Are cancers different from each other?

Are cancers different from each other?
This is the view of mainstream medicine – each cancer is unique and there many be hundreds of different types of breast cancer for example. To follow tghe logic of this view we would need thousands of tailor-made chemo drugs to fight all these different cancers.

Or are cancers essentially the same?
This is the holistic view. Cancers share characteristics and so can benefit from the same interventions – diet, herbs, supplements etc.

There are dozens if not hundreds of effective cancer cures. None are perfect but in combination they can be powerfully effective. The proof is that people are curing themselves of cancer using very different strategies.

Download my free book containing over two dozen stories of people who have recovered from cancer (in one case hauling himself out of a hospice back to well ness; in another case…well they are all interesting so just read the book which you can find at www.fightingcancer.com

What’s caused these cancers to appear? Why do we have more cancer now than at any other time in history? Something toxic is happening. But we don’t have to be passive victims. The first step to recovery is to know the facts – and to evaluate all the options. Read: The Cancer Survivor’s Bible www.fightingcancer.com

Green Pastures – an allegorical tale

Green Pastures

I’m from around these parts. I’ve been here a long time. So I know what I’m talking about. Now, every so often, once a week at least, a person driving by will stop and ask: “How much further along is Green Pastures?” Well when they ask me that, I have to judge the situation thoughtfully for I am about to impart an inconvenient truth. Fact is this road doesn’t go to Green Pastures. I know! I know! All the road signs say this is the way to Green Pastures. And the new map they’ve come out with says this road goes to Green Pastures. And the engineers building the road say that’s where it’s going. Why would they not? If folks don’t come this way then there’s no point building the road and if the road don’t get built then the road engineers don’t get paid to build it. You see where I’m going with this. So everyone will tell you that this is the road to Green Pastures. All the motels and stores along the way and the gas stations will all agree that this is the road to Green Pastures. But all you got to do is look up, look around you. That way you see there are hills with green pastures on them rising a way off to the left and more hills with green pastures off to the right, but ahead, where the road is going, there are no Green Pastures. So that’s why some of them pull over and ask for directions.

So it’s left to me to tell them that no, this isn’t the way to Green Pastures. In truth this is the desert highway that goes nowhere. To get to Green Pastures you have to go back the way you’ve come; you’ve got to go back a distance and then take one of the small windy roads that go away from the highway up into the hills, either to the left or to the right. In fact I always say you should drive around a lot just to see which of those little windy roads you like best.

But when I say this to the drivers who stop they get angry. They always get angry: “The map says this highway goes to Green Pastures and now you’re telling me it doesn’t. I think you’re telling me Bullshit.”
Well, when they say that I just walk away. No skin off my nose they don’t get to reach Green Pastures. That’s their problem, no-one else’s.

And sometimes they will say to me: “Sir, the reason I stopped was for you to give me hope, for you to inspire me by telling me that this is the right way, that I am on the right track. And now, wow! I can’t believe it. How insensitive can you be? You’ve just taken all my hope and crushed it and crumpled it. You have let uncertainty take up residence in my soul. What you should have done, sir, is assure me I am on the right road. Then my heart would have sung anew and I would have driven off with new hope that soon I would reach Green Pastures. That’s what you should have said to me.

And there are others who think I am just trying to trick them into deviating from the path. They say to me: “I do not wish to deviate and I do not wish to have this uncertainty tainting my thoughts. So I am going to assume that you are trying to trick me and maybe that you are planning to get a dollar or two out of me. Your purpose is mercenary, sir.”

And there are others who say something like this: “Sir, can’t you see I have already made up my mind to drive in this direction to Green Pastures. Your telling me I am going in the wrong direction is not useful to me.”

And there are others who panic, who throw their arms up and say: “But the map says this is the right road.” And they glare at me as if I am the cause of the problem.

And some come to me saying “I’m lost! I’m lost!” And I try to calm them down. I tell them I know the answer, that I can help them. But they continue to say: “I am lost! I am lost!” As if their ignorance cancels out my knowledge.

