Sorry threedogs, but anyone who's had to go through cancer or any kind of chronic/terminal treatment, they discover the many forms of quackery in the medical field too. While it's practical to have options such as chemo/radiation treatment, it is by no means bulletproof and comes with it's own concoction of side-effects. It can melt your organs if they're located close to the cancer being radiated. You can experience incredible pain as those melted organs slowly stop ceasing to function, or learn to adjust.

I watched my FIL use everything the medical field could use, and it was still painful to watch. He passed away from complications, probably due to treatment but it's on his death certificate he died from cancer. His lungs filled up with water and he stopped breathing. Side-effect of the treatment - who knows? I have a friend on the other hand who is using the traditional treatment, along with alternative therapies. She is having a hard time getting the mainstream doctors to even look at the alternative medicines for her. I don't see why though, as she's already received the traditional treatment. It just seems to be ignorance to what could be further understood.

I think it's unhelpful to suggest, those undergoing the most harrowing experience of their lives, are merely grasping at straws when looking for alternative treatments. These people are facing death - it's never the same when you're looking from the outside. We didn't take the chance as observers - they did as full participants. So when outsiders ridicule a dying person looking for another way to live, it comes across as, ignorantly opinionated. The conventional method of treatment isn't a guarantee of survival. If it was, I can understand why people might take exception to those they love walking away from it.

We have to accept as much as we don't want to - watching someone with cancer finally lose the battle (whether they used traditional methods of treatment or not) *is* incredibly hard. There is no easy or simple way to live with it. I'm sorry for your dad's loss, my FIL's and to anyone else who loses the battle. But it's how they lived their lives we should remember them by.

I should also say in relation to the topic thread, my friend who has cancer, had it operated on to remove it from her body. The surgeons who opened her up, said they couldn't believe all the tissue her own body had produced to suppress the cancer from reaching her organs. They said they couldn't believe it because they hadn't seen anything like it before. They assumed it had to do with her diet as her own body had come to it's defence from the cancer. They have asked her specifically what she has been eating and looking into it further. These are the surgeons, not the actual doctors administering her traditional chemo treatment.

My friend has Medeteranian roots so follows a Medeteranian diet - a lot of leafy greens and fresh foods (not processed) with minimal carbohydrate dense foods. She gets most of her carbs from grains, vegetables and spelt. Mostly fresh foods though with minimal cooking. Diet has everything to do with a long and healthy life.

metu: do not call me ignorant. You do not know me, my qualifications or what my life history is. My father did receive conventional treatment which extended his life. He also chased after alternative treatments in his last weeks in a desperate bid for survival. One of those 'practitioners' has been prosecuted and convicted in this state. In sentencing remarks, the judge spoke at some length of people who had chosen to shun medical treatment for this alternative treatment which had no efficacy whatsoever. It was the belief of witnesses of the medical profession in sworn testimony that a number of patients had a very good chance of cure with appropriate medical treatment. The number of people from our little town alone who went to this person and left a lot of money behind are in the dozens over a 3 year period. The other practitioner or should I say 'clinic' my father went to in Queensland took over $15000 for a treatment that was harmless and painless but worthless. We never criticised his choices. We supported every decision he made. Dad admitted himself he should have spent those last weeks coming to terms with his death and spending that time closely with family.
Everyone has a right to choose how they treat their illness. But I will not condone anyone pedalling treatments to vulnerable people that are total rubbish and medically useless.

I didn't call you ignorant, but rather than explaining, please go back and read my comments.

When you said this...

Was the judge referring to the practictioner, or the patients?

So sorry threedogs must have been a terrible time for you!
Can you name the other clinic in Qld your FIL wentso to so we and others can learn from his experience?
If not, can you maybe tell us a little about the types of alternative treatments he received - so we also can make up our own minds and not make the same mistakes?