While Doug was a pastor in Wenatchee, Washington he and several of the members of the church went with Pastor HMS Richards, Sr. on a tour of the Holy Lands. The group also toured Greece. My parents went on the trip with them. They brought back wonderful pictures to me, the mother of our infant son who seemed more important to me then a trip of a lifetime!!! At that time Doug never dreamed he’d return, in part, to Greece. Let me explain:
We left this week on Tuesday morning for an appointment we had at a medical center about one and a half hours from where we live. A friend went with us to take notes while we talked to
Dr. Ray Hammon, Jr. and Dr. Robert Gilbard about what their Alternative and Traditional Medical Center (ATMC) to see what they might be able to do for Doug’s cell health. While these doctors treat far more ailments and issues of aging than just cancer, we had heard they come along side a cancer patient to support cancer patients on chemotherapy and asses his/her overall lifestyle health so that once in remission or healed the cancer doesn’t reappear. Their experience supporting patients with cancer was our focus.
As we all know chemo kills good cells as well as cancerous ones. Doug is responding to the chemo protocol he is currently being given but we also are concerned about his inability to process foods to gain weight rather than to continue to loose. We both have a desire to see if anything could help to increase his stamina. We wanted to know if there was anything we were missing that the ATMC could do for Doug that would compliment his treatment.
We went with open minds with the intent to just listen. We had prayed that we’d be guided in our discussion with the doctors, would ask essential questions, avoid any pressure and would later make our own informed decision. We have received many other helpful ideas and suggestions but this is one we decided to explore.
The goal of this medical center is to treat the body, mind (emotions and belief) and spirit (spiritual involvement that appeals to the patient) of an individual which they believe is necessary for total healing. Since we, too, believed in body-mind-spirit whole health before going to visit with them*. We felt comfortable that we’d be able to sense authentic intent vs. we-need-your-money hocus-pocus.
*Note: there is a difference between believing something and doing it especially when one is confronted with a terminal illness and is caught up in survival mode.
During our 4 hour visit we learned about the doctors’ relationship with Dr. Papasotiriou Ioannis, MD who is the head of the Molecular Medicine department at the R.G. C. C. Research Genetic Cancer Centre in Greece. Even before you meet with them the staff at ATMC make it clear that they do not treat the disease cancer. They insist that Doug continue with his medical specialists. They are glad to consult directly with any provider; they are not a replacement for them. They come along side the patient to give supportive care. We liked the sound of that balance.
For the most efficient and effective supportive care they could give Doug they told us how they feel it is best if they know from the start what agents will attack his specific cancer cells, with chemo therapy as well as the natural agents they use. They also know that cancer cells are “smart cells” that can hide and/or build resistance to chemical of any sort if prolonged treatment becomes necessary. That is why knowing any agent the cancer cell resists is also helpful.
Thus, a “chemosensitivity assay” is what Dr. Ioannis provides for the ATMC doctors. Without it they would be giving Doug a “best guess” of what they have seen work on other patients in their clinic with similar cancer diagnosis. They suggest that in many instances what chemo drugs the oncologist is using is done with a probability based upon the latest findings from patients enrolled in clinical trials and reported in the literature. Their belief is that each individual’s DNA is unique and therefore a chemosensitivity assay for each patient will help both the patient’s own oncologist and those practicing integrative and functional medicine such as they target the cancer aggressively while at the same time specifically. The following sentences from their website explains chemosensitivity assay better than I can explain it.
“Chemosensitivity assay is a laboratory test that determines how effective specific chemotherapy agents are against an individual patient's cancer cells and what natural agents might be used to support the patient during cancer therapy…Chemosensitivity assays predict tumor cell sensitivity, in other words which agent would be most effective. Choosing the most effective agent can help patients to avoid the physical, emotional, and financial costs of failed therapy and experience an increased quality of life. Chemosensitivity assay has progressed to the point where it is 85-90 % effective.”
There was no pressure at all to run the Greece test. We were given as much time as we needed alone to make any and all decisions. We could have used their other services and let them guess what would work best with Doug’s type of cancer.
I’ll spare you more of the details but we did make the decision to have several tests run while at this clinic, not the least of which was to draw 25 ml of whole blood from Doug. Then Doug witnessed them as they added EDTA-ca as anti-coagulant then packed his blood in water ice packs and put it into a special container to express mail to Greece. Doug saw them seal the container and put his name on the shipping label.
