Help and advise on treatment for advanced metastatic Stomach cancer.

My friend (38 yrs old), has been diagnosed with this ailment (this week) and doctors gave a very grim outlook. They suggested counseling and nothing like hope.

I have written to a Doc in India (refereed to by a survivor who is well known to me) and forwarded the scans and medical reports). He suggested palliative chemotherapy ASAP.

Advise sought on:

1. What is palliative chemo - sounds like terminal and scary. Is the same care available locally and is the cost affordable.
2. Beside what is the survival rate for my friend?
3. We are giving it our all believing its all worth the trouble.

Pole sana to your friend.

Metastatic cancer means the cancer has spread from its initial site. If it started out as cancer of the stomach it has now spread to other organs such as the liver, lungs, kidneys, bones etc.

The surest way to remove cancer cells is by surgery. If the cancer is localized in one spot the surgeons operate and remove all the cancerous tissue and cells. When the cancer has spread so much especially to vital organs then surgery is not an option because you would have to cut up the person in too many places and remove chunks of tissue such that by the time you are done the patient will be dead. The other problem is there is no way of detecting all the places where the cancer has spread to so the person can have a very expensive and complicated surgery only for them to recover slightly and discover there was some cancer that spread to places that were not operated and they continue to grow.

Chemotherapy as a treatment of cancer is given to kill cancer cells.......the only problem is cancer cells are not that different from normal body cells .. the slight difference being that they do not stop growing. So for certain kinds of cancer chemotherapy is given to slow down the process of cancer cells dividing while in hoping that the body will eliminate them when they are weakened. But people who receive chemotherapy also have their normal cells destroyed in the process that is why people lose hair and have crazy diarrhea. If the cancer has spread the difficulty you face is that if you were to give chemotherapy you would need so much of it and for such a long time that the chemotherapy itself would kill the patient.

Palliative chemotherapy is medication given not so much to cure the cancer but to alleviate symptoms and allow the patient to be free of pain in their last days. This is what hospices do.

Here is contact information for Nairobi Hospice:
Nairobi Hospice
Kenyatta National Hospital Complex Hospital Road
P. o Box 74818
00200 Nairobi
Kenya

Phone +254 020 2719383/2712361/2726502/27266300 Ext: 44000
Mobile +254 732690077
Fax +254 020 2722212

It is indeed very grim. The tumour has spread past the stomach into the abdomen and lymph nodes. Coupled with the young age (<40) and the fact that it is inoperable, well...

If the diagnosis was done at a reputable institution, evidence is shown on OGDs/CTs/MRIs/Ultrasound and reviewed by several doctors, then the prognosis is not very good. It is terminal.

Don't take the India route. It will only cost you lots of money and will add nothing to his quality of life. Stomach cancer at that stage is not responsive to Chemo.

@Kusadikika, jguru thanks.

The tests were done at Aga Khan and confirmed by three doctors, I also sought the opinion of an oncologist from India who recommended the chemo. The oncologist avers that by him getting the chemo he'd get like two more years. What alternatives do we have locally with palliative chemo? The India option costs 2k USD per session and there are six sessions.

jguru, Kusadikika, I can inbox you the reports for informed opinion. email add pls. Depressed.

Its with alot of hesitance that this is written, moreso when its a matter of life and death. But the feeling would be worse if it wasn't. (please don't ask what it would feel like if it was relied upon and a life was lost!)

2 alternative treatments have claimed to cure cancer.
1. Gersons therapy - A combination of Juice fasts, Oxygenation, Detox/Enemas, Diet and Supplements. I have some of their books and videos if you'd like to have a look

2. Hemp Oil - Oil derived from 'Mary J'. Available in a few countries other than Kenia. The site recommends you make your own. The tutorial and ebook are readily available

You might want to watch the documentaries 'Save your life interviews' by Sam Biser, 'World without Cancer' by G. Edward Griffin and the two made by the websites given above.

Thanks @Rahatupu for your passion on this and for standing by your friend. Angels are made of this. I wish you well.

The situation sounds hopeless but nothing is beyond hope. All shall be well.

@ Rahatupu. I wish you strength as you stand by your friend. Somebody sent me this a while ago.

