Conventional&holistic treatments/resources
I found the following resources very helpful while on my Oesophageal Cancer journey. I called it a journey because I met many interesting people who motivated me along the way, be it cancer patients like myself, colleagues in work, family, friends, my homeopath to the medical team in Germany, these resources worked for me, they may not work for you but can hopefully serve as a starting point.
My GP was 100% committed to my case. She chased up consultants, translated letters from German into English. Her follow up care after coming back from Germany was amazing.
Get a good GP behind you. Question everything, if you are not happy get a second opinion. You can also tell student doctors sitting in on your consultation to leave. Ask to record the conversation with the consultant and oncologist explaining that it is for your own reference. This information as tough as it is to hear will come in useful later on. You will be overloaded to begin with and can easily forget as you are in shock after the initial diagnosis.
I highly recommend Arc Cancer support services as a vital Oesophageal Cancer support service. It is a friendly environment where you receive counselling, massage, advice on filling out various forms like illness benefit, reflexology or mindfulness classes (subject to availability) and partake in an hour of calm when feeling overwhelmed.
The staff are amazing and are a wonderful volunteer group. They deserve so much credit for the work they do. They also provide these services for members of your family who are also affected by your diagnosis free of charge.
The Arc house centre in Bantry helped me out no end and provided support such as counselling and massage therapy sessions. This is all free of charge. They also provide many useful services (subject to availability) . It’s a drop in environment without having the need or worry to make an appointment in advance. If you feel down, call in on a Tuesday or Thursday morning.
You also meet other patients here and their stories truly inspire you. You don’t have to feel alone either at the beginning of your diagnosis or after coming through it. The staff are fantastic and it is such a warm welcoming place. Please go here if you are in West Cork. It is open every Tuesday and Thursday. The view is also spectacular.
‘THE BUNGALOW’
Bayview, Goureebeg, Bantry, Co. Cork Eircode P75 PK25
Tel:+353 (27) 53891/+353 (83) 198 8580
Email: westcork@corkcancersupport.ie
OPENING HOURS
Tuesday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Thursday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm
Arc House in Cork are brilliant, well worth a visit and the follow up support is phenomenal. They checked up on me when I was in Germany. This was months after I first visited them. Parking may be tight and you will need a parking disc. They can provide you with parking discs so don’t worry.
“CLIFFDALE”
5, O’Donovan Rossa Road,Cork. Eircode:T12 KX97
Tel:+353 (21) 427-6688
Email: info@corkcancersupport.ie
OPENING HOURS
Monday – Thursday 9.30 am – 4.30 pm
Friday 9.30 am – 3.00 pm
They also have another centre on the Northside of the city. I have never been, but is an essential visit if you have a cancer diagnosis and living in that part of the city:
NICHE COMMUNITY HEALTH PROJECT
HSE Building,Harbour View Road,Knocknaheeny,Cork.Eircode: T23 XY16
Tel:NICHE +353 (21) 430-0135or Cork ARC +353 (83) 198-8580
Email:community@corkcancersupport.ie
OPENING HOURS
open Fridays, 10.00 am – 12.00 pm
Another vital service I’d highly recommend and you can avail of is West Cork AOK. AOK is a confidential service which supports patients and their families affected by cancer, anywhere between Bandon and Beara. They support people in a myriad of ways, offering financial support to help people in practical ways when either starting, during and after their treatment. Please refer to their Facebook page for more information.
I only found out about the support services that Lollipop Day offered recently through my friend Rachel at OvaCare. Lollipop Day are a unique charity who provide a very important role. The proceeds of their funds are specifically used for researching of Oesophageal Cancer and also funding towards maintaining and building a registry & Biobank for Barrett’s Oesophagus Patients. They do host support groups for survivors on a bi annual basis.
Their next meeting is on the 14th October 29017 in Dublin. It is a half day meeting with two speakers and then a question and answer session, It is an opportunity for people to meet others who have had the same cancer.