And there were times, in the early days, when I would wake up at three in the morning and ask myself: Am I mad? Everyone says the highway goes to Green Pastures. Who am I to say it doesn’t? What do I know? What qualifications have I got? But then I let my mind consider the whole thing, the terrain, the ways of getting there, the direction the highway is going in, the arid wastes ahead. Then I feel comfortable again. I have that confidence again that I am right.

And if I were a patient man, I could say to them, it will not take you far out of your way to follow my directions so that you can see for yourself whether what I am telling you is true or false. And as for money, this diversion will not cost you much, and will indeed this cost will be repaid tenfold in the currency of knowledge. You can go back and try one of the short windy roads and if they bring you to Green Pastures then well and good – and if they don’t then you’ll know I have misled you and you will be able to warn others. You will be able to say to them: “If you see an old fellow who says he knows the terrain and suggests you return and take a different road, well don’t believe him sir.” Yes, you will be able to say that not from prejudice or assumption but from the truth derived from your experience. And what is more, my friend, if, by following my directions, you find yourself in Green Pastures, you will be able to say: “That man told me the truth. I was lucky I stopped and asked him because everyone else was telling me lies.”

Yes sir. That’s what you will be able to say.

© Jonathan Chamberlain 2013

Jonathan Chamberlain is author of The Cancer Survivor’s Bible – www.fightingcancer.com

the importance of the hypothalamus for cancer patients

Recently scientists have discovered that the hypothalamus of mice can be tinkered with and in so doing the mice will live longer. Here is a link to the story

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/01/scientists-ageing-process

While there are chemical ways of achieving this, presumably there are also dietary ways so I went looking for suggestions as to how the hypothalamus may be stimulated. Here are some suggestions:

“calyx156″ on Yahoo answers says:

As the hypothalamus is part of the endocrine system, any food that stimulates/helps glandular function will do the same for the hypothalamus. This would include such especially beneficial foods/supplements as lecithin, seaweeds, green vegetables, deep yellow/orange veggies such as carrots, yams, squashes, sweet potatoes, essential fatty acids (EFA’s) from foods like sardines, salmon, tuna, mackeral, bluefish, evening primrose, borage oil, rapeseed (canola), olive oil, and all nuts and seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, especially), and all foods high in minerals, especially rare earths as these are particularly involved in the correct functioning of the endocrine system. Some foods that can hamper the well-being and good functioning of this system are soy (especially in regard to thyroid and parathroid functioning), the Brassica family (cabbage, collards, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels’ Sprouts, mustard, turnips, radishes, etc.), and much of the pea/bean/lentil family, believe it or not. Many of these foods are so healthful for other parts of the body, I say eat them all anyway, except for people (usually women) who are severely hypo (or low) thyroid. The endocrine system seems to respond really well to warming herbs and spices, too, so spice it up! Use garlic, mustard, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, mace, ginger (especially ginger!), coriander, hing (asafoetida), cumin, pepper (unless the person has liver issues), curry (which is just a mix of these warming spices, as is curry paste and garam masala in differing amounts). There’s lots more info available on these very issues, do some research yourself! Additionally, there is an immense amount of info that shows some meat consumption may indeed be necessary for the longterm proper functioning of the body. There’s probably just as much however, that shows vegetarianism is the way to go, so listen to your own body deeply. I am a person who HAS to eat animal food, or I get very, very sick, b/c I am a brittle diabetic who has diabetes on both sides of her family. I do NOT do well on a vegetarian diet. Add a little seafood or poultry, however and I do much better. This seems to be true of a lot of people as they age as well. Humans have the teeth and guts of omnivores. It makes intuitive sense to me that we eat that way then.

Another suggestion is to make a point of looking at bright light. This means taking off those dark glasses for 20-30 minutes a day.

Finally, Leptin, a hormone that regulates energy, appears to have a positive impact on regulating the hypothalamus. Increased Leptin sensitivity is achieved by increasing the amount of fish, pulses (beans) and other vegetables you eat.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_foods_have_leptin

THE CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE – WWW.FIGHTINGCANCER.COM

Iain Banks and the Nocebo

Mr Iain Banks and the Nocebo

A week ago, the novelist Iain Banks announced he had terminal cancer and was not expected to live beyond a year. The doctors are the experts and this is their expert opinion. Mr Banks has no doubt it is true and has accepted his fate with commendable phlegmatism. And so it is very likely he will fulfil these expectations.

