Cancer Part 5: Searching for a Life-Saving Path

Once dignosed with cancer, it is normal for relatives and friends to provide all kinds of advice. One will be confused after listening to them. We took a different appoach. Instead of telling everyone of the cancer of my father-in-law, we kept a low profile

We began talking to trusted friends about cancer treatment. One morning, a colleague of mine, showed me a small booklet, on cancer and its treatment. Things began to change, as the contents of the booklet gave us the much-needed ray of new hope. The treatments were not conventional surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. I was attracted by such a new source of knowledge. We hardly heard of cancer patients undergoing non-conventional treatment and survived. How could that happen? Dr. Lai Chui-Nan (1995) wrote:

“In my research, I have shown that if cancer cells are grown in a high-potassium medium, they revert to normal cells. Cancer is reversible”.

As I continued to read Dr. Lai’s writing, I soon realized that cancer is more than just a tumour in a human body. To overcome it, one has to adjust and change one’s whole life. To start with, one needs to change one’s dietary habit. I began to gather more information on food, especially how food could bring illnesses and diseases. I soon realized, that accumulation of lots of toxins in the body, could bring about diseases. Inability to detoxify, and accumulation of toxins, may result in cancer and other diseases. Cancerous cells are not formed within days, but over a period of 10 to 20 years, or even more. Hence, one of the best ways of overcoming diseases, is to detoxify the accumulated toxins in our body.

Access to such useful information, is like a thirsty man, finding some water in the desert. The explanation makes sense. In the meantime, I also read of cases where tumours disappeared after a change in diet (Bieler 1965). I presented the case to my parents-in-laws, their eldest son and daughter, who is my wife. The impact of conventional treatment, and the change in diet, were examined and discussed. It was not easy to suggest to others, a change in their diet. I have not changed my food habit yet. We did not have a clear understanding, of the causal relationship, between diet and cancer. In any case, the conclusion was that, we should give ourselves a chance, to test the power of natural diet, for a short period of time. I was glad, they decided to do so, as it was a turning point in our lives.

A week after the operation, my father-in-law told the doctor, that he needed a few weeks, to decide on the proposed western medicine. The treatment cost of RM400 a month, was not a small amount, and could be a burden to the family. The doctor’s advice, was not to delay too long, as the cancerous cells had spread to other parts of the body. Any delay, could be at the expense of his three years’ life-span. We did not inform the doctor of our actual plan, to avoid complications.

I strongly believe that if something is right, we have to do it right now. The journey of changing our daily diet, began immediately. On our advice, the first thing my father-in-law did, was to resign from working in the Chinese association in Taiping. He had to cut off all forms of social pressure, arising from his various association activities. This was crucial, if he wished to have the peace of mind, in order to concentrate fully on a vegetarian-based diet, to overcome cancer. The next decision, was to leave Taiping, and continue to stay in Kuala Lumpur. My mother-in-law, my wife and I, offered to walk the new path together with him. This form of support was also important, as he did not have to walk the natural diet path alone. We realized, that it was not easy for a meat lover, to turn drastically into a non-meat eater.

How did we start? We read of the following Macrobiotic diet approach (Table 2.1) popularised by Kushi (1993). The Macrobiotic diet “advocates the use of traditional foods such as whole grains, beans and locally grown vegetables as primary sources of food energy and nutrition. In addition, the diet includes nutritious soyfoods…and mineral-rich foods from the oceans…sea salt and natural-grained sweeteners, such as rice syrup and barley malt, replace the refined salt and sugar that currently play a major role in modern fare” (Blauer in Kushi 1993).

The approach sounds good and attractive but we did not know much about macrobiotic diet. Our concern was the need to eat more vegetables and fruits, while reducing meat consumption, as soon as possible. Therefore, the diet adopted is more suitable to be called vegetarian diet and not Macrobiotic diet.

Table 2.1: Macrobiotic diet
Whole cereal grains 40-60%
Vegetables (when possible, organically grown) 20 to 30%
Beans and sea vegetables 5-10%
Miso soup 5-10%
Source: Kushi (1993), Kushi & Jack (2003)