Brian, i agree with all your concerns about this. I`m one of those people who wants an explanation for everything, or least prove it to myself. I have an idea, as you used visualization, and frank used audio tapes that I recorded for him, we could just discuss the things that have helped us, even if it was just to feel better. meditation, visualization.......things that won`t cost anyone a dime. Not anything to use instead of........I`m the first to admit, I`m on antidepressants and traquilizers, so maybe we could just stick with things that we personally found helpful, that way we are addressing the mental emotional aspects in dealing with this disease, but not advocating anything STUPID...................and I don`t care, I still love Bernie Siegel.............Dee

OK, you have me convinced to give it a go. I am going to open a new forum for these ideas specifically. I really do not have the time right now to moderate this, but I will put up the forum and an introductory post over the weekend as to what we expect to be discussed there, the need for restraint in advocating that anyone else follow a particular path, and it cannot allow people to make claims for a therapy that are contrary to accepted medical practices. It will make strong statements about OCF's relatively supportive position on ADJUCTIVE therapies, but I cannot allow any ALTERNATIVE therapies that fall outside of the realm of accepted cancer treatments by established institutions and doctors, to be advocated within it. That will never fly with the powers that be, and could compromise what OCF is about. No linking to outside sites with questionable intent or content. I will have Chester work on it over the weekend, as this is an area that deserves exposure. I hope that it does not become a place of misinformation, or heated debates over those things which are esoteric treatments or ideas.

Thank you for the new forum. Hopefully it will be all we hope it will be.
I just this minute read an article in U.S.News & World Report about Lance Armstrong.

The author Bernadine Healy M.D. said the following (without any typos, those are mine)

"Our minds can't cure cancer, but the right attitude improves the odds. Indeed, that idea is the foundation of an emerging field, called psycho-oncology, which offers cancer patients treatments such as talk therapy, social support groups, and relaxation exercises like yoga and guided imagery. This is not new age gobbledygook. Depression takes a toll on the immune system, especially on the natural-killer (NK)white blood cells that help fight off cancer invaders."

Interesting thoughts.
Dinah

Thanks, Brian for letting us give this a try, and we will make sure that we are focusing on complimentary treatments as opposed to alternative. And hopefully, if someone comes along with some crazy idea, we can set them straight, so maybe we can not only help ourselves but vigorously debunk the crap that comes along !!! Dee