This ATMC has a guaranteed delivery time with DHL to arrive in Greece no later than 36 hours. In addition, there is a confirmation system set up with DHL and Dr. Ioannis and the Texas doctors that assures delivery and documents arrival time.
We were given a sheet with the instructions to give to our bank with the information they would need to wire funds from our account directly to Pireus Bank in Greece for the fees in Eruos required by Dr. Ioannis’s (hear after referred to as Dr. PI). I did the wire at the exchange rate yesterday BEFORE the U.S. stock market “surged” upwards.…
After I did the wire I had to fax ATMC the paper work from our bank with the confirmation number from the wire. Communication both at the ATMC and with us about this process made us both feel very much at ease.
Dr. PI’s report will be returned e-mail to the Texas doctors. With that report along with Doug’s cancer case history they obtained from him--including all his lab work from on-set to our last draw here at our lab here in town, all his prescription medications and any supplements, all his previous health history, and the other two tests the Texas doctors did on Tuesday-- our next consult at ATMC we'll get the Texas doctor's recommendations. We will then share these with our oncologist and go from there.
We were told that the best way for us to work with them starting that day would be to evaluate our current lifestyle against the lifestyle they know gives balanced, functional, quality of life for anyone. Dr. Hammon gave us a document outlining the clinic's plan for having a balanced life.
(Dr. Hammon holds the copyright so please don't ask me for it :-) He calls Big Ten Plan, a "functional life style improvement" that if followed will assist in preventing disease as well as aid during a patient's treatment and afterwards.
Here is the document's table of contents:
"Introduction
You must think right
You must talk and act right
You must breath right
You must drink right
You must eat right
You must move right
You must poop right
You must play right
You must rest right
You must be happy spiritually.”
In Conclusion" [1]
[1] Dr. E. Ray Hammon, Jr., Dc. DNBHE, NMD, Clinic Director
I should probably also share the credentials of Dr. Robert Gilbard, MD, F.A.C.O.G. He is the Medical Director.
The entire how-to document was given to us with a goal of our using it as a guide to help us make small changes in any area we are currently neglecting--as fast as we can. He realizes that lifestyle is not something one changes over night. ATMC stands ready to help.
A few of the ten are not difficult for us to institute starting yesterday. Doug and I talked about the fact that following Dr. Hammon’s Big Ten Plan in certain areas may be as big or bigger challenge for us than fighting cancer…We’ve known the above since we could think for ourselves. But the American way is to make excuses for what one cannot do because of____________.
You may want to fill in your blank(s) as we fill in ours.
~Carole
We left this week on Tuesday morning for an appointment we had at a medical center about one and a half hours from where we live. A friend went with us to take notes while we talked to
Dr. Ray Hammon, Jr. and Dr. Robert Gilbard about what their Alternative and Traditional Medical Center (ATMC) to see what they might be able to do for Doug’s cell health. While these doctors treat far more ailments and issues of aging than just cancer, we had heard they come along side a cancer patient to support cancer patients on chemotherapy and asses his/her overall lifestyle health so that once in remission or healed the cancer doesn’t reappear. Their experience supporting patients with cancer was our focus.
As we all know chemo kills good cells as well as cancerous ones. Doug is responding to the chemo protocol he is currently being given but we also are concerned about his inability to process foods to gain weight rather than to continue to loose. We both have a desire to see if anything could help to increase his stamina. We wanted to know if there was anything we were missing that the ATMC could do for Doug that would compliment his treatment.
We went with open minds with the intent to just listen. We had prayed that we’d be guided in our discussion with the doctors, would ask essential questions, avoid any pressure and would later make our own informed decision. We have received many other helpful ideas and suggestions but this is one we decided to explore.
The goal of this medical center is to treat the body, mind (emotions and belief) and spirit (spiritual involvement that appeals to the patient) of an individual which they believe is necessary for total healing. Since we, too, believed in body-mind-spirit whole health before going to visit with them*. We felt comfortable that we’d be able to sense authentic intent vs. we-need-your-money hocus-pocus.
*Note: there is a difference between believing something and doing it especially when one is confronted with a terminal illness and is caught up in survival mode.
During our 4 hour visit we learned about the doctors’ relationship with Dr. Papasotiriou Ioannis, MD who is the head of the Molecular Medicine department at the R.G. C. C. Research Genetic Cancer Centre in Greece. Even before you meet with them the staff at ATMC make it clear that they do not treat the disease cancer. They insist that Doug continue with his medical specialists. They are glad to consult directly with any provider; they are not a replacement for them. They come along side the patient to give supportive care. We liked the sound of that balance.