Lollipop Day also work closely with other groups in Northern Ireland such as the fantastic and very helpful OPANI and the OPA in mainland UK as well as Trinity College. They recently started working with UCD partnering Patient/ Survivor type projects of which there is a greater focus now.
A genuine fantastic group, very receptive and helpful. Please do contact them if you are worried about heartburn or acid reflux. Please support them where you can.
Web: http://lollipopday.ie/index.php
Tel: +353 1 289 7457
Email:info@lollipopday.ie
Special thanks to Noelle at Lollipop Day for all her help, a great and very helpful organization who also put me in touch with the Oesophageal Patients Association, these folks are based in the UK but very helpful. A registered charity who do amazing work with Oesophageal Cancer patients. OPA offer very practical ideas to make life easier for the patient such as specialized bed wedges to help you sleep better at night to practice newsletters. A dedicated support line is in place too.
They kindly sent me a brilliant information pack consisting of a DVD, life before, during and after surgery, very helpful booklets and information on diet. They also sent out some very practical information cards to use in restaurants as well as information on medical bracelets. I was also provided with a contact number of a survivor who went through similar surgery in the UK.
They also provided me with the number of the Northern Ireland branch of OPA, OPANI, I spoke with Helen Setterfield, (Rachel at OvaCare had already given me Helen’s details but I misplaced them) who was absolutely brilliant, helpful and very supportive. I intend on supporting OPANI as they also host seminars in Belfast for survivors and patients with very well respected and informed guest speakers such as Professor Tim Underwood.
Please support OPA and OPANI, they are doing an amazing job helping people who are diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer as well as those who are recovering from surgery. Unfortunately I could not attend OPANI’s most recent meeting at the Beechlawn Hotel, Dunmurry in Belfast on the 7th of October 2017. It would have been an ideal opportunity for me to meet with others in a similar position.
OPANI‘s key contacts are :
Treasurer and Secretary: Valerie Osborne
Tel: 0044 2890 208602
Chairman: Helen Setterfield
Email: helensetterfield@hotmail.com
OPA key contact information:
Helpline number: 0044 121 704 9860: (9.00 am – 3 pm Monday to Friday) (There is a 24 hour answering machine,)
Email: enquiries@opa.org.uk
Web: https://www.opa.org.uk
By Post :
Oesophageal Patients Association,
50 High Street,
Henley In Arden,
Warwickshire,
B95 5AN
Please support these very worthwhile and genuine charities for the stellar work they do. I only wish I knew about these before I had to go to Germany for the Oesophageal Cancer treatment.
Another fantastic resource were OvaCare.ie . I reached out to a friend of mine, Rachel McKeon. Rachel was so helpful and went out of her way to research other Oesophageal Cancer support groups and provide me with their contact details to me. Arc House in Bantry also confirmed how important OvaCare are and stated that the diary that OvaCare provide is a vital resource. If you know anyone who may be worried about ovarian cancer please point them to OvaCare.
Tel: 021 2427892
Fax: 021 2428108
Email: info@ovacare.ie
Web: www.OvaCare.ie
By Post:
OvaCare,
Acorn Business Campus,
Mahon Industrial Park,
Blackrock,
Cork.
I found that homeopathy and acupuncture really helped me out. The acupuncture cleared my head and brought relief to my digestive tract. This was especially the case when first diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer. I went to a lady in Cobh , who I cannot thank enough! Deirdre Mackesy at Robin Hill Clinic knows what she is doing. She has a medical background being a RGN as well as being an expert in her field when it comes to homeopathy and acupuncture matters.
Tel:+353 (21) 481-2222
Email:info@robinhillclinic.com
Website:www.robinhillclinic.com
Another useful resource are the various Daffodil Centres located throughout Ireland. When diagnosed with Oesophageal Cancer none of this information was made available to me. It was only in June 2016 I became aware of this vital service. I didn’t know about the cancer survivor support networks, financial support programme or the other services available such as travel was available to me either. The Irish Cancer Society have some interesting information and certainly worth checking out. Call them on 1800 200 700.
