Any place, web site, whatever, that states that there is better medical care in some of the countries on that list than in the US, clearly is not stating the facts accurately. As many of us that have been to the US's finest institutions can attest to, the halls of those institutions are rife with wealthy people FROM those listed countries and around the world, who have come here to the US because the care in their countries is not on par. That should tell patients something.

I think everyone should make their own decisions, and go with what they believe in. It seems like you have made decisions based on what YOU believe to be accurate information. More than that you are still around today. But whether those alternative therapies cured you or not, might be open to interpretation. No one here wants to get into that debate. Truth is there is no way to know for sure.

So for you this has been a successful (to date) path. Since you are new to this board, you have not seen the many people that have come here over the years, chosen Mexico clinics, herbal remedies, and even God as an alternative, and sadly they are not with us today. The truth is, if any of the things that you are suggesting were able to be measured in some peer reviewed, evidence based methodology, have the success rates that equal your personal experience, hospitals all over the US would be doing them. They are not, and it is not because there is some suspicious reason being withheld from us, but because they cannot be documented to that level of efficacy. It is just that simple.

That you have been back for additional surgeries indicates that like many, (particularly those with surgical only original solutions) this disease has revisited you as beyond your original primary event. It feels, (speaking as someone without all the data), like what we have seen here so many times before, and know to be incomplete primary treatment, the single largest cause of recurrence after field carcinogenesis.

The fact that there are over 12 million cancer survivors out of treatment in the US today, means that while cures elude us, and deaths continue to be high, many survive their battle using the treatments that we have. Given that this disease is not one, but about 500 different diseases, some of which there is no early detection mechanism for and therefore putting them in the "always kills you in short order" listings, science has a monumental task, as there are so many idiosyncrasies to each one of them. What works in one does not work in another. That is another reason that I find buying into the broad brush stroke statements of alternative cures to be so off base. NOTHING works in all of them, or even most of them. But that doesn't stop the sellers of those alternatives from making you believe what we know to be untrue... they can make what ever cancer you have right. There is no single broad brush stroke, works on all cancers, idea. God knows if there was we would not be doing what we are in our hospitals today, and researches would no longer be looking for that which is still elusive. Jeez some cancer we still don't even know what causes them, let alone how to cure them.

We are pretty strict about where we refer people to for information. The web is full of bogus cancer cures, testimonials that cannot be traced to anything, treatments, drugs, diets, that cannot be substantiated for efficacy, and by it's very nature- the Internet is an unregulated environment, a wild west of cons mixed in with vetted sites. Some are clearly full of outright lies, half truths, gross misrepresentations, bogus testimonials from straw individuals, and are more interested in selling their clinic, treatment, book or whatever and separating you from you money than curing cancer.

We need to be careful what we advocate for. As informed patients who are trying to help others, we have to provide people with something that offers our hard won insights, tempered with the knowledge that we are not doctors. In short, we must do no harm. OCF itself has a responsibility to only state what it knows through peer reviewed published data to be accurate, and IF we speculate, editorialize, or stray from that, state clearly, as I have in the staging section of the diagnosis section, that it is my opinion, not a fact.

So having said all that, I want to be perfectly clear. People should do what they believe is in their best interest. OCF believes that treatments and institutions whose methodology has been vetted, published in peer reviewed environments, etc. have to be where we send people to. In the end if someone wants to believe that a clinic in Mexico has a cure that we don't have here in the US, that is certainly their right. But OCF will not be facilitating sending them there. There are enough sites on the web that will do that for them if they look around.

We are all pleased that your journey continues to be positive. I personally am pleased that you decided to tell others about it. It is food for thought for all. I would not personally recommend your path to others. But you clearly are a true believer. I urge anyone who is about to make treatment decisions to make them with the assistance of doctors that are specialists. And as with all things, we are all unique biological entities, and your milage may vary.