It’s called a nocebo. It’s where the witchdoctor tells the patient they will die in three days, and they go ahead and die in three days. It’s the power of the curse. Nowadays we don’t believe in that sort of thing. Or do we? Iain Banks has been told he will be dead within the year. And he has decided his doctors’ prediction is the truth. He cannot escape his fate. He may try to flee to Samara but death will find him out. My wife, Bernadette, was told she had three months to live. She was told this on January 17th of that year. She died on April 16th. That was a very accurate forecast. Or was it a curse?

My friend Pauline was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago. She died slowly over a period of about 18 months. The interesting thing for me was that she absolutely resisted any attempt on my part to make suggestions. She knew I had been through this experience with Bernadette, that I had done years of research, that I had written books. She knew all that. But this knowledge was out-weighed in the balance against the doctor’s opinion that her case was terminal. She had, quite simply, taken on the narrative of death and the idea that she might survive suddenly became very threatening.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Let’s take Ian Clements, a Brighton-based retired lecturer in electrical engineering who is still going strong and is cancer-free. The reason this is interesting is that a few years ago Ian was in a hospice and was expected to die within days or weeks. His bladder cancer had returned aggressively and the doctors had told him there was nothing more they could do for him. But Ian really didn’t want to die. He was not going to quietly take on the mantle of death that the doctors had thrown over him. He insisted on having one more course of chemotherapy, even though only one doctor out of the four he consulted – yes, he kept getting new opinions because the old ones didn’t conform to his desire to live – said it had a remote chance of success (5% was the figure suggested). And it worked. It succeeded in shrinking his tumour. In the meantime Ian set about following diets and taking supplements that he believed would help him. Well, we can argue as to whether it was the chemo or the alternative therapies he still follows that did it but Ian himself has no doubt it is a combination of the two. The chemo bought him some time but it is the regular monitoring of his biochemical status and the changes in his supplement regime to offset any negative trends that has kept him alive. Ian Clements has a powerful will to live. He didn’t buy into the nocebo hex the doctors had put on him.

Then there was – is – Connah Broom. Connah is now eleven years old. Seven years ago, having endured around eight months of chemotherapy, Connah was sent home with eleven tumours in his body and the doctor’s fond expectation that he would die within weeks and months. Today he still has a vestige of cancer left but he is otherwise a physically robust and healthy boy who has a passion for dancing and football. The reason Connah is still alive is that his grandparents said: “Connah is not going to die if we can help it.” That was pretty much it: a positive attitude, an organic diet, filtering all his drinking water, and taking an aloe vera product. Oh, yes. And then there was – and is – the light treatment that they were introduced to in Mexico. This light treatment – called Sono-Photo Dynamic Therapy (SPDT) – has been around a long time but it is not available in this country, not for children anyway. It is ‘unproven’. It is not backed up by the peer reviewed, double blind clinical trials that doctors insist on. It is only offered in remote places – Mexico, China – on an experimental basis.

Why couldn’t the NHS do that?

And if it worked this might help doctors to be weaned off the expensive drug regimes to which they are addicted, despite the lack of proof that they work. Don’t work? You might ask. Surely, science is progressing and year after year things are improving? Well, Iain Chalmers of the British Medical Journal, an authoritative voice if there was one, is on record as saying: “new treatments are as likely to be worse as they are to be better” than the old ones. That’s the word from the medical horse’s mouth.

But to return to the subject of the nocebo, it is clear that there are two paths the cancer patient can take when they are told their cancer is terminal. There is the way of dying and the way of living.

The way of dying, which appears to be the way Iain Banks has chosen, is a perfectly reasonable approach. It involves embracing the fact that we will not be around sometime soon and so we need to get used to that idea and to make the necessary practical and emotional adjustments involved.

The way of living, on the other hand, requires being bolshie and bloody-minded and utterly committed to the task of getting well again. Again this is a perfectly reasonable option. But just as selecting the path of life doesn’t mean that you will succeed in curing yourself, so also choosing the path of dying doesn’t mean that you will succeed in dying. Some people have gone home to die and somehow or other their complete acceptance has resulted in an invisible, unsought-after cure. Bizarre but true.

