Terry Thompson’s Blog

Continuing the preview of my book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer.  Many modalities of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) cancer treatments have been scientifically tested and proven effective in clinical trials.  These modalities are being prescribed and practiced by a few dedicated oncologists.  The relatively new terms, “integrative medicine” and “integrative health care,” refer to the application of tested and proven products and practices most of which were formerly considered to be in the CAM or complementary medicine category.  Such products and practices are finding success as complements to conventional cancer therapies.  Therefore, oncologists who study and practice evidence-based options as complements to their conventional therapies are recognized as integrative oncologists.  Their practice is integrative oncology, and it should be the rule rather than the exception.

Principal areas of integrative oncology cancer treatments include psychology, nutrition, vitamin and mineral supplements, spirituality, physical touch, herbs, unconventional instruments, Eastern medicine, acupuncture, massage, and electromagnetism.  Countless testimonies as to the healing nature of various approaches to cancer from these categories are on record.  A significant number of those testifying have been cancer-free for many years after being diagnosed in the conventional medical arena as having no hope for recovery.  However, few of these treatments have ever been given a fair trial in the courts of scientific research.  Those that have been proven effective in clinical trials are often withheld from patients by practitioners that remain skeptical.  This is due either to the conventional medical community’s rejection of their premise or lack of support to promote their widespread use. Those complementary treatments that have been legitimately tested through scientifically acceptable processes are being administered today by integrative oncologists, but only as bit-part players on the stage of conventional medicine stars.

A preview of my new book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer (continued). 

In the battle against cancer, unconventional warfare, in the form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has been around for decades–some options for centuries.  CAM cancer care involves natural, non-toxic therapies such as nutrition, dietary supplements, meditation, spiritual encounter, acupuncture, massage, hyperthermia, and physical exercise, just to name a few.  What degree of authenticity CAM enjoys comes primarily from low-level research and anecdotal evidence.  There has been relatively little major scientific research into its plethora of options.  It is like a small renegade military unit reporting decisive wins in a few battles using unsophisticated weapons, but the generals won’t acknowledge its successes because they weren’t measured and reported in the proper and traditional way.  So, the war continues in a stalemate although there is some effort at the highest levels to change the strategy.

Integrative oncology is the practice of CAM in cancer treatment.  The strategy of integrative oncology is like a silo within the vast medical community.  That is, most of the activity is contained within the confines of the CAM and integrative medicine arena.  The strategy has generated a lot of energy, activity, and substance up and down the hierarchy of CAM evangelists, but has yet to convert the medical science mainstream.  A new strategy must take the momentum beyond the faithful believers and into the protracted fields of universal medicine.  The seed stored in the silos must be sown across the fields before we can expect a crop that will really impact traditional medicine.  A New Strategy for the War on Cancer advocates a cancer treatment strategy that spreads the benefits of CAM to the entire field of conventional cancer treatment.

I want to interrupt the series of posts that were previewing the new book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer, to announce the debut of a new website for the book.  Just this morning, I published a new website at: www.newcancerstrategy.com.  Please go there today to learn more about this highly informative and intriguing book.  The site will be continuously updated and improved, but I believe you will find the initial version to be very interesting.  I would like your comments on it.  Give me the good and the bad.

 The site contains an overview, the purpose for writing the book, a little about the author, and a complete chapter summary.  Also, don’t forget to visit the Connie Thompson Foundation website, www.cancerchoices.org, from time to time.  That’s all I’m going to cover in this post today in order to give you time to visit the new site.  Thank you for following my journey of building the Foundation and writing the book.  Your interest and involvement are much appreciated. 

Yesterday’s post in the series of previews of my book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer, I summarized the worst three years of my life as I lost my wife and my first grandchild to cancer.  Today, I want to share a little more of what has stirred my heart to write this book.

As I was researching in initial preparation for the book, my eldest brother, Verl, died of lung cancer.  Less than a year later, another brother, Dale, died of a rare cancer that attacked his heart.  Neither smoked, and both led healthy, active lifestyles. Their lengthy treatment confined them to the bed most of the time.

My niece, in her early forties, currently strives to raise two teenagers although at times practically immobilized by her treatment for breast cancer.  One of my best friends has dealt with cervical cancer for over seven years.  She continues in and out of chemotherapy.  Both of these lively women’s identity of vitality, beauty, and strength has given way to constant exhaustion, nausea, hair loss, and feelings of hopelessness.  Another of my best friends was recently diagnosed with recurring breast cancer on the fifth anniversary of being declared cancer-free from the first bout.

If you haven’t experienced cancer, someone very close to you most assuredly has.  It has invaded the very heart of our culture.  We must–we absolutely must–find a more promising way to wage this war.  It is time to deploy the unconventional forces. Keep the conventional operation going, but open up the battlefield to combatants that are not of the mainstream.  Both conventional and unconventional forces fighting side-by-side as one will overwhelm the enemy.  And it will be defeated!

