Terry Thompson’s Blog

A recent U.S. News and World Report article by Sarah Baldauf highlighted an issue that I have been writing about for months.  The issue of patient involvement in their own treatment is a principal component of integrative oncology.  The article points out that, in typical American medicine, the doctor speaks and the patient listens.  Fortunately, there is a slow, gradual transition toward more patient input and more doctor listening.

Ms. Baldauf chronicled a cancer patient who assumed she would need a mastectomy and reconstruction.  However, her doctor spent the necessary time with her to dialog extensively about the pros and cons of such a procedure.  He outlined the alternatives.  He provided her with DVDs and other literature which gave a clear, unbiased explanation of both sides of the question.  He recommended and made her appointments with specially trained counselors who helped her identify her true feelings about living with the consequences of each option.  On numerous occasions, she met with experts in her particular diagnosis and was given ample time to mull over her choices.  Her doctor also gave her recommendations of natural therapies to complement either of her options for treatment.

 The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where she was treated, is just one of 12 centers in the country with a formal process for “shared decision making.”  Most of these centers are in large metropolitan areas and not available to most of us.  In a previous blog post, I wrote about how difficult it is for most people to access an integrative oncologist, since most of them are in major university medical school centers.  The two main problems with integrative oncology in America are too few practitioners and lack of proximity to patients. 

I am pleased to see more interest in patient involvement in medical treatment and natural complements to conventional therapies.  However, it is happening much too slowly and with too few proponents.  Those of us who support this new strategy must step up our efforts to get this ship on a different course.

I could not let this day come and go without expressing a few thoughts on thanksgiving.

I meet with a few men each Thursday morning for breakfast and some prayer time.  Our waitress is a Jehovah’s Witness.  When we mentioned that we wouldn’t be there the following Thanksgiving Thursday, she commented that she would be working, but that she didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving anyway.  Answering my “why,” she said that we are supposed to be thankful everyday, and we don’t need a holiday to be thankful.  I thought about that later and agreed with her in principle.  However, I think it does us good to come together as a nation once a year for the specific purpose of remembering our collective blessings.  Reality is we don’t do that every day.  We need this special day set aside to remember and give thanks.

Like most holidays, we incur a lot of distractions on Thanksgiving that interfere with our meditation on what the day is for.  We could spend all day perusing the bulk of shopping ads for Black Friday and working on our shopping list.  We are drawn to the TV for the Macy’s parade, football, and movie specials.  Some will spend most of the day in the kitchen preparing that sumptuous meal.  Others will rake leaves, go hunting, or put up the Christmas tree.  None of these things is bad behavior.  We just need to reserve some quality time to contemplate what we are thankful for over the past year.

This being a blog of cancer treatment emphasis, I would encourage you to think about the tremendous blessing of good health.  Even if you are experiencing health problems, the fact that you have some of the best health care in the world is something to be thankful for.  Yes, I say this with the full knowledge of the health care reform debate.  Thank God for our families, our friends, our freedoms, our military men and women, and our riches.  If you don’t think you are rich, just consider that, since you are reading this on a computer or smart phone, you are probably in the top 5% of the wealthiest people of the world.  Even if you are considered at the poverty level of income by American standards, you are wealthy by the standards of most of the world. 

So, set aside at least a few moments today to just concentrate on all of the pleasant and beautiful aspects of your life.  Thank God for His provisions.  Thank Him for those who have sacrificed to make our happiness possible.  May you have a super Thanksgiving.

The public option question of the health care reform bill seems to be waning as the determining factor for whether the bill passes.  The issue du jour has become whether the bill will fund abortion.  The passage of the House bill probably hinged on the last minute amendment to strike abortion payments from its provisions.  Although a tentative victory for pro-life advocates, the added language found few supporters except the conservative representatives who were desperate for an excuse to vote for it.  The pro-abortionists see it as a defeat that makes its reversal in the Senate bill difficult.  The pro-lifers see it as a ploy to get the bill passed in the house and not likely to survive in the Senate.