If you live in the West Cork area and worried about getting to a hospital in Cork city, then don’t! Again no one told me that there is a free voluntary and confidential service available. A driver will collect you from your door and drive you directly to the hospital and will wait. The driver will then drive you home again.
Call the Irish Cancer Society on 1800 200 700 to discuss this with them. I am sure there are similar services nationwide, here in West Cork the service is called Cancer Connect .
They will drive you to the hospital for radio-chemotherapy sessions and back again. This is extremely useful to know. This is a flexible and confidential service.
Their contact details are as follows:
Tel:+353 (27) 52727
Mob: +353 (87) 1224404
Web: https://www.facebook.com/Cancer-Connect-373339552859956/ or www.cancerconnect.ie
E-mail:cancerconnect@ruraltransport.ie or info@cancerconnect.
Even if the type of cancer you were diagnosed with is localized, there is no harm in asking your doctor for the palliative nursing team to visit you or help you. They providing symptom control even if you are not terminal, they are excellent.
Try to find inner peace, I know this is easier said than done, but switching off and focusing on yourself without distractions is needed. If you are in West Cork, I would advise a trip to Dzogchen Beara Meditation Centre. they have a dedicated care team who help people cope with a fatal prognosis.
They also offer various workshops on such topics as Loving Kindness. There are morning and afternoon meditation sessions too which are free of charge. It is a good way to disconnect from everything and throw away the cellphone and spend time on yourself.
Dzogchen Beara,Garranes,Allihies,Beara,Co. Cork. IRELAND
Tel:+353 (27) 73032 or the Care Centre on +353 (27) 73370
Email:info@dzogchenbeara.org or carecentre@dzogchenbeara.org
There are many other resources I used to help myself overcome the disease, I practiced self guided meditation courtesy of YouTube. I did journeying before I went to Germany. It’s like hypnosis but you drill down deep into your subconscious. You visualize each layer until you reach an area of your subconscious what has been bothering you deep down inside.
I had a journeying practitioner walk me through the experience. I found it helped shed some negative experiences I had earlier in my life that I was carrying around. This may not be for you.
I used a mindfulness app called ‘Headspace‘ while in hospital. I read a book called ‘The Journey‘ by Brandon Bays. A friend of mine made up a birch bark tincture for me. Birch bark contains betulinic acid which causes cell apoptosis (cell death) in regard to certain cancers.
I also took reishi, maitake and coriolus ground mushroom powder over my food which was disgusting. My homeopath recommended those mushrooms as they have properties that boost your immune system as well as cancer fighting properties.
I also tried strawberry extract powder because of its antioxidant abilities. I drank sodium bicarbonate/baking soda every morning one week on and one week off. Usually using one teaspoonful mixed with water. Carbonated water and oft drink were avoided.
Plenty of still water was consumed everyday. Sugary junk food was avoided and ate healthy foods for a long as possible, no McDonalds or Burger King. I ate plenty of healthy vegetables and fruit along with chicken soup, fish and two portions of red meat a week. Absolutely no alcohol or smoking.
Music played a key role in keeping me motivated and defiant. It also helped me calm myself after not so good news many times during the illness. Music varied from Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ or Helloween’s ‘I can’ .
I picked up a guitar and played when I could. I listened to music when walking and found it really got the adrenaline pumping. When I could no longer eat I listened to songs that I thought were uplifting.
For me classical music and fast energetic rock/metal songs kept the spirits up. No chart music or any Simon Cowell manufactured meaningless chart rubbish.
Music helped me to visualize all the cancer cells dying inside me. Wagner’s ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ was another example to name but a few. Music therapy is being used when treating certain types of cancer, I would definitely recommend it.