There are no certainties when it comes to cancer. So when Iain Banks tells us that he will be dead within a year, this is not because of the inevitable and inexorable progress of his cancer alone, it is because he has chosen the narrative of dying and it feels very comfortable to him. And that’s fine for Mr Banks. But it may not be fine for the large numbers of cancer patients who find themselves in the same situation. The loud media noise drowns out the message that there is a path of living that could equally be chosen. Perhaps the media could give some exposure to this possibility. Nuro, a German woman who lives near Brighton and who ‘cured’ her lymphoma (I have put this in inverted commas simply because the word ‘cure’ is such a contentious one – Nuro had cancer at some time in the past but now no longer does – is that a cure?). She did this with a combination of alternative interventions. She thought that she should inform other cancer patients about what she had done and offered her story to a leading national newspaper. They turned it down. It wasn’t ‘proven’. It could have been a fluke. They really didn’t want to know.

Perhaps now someone somewhere in a position of media influence will take the brave step and publish this suggestion that there is a way of life and all you have to do is choose it. And maybe it will work if you are serious enough and do the right combination of things for you (there is no THE right combination that works for everyone to my knowledge – but I know what I would do and have confidence that if cancer comes knocking on my door I will delay my demise and in the meantime I will not suffer the unnecessary pains of chemo and radiation – but that’s my informed choice – what’s yours? Don’t have one? Then read my book. Decide now before you’ve got it.)

A collection of cancer survival stories is available free of charge at www.fightingcancer.com

Jonathan Chamberlain is author of The Cancer Survivor’s Bible www.fightingcancer.com

© Jonathan Chamberlain 2013

Natural approaches to Alzheimer’s

The following link will take you to very useful information about Coconut oil and other means by which Alzheimer’s symptoms can be reduced. Check it out.

http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/man-dramatically-reverses-alzheimers-symptoms-with-coconut-oil/

For cancer information and sensible discussions of all options go to www.fightingcancer.com

Teaching and helping children affected by cancer

As cancer becomes more common, one group of people are becoming extremely disturbed. Some children get cancer, but many more are affected by the cancers affecting their families – their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters – and also their friends and classmates. How can we help these children cope with these disturbing and upsetting experiences. Here is one teacher’s experience with one child. I hope other teachers will add their experiences.

How to work with children who are affected by cancer – a teacher’s perspective

I have been teaching for six years and have supported one child whose mum was affected with cancer. Sophie was in Year 2 and aged 6 when she found out her mum had breast cancer.

In the early stages of the parent’s diagnosis, interaction between the school and parents was paramount. A formal letter was written to the head teacher explaining that Sophie’s mum had breast cancer and treatment was starting in the following week, this was then distributed amongst all staff who came into contact with Sophie. Sometimes, personal information is kept confidential but both the parents and school felt that if everyone was aware of what was happening; it prepared the adults if Sophie chose to talk to them about it.
Before her mum went into hospital, we arranged a parent meeting discuss what they had told Sophie and how they wanted her to be supported in school. They explained that they had informed Sophie that her mum was poorly and needed to go into hospital to get better. They said that she understood at a simple level that the medicine that the doctors gave her would indeed make her very poorly before she could get better. As a family, they joked about her first treatment and how they would inject dye that would turn mummy blue like a smurf. It seemed like Sophie had a strong, down to earth support system in place at home. In school, we wanted to adopt a similar approach founded on being open and honest with Sophie.

To all children experiencing difficulties or sudden changes at home, we offer pastoral support in the form of counselling. However, Lilly was not emotionally developed enough to express her feelings in words and was not forthcoming enough to speak to outside support.

In class, we had systems in place to give children to opportunity to talk through the use of a ‘worry box.’ They wrote their name in the box and received some 1:1 time to talk to the teacher or teaching assistant. To refresh the children about how to use the worry box, I led a circle time about how a change in their lives affects them. As a class they expressed that change can be exciting or an anxious time if you don’t know what is happening. We shared a few examples openly (Sophie chose to pass) and then discussed strategies to cope with anxieties: talking to an adult in school, sharing with friends, asking parents questions so that they know what is going to happen, having some thinking time in the quiet area. She appeared to listen to the advice but did not relate it to her circumstances.