I would find the abortion issue amusing if it weren’t so critically important to the moral fabric of our society.  Americans are a fickle bunch when it comes to killing the unborn.  In several recent national polls that I reviewed, over half of us believe that abortion is morally wrong.  Yet, in the same polls, over half of us oppose any further restrictions on abortions.  It’s like the majority is against it, but feels it should be tolerated.  This is a prime example of how our culture has shifted from a black and white moral foundation to one that is at best a pale shade of gray.  And we wonder why there is so much hate, crime, drug addiction, single parent child rearing, and decline in education effectiveness.

Of course, our government can’t legislate to make provisions for every moral inclination of our population.  However, when the country is split almost down the middle on a major issue like abortion, it doesn’t make sense to force the half that is morally opposed to such a practice to pay their taxes toward funding it.  I would strongly resent paying one penny of my taxes toward funding abortion.

Some way, some day, we will have government leaders who will get health care reform right.  This bill circulation on the Hill is not it. 

I find it both surprising and disappointing that cancer treatment is not more of a factor in the health care reform debate.  Most people would agree that cancer is the greatest health care issue we face in this country.  We have officially declared a war against it!  Yet, we hear almost no debate about how our most difficult disease to treat is addressed in the 2000 page health care reform bill. 

I have several questions that I have not found answers to in the bill.  Will all types of cancers receive equal priority for coverage?  Will there be a cap on treatment costs?  Will different treatments be encouraged or discouraged based on their historical effectiveness?  Will the costs of various therapies be controlled?  Will government provided and private insurances be required to pay for certain complementary therapies?  Will there be incentives for research and development of natural, non-toxic complements to conventional treatment.

My guess is that cancer treatment is virtually absent from the bill.  Any application to cancer treatment will be determined by government agencies after passage.  This would be in keeping with the attention the government has paid to cancer treatment in general and integrative oncology in particular for years.  If the bill passes, regardless of its public option status, I predict that cancer treatment in America will continue its quagmire of the status quo.

There is one area being debated that I am somewhat hopeful about.  If private health insurance companies are forced to begin making their coverage available nationwide, they will, for the first time, have to compete with many more companies than in the past.  They will no longer be able to control their market within the confines of their state.  This would open up a much more robust competition among all of the companies.  Perhaps more companies will be willing to cover more complementary therapies in an attempt to gain market share.  I believe that, if one or two companies announced that they would cover a wide array of complementary therapies, they would almost monopolize the market for a period of time.  Soon, other companies would have to follow suit to stay competitive.  What a giant leap forward that would be for integrative oncology. 

I promise you I won’t make this blog another political battleground, but I can’t pass up such a newsworthy day as yesterday.  Exactly a year ago, the majority of Americans gleefully elevated the most liberal presidential candidate in our history to the nation’s highest office.  President Obama’s most passion-driven objective of his first year has been the complete reformation of the country’s health care system.  During this past year, that issue has been the most polarizing issue of his presidency.  Through all of the points and counter points from government officials to media pundits to opinion polls to town hall meetings, it was still difficult to determine where the nation stands on its acceptance of the President’s leadership in this area–until yesterday.

Now some are already cautioning that what happened yesterday should not be viewed as a referendum on the Obama presidency, especially his health care vision.  I disagree.  Just in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie’s win over Jon Corzine was in spite of Corzine’s millions more in campaign spending and the active role of the president in Corzine’s campaign.  Plus, New Jersey is a strong blue state which gave President Obama a landslide victory last year.

In Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell won the governor’s race handily over Creigh Deeds.  Although not receiving much media attention, the Republican routing of three other state office candidates and the loss of several Democratic legislature seats were also game changing for the state. 

I think we saw yesterday the results of a shifting of attitude across America.  Just one short year after saying they wanted change, the people are shouting back, “Not this much change and not this fast!”  We are still a capitalist nation that cherishes its freedom above all else.  We are nowhere near ready to accept a slippery slide toward socialism and an out-of-control national debt that our children and grandchildren will be sacked with.  New Jerseyites and Virginians represented the rest of the nation in making that statement loud and clear yesterday.  May the rest of us follow their lead next November.