I also found it helpful to surround myself with positive people. I was very lucky in that I had a circle of survivors and friends who were supporting me each step of the way. They had been through their cancer journeys and served as mentors if you can use such a word.
One gentleman would constantly pray for me. He travelled to Brasilia in his spiritual journey to attend John of God’s and he is in remission 14 years later. I am systematically removing negative toxic people, places and where possible negative situations from my life as much as possible. You need good people around you before and after the your recovery.
My wife also blended plenty of smoothies with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries, blackberries, macrobiotic yogurt. She also placed Swedish herb wraps over the areas where the tumours were, she had read a book by Maria Treben and followed the remedies from that.
Please contact me through the form below if you are interested in reading the book. Martina also mixed broccoli sprout powder into my food and even started to grow them. She made green tea for me and gave me curcumin in my food too. The importance of strawberries or strawberry powder and the active role they play in fighting off cancer cells should not be overlooked. My good friend Greg researched this in detail for me. He told me about the website Nutritionfacts.org which is worth a visit.
In-depth research has been ongoing in the area of medicinal cannabis and its role against cancer. Many success stories are coming to light through social media and online news sites as of late. There is a particular gentleman, Darren Steven Miller who is in remission now. His story is well worth checking out and both his wife and him help people as much as they can.
I do not endorse any websites or people that claim they sell cannabis oil. I have no clue where to source it in Ireland either. This topic as another is a possible avenue of research depending on the news you have been given by your medical team.
Research has shown some side effects such as low blood pressure through ingestion which in turn could cause problems if being sedated for an operation. Be very careful if you are thinking of buying this online or considering using it. Always discuss this with your doctor, oncologist, surgeon first, please provide full disclosure.
There are a lot of snake oil merchants out there, waiting to rip people off. Again I would strongly advise that you go and extensively research this area and discuss with your doctor, consultant, surgeon and oncologist before you do anything.
There are many websites out there, claiming that cannabis oil cures all. Be very careful as these sites may be claiming to sell high strain Rick Simpson Oil, but are probably not. If researching generally the more reputable sites would have a .gov or .org suffix e.g cancer.org, worldwidecancerresearch.org,national cancer institute and cancerresearchuk.org. Reach out to someone who knows how to administer this correctly like Darren and Amy Miller in the US for solid advice.
My medical team(s) based in Bonn were amazing. I ended up in Germany because I refused to accept the options available to me in Ireland, which was prolonging my life for eighteen months to two years with palliative chemotherapy. I was lucky because my wife is German. She contacted her old boss who is a doctor. I received the best care possible with a dedicated team.
For the lung cancer treatment I ended up at this clinic:
Dr Ulrich Gerigk was the director of Thoracic surgery at the Malteser Krankenhaus Seliger Gerhard Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, Von-Hompesch-Str. 1, 53123
Tel:+49 (228) 6481 297
Fax:+49 (228) 6481 9242
For radiation and chemotherapy I ended up here:
I was under the amazing teams for radiotherapy and also chemotherapy treatments at MVZ MediClin Bonn Villenstraße
Tel: 0228-5306-202
Fax 0228-5306-205
E-Mail: info.bonn-mvz@mediclin.
For the oesophagectomy I ended up here:
Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus St.Elisabeth, Prinz-Albert-Straße 40, 53113 Bonn.
The chief/head physician of Internal Medicine can be reached on:
Tel: +49 228 508-1561
Fax: +49 228 508-1562
Email:inneremedizin@gk-bonn.de
The chief/head physician of general and visceral surgery can be reached on:
Tel: +49 228 508-1571
Fax: +49 228 508-1576
Email: chirurgie@gk-bonn.de
A truly excellent team and also fantastic staff at the intensive care station. The multidisciplinary teams are dedicated and amazing. The head physicians are world class.
For sealing the leaking lymph node I ended up here:
Radiologische Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25
I was under the very capable hands of the Radiology department director Prof. Dr. Hans H. Schild. He can be contacted at the below numbers.
