recently with a surgeon friend about alternative

treatments, including the theory that using strategically placed magnets

will cure any ailment, however dire.

My friend wrote, " I had a patient who used them; he claimed his

cancer was going away because his white cells were now being fed and

could fight better. I pointed out that his white cells are all over his body

and it didn't matter where you fed them.

In fact, using his " logic " he was also specifically feeding his tumor. His

magnet salesman, oops, health care technologist, claimed that the

tumor actually dies because it is getting healthy nutrition now.

He died 15 months later from a treatable cancer.

Oddly enough, if I had delayed his treatment, I would have been sued. "

November 18, 2002

, thanks for your quick reply.

We're dealing with papillary thyroid cancer that was diagnosed two

months ago, but we noticed the lump back in March. We've talked to

the doctors and have the scoop on the conventional way of doing

things. We've also done quite a bit of research on alternative

therapies for cancer in general. We are hoping to find other people

(specifically with thyroid cancer) that have decided to use

alternative treatments with limited or no conventional, to hear their

story. We haven't ruled out conventional, just put it on hold for a

bit.

I do agree that there are many things out there that are wacky. The

idea of magnets curing the cancer does seem ridiculous. I don't think

you can put all your hope into one thing thinking that that's the

answer that's going to cure you. You have to take responsibility and

do all your homework, research everything thoroughly and use common

sense.

November 18, 2002

, thanks for your quick reply.

We're dealing with papillary thyroid cancer that was diagnosed two

months ago, but we noticed the lump back in March. We've talked to

the doctors and have the scoop on the conventional way of doing

things. We've also done quite a bit of research on alternative

therapies for cancer in general. We are hoping to find other people

(specifically with thyroid cancer) that have decided to use

alternative treatments with limited or no conventional, to hear their

story. We haven't ruled out conventional, just put it on hold for a

bit.

I do agree that there are many things out there that are wacky. The

idea of magnets curing the cancer does seem ridiculous. I don't think

you can put all your hope into one thing thinking that that's the

answer that's going to cure you. You have to take responsibility and

do all your homework, research everything thoroughly and use common

sense.

November 18, 2002

, thanks for your quick reply.

We're dealing with papillary thyroid cancer that was diagnosed two

months ago, but we noticed the lump back in March. We've talked to

the doctors and have the scoop on the conventional way of doing

things. We've also done quite a bit of research on alternative

therapies for cancer in general. We are hoping to find other people

(specifically with thyroid cancer) that have decided to use

alternative treatments with limited or no conventional, to hear their

story. We haven't ruled out conventional, just put it on hold for a

bit.

I do agree that there are many things out there that are wacky. The

idea of magnets curing the cancer does seem ridiculous. I don't think

you can put all your hope into one thing thinking that that's the

answer that's going to cure you. You have to take responsibility and

do all your homework, research everything thoroughly and use common

sense.

November 18, 2002

Since I don't give my 2 cents very often I've decided that you will be the lucky

recipient.

Remember, this is just my 2 cents, and is probably not worth that much,

especially after taxes.

I can accept a desire to utilize non-conventional therapies in the treatment of

most any disease when conventional treatments aren't available, are

excessively taxing on ones physical state, conventional treatments don't have a

high success rate or perhaps for religious reasons. However, with the

treatment of Thyca, in the vast majority of cases, other than for religious

reasons, none of these seem to apply. While your mileage may vary,

conventional treatments are available. In most cases based on the discussions

in this group they are not excessively taxing on ones physical state.

Sure you may be out of commission for a few weeks or a month, but we're not

taking many months or years in most cases. The conventional treatments

have an exceptionally high success rate.

Putting all that together I don't think there is a lot to lose with conventional

treatments, and unless you find non-conventional treatments with the

same kind of success rates, why not go with what works.

I can tell you from my own experience, the weight that was lifted from my

psychological shoulders after surgery was enormous....I have no fears about

the future, just a few more things I need to deal with.

Good Luck.

Chris

8/26/02 dx Pap Thyca 2.5cm & 0.5cm

9/23/02 TT 5 lymph nodes, 3 were positive for cancer

12/1/02 begin my 6 week journey into hypo

Re: alternative solutions

, thanks for your quick reply.

We're dealing with papillary thyroid cancer that was diagnosed two

months ago, but we noticed the lump back in March. We've talked to

the doctors and have the scoop on the conventional way of doing

things. We've also done quite a bit of research on alternative

therapies for cancer in general. We are hoping to find other people

(specifically with thyroid cancer) that have decided to use

alternative treatments with limited or no conventional, to hear their

story. We haven't ruled out conventional, just put it on hold for a

bit.

I do agree that there are many things out there that are wacky. The

idea of magnets curing the cancer does seem ridiculous. I don't think

you can put all your hope into one thing thinking that that's the

answer that's going to cure you. You have to take responsibility and

do all your homework, research everything thoroughly and use common

sense.

November 18, 2002