The health care battle is not over.  It is a tough issue.  Those who think government run health care is destined to prevail may want to take a sober look at yesterday.  Congressional Democrats may want to listen a little more closely to what their constituents are saying and empathize a little more with what they are feeling.  I am not making a partisan statement–just a statement of reality.  Our health care desperately needs reform.  That reform needs to be focused on cost reduction, tort revision, and greater access to other options for insurance and medical practices.  Keep telling your government leaders what you want.  They may be listening with a little more interest today. 

One of the most inspirational days of my life occurred last week as I visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.  I was consumed with thoughts about the thousands of immigrants who came to America in the years following the American Revolution.  By the early 1900’s, thousands from all over the world were flowing into this New York bay each day greeted by the dominant Lady Liberty.  She was their first welcome to the Land of the Free.  Ultimately, over 12 million immigrants debarked from their ships at this port and registered to be American citizens.  They and their follow-on generations have enjoyed freedoms that would never have been possible had they not made such a bold move to a new life.  The Statue of Liberty continues to stand immortal as the quintessential symbol of the luxury of freedom that we cherish.

Sadly, the freedoms that our founding fathers crafted and those that are symbolically ensconced at New York’s Hudson Bay have been constrained significantly over the years.  From a health care perspective, the government and health agencies have greatly restricted our rights to choose and our range of choices.  Along with commendable efforts to protect the public from medical fraud and illegitimate practitioners, the controlling powers of our country have also taken away many opportunities for bona fide treatment. 

America, known for some of the most advanced medical science successes in the world, is also known as perhaps the most restrictive nation in the world for medical practices.  Have you noticed how many people go outside our borders for medical treatment, especially cancer treatment?  Celebrities and others with financial means routinely travel overseas, to Mexico, or to Canada for their cancer treatment.  How often do you hear of cancer patients from other countries coming to the United States for treatment.  Very seldom. 

The freedom that this great nation has paid for with blood, sweat, and tears, does not apply in great measure to our health care in general or to our cancer treatment in particular.  Integrative oncology is viable, legal, and available, albeit scarce, in this country.  Yet, the freedom to access it is restrained by the medical industries, medical agencies, the government, lack of emphasis in medical schools, and lack of public awareness.  The objective of this blog, my soon-to-be-published book, and the Connie Thompson Foundation is to pursue the freedoms of choice in cancer treatment.  Please join me in this pursuit.

I apologize for my absence from my blog duties for a few days.  A new college class that I am teaching and some traveling obligations have kept me away from the computer.  Last week my wife, Linda, and I flew to New York City for my initial meeting with the prospective publisher of my new book, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer.  Looks like we are going to be a good match, and the book should be published in the spring. 

We took advantage of the trip to play tourist as we walked miles of Manhattan streets and ate expensive food–how about a $17.00 sandwich at Katz Deli.  Probably the most memorable sight of the week was the Statue of Liberty.  I had been to the Big Apple a couple of times before, but had never actually visited the statue and climbed her interior.  The up close and personal experience was awesome and inspirational.

The methods the French used to shape the many bronze sections and the techniques the Americans employed to put the structure together were far advanced for the 19th Century.  It has stood proudly now for well over a century as a symbol of freedom for all who come to America.  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  So invites Miss Liberty by the poetic words of Emma Lazarus.  I was overwhelmed by emotion as I gazed on her beauty and meditated on what our nation has stood for since 1776.

However, mixed with that pride was disappointment in what I see this great nation becoming.  I’m not sure the liberty that we were founded on is the same liberty that we expound today.  Tomorrow in this blog, I want to share some thoughts about how so much of what we paid such a great price to claim is eroding.  I will also relate the principles of our freedoms to our war on cancer.  Let’s meet here again tomorrow.

Last night, I read one of the saddest news stories ever.  A forty-year-old man and his thirty-nine-year-old wife, his high school sweetheart, live in Wisconsin.  They have a teen-age daughter and a younger son.  The man lost his job with a manufacturing firm that paid him well.  Shortly after his job loss, his wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  Fortunately, his severance agreement continued his health insurance for a few months, so her treatments were covered.  About the time the insurance ran out, her treatments were complete, and she was declared in remission.  However, a few months later, the cancer had metastasized into other organs, and she was back into treatment, this time with even more aggressiveness.