Secretary: Heike Dähring
Tel.: +49 (0)228 287 15870
Fax: +49 (0)228 287 16093
E-Mail: heike.daehring@ukb.uni-bonn.de
Secretary: Maryam Toliati
Tel.: +49 (0)228 287 16162
Fax: +49 (0)228 287 16093
E-Mail: maryam.toliati@ukb.uni-bonn.de
If you are worried about costs when travelling overseas then don’t. Again no one told me about the HSE’s Cross Border directive, until I saw a politician post about it online in November 2016. You should ideally fill this out before you decide to travel for treatment.
The first step is that you need to get a referral letter from your GP to the consultant treating you abroad. The one caveat is that the treatment you are seeking abroad has to be available in Ireland. When I did contact the HSE about this last November they were very supportive with information and supplied me with all the paperwork.
As far as I am concerned the radiation and chemotherapy I received in Germany is available in Ireland. The doctors here just chose not to give it to me. If your costs are not covered under the HSE’s Cross Border directive, you can always try a fundraising campaign or turn to friends and family to help you out. You can also speak with your health insurance provider if you have one.
If you cannot travel abroad for treatment and are worried about accommodation costs for your close family while you are in hospital or in a hospice in Cork, then don’t. There is a charity called Brú Columbanus , that have 26 en-suite family rooms with a supporting kitchen and lounges for families to stay at while their loved ones are receiving treatments.
This takes a lot of pressure off of families especially if home is far away. Sadly no one told me about this when I had my lung punctured with that biopsy in February 2016 and had to stay in hospital. It would have saved my wife a 300 kilometre round trip driving up and down and up again from home in West Cork to collect me when I was discharged.
This is a free service and located near enough to the major hospitals in Cork. It also acts as a supportive environment where families can meet other families who are in similar situations and can lend support to each other. They can also draw on their shared experiences. This is certainly worth checking out. They are a registered charity so your family do not have to pay anything to stay there.
Bru Columbanus
Cardinal Way, Wilton, Cork.
Tel: +353 (21) 4345754021-4345754
Fax: 021-4345798
Email: info@brucolumbanus.com
Social welfare payments:
You can also apply for illness benefit, if you are missing from your employment. Your GP would fill out an MC1 form on your behalf( this has recently changed to a MED1 form I think, please check with your doctor) for you that you take to your local social welfare office.
If your application is successful you normally fill out a form every week and take it to your local social welfare office, then this will progress to once a month. If you qualify for this payment, it is liable to tax. More information can be obtained from your local social welfare office. I found the Citizens information site to be helpful too . Also bear in mind that this payment will run out two years after your illness.
If you are unable to return to work after two years or indefinitely then you could be entitled to an ‘Invalidity Pension’, this would involve filling out a form. As far as I am aware if you do qualify for this payment then you are not allowed work whatsoever, if you are self employed you will have to provide a letter from your accountant stating that you are no longer self employed. You may also be automatically sent a form when your Illness benefit is due to run out. Check out Welfare.ie for more details.
There is another social welfare payment you may be entitled to that the Department like to keep a secret! If you feel that you cannot work a full week, then there is what is called as the ‘Partial Capacity Benefit‘. You fill out a form and have to get your doctor to also fill out another section of it. If your application is considered it will be reviewed by a Department medical Assessor. A decision is made based on the medical assessment you underwent which can be profound, severe, moderate or mild. If you are assessed as mild then you will not qualify for this benefit.
Arc Cancer support services provide free counselling services. Your employer possibly also has an employee assistance program in place that you and your immediate family can avail of. Don’t despair, it will take time for your body to heal. You will have your down days and it can take months to recover, but it will come right in the end.
Life After Treatment & Surgery
Give yourself time to recover. You will feel very down for awhile after surgery but this is normal. You are grieving. Don’t please other people just yourself, love yourself, be kind to yourself, avail of counselling services as you will need it. You will probably feel very tired and have no energy whatsoever, but again go easy on yourself, this was major surgery that you had done!