A few days later however, Sophie put her name into the worry box to talk to me. Her main concern was how her mum’s hair was going to fall out (her mum had very long red hair), how she would look different and what it would grow back like. I thanked her for talking to me and explained that mummy would still be the same person, no matter what her hair was like; we then had fun discussing all the various possibilities for new hairstyles. Sophie was giggling by the end of our conversation. At the end of the day, I spoke to her mum about our conversation and on the weekend they took Sophie shopping to help choose hats for mummy to wear whilst her hair was gone. Each hat that Sophie chose was fun and she told the whole class for show and tell the following week. Some children asked why her mum was losing her hair and Sophie explained at her level that her mum was poorly and the medicine that would make her better caused her hair to fall out. The children accepted this.

As the weeks passed, changes in Sophie’s behaviour were noted. She had a heightened sense of justification and a very short temper. The rules had to be followed and she struggled when children deviated from them. On one occasion, she snatched a folder from a boy causing it to tear in half. I asked her to spend some time in the quiet area; in there I gave her some paper and a pencil and asked her to draw me a picture of something that would make her feel happy again. When I returned to her area, she had drawn a beautiful house with two people outside. I asked her to explain and she said that her grandparents were trying to buy a house in Gloucester so that they could be close to everyone and help out when mummy was poorly. She said that they were couldn’t find a new house and that she wished they could move from Scotland as quick as possible. Without promising, I reassured Lilly that they would try their best to find a house and would be close, as soon as they could. I also told her that it was something to look forward to and not worry about, that was for the grown-ups to sort out.

To help her deal with her sudden outburst, I explained that when she snatched and shouted her behaviour had changed and asked if she noticed how her body changed. She said that she felt mad and wanted to shout at the boy. I reinforced that he shouldn’t have picked up her folder but she could have dealt with it better. We discussed how it made the other person feel and reinforced what she could have done with other examples where she’d been aggressive with other children. I gave her some calming down strategies to use if she felt like that again: counting to 10, taking deep breaths, walking into the quiet area, taking her jumper off and getting a drink. Sophie used these calming strategies on a regular basis, sometimes she needed telling to cool off and sometimes she did it independently. After each time, we discussed how she felt at the time and how she dealt with it more positively. Sometimes it led to her sharing worries about her mum but not always.

Aside from the anger, Sophie often felt worried about things. To help her feel in control and able to talk at any time, we attached a worry doll to her coat that she took out at playtime and could talk to if any sudden worries popped into her head. In the classroom, we had a bag of stones that were introduced to coincide with the ‘cooling off’ period. Each stone had a meaning: health, anger, clear mind, good choices and strength. When in the quiet area, Sophie would choose a stone to rub and it often reflected how she was feeling. We always talked about which stone she had chosen and why. It was then communicated back to her parents who reinforced everything at home. The liaison between home and school gave Sophie consistency and constant support whenever she needed it.

Sophie is now in Year 3 and is doing extremely well; she is a very mature little girl. Her mum is currently in remission and also doing well.

For real cancer information read The Cancer Survivor’s Bible – www.fightingcancer.com

Coffee, tea – and stroke

Coffee is often thought to be bad while tea is good – but new research is suggesting they are both good – for different reasons – at helping reduce the risk of stroke. Here’s the full article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2293446/The-key-staving-stroke-One-coffee-cups-green-tea-day-say-scientists.html

If you’re looking for cancer info go to www.fightingcancer.com

Alpha G and cancer

Currently there is a lot of interesting hype about Alpha G. Here is one site that is informative rather than hysterically positive.

http://www.optimumchoices.com/PSP.htm

For more information about what you should be thinking about in relation to your cancer go to www.fightingcancer.com

The Complete Lack of Balls demonstrated by Private Eye magazine

Private Eye, that radical UK fortnightly magazine, has just banned my classified ads. Why? Because they say they ‘contravene the 1939 Cancer Act.’

Let me leave aside for a moment what the 1939 Cancer Act actually says and look at what my classified ads say. Here they are, all thirteen of them. I would like you to read them and feel if they are stuff that you feel deeply that you need to be protected from them.

CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. 550 pages. Everything you need to know to get well again. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. A friend has cancer? Get them this book. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. Surgery? Chemo? Radiation? Diet? Herbs? Supplements? Get the facts. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. 550 pages. The facts. The arguments. The options . http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. Sensible, straightforward discussion of all options. “inspirational” http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. Cancer is coming to someone near you. Be prepared. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. Some people recover without pain and damage. How? http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. How to get well again without nearly killing yourself. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. What your doctor and the cancer charities won’t tell you. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. “Get this book. Read it. Be inspired by it” http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. Real evidence-based decisions are best. Read this book. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. If you have cancer this is the book to read. http://www.fightingcancer.com
CANCER SURVIVOR’S BIBLE. “I wish I’d read this book before I was diagnosed.” http://www.fightingcancer.com

So, there we are. Thirteen Cancer Act (1939) offending ads. Do you feel threatened by them?
Here is what the Private Eye ad person said when I first approached the magazine:
“Before we can officially approve any advertising we have to run it past the editorial team for their approval. We’ve previously been approached by a similar advertiser in the past and the editorial team have not accepted the wording. This is nothing against your product, it’s just the editors have a priority to protect their vulnerable readers.”
The idea that Private Eye’s readers are a particularly vulnerable sector of the community will amuse most. However, I could see that this was a preliminary move that was likely to lead to a rejection. I therefore responded robustly as follows:
“I understand and I am prepared to amend ads that do not fit your editorial requirements – however, I do not think that my book will mislead ‘vulnerable readers’ down a path that will be abusive in any way. My book does not take sides. My book offers information about conventional and non-conventional approaches to cancer in an entirely even-handed way.

Here is a review by “Lucy W.” on Amazon UK that makes this point: This is a book that everyone should read….Having just been through surgery myself to remove a breast cancer lump and facing follow-up treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy, I am so glad I was tipped off to read this book. It tells a lot more about the ‘orthodox’ treatments for many different types of cancer, including statistics on the actual effectiveness of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone therapy and a full list of the possible side effects of these – much more information than the doctors gave me. I was also able to ask more relevant questions about the proposed treatments, how they work, and why they would be given. The latter two thirds of the book are devoted to ‘alternative’ ways of treating the body to rid itself of the cancer by holistic means – seeing the cancer as a symptom – not the cause – of the body’s ‘dis-ease’. This book helps to put things in perspective and was invaluable to me in making my decisions about follow-up treatment. In hindsight, if I’d have read it before I had the surgery, I would probably have persevered with ‘alternative’ means of treating myself first – under the guidance of my natural health practitioners, who I’ll be continuing to work with in order to treat my ‘whole’ self as a preventive measure against any further ‘dis-ease’.
The author does not advocate either the ‘orthodox’ or ‘alternative’ route, but suggests the reader should decide on the treatment – or combination of approaches – that are right for themselves. Please, absorb the vast amount of information within this book and make the right choices – knowing you now have so much more information at your fingertips than the doctors will ever tell you.”

I followed this up with another email:
As you can see from the review [from Lucy W.] I do not advocate any therapy (though of course I am extremely sympathetic to the alternative route) – my book offers information. Unless your editors think that the offering of information is dangerous, I simply do not see what the problem is. Private Eye’s ethos is the uncovering of information that vested interests would like kept private or hidden – that is precisely my ethos too. My book is always reasonable and does not advocate any therapy to the exclusion of others. I simply help clarify the issues, the arguments and the facts.

I accept that the wording of my ads may need to be tweaked, changed or replaced – but the fact that my ads might not be allowed at all I find horrifying (particularly from Lord Gnome’s mighty organ!)

Could you forward this message to the decision maker. I would be happy to send samples of the text so that they can see the tone for themselves.

These emails appear to have swung the decision in my favour and it was agreed that they could be placed. Whew! Battle won – or so I thought. A few months on, after about six of the ads had appeared I received the following email
Hi Jonathan,

Happy New Year to you.