The husband had not yet found a new job in spite of hundreds of resume submissions and dozens of interviews.  Of course, his supplemented health insurance had expired, and private insurance was absolutely unaffordable.  Her medical bills were looming, as she worked part-time as a waitress.  Their financial obligations were becoming unmanageable.  Out of desperation, he met with an Army recruiter.  Yes, the Army is now taking new recruits through age 42. 

Their survival plan was for the husband to leave the family for a four year tour in the Army.  The wife’s treatments would be covered by the military health care system.  It was the only way out.  The two children would have to take on all the household responsibilities, since mom would be too ill to do much of anything.  Currently, the husband is on an Army post hundreds of miles from his family, the wife is taking debilitating chemotherapy treatments alone, and the children are taking care of their mother while becoming adults before their time.  This is about the worst situation I can imagine for a family.

This is a story that tears the heart out.  But, there are similar stories everywhere–right now.  Cancer is an awful, devastating attack on human kind.  It deserves every opposing assault we can launch at it.  The dilemma is that we have been fighting it for decades with limited success.  And, we will continue to have limited success as long as we don’t do anything significantly different.  It’s time for a new strategy.  Even if we don’t know what to do, let’s do something different.  Conventional treatment alone is not working.

Quite often I get the question, “Where are the integrative oncologists around here?”  The answer is that it depends on where you live.  Unfortunately, unless you live near a large medical school, you will probably have trouble finding one.  Prominent medical schools at universities like University of California San Francisco, Harvard, Stanford, Duke, and University of Colorado have centers for integrative medicine.  Of the top 20 medical school in the U.S., 14 have such centers.  Most of these have cancer departments which offer or provide referrals for integrative therapies.  A few non-educational related integrative cancer providers such as Cancer Centers of America are also available to the public.  Beyond these, obtaining integrative therapies usually involves considerable travel for the patient.

 If I wanted integrative care, I would have to drive over 5 hours each way for every treatment.  That would require an overnight stay each time.  A major aspect of my pursuit to expand integrative oncology is to convince oncologists across America to reinvent their whole approach to cancer therapy by learning and practicing complementary therapies.  It would be a whole new concept for them.  But, when the concept has been proven time and again to be effective in increasing survivability, reducing side effects, and cutting costs, why are traditional oncologists not being captured by its potential?  The answer is that it is a significant change, a major workload, might reduce revenues, and is currently easy to ignore. 

My book, this blog, and the efforts of many other integrative medicine proponents will continue aggressively to make the new strategy for the war on cancer difficult for any oncologist to ignore.  Your help and support is needed.   

Occasionally, my posts have referenced the book that I have been writing and researching for over the past couple of years.  As you would assume, it is about integrative oncology and is titled, A New Strategy for the War on Cancer.  It is written for the general public, although it will be informative for medical professionals as well.  Integrative oncology is certainly out of the mainstream of cancer treatment options, but it is gaining much attention and acceptance within the realm of oncology practice.  The problem is that very few people outside of the medical profession are familiar with it.  My book is my hope of remedying that vacuum of knowledge.

Complementary therapies prescribed by integrative oncologists and emphases on the whole person of the cancer victim is still a foreign concept to most people.  Many have heard of alternative cancer treatments that conjures up thoughts of clinics outside the U.S. borders and even quackery.  However, very few realize that there are legitimate, proven natural therapies that enhance the conventional treatments and that are practiced by experienced integrative oncologists in America.  Unfortunately, what most people don’t know is probably the ultimate answer to defeating this dreadful disease.  We must get the word out and appeal for support from the grass roots of this country, because the medical and pharmaceutical industries are not going to. 

Morgan James Publishing, in New York, has accepted my manuscript proposal.  I will be meeting with them in two weeks to work out the details.  It will probably be April or May of next year before the book is actually published and in the outlets.  Meanwhile, please continue to frequent this blog for news from the integrative oncology world and updates on the book.  Plan to get one of the first copies.  You will find it very informative and intriguing.