I would like to suggest that we come up with a simple way of distinguishing things that can be "helpful" to a cancer patient, and things that are potentially curative. I believe that there are many things that are benificial to the cancer patient that are worthy of discussion. The example Dee is giving is one. Human touch, via massage or what ever you call it, is a positive experience.

We shouldn't forget the mind when it comes to our discussions about cancer patients and loved ones both. The value of some of the homeopathic/herbal/medatation/aroma/psyco/theologic may lie in the simple fact that we regular people are able to take part in helping a loved one deal with pain/anguish/death.

If we had only two choices for health care the first choice being totally at the hands of medicine whith it's tendency toward almost mechanical processing, or the second choice of care given by loved ones, I think many of us would choose the care by loved ones even if there was no cure.

Thankfully we don't have to chose between one or the other, we can have both! So while something may not stand up to the scrutiny of documentable scientific questioning, I don't think we need to shun those that want to check them out. Science is not yet able to answer all questions.

That said we must always be wary of the amount of money that unscrupulous liars/cheats/charlatins are willing to take $$$ from vulnerable people. Indeed OCF would be remiss in taking an official position advocating "fringe" treatments. But I would like to see a way to allow us to feel comfortable sharing thoughts without worry. Perhaps an instant Graemlin that provides for a disclaimer when we go off a bit.