For the most efficient and effective supportive care they could give Doug they told us how they feel it is best if they know from the start what agents will attack his specific cancer cells, with chemo therapy as well as the natural agents they use. They also know that cancer cells are “smart cells” that can hide and/or build resistance to chemical of any sort if prolonged treatment becomes necessary. That is why knowing any agent the cancer cell resists is also helpful.
Thus, a “chemosensitivity assay” is what Dr. Ioannis provides for the ATMC doctors. Without it they would be giving Doug a “best guess” of what they have seen work on other patients in their clinic with similar cancer diagnosis. They suggest that in many instances what chemo drugs the oncologist is using is done with a probability based upon the latest findings from patients enrolled in clinical trials and reported in the literature. Their belief is that each individual’s DNA is unique and therefore a chemosensitivity assay for each patient will help both the patient’s own oncologist and those practicing integrative and functional medicine such as they target the cancer aggressively while at the same time specifically. The following sentences from their website explains chemosensitivity assay better than I can explain it.
“Chemosensitivity assay is a laboratory test that determines how effective specific chemotherapy agents are against an individual patient's cancer cells and what natural agents might be used to support the patient during cancer therapy…Chemosensitivity assays predict tumor cell sensitivity, in other words which agent would be most effective. Choosing the most effective agent can help patients to avoid the physical, emotional, and financial costs of failed therapy and experience an increased quality of life. Chemosensitivity assay has progressed to the point where it is 85-90 % effective.”
There was no pressure at all to run the Greece test. We were given as much time as we needed alone to make any and all decisions. We could have used their other services and let them guess what would work best with Doug’s type of cancer.
I’ll spare you more of the details but we did make the decision to have several tests run while at this clinic, not the least of which was to draw 25 ml of whole blood from Doug. Then Doug witnessed them as they added EDTA-ca as anti-coagulant then packed his blood in water ice packs and put it into a special container to express mail to Greece. Doug saw them seal the container and put his name on the shipping label.
This ATMC has a guaranteed delivery time with DHL to arrive in Greece no later than 36 hours. In addition, there is a confirmation system set up with DHL and Dr. Ioannis and the Texas doctors that assures delivery and documents arrival time.
We were given a sheet with the instructions to give to our bank with the information they would need to wire funds from our account directly to Pireus Bank in Greece for the fees in Eruos required by Dr. Ioannis’s (hear after referred to as Dr. PI). I did the wire at the exchange rate yesterday BEFORE the U.S. stock market “surged” upwards.…
After I did the wire I had to fax ATMC the paper work from our bank with the confirmation number from the wire. Communication both at the ATMC and with us about this process made us both feel very much at ease.
Dr. PI’s report will be returned e-mail to the Texas doctors. With that report along with Doug’s cancer case history they obtained from him--including all his lab work from on-set to our last draw here at our lab here in town, all his prescription medications and any supplements, all his previous health history, and the other two tests the Texas doctors did on Tuesday-- our next consult at ATMC we'll get the Texas doctor's recommendations. We will then share these with our oncologist and go from there.
We were told that the best way for us to work with them starting that day would be to evaluate our current lifestyle against the lifestyle they know gives balanced, functional, quality of life for anyone. Dr. Hammon gave us a document outlining the clinic's plan for having a balanced life.
(Dr. Hammon holds the copyright so please don't ask me for it :-) He calls Big Ten Plan, a "functional life style improvement" that if followed will assist in preventing disease as well as aid during a patient's treatment and afterwards.
Here is the document's table of contents:
"Introduction
You must think right
You must talk and act right
You must breath right
You must drink right
You must eat right
You must move right
You must poop right
You must play right
You must rest right
You must be happy spiritually.”
In Conclusion" [1]
[1] Dr. E. Ray Hammon, Jr., Dc. DNBHE, NMD, Clinic Director
I should probably also share the credentials of Dr. Robert Gilbard, MD, F.A.C.O.G. He is the Medical Director.
The entire how-to document was given to us with a goal of our using it as a guide to help us make small changes in any area we are currently neglecting--as fast as we can. He realizes that lifestyle is not something one changes over night. ATMC stands ready to help.
A few of the ten are not difficult for us to institute starting yesterday. Doug and I talked about the fact that following Dr. Hammon’s Big Ten Plan in certain areas may be as big or bigger challenge for us than fighting cancer…We’ve known the above since we could think for ourselves. But the American way is to make excuses for what one cannot do because of____________.
You may want to fill in your blank(s) as we fill in ours.
~Carole