Eating will be awkward with a lot of trial and error. You will be learning to eat all over again. Some things will agree with you and others won’t. You may feel extreme nausea and also may need regular visits to the toilet. This will ease with time. I am still getting used to this. Eating will never be the same again, little portions is all you can eat from now on and quite often too.
As a result of the surgery you may also be liable to contracting more bugs like Clostridium Difficile, which causes severe cramping and constant trips to the toilet, you may be hospitalized and put in isolation for a number of weeks until it clears up. You will be prescribed strong antibiotics, don’t worry this will pass. You may also suffer from colitis as a result of the surgery and may need to take Imodium tablets daily to control this, this should pass too.
You may feel dizzy and sweat after eating, feel very weak and have to lie down, this again diminishes with time. This can be often referred to as ‘dumping syndrome’ and is a normal reaction after the surgery that you went through. Learning to eat again can be very difficult but you can get used to it. This will pass.
General advice is not to eat high sugar foods first thing in the morning, that caused me a world of pain and trouble. I found something as harmless as half a bowl of porridge caused problems. Nowadays one slice of toast with a poached or fried egg for breakfast causes me the least problems.
Generally as a rule of thumb I stop eating after 7p.m in the evening. This is different for everyone though, so trial and error. Also try to sleep upright at night if at all possible. The goal is to avoid reflux or food coming back up your throat.
This probably seems very obvious but it’s good practice to start carrying around a small backpack with light snacks and water. If you are attending multiple appointments in one day you will use them. This is especially true if the hospital canteen is closed or doesn’t accept Visa Debit or Credit cards.
Have your medications, spare underwear and a phone charger just in case! The amount of times I was caught out by forgetting to bring my medication is not funny. It is vital that you have your medication with you at all times especially if your surgeon advises that you take Creon before eating!
The other thing to watch are your blood sugars. After surgery you may start producing too much insulin after the food passes through what is left of your stomach. Basically everything is out of sync between insulin production and digestion.
This can cause your blood sugars to drop frequently. You might suffer from severe hypoglycemia like a diabetic with low blood sugars, feeling dizzy, tremors, irritable, weak, trembling, garbled speech, unable to speak. This is serious and can be controlled with medication and diet. Please go and contact your G.P. Do not drive if this is happening to you. Monitor your blood regularly with a glucometer.
You may also experience swelling in your face and feet. This could be water retention from a medication that you are on. Please contact your doctor if this gets bad. The reality is that it can also be a side effect from chemotherapy. It could be nerve damage and is known as neuropathy. More tests have to be carried out to confirm this. I am not trying to scare but just to inform you on what to possibly expect. The more active you are the more the chances are that this will decrease.
Another thing to be aware of is your hands/fingertips and feet can become very cold. I’ve been told from other cancer survivors that this goes in time. Others say they still get it even three years on from surgery. This again can tie in with the neuropathy which is damage to your nerves possibly from the chemotherapy. Just because this happened to me, does not mean that it will happen to you. I also noticed a buzzing in my left ear from time to time since my treatment, again this may not happen to you.
You will more than likely need to have physiotherapy if you are lying in a hospital bed for long periods of time during your recovery. Try and walk to your mailbox if you can. Exercise is hard but it releases those happy hormones in your brain.
There is a long waiting list for physiotherapy if you are a public patient. Try to go private if you can, it will be worth it.Your medical insurance this should cover you if you have it.
Yoga can also help to relieve tension and tightness, if you are able for it, try it. I am still too weak to endure a full session. My preconceived notion that it was ‘sissy‘ stuff was completely wrong. Your physiotherapist may also suggest that you take up swimming which also helps unlock the tension.
Talk with your doctor about getting a referral to an Occupational therapist if you are preparing to go back to work and trying to maintain a normal routine.