Watch for more on the book in this blog.

Continuing today in a preview of my upcoming book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer, I want to share what motivated me to write the book.  The objective has been to present the current status of cancer treatment, what has to change if we are to win the war, and how you can be a vital part of the solution.  I have very deeply instilled personal reasons for this work.

 As the Thompson family entered the year 1998, we were on a mountain top.  My wife, Connie, and I were enjoying success in my second career as a staff pastor in a large church.  Our sons, Mike and Chris, had earned their college degrees, had married wonderful, gorgeous wives, and were enjoying early achievements in their careers.  Mike’s wife, Melinda, was pregnant with our first grandchild.  Life was beautiful.   We eagerly awaited that year to unfold.  Then all hell broke loose.

Our grandson, Blake, was born with a rare congenital leukemia.  He was rushed by helicopter to Arkansas Children’s Hospital where he would spend the short month of this life on IVs and monitors.  Watching him slip away, day by day, was torture on the parents and grandparents, but was nothing in comparison to the agony that precious little one suffered.  Blake only experienced one thing in his life–the evil of cancer.

Melinda was at the hospital with her baby boy 24/7.  Her grandmother who had raised her from childhood was also battling cancer.  She died while Melinda was miles away with Blake.  Her grandmother and grandfather had raised her because, immediately after her birth, her mother died of cancer.

Two months after we buried Blake, my wife of 31 years was diagnosed with breast cancer.  The love of my life–healthy, active, spirited, and full of joy–was soon reduced to one who seldom had a good day.  Connie suffered through chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries for three years before her death in 2001.  I was, of course, at life’s lowest depth at that point.  By God’s mercy and grace, my children, our extended family, and I made it through those horrendous times, but none of us will ever be the same again.

But, it didn’t stop there.  Tomorrow, I’ll conclude the story of the life encounters that compelled me to research and write about the worst enemy this nation and world have ever fought against and how that fight has to change.

This post is the first in a series that will preview my new book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer.  The manuscript was submitted to the publisher this week, and the book should be released in early summer.  In addition to the Foreword by Dr. David Rosenthal mentioned in my last post, Dr. Keith Block, founder and medical director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, provided the following endorsement for the front cover: 

“Terry Thompson’s background as a former military officer with an academic focus provides him with a unique perspective on the failings of our current war on cancer.  This book makes a well-researched argument for exploring and implementing an integrative approach to cancer treatment.”

I was compelled to write this book after realizing that conventional cancer treatment was not effective in saving the life of my wife or 1500 others who die each day from the disease.  A new, proven approach that complements traditional chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery is practiced by a new breed of “integrative” oncologists with astonishing results.  The problem is that few people know about it.  Everyone touched by cancer–and that is everyone–needs to learn about this new therapy, where to get it, and how to support its acceptance and availability. 

Integrative oncology that prescribes tested natural, non-pharmaceutical therapies to enhance the effectiveness and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery is the answer.  Major medical school cancer centers are researching and practicing this new state-of-the-art strategy, but it is not being accepted in the mainstream of the oncology field.  It must become acceptable and accessible to all cancer victims if cancer is to ever be defeated.  Patients must insist on it, and the general public must support it.  The objective of the book is to reveal the new strategy to the public and to invoke a paradigm shift toward its adoption. 

Yes, yesterday was a banner day.  My wife, Linda, and I positioned ourselves in front of the computer with the manuscript of A New Strategy for the War on Cancer attached to an email to the publisher and celebrated the click on “send.”  For the next few days, I will highlight a few things from the book to be released this summer.

I was honored to receive the Foreword for the book from David S. Rosenthal, M.D.  Dr. Rosenthal is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.  He is also the Medical Director of the Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.  And, he was a former president of the American Cancer Society.  His agreement with the content of the book to the extent of writing the Foreword is a huge credibility factor for the project.  I would like to share a few excerpts from his Foreword.

Dr. Rosenthal writes: Following a review of the most recent statistics on the incidence and mortality of the various cancers, the cost of cancer care in dollars and lives and the funding of research, the author then focuses attention on the need for an innovative approach to the disease.  He envisions incorporating the evolving discipline of integrative oncology (IO) in the cancer care model.  Integrative oncology is to be differentiated from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), in that it considers the patient as “a whole human being,” stressing the importance of all aspects of lifestyle such as nutrition, physical activity, and stress and symptom management.  IO emphasizes the importance of the physician-patient relationship.

Dr. Rosenthal states further: The fundamental conclusion posed by Thompson’s book is that there are a great many complementary therapies that, when combined with conventional therapies, can improve the outcome, improve the quality of life of the patient and give the individual some sense of participation in the process.  That is what integrative oncology is about.

If all goes well today, I should step over a long-awaited threshold.  Nine years ago, I lost my wife, Connie, to breast cancer after a three-year battle.  Chemo, radiation, and surgery brought three months of remission at one pont before we were back in therapy as it spread to the liver.  That horrendous experience prompted me to launch what would become a never-ending  quest for a better answer to cancer treatment.  I have been doing research for for almost nine years.  The last three years have involved refining that research into a book titled, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer. 