We have had a reader point out that your classified ad contravenes the Cancer Act 1939 in terms of advertising to do with the treatment of cancer. [link attached] Unfortunately, this means that we are no longer able to run your advertising.
Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
Kindest regards etc

I went to the legislation and found that the key provision appears to be this:
No person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement—
(a) containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof; …

Applying this wording to my advertisements, I could not find one that contravened the Act. I wrote to Private Eye for clarification:
Just so that I don’t make the same error again could you please send me details of the reported contravention.

This was their reply:
I’m afraid that the only details I have are the details that I’ve already sent. The link includes some more details on the legislation.
So Private Eye’s position seemed to be that some reader somewhere had a vague idea that any advertising in relation to cancer was illegal and it was up to me to see where my error was but in the meantime – and indeed forever after – they would not be taking my ads, thank you very much. So I wrote back to them – remember Private Eye is the leading radical establishment magazine that will go to great lengths to dish the dirt – and made the following points:
Dear Private Eye
The Cancer Act of 1939 states this:

No person shall take any part in the publication of any advertisement—
(a)containing an offer to treat any person for cancer, or to prescribe any remedy therefor, or to give any advice in connection with the treatment thereof.
In none of my advertisements do I offer to treat any person for cancer

In none of the advertisements do I prescribe any remedy

In none of the advertisements do I give any advice (or even offer to give advice) in connection with cancer treatment.

What I offer is information. There is nothing in the Act that considers information to be an offence. (but that might come if no-one is willing to fight this battle)

So it suggests to me that your reader is ill-informed and that you are too quickly absolving yourself of any part in the dispute.

The problem is that this is a matter of freedom of speech – and Private Eye over the years has been a pioneer in extending the boundaries of speech freedom.

If you feel that one of my advertisements is badly expressed that is one thing, but if you are simply crumbling in the face of prejudice and criticism that is quite another – and unworthy of you.

I felt that that had put the point as pointedly as I was able. But there was no adequate response to this so a few weeks later, as I was still irritated by the complete lack of balls and backbone – not to mention absence of intellectual integrity – being demonstrated by Private Eye and its editorial staff (particularly, I presume, the hamster like Ian Hislop) that I wrote the following – an email to which I am still awaiting a reply (I’m not holding my breath)
Dear Mr Hislop

You have discontinued the classified ads for my book, The Cancer Survivor’s Bible, on the grounds that they contravened the 1939 Cancer Act. Yet no-one was able to say in what particular way they contravened the Act. You may remember that I had some difficulty in placing the ads in the first place as the lady in charge of the ads was very skittish. She was concerned, if I remember rightly, about all the deeply vulnerable readers who might be seduced away from the path of righteousness on matters relating to cancer. Private Eye is of course noted, along with Women’s Own, The Lady, the People’s Friend and Saga magazine, for its appeal to this sector of the community.

There was a definite sense of relief all round when I was told that a reader had complained about the ads and that therefore they had to be discontinued.

Now, it may be that I have completely misunderstood the nature of Private Eye. I had assumed (naive of me I’m sure) that it was an organ that boldly pushed the boundaries of freedom of information. There is no area of information so absent from our media than that relating to the possibility that non-conventional options might be effective. There is a very powerful sector that is very resistant to this information being dispersed or any debate taking place. They are not above scaring timid editors with threats of the dreaded 1939 Cancer Act (an outrageous piece of legislation if ever there was one. It may stop men from shouting fire in a crowded theatre where there is no fire, as one supporter once suggested. But it also prevents anyone from shouting fire when there is a fire. And that is in no-one’s interests).

I don’t know who said: I may not agree with you but I will fight to the death to preserve your right to state your opinion (or words to that effect). But clearly this will never be the motto of Private Eye. I don’t ask that you agree with me. Just that you don’t self-censor yourself.

Yours sincerely

Jonathan Chamberlain
The ironic thing about all this is that the classified ads were a complete waste of money as they did not have any impact on my sales figures.

© 2013 Jonathan Chamberlain

Anita Moorjani’s amazing cancer recovery experience

Anita Moorjani’s Amazing Cancer Recovery Experience
Anita Moorjani was born in Singapore but, at the age of two, moved to Hong Kong where she has lived ever since. Growing up she found herself negotiating the cultural differences in the world around her: the Indian world in which she was expected to marry early and devote herself to domestic pursuits; the Chinese world of commerce that swirled around her; and the dominating British ethos that made Hong Kong not just another Asian city but a truly international territory.

