i used to dismiss this kind of thing til the female half of the pair who owned a company i worked for some time ago was discovered to have ovarian cancer despite having had her ovaries removed 5 years earlier. it was apparently endrometrial in origin (some tissue had wandered?) and they removed a large mass when doing the biopsy. there was visible evidence of metastasis throughout her abdomen including 2 lesions on her liver that couldnt be excised. the surgeons closed and informed them it was terminal, estimating she had 3-6 months even with really aggressive chemo or radiation therapy.
(i hope you dont mind me going into detail) shed been an acrobatic rollerskater--so very athletic--and they were in their mid 50s at the time but in seemingly excellent shape. the company had originated when they began selling trampolines in the mid 60s and were responsible for establishing the first public trampoline centers in the us (they were friends with the people who developed the famous "aussie string bed" and one of jess' sons was the sorta famous stuntman, dar robinson) altho they were my employers, they were also close friends as well as surrogate parents.
word quickly got around (they had tons of friends in gymnastics--jess had trained a us medal winning olympian--the film biz and were members of a prestigious yachtclub), they began receiving a flurry of referrals for both orthodox medical people and alternative practicioners. abbey decided that if she really had such a short time to live, she didnt want to spend it sick from chemo or in pain from radiation. i was skeptical about the other options but it was her decision ultimately and i did my best to help research even the really crackpot schemes.
ultimately they were put in touch with an old rumanian physician whod practiced in new york state--despite having had his license yanked by the state board there--who was reputed to be able to achieve amazing results using a technique hed developed involving megadoses of selenium. he'd started several clinics in the us and mexico but ultimately theyd been shut down, the problem being he refused to publish his method for peer review.
they flew to see him and he said he thought hed be able to help her. the treatment consisted of injections and some moderate diet changes. the dr wasnt permitted to actually do the injections or formulate the compound but he put them in touch with a pharmacist who worked with the dr. initially there was no real sign of improvement (possibly due to the fact they were having to fly coast-to-coast twice a week for the first 6 weeks) but within 2-3 months she felt fine and when she went to see her oncologist (whod done everything possible to dissuade her but finally conceded she had so little time that it would really be moot) her tests were nothing short of amazing. within 6 months, she the liver tumors had all but vanished and all her tests indicated virtually total remission.
she had first been diagnosed in late january and her goal then was to live til xmas. by december she was in better health and spirits than shed been prior to this all happening. she still had to be injected with the solution but that wasnt a problem. she was flying to new york once every 6 weeks or so for evaluation everyone--the dr in ny and her doctors here--were ecstatic as were we. they hosted a huge party (like 200 guests) just before xmas.
things continued well thru most of the following summer (they spent their weekends at avalon on catalina island where they moored their boat during the season) and she engaged in all the normal stuff. the dr in new york was seeing her onece every couple months and everything seemed cool. in mid-september, there was a big fight (leonard-duran) broadcast on cable and they invited me up to their place to watch it (they had ahahahah a tv in every one of their 15 rooms including a huge bigscreen in the livingroom--one of my tasks was finding new technology toys for them and negotiating merchandise swaps hahaha). abbey was a huge sportsfan but i noticed she wasnt seeming to enjoy the fight as much as i expected. (this was the famous bout in which duran gave up near the end, yeling 'no mas...no mas'). normally we would have hung out for a while afterwards, but she said she wasnt feeling well and went to bed so i split.
the next morning i arrived at work to learn shed been taken to the hospital about 3am but i figured it was probably something unrelated. 4 hours later, she died. jess told me she had been in pain when they first admitted her but had been resting and hed been as suprised as anyone when she passed. there was no autopsy (ive always suspected she may have been oversedated). this strikes me as terribly sad as im typing it but having seen only one other person who succumbed to cancer (a guy id known in hs who later married one of my sisters and who lived for only 9 months from the day of his initial diagnosis and who wasted away in front of us and was in considerable pain), she died a very peaceful death and outlived the prognosis by nearly 2 years of healthy good times.
the dr in nyc later said he regretted not seeing her more often but he really did perform a miracle of sorts considering the initial assessment. he has since died himself altho his son now operates a clinic and the treatment is still available. his name was emmanuel revici and you can google for information about him
im so sorry for going on at such length in this thread but i was struck by the similarities between the australian doctor you reported upon and revici--and the fact of their ostracism and lack of support despite their accomplishments as a footnote, i dont know if this is an anomaly or ? but over the past 5 or 6 years ive learned about maybe a dozen acquaintances, relatives of friends, etc. whove been diagnosed with cancer. ive been very fortunate (well in a way...ive also been very unprepared for this) to have not encountered much of that in my life til recently but in the past the pattern was pretty dismal. id hear someone was ill and then 4 months to a year later, theyd be gone. but those in the past 5-6 years seem to be not only living much longer (all are still alive today) but some have been pronounced 'cured'. i dont know if its because there is a better understanding or better technology or just a fluke but im thinking its one or both of the first two options.
i also dont know why i felt i needed to bore you with all this but ill make it up to you somehow
