Now You C Me (Part 4)

There’s only one subject I could think of to write about as it’s STAND UP TO CANCER day. I doubt there are many people who haven’t been effected by it in one way or another and will undoubtedly be digging deep whilst being entertained by a whole host of comedians and celebrities knowing that they’ve done their bit to help.

I understand the want to eradicate this terrible disease and myself donated to Cancer Research for nearly 20 years – then I actually got cancer, and after feeling the effects of chemotherapy it led me question exactly what kind of research it is that they are doing.

After having a phone call with an advisor I advised them that they would not be receiving another penny from me. I’m not suggesting you to do the same, but I do want to make you aware of how they really roll and think hard about who you give your money to.

After months of agony and misdiagnosis an emergency exploratory operation discovered the cause of my pain and that’s when the real joy started! Looking back, once the cancer was removed and I’d had time to heal I actually felt good; a little weaker but the best I’d felt in a very long time.

I had one of the best holidays of my life in the Caribbean with the sun, sea, surroundings, good food and my peeps being the best medicine I could have asked for. I cut short my holiday to come home and start 8 months of chemotherapy and I only wish I’d known what lay ahead! Hindsight’s as big a bitch as cancer!

Cancer Research UK is the culmination of two of Britains leading cancer researchers joining together. One was the Imperial Cancer Research Fund who I first started donating to back in the 90’s.

They were the first to be founded in 1902 with the intention of providing funds to help research and find a cure. Chemotherapy came about in the 1940’s after it was found that being exposed to mustard gas significantly reduced white blood cell counts – so obviously after testing it on mice they were good to go on to human test subjects.

They found it targeted the cancer cells yet it also destroyed healthy cells but considering this was their biggest cancer breakthrough to date it was a keeper!

Now as far as the pharmaceutical companies were concerned they’d hit the jackpot! Not only could they develop a drug to help fight one thing, it has the ability to cause multiple side effects that you need more drugs to counteract. KERCHINGGGG!!!

I knew enough about chemotherapy to know it wasn’t going to be pleasant but knowing about things and feeling them are completely different.

You’re given a long ass list and booklets etc of the possible side effects and despite knowing what could happen it doesn’t compare to death – which is the picture they paint you – so you prepare yourself and crack on.

I’m not exactly sure when it was I decided to question what was being done about researching a more natural treatment.

Maybe it was somewhere between the severe diarrhoea, vomiting, neuropathy, lack of taste, lack of energy, fear of catching a cold, low blood count and blood transfusions, tiredness, hair falling out, fucked up skin…or it could have been when I was sat down on the Eden Ward watching a nurse wearing a protective apron and gloves giving me medication going directly into my body that she wasn’t even allowed to touch with her bare hands!

When I called Cancer Research to ask them what developments had been made on finding a less harsh and more natural alternative he told me they were looking into things but not enough research has been done yet. I kid you not!

I told him about what I’d heard about cannabis oil and was told that I shouldn’t use anything that wasn’t regulated and that there’s not enough known about it to know how well it works or what the side effects will be.

ARE YOU BLOODY KIDDING ME?

So your research only goes as far as looking into chemotherapy and nothing else? You’ve been raking in cash since 1902 and yet with all the billions you’ve had in that time, in 2014 (which it was then) you are no closer to finding something that doesn’t destroy you whilst fixing you? – and it is only a fix, not a cure.

The research companies originally had good intentions. They used to be about helping the victims of cancer, now they’re about themselves and the pharmaceutical companies making money – END OF STORY!

When I went on to their site I found this little gem under their section on cannabinoids and cancer:

“Virtually all the scientific research investigating whether cannabinoids can treat cancer has been done using cancer cells grown in the lab or animal models. It’s important to be cautious when extrapolating these results to real live patients, who tend to be a lot more complex than a Petri dish or a mouse.”

Can we please just take the time out to comprehend what they are saying.

They are telling us that they’ve done the research but are cautious about testing it out on humans as we’re more complex, yet they have no issues with administering and working on more drugs they know for definite are toxic to humans and cause damage and death. And nobody is questioning this?

Another article said they were discussing making a synthetic form of THC. Why do you need to make a synthetic form when the real deal can be naturally sourced in abundance? Why? BECAUSE IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, HONEY!

Yes, I’m in remission now but I’m not fully out of the woods for another three and a half years. A lot of people would argue it’s the chemo that saved me but I beg to differ, my operation saved me without a doubt – I’m not willing to give that credit to chemotherapy, sorry, not sorry!

They’ll shock you with their adverts stating 1-2 will get cancer and they are endlessly working to fix this with a little help from us. You need to question how, in this day and age, the stats are so high if they’ve been working so tirelessly.

They know the effects chemotherapy has on the body and that hasn’t changed in decades so why not look into something that’s not going to cause more pain and discomfort to someone who has suffered enough?

As the one in two I would have loved to have been given an alternative. I would gladly have been the test case because I’ve felt the side effects of their fix and I can’t see a plant based alternative doing me more damage than what their official remedy did! #JustSaying.

If you don’t believe me go online and look for yourself. Check out the dodgy deaths and “accidents ” of holistic practitioners who are seen to be proving too popular with the masses.

Realise that Cancer Research and the pharmaceutical companies don’t want us to know we could grow a cure of our own that works just as well as chemotherapy, without the debilitating side effects, because where would that leave them?

STAND UP TO CANCER by all means but STAND UP TO CANCER RESEARCH TOO!

Ask them why after nearly 75 years chemotherapy is still the only option they want to treat us with.

If you want to support cancer patients support Macmillan as they really are there for the patients and their families, I bear witness to this. They were a Godsend and continue to help me now and I will be forever grateful to them for that. I only wish I’d given them my money for nearly 20 years.

R.I.P to my neighbour and all those who have lost their lives this week.