DRINK WATER ON EMPTY STOMACH

It is popular in Japan today to drink water immediately
after waking up every morning. Furthermore, scientific tests have proven its value.

We publish below a description of use of water for our readers. For old and serious diseases as well as modern illnesses the water treatment had been found successful by a Japanese medical society as a cure for several diseases:

Headache, body ache, heart system, arthritis, fast heart beat, epilepsy, excess fatness, bronchitis asthma, TB, meningitis, kidney and urine diseases, vomiting, gastritis, diarrhea, piles, diabetes, constipation, all eye diseases, womb, cancer and menstrual disorders, ear nose and throat diseases.


METHOD OF TREATMENT


1. As you wake up in the morning before brushing teeth, drink 4 x 160ml glasses of water

2. Brush and clean the mouth but do not eat or drink anything for 45 minutes

3. After 45 minutes you may eat and drink as normal.

4. After 15 minutes of breakfast, lunch and dinner do not eat or drink anything for 2 hours

5. Those who are old or sick and are unable to drink 4 glasses of water at the beginning may commence by taking little water and gradually increase it to 4 glasses per day.

6. The above method of treatment will cure diseases and allow you to enjoy a healthy life.

The following list gives the number of days of treatment required to cure/control/reduce main diseases:


1. High Blood Pressure - 30 days

2. Gastric - 10 days

3. Diabetes - 30 days

4. Constipation - 10 days

5. Cancer - 180 days

6. TB - 90 days

7. Arthritis patients should follow the above treatment only for 3 days in the 1st week, and from 2nd week onwards - daily.

This treatment method has no side effects, however at the commencement of treatment you may have to urinate a few times.


It is better if we continue this and make this procedure as a routine work in our life.

Drink Water and Stay healthy and Active.

This makes sense ... the Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals ..not cold water. maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!! Nothing to lose, everything to gain...

For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you.

It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just
consumed. It will slow down the digestion.

Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn into fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal.

A serious note about heart attacks: Women should know that not every heart attack symptom is going to be the left arm hurting.

Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.

You may never have the first chest pain during the course of a heart attack.

Nausea and intense sweating are also common symptoms.

60% of people who have a heart attack while they are asleep do not wake up.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let's be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive...

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this mail sends it to everyone they know, you can be sure that we'll save at least one life.

@OnlyHappiness, I noted your request. But I think by looking at the tests, I would only be "rubber-stamping" what the experts have already arrived at.

Visit the Nairobi Hospice, though home based care during these last moments is what is best. A dedicated home nurse or a relative is much better that institutionalization.

You could still visit India:
-6 chemo sessions, one each week (usd 7200).
-They will do extensive tests for about 1 week after you arrive (about usd 1500).
-Visa + Travel for say him + 2 caretakers (KQ, Direct, Return, usd 2100). Visa to India is Ksh7800 each for 6 months/Ksh11600 for 12 months. (usd 350).
-Accomodation, Food, Living expenses. Food and cost of living are cheap. If it's a big hospital they can arrange for free or subsidised accommodation and food (about usd 1000 monthly).
-Medication. Meds are very cheap in India (usd 500 per month).
-Miscellaneous + Contingency (usd 2000)

TOTAL = USD 16150.

India has excellent medical care that rivals some first-world hospitals. It is impressive how they run such fine and classy hospitals.

You should plan to be there for about 8 weeks minimum. Chemo is no joke. It has nasty side effects. It will sap all his energy and will, but hopefully, it will add another 2 years to his life (5-10% 5-year survival rate). NOTE this is PALLIATIVE CHEMO. Does not heal the tumour. Could fail entirely. Essentially "kujaribu tu".

I'm saying this so that you can have peace of mind as relatives and friends. So that at the end of the day you can say, as doctors say, that you did all you could humanly do to have him around for longer. And mean it.

@jguru, ahsante sana. The hospital we've been referred to is Apollo Cancer Institute at Indraprastha Hospital in Delhi. I've checked it online and seems truly world class plus a friend has very good opinion of it having been there for treatment of bone marrow cancer (he is now cancer free). We're giving it our all and like you've concluded despair is not in the cards.

@Euge ahsante.
@Wendz,@Washiku thanks for feeling me so deeply.