This illness opened my mind up. Making more time to listen to people and what they did to help themselves with their disease is more important than Facebook. Having a very supportive group of friends helps. A fantastic wife who could sniff out a snake oil scheme very quickly and saved my life is something to be extremely grateful for.
Advising someone not to take conventional treatment on is wrong without scientific knowledge. My radiation and chemotherapy were grueling. Honesty and transparency are vital at all times. This included telling oncologists, radiologists, surgeons etc , if consuming Essiac tea or taking homeopathic remedies. Taking their advice on board when told not to drink green tea throughout treatment was key to my response to treatment.
After the treatment and still during my recovery, we all have down days , this is normal. Sometimes you feel like you can’t tell anyone anymore what you are feeling. You may feel like people are sick of hearing about how unwell you are or how bad you are feeling today.
I was lucky that I could reach out to a fellow Oesophageal cancer survivor who helped me come out the other side. I am hesitant calling him as he has enough going on. Up until recently I felt very isolated, the Irish Cancer Society could not find an Oesophageal Cancer survivor who had a gastrectomy and oesophagectomy done so I can’t really depend on them.
I had no luck in finding any Oesophageal Cancer survivor groups in Ireland or the UK until now and very grateful for the support of OPANI based in Belfast and also OPA.
Before that there was just that one solitary contact I had. I came across a website in the US that seemed promising last May 2016. They match you up with someone who has had a similar cancer to you. They will reach out to you to offer support and to mentor you.
This is free of charge. It is worth checking out the Imerman Angels website and signing up for support. You will be contacted by someone who went through a similiar experience to you. They can listen and mentor you. There is going to be a difference in time zones but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t get support. They also offer email based support which is better than nothing.
The Mercy Hospital in Cork, offer an excellent and in my opinion fantastic support service. It is an Upper GI Support Group run on a bi-monthly basis, with special guest speakers offering relevant and helpful information.
It is also a great way to know that you are not alone and I’ve made many friends there, there are some amazing people who went through similar feats and will uplift you. This is open to anyone who underwent an Oesophagectomy and any other serious Upper Gastrointestinal surgery anywhere, you don’t have to be a patient of the Mercy Hospital.
It is a vital resource and I’m so thankful for it. Louise Buckley is part of the wonderful team who researched, coordinated and made this a reality. People travel as far as Waterford, Tipperary and Shannon for this. Definitely put this down on your recovery list.
Everything listed above was thoroughly researched beforehand. There were encounters with some witch doctors and we just walked away. Common sense is very important when dealing with a life threatening situation. These witch doctors pray on our vulnerabilities.
Please do not get sucked in by an all encompassing cure, a lot of these are scams. A simple tip when researching specialist clinics or doctors is to type scam or fraud after their names in the search engine you are using. Normally a wealth of information either good or bad will reveal itself.
The QuackWatch.org site was extremely helpful when researching so called experts and treatments. The site doesn’t look up to date but it is regularly updated.
Stay well away from Dr.Google for your own sanity. Don’t scare yourself even more. A lot of articles are deliberately exaggerated. Some of the legitimate sites give a breakdown of mortality rates and other statistics based on the cancer you have been diagnosed with.
While any type of cancer prognosis is serious I chose to ignore those statistics! You are an individual and not a statistic. Your biochemistry is different to the next person diagnosed with the same type of cancer.
Don’t overwhelm or scare yourself. Some other medical journals stated there was only a 3% survival rate for advanced Oesophageal Cancer. In my head that was quickly dismissed. The key is to stop looking up survival rates and just focus on what can be done to turn the situation around.
My body is in remission for now. It is very weak and sick but slowly recovering. This is because every effort was made physically and mentally to rid myself of this disease. This was my personal treatment plan. It may not suit you and not for one minute suggesting you do what I did to beat Stage 4 Oesophageal Cancer.
Thank you…..