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                        (Extracted from the book “My Tryst with Cancer” 
                          authored by Amritha Madhavan and edited by K.S. Madhavan) 
                          The Trust is providing assistance in cancer cure and 
                          appeals to the cancer patients not to be deterred and 
                          nonplussed on discovery of cancer disease but follow 
                          the advice and tips given in the following paragraphs.
  
                          1. “Do not be afraid of cancer” 
                        First step in tackling cancer is to remove the fear 
                          associated with it. In fact most of the cancer patients 
                          did not know that it is Cancer until it became large 
                          enough or unbearable enough to be noticed. What was 
                          your mental and psychological condition when you did 
                          not know that you had cancer? Has it not changed dramatically 
                          since the news was heard? Are you not deeply affected 
                          just by the news? 
                        Why worry now? 
                        If the cancer did not draw your attention through symptoms, 
                          you would have been still a normal person but for the 
                          pain and related problems. Once the symptoms have been 
                          identified as cancer, all the fear, dread and emotional 
                          upheaval take full control of your mind and body, and 
                          you get extremely weak. The news of cancer creates enormous 
                          mental stress (as if a bomb has fallen on the house). 
                          Let us tackle the weakening effect of the "Tyranny 
                          of Information about Cancer" first, and then we 
                          shall tackle the cancer itself. 
                          It has been found that many cancer Patients have lived 
                          long and happily with cancer (unknowingly though) until 
                          the dreaded day arrived, that of discovery of their 
                          affliction with cancer, which pronounced their death 
                          sentence. 
                          Do not accept this Death Sentence! 
                          You will have to resolve that you will tackle cancer 
                          with all the power in you and with all the goodwill 
                          and prayers of your kith and kin in order to be able 
                          to overcome this problem. 
                        2. “Suspect cancer when nothing is traceable 
                          in case of sustained health problem” 
                        When one finds nothing wrong in case of a sustained 
                          health problem he/she tries to forget about the matter 
                          and sleeps on it. This could be dangerous. 
                          Doggedly pursue until the root cause of the problem, 
                          its basic reason is identified. Check and Recheck whether 
                          it is correctly identified.  
                         3. Cancer can attack people with no carcinogenic 
                          exposures also. 
                        Though cancer is more likely to attack one with carcinogenic 
                          habits, it can afflict anyone irrespective age, sex, 
                          habits, etc. 
                          The real pre-disposition to cancer, if any, is yet to 
                          be identified. 
                        4. Resting with one biopsy or a limited number 
                          in a limited area could be a major mistake.  
                        Sometimes biopsies can be negative though there is 
                          cancer due to sampling errors / difficulties. 
                          No conclusions should be made that cancer is absent, 
                          based on limited number of biopsies. Combine specific 
                          diagnostic tools, like cancer markers with above for 
                          the final diagnosis. On the other hand, positive biopsies 
                          are conclusive. 
                        5. Cancer can also recede rarely without treatment. 
                        Non-specific symptoms, leading to the suspicion of 
                          cancer, do recede after attacking once. One should not 
                          rule out the possibility that cancer itself does recede 
                          without treatment. But the reasons are yet to be found 
                          out. 
                        6. Certain types of cancer may not be identified 
                          even after full testing. 
                        With all the advancements in Scanning with CT Scans, 
                          MRI etc., the best way to know if there is cancer in 
                          the abdominal region - stomach, intestines, ovaries, 
                          liver, pancreas, etc. - is to look inside through LAPAROSCOPIC 
                          examination, or by opening the abdominal wall, or endoscopic 
                          examination. 
                          Even with laparoscopy or examination of region duly 
                          opened up, certain types of cancer may not be spotted 
                          or detected early. 
                        7. Aggressive chemotherapy / surgery should 
                          be resorted to only with greatest care and preparation. 
                        To decide on a set of life threatening courses of action 
                          - total surgical removal of organs critical for bodily 
                          functions plus most aggressive Chemotherapy - without 
                          checking, counterchecking and reviewing could be an 
                          inexcusable mistake 
                          Do not jump into any treatment in a hurry. 
                          Let a panel of doctors consisting of Surgeons, Oncologists, 
                          Chemotherapists, Radiotherapists and Microbiologists 
                          debate the pros and cons of various alternative courses 
                          of action and decide on the action plan. 
                          Oncologists should be extremely cautious in administering 
                          the later courses of chemotherapy as they can be life 
                          threatening. 
                          Only a team of doctors should take decisions regarding 
                          the later courses of chemotherapy, after ensuring that 
                          the treatment would not push the patient over the precipice. 
                        8. Alternative approaches. 
                        Sometimes starting the treatment with chemotherapy 
                          or radiotherapy, followed by surgery would be better 
                          than first surgery and then chemotherapy or radiotherapy. 
                        9. Chemotherapy sometimes can lead to Metastasis. 
                        Aggressive chemotherapy can also contribute to cancer 
                          moving to newer areas, with aggressive growth, as immunity 
                          is totally destroyed. 
                        10. Prepare the patient psychologically. 
                        Oncologists should undertake any action only after 
                          preparing the patient well for it psychologically as 
                          well as physically. 
                        11. Use Alternative / Complementary Therapies. 
                        Work with single-minded devotion to establish conclusively 
                          whether alternative systems could cure cancer. 
                          If not, atleast establish how far they can mitigate 
                          the sufferings of patients and prolong their lives. 
                        12. Use Yoga Therapy & Nutrition in all 
                          cases as complements. 
                        Yoga Therapy improves the condition of patients with 
                          close to 100% certainty in Quality of Life improvement. 
                          Also proper Nutrition & Diet Control is a must for 
                          control and speedy recovery. 
                          
                          
                          
                          
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