Video Transcript: The Power of Hope for Cancer Patients
Dr. Francisco Contreras: The power of life and death is in the tongue. If you pronounce somebody dead, they see the doctor as an authority and so they buy it. “I’m dead. No matter what.”
The truth is that not only doctors are not Gods, we don’t know. But nobody in this room knows if we’re going to be alive tomorrow. By the same token, you can never say that a cancer patient is going to die. We’ve had patients that were told that they were going to die in three months and then 20 years later…
You met one Burga Ratti, today. 27 years later she’s still alive. She’s not cured. But she’s alive, enjoying life.
The first thing that I impress on a patient is that victory over cancer is a decision, not a happening. You don’t have to be victorious for the tumor to go away. There are patients that have surgery and chemo and then the tumor goes away and they can’t sleep. Why? Because they don’t know when it’s coming back. So they’re tumor free, but not free of cancer.
There are other patients that say… “Cancer’s the best thing that ever happened to me. Before I had cancer I took everything for granted, and now I see that life is beautiful. And it’s because of this cancer that I can see that and cancer is the best thing that ever happened to me.” That person is riddled with cancer and is victorious over cancer.
Ty Bollinger: I know many people that fit that description.
Dr. Francisco Contreras: It is very important if you have victory over cancer in your mind… everything follows. If you decide that you’re going to die, it’s very difficult to bring you back.
Victor Frankel could determine who was going to die within 24 hours in the concentration camp. It was when they smoked their cigarettes. You say, “Well, cigarettes cannot cause cancer in 24 hours.” No. Cigarettes were their hope and they traded everything with cigarettes. So when they had no more hope they started smoking their cigarettes. Like you burning your money.
Ty Bollinger: And they had given up.
Dr. Francisco Contreras: And they would die within 24 hours. The power of hope is incredible. That’s why we’re the Oasis of Hope. We’ve been criticized enormously for selling false hope. My question is… Well, if false hope is telling, “You are going to live,” what is true hope… You’re dead?
No… there is no “false” or “true” hope. There is hope or NO hope.
Ty Bollinger: It reminds me, Dr. Contreras, of a quote from Charlotte Gerson, who was accused of spreading false hope, much like yourself. And she accused them of spreading false despair.
Victory over cancer, my way! has been my slogan and belief since I battled breast cancer, twice, and defeated chemo and radiation. I am a survivor. I believe in me, when I go into a doctors office, I check their credentials hanging on the wall, and I always ask myself the same question: “Where did he/she place in their class, got through it by the skin of their teeth, or passed with flying colors?” My health is in my hands, and I have to be assertive.
That is cool look what I had today from TTAC I just got this, so watch out for it if you like, I hope you’re having an amazing week. 🙂 As you know, we’re just now wrapping up another airing of “TTAC:A Global Quest.” In fact, we’re doing a full replay marathon this weekend for all 9 episodes plus our brand new Q&As with Charlene and myself. Be sure to check them out and also share this with your friends too.
http://go2.thetruthaboutcancer.com/agq/replay
See you there, Ty Bollinger
My father has Lung cancer, he is 90. He has had lots of radiation, his lung (only one lung) contains all the cancer. He got rid of all of it with radiation but now 3 more suspicious spots have appeared..
Can my fathere be helped to maybe live another 5 years? He is very poor and lives in a trailer in Moncks Corner. He only has medicare with no supplement insurance because they say (he & his wife) that they don’t have enough money to pay for medicare supplement insurance. I am his 69 year old daughter. Is there anything I can do to help him live a little longer. He cries alot. I am an acupuncturist and heartbroken. His wife (not my mother) has caused him and me to be estranged for the past year, shortly after his diagnosis and I didn’t know what to do because I was not allowed to speak with his doctor. She kept telling me she was going to put me on his medical list of people who could talk to his primary care doctor about his condition, but she never did although I called her a dozen times to let her know that my name was not on the list of people allowed to talk to his primary care and I begged her to correct the situation. All of her kids, now adults, or on the list. She has four children. But my name is not on this very important list. So I know nothing. But my dad managed to get the phone and call me yesterday reaching out for help. What can I do? I live in Fuquay Varina, NC about 5 hours from my dad in SC.
Hi Fran,
We are so sorry to hear about what you are going through and what your father is experiencing. The best advice we can give you is to consult with one of the doctors/experts that we interviewed in our Global Quest Series. Here is a link to get their information: https://thetruthaboutcancer.com/experts-info-sheet/
From Fran Ammons
My dad lived in Moncks Corner, SOUTH CAROLINA…I failed to list his state in my first post.