During Connie’s treatment, I watched her condition deteriorate day-by-day.  After almost three years of devasting therapy including a couple of clinical trial therapies at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, we went to Mexico out of desperation to receive care not available or even legal in the U. S.  Connie died soon thereafter having suffered a septic infection without the benefit of a viable immune system.  At her death, I vowed to devote a major part of my life to learning everything I could about cancer treatment and how it could be improved. 

My findings have led me to the conclusion that what we have been doing in cancer care for the last half-century has not worked, is not working, and will not work.  Conventional cancer treatment has made some progress, but we are in a stagnant state fed by institutionalize bias.  Thankfully, there is something better that shows great promise.  It is called integrative cancer treatment or integrative oncology.  The integrative aspect has to do with natural therapies that complement conventional therapies.  Therapies such as nutrition, food supplements, acupuncture, mind-body focus, meditation, biofeedback, hypnosis, hyperthermia, spiritual emphasis, massage, etc. are proving to increase the effectiveness of conventional treatment, decrease its negative side effects, and reduce its duration.  In pursuing research into these complementary therapies, breakthroughs in fighting the disease are very possible.  The problem is lack of awareness and support from the public.  That is the purpose of the book.

Before this day is over, I should click “send” and transfer my final manuscript draft of A New Strategy for the War on Cancer to my publisher in New York.  What an exciting day!  I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.

Have you noticed lately that the subject of integrative oncology and complementary cancer therapy is becoming less taboo?  It’s starting to actually creep into the regular fare of articles in popular magazines and newspapers.  Interviews with key experts in the field are being conducted by well known writers.  Until recently, you would only hear of it on a slow news week and only then with apologies and caveats.  Now, it’s beginning to be an in thing to do.

The AARP Bulletin which is distributed to approximately 40 million members monthly had a three-page article in its April edition entitled “Battling Cancer.”  The article was entirely about integrative oncology as the up and coming approach to cancer.  The author, Peter Jaret, quoted several of the leaders of the new strategy including:

Dr. Barrie Cassileth of Memorial Sloan-Kettering

Dr. Lorenzo Cohen of M. D. Anderson

Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California, San Francisco

David Spiegel of Stanford University

In addition to explaining the nature of integrative oncology, the article highlighted numerous complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies currently being scientifically investigated by major institutions.  Those named include mistletoe, electroacupuncture, yoga, pancreatic enzyme, Reiki, and vegetable and herbal supplements.  The article closed with “Meanwhile, researchers still hope to find new and effective treatments among the range of unconventional approaches being tested.”

Watch for these types of articles.  Ther’re popping up everywhere.  Send emails to the publishers letting them know you are interested in such articles.  Publishers print what readers want to read.  Public awareness is the prerequisite for the success of integrative oncology and the ultimate defeat of cancer as we know it. 

Last year, a government task force proclaimed that women didn’t need mammograms until they were past forty.  Then the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced that women in their 20’s no longer need annual pap smears.  They said once every two years was enough.  Now, the American Cancer Society has just urged doctors to help men understand the limitations of prostate screening and that they could cause more harm than good. Is cancer screening going the way of polio vaccination? 

The ACS message is that both the PSA blood test and the digital exam for signs of prostate cancer can give false indications.  According to them, the PSA can show high numbers that indicate possible cancer when there is another problem causing the indication.  Further, the digital exam can produce the appearance of cancer when the patient doesn’t actually have cancer.  The thought is that treatment and its side effects resulting from a false diagnosis for prostate cancer is of greater concern in some cases than occasionally missing a diagnosis. 

I don’t really have a valid answer for why institutionalized medicine is trending away from their previously adamant position of more is better when it comes to screening.  My skeptical mind wonders whether the growing pressure to lower medical costs universally has somewhat influenced the reduced testing recommendations.  I can imaging doctors and researchers thinking that, since they are under scrutiny for cutting costs, all these tests may not be necessary.  I agree wholly that medical costs need to be cut in many areas.  I’m just not sure that screening for any type of cancer is the best place to look for cost savings.  The insurance industry has tremendous lobbying power and may be influencing this movement, also.

I do know this.  Cancer is one of the worst health enemies we face today.  It kills over 1500 people in America each and every day.  Each of us needs to try to avoid it at all costs.  Therefore, I want to be tested for potential prostate cancer at every opportunity taking advantage of every method.  And, I want my wife to have mammograms and pap smears as often as possible.  The same goes for all of my kids, family members, and close friends.  We are probably at a point where we will have to insist that our doctors test us for these and other cancers to the maximum extent within reason.  Likewise, if we are diagnosed with cancer, we should insist that our oncologist provide complementary treatments to the maximum extent within reason.  Or, we should find an oncologist who will.