Anita was very sensitive to the cultural conflicts – particularly as she refused to conform to the expectations of her own community but instead went out into the commercial world where she set about the task of making a living and developing herself.

Her first brush with cancer occurred when her close friend, Soni, was diagnosed in 2001. Anita was shocked by the impacts of the chemotherapy and radiation on her friend and set out to do what she could to help by reading as much as she could about cancer. The more she read the more scared she became. Everything it seemed had the power to cause cancer: pesticides, microwaves, preservatives and more. Then her brother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. And he too suffered badly from the treatment he was given. And then, a year later, in April 2002, Anita, herself, was told that she too had cancer – a lymphoma.

By this time it was clear that her friend, Soni, was dying. Anita’s visceral response to her own diagnosis was to reject chemotherapy and radiation. It hadn’t done anything for Soni, she argued. It had just made her friend’s health worse. And then Soni died and Anita found herself in a cycle of negative emotions: “Anger. Dread. Frustration. Fear. Desperation. That was the spectrum of emotions that I dealt with following Soni’s death. From morning to night, each day was an intense roller-coaster ride as I questioned, challenged, raged and despaired over my situation. I felt these emotions not only for myself but also for my family. I dreaded the thought of them having to deal with my death.”

Anita launched herself into a the world of natural and alternative therapies doing everything she could from Chinese herbs to hypnotherapy and prayer. Then she went to Pune in India and spent time with a guru there, devoting herself to yoga and following an ayurvedic dietary and herbal therapy. After a few months she felt much better and after six months she believed that she had been fully healed.

But on her return to Hong Kong she again encountered the conflicts between western, Chinese and Indian approaches and mixing them up didn’t seem to work. To take one example: sugar. The western naturopathic therapists all said it was very bad – but it was an integral part of her ayurvedic diet that seemed to be helping her get better. These conflicts disrupted her sense of confidence in herself and once again she entered into a state of confusion and fear. And her health started to decline again and the cancer returned.

In early 2006 it seemed that Anita was finally going to lose her battle with cancer. She was rushed to hospital and began to sink slowly into a coma.

It is what happened next that has made her famous. She had a profound revelation in which she met with the presences of both her father and of her old friend Soni. In a conversation I had with Anita in late 2012, I asked her if she viewed the presences as actual in a religious sense, or as psychological, being self-created. She said she had no belief in one or the other and made no special claims in relation to it. What was important was not the actuality of the presences but rather the journey she had taken – which she movingly describes in her book Dying To Be Me (Hay House, 2012). She felt she had a choice and that the choice to return to life was also to be a return to vibrant health.

In her visionary state she came to understand the total importance of accepting and loving one’s self and of living fearlessly. It was an intense revelation. “I now see myself as an infinite being, the physical takes care of itself because it’s only a reflection of what’s going on in my soul.”

The result was that she emerged from her coma and did so with the sure knowledge that she would be cured of her cancer (and indeed it did melt away over the next few weeks). She also allowed herself to undergo chemotherapy. However one oncologist who looked into her case stated that her recovery could not be ascribed to the chemo.

In one of the closing chapters of her book, she writes: “Before, without even realising it, everything I did was to avoid pain or to please other people….My life was driven by fear – of displeasing others, of failing, of being selfish, and of not being good enough…Since my NDE (Near Death Experience) I don’t feel that I came back to accomplish anything. I only came back to be. Because of this, everything I do comes from love. I don’t worry any more about trying to get things right or complying with rules or doctrines. I just follow my heart and know that I can’t go wrong when I do so.”

Anita Moorjani has written her story Dying To Be Me, (Hay House, 2012). Her website is http://anitamoorjani.com

The question is: how useful is this story to others: it appears to be a unique experience which is impossible to replicate.

The main lesson I draw from it is that cancer can be destroyed by means of personal energy flow if the circumstances are right. Anita’s story also demonstrates the healing power of embracing, accepting and loving one’s own self. The question then is how to recreate and develop these ways of being without actually having to go into a coma.

To read other stories of cancer recovery, many seemingly miraculous, read The Cancer Survivor’s Bible – www.fightingcancer.com