pcl1029

Hi,
This is by far the best foresight and productive program for both cancer patients and caregivers. A very practical and doable program for hospitals especially for those having cultural difference in viewing cancer is a death sentence rather than a disease; this kind of positive program will correct the stereotyping of cancer diagnosis and will provide useful knowledge and guidance for those who want to know , where to start and what questions to ask . I will try to ask the hospital that I work for to see what they think of this type of need in our community.
Sometimes good things come from nowhere.
Thanks Marion.
God bless.

Hi,
Gook luck to Lauren and you too.
May God bless you all.

Hi, Singh,
We both know how valuable the traditional herbal medicine practice between both of our oriental culture;otherwise they will not last till now and use beyond India and China,but among other modern countries like Singapore,Japan,south Korea,Taiwan and lots of countries in the Far East region of the world as well as other parts of the world not being mentioned.
But if you look at the current herbal medicine formulations closely and compare thousands years ago,for example ,the bible of Chinese herbal medicine called” The classification of the origin of herbs” written a couple thousands years ago. You will notice the herbal formulas are continuing to evolve and change for a better treatment outcome.And now as you may know already the herbal medicines are adapting the western method to simplify the method of delivery–from cooking out a concoction to making them into extracts ,granuals or put the solid ingredient after purification in to capsule form for easy compliance of the patients. But the efficacy of the herbal alone or in combination is difficult to prove and I think that is one of the reason that the Herbal medicine practice is ,in my research opinion,a continuation of clinical trial over a much longer period for each patient who are on herbal medicine and most of them will take other additional supplements as they see fit.
I personally used Chinese herbal medicines that I know of maybe of proven value,more or less like the oleander extract you have done research on. But I know full well that herbal medicine may only work for some and not for the others and the effectiveness may be marginal on treating cancer, but definitely have its value on the complimentary side of the spectrum., decrease the side effects of chemotherapy,provide harmony and well being comfort as a whole to the human body. . Therefore the main reason for me to use herbal is ” for me as an experiment only to prove whether that herbal works for me or not- a one man clinical trial.” The same as I had done to see how fast and how big my tumor can grow in a 10-12 month period.
I am a medical professional who knows a bit more about the inner workings, their goal , function and the responsibility of FDA to the entire world than many of the average people in the States . So I will restricted my comment with regard to your view of the FDA . But I have no problem to believe that ,without the careful planning ,review , mandate of laws and other legal matters to guard against false claims of treatments efficacy.without tens of thousands of science researchers and clinicians to formulated clinical trials from a single chemical compound which studied and picked out from thousands possible chemical compounds; and make that single chemical compound go thru years of clinical trails from phase 1 to phase 4,then in my opinion, there will be no effective treatments,medical devices and drugs to be invented and we will be back in the middle age medical practice again ,crude and painful.
furthermore, under the current system ,if it fails to meet the end points of that study, then the big pharma will lose a lot of money but they will start again,most of the time, to find another compound out of the tens or thousands chemicals until the efficacy of that chemical compound is known, then FDA will be involved for approval it to become a drug. . It truly is not a single person’ s effort but involved thousands. Therefore the comment of” rigorous testing” is not only appropriate but always adopted by the FDA, as well as universities , medical centers and the Big and Small pharmaceutical companies which are involved.

.I believe both of our intentions are good for the forum otherwise we both will not spend this much time for such a horrible disease. I wish I can be as lucky as your dad to achieve such longevity since I am also a cholangiocarcinoma patient.
BTW,I did take a look about herbs similiar to oleander in my Chinese herbal manual, it’s medicinal property is on the ” cool side” and I am belong to the cool side; according to the Chinese herbal practitioner ( TCM), it may be good for me if I take oleander with other “warmer” medicinal property herbs like Korea gingsing or Juju bean among others to balance my ” positive and negetive energy ” if I want to try oleander extract. (ps. for patients and other caregivers who are not familiar with herbal medicine, read the below link before considering using oleander.)
You are a good son to your father and care about other people as well, and we appreciate your contribution to this forum.
God bless.

Hi,
I know exactly how you feel and I am truly sorry for you to have to go thru such unexpected life journey so soon.
Life has its own way of journeying thru our earthly times here and only God can provide the ultimate answer of ” Why me or why us “.
Scared ,yes. Horrified, may be. But Peaceful in knowing he is in a much better place and free of all the pain and sufferings should allow you and all of us,as patients,feel at peace with ourselves and with others.
May God’s Grace be with you and your family.
God bless.

Hi,
The doctor can drain the fluids in the abdomen by paracentesis.
Low blood pressure defined as BP below 90/60; but as you may know blood pressures changes often due to the change of heart rate;infection;dehydration and other illness or disease happened at the same time or even the change of the patient position when BP is taken.
Take it one day at a time and I wish you well.
God bless.

Hi,
This subject matter should belong to CAM ( complimentary and alternative medicine ). It is not an FDA approval medication and as Narinder Singh said it is classified as dietary supplement only and their efficacy is not evidance-based like FDA approval drug. Therefore buyer and users be aware.
God bless.