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Cancer Killed my Wife

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By John foster


The fight against Cancer

Seven years ago, my loving wife, Lesley Ann Foster, passed away at the tender age of 40 years, after a 4 year battle against cancer that started as breast cancer and then metasized to her liver,heart and brain, with multiple tumours all over her body. It was the most traumatic experience that anyone could ever experience, to watch and helplessly witness, how this gentle and loving mother of two was ravaged and tormented by this killer disease known as cancer.

If only I knew then, what I know now, things may have been totally different and my children would still have their mother, and I would still have had my loving wife.

It has taken me seven years to be able to finally attempt to put away the pain of those terrible 4 years, and to start to talk out and fight against the evil in our society that is fuelling cancer and allowing it to spread at an allarming rate. It has taken seven years for me to be able to deal finally with all the memories that I have tried to suppress and to start to take the stance and fight against the killer disease, against the system that promotes it, and to start to help others to see the truth, that others do not have to lose their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, husbands etc as I have lost mine.

I recently lost my brother to lung cancer. His too was a senseless loss, but his death was the catalyst that has convinced me to join the fight against a corrupt system.


The anorexic background.

When I met my wife and she was a sweet 21 year old, she had one small problem in her life. She was anorexic and bulimic. Her condition at this stage was better described as bulimic. The main difference between anorexia nervosa and bulimia is that an anorexic uses diets and lack of food as the main method of controlling weight. Bulimia is when the person eats normally, but uses other methods such as vomiting or laxatives to expel the food and loose weight. At the stage that I met my wife she was weighing approximately 38 kg's and was addicted to "Laxa" laxatives, with her daily usage of approximately 72 tablets a day!

The recommended dosage is 1 to 2 tablets a day, but in bulimia, there is a desire to completely flush the system and so in order to achieve the same constant results of a complete "blast", the daily dosage is constantly increased with devastating results to the system. At 21 years of age, she had already been anorexic for approximately 7 years, having started at the tender age of 14.

With lot's of love and care, we were able to reverse many of the problems that were associated with her extreme anorexic and bulimic days. However anorexia is a physchological disease and is one of the most difficult diseases to fight and conquer. Is an anorexic ever totally set free?

We witnessed many miracles including two very healthy and beautiful children, even after many doctors had stated that Lesley could never have children due to the damage done through anorexia.

Even though we overcame many of her anorexic problems through the years, she could never allow herself to lose control. The highest her weight ever came in the subsequent 18 years, apart from pregnancy, was 42 kg's.

There were always the laxatives (down from 72 a day to under a day and eventually after 17 years to none). Then there were the diets and of course there was never sugar in her tea's and coffee but sweetners. Sweetners are highly carcegenic(cancer causing) and if you are using sweetners, please have a look at the loved one's around you and think how they would be one day when you are no longer with them. If you do not want to use sugar, rather use nothing, you will quickly get used to it. In fact you will get used to it far quicker than your children will ever get used to not having a mother anymore.

In 1998 my wife developed a lump on her breast. However we were very busy in those days trying to create and maintain a business. We worked seven days a week and often up to 18 hours a day in the busy times. Our children often stayed with their grandparents. Sure we were worried but we looked at all the symptoms and they pointed to the lump being non malignant (not cancer). The lump grew and grew but still we were not too worried. There were none of the usual symptoms to suggest that the lump was cancerous, and we had had needle biopsies done on the lump and they came back clear.

Eventually the lump grew so large on my small breasted wife that she was now unable to wear a swimsuit due to one large and one small breast. We decided to get the lump removed so that she would appear normal. Right up to the stage that the lump was removed, both we and the surgeon were convinced that it was non malignant.

A day after the op while my wife was still recovering in hospital, I got the call from the surgeon. The lump that was over 11 cm in diameter was malignant. Tragedy had struck! We were totally devastated. Acccording to the surgeon we had to make decisions fast and it was best that he removed the breast the following morning while she was still in hospital. In shock we agreed taking it for granted that they were medical doctors and surgeons who had been trained and knew what they were doing. If only I knew then what I know today.

The right hand breast was removed and now our problems were only beginning. First there was the recovery from the surgery, the attempts to get full movement of the right arm back due to the cutting of chest muscles and the removal of lymph glands. However that was the easy part. The nightmare is after masectomy, you are faced with the fact of feeling like half a women. Yes, you can wear a prothesis etc, which hides the fact that you are missing a breast from everyone on the outside, but you know on the inside that your breast is missing and it is what is on the inside that does the damage.

Then came the trips to the oncologist. We researched and found out who was the most highly recommended oncologist (cancer doctor) in the area. We made our appointments and went to see him. We were sent for MRI scans and then back to him. They had removed all the cancer and he was going to radiate the breast area and do general chemotherapy as a precaution method. Trusting in him like the fools we were, we consented.

The radiation started well for the first few treatments, with little side effects. However by the 7th treatment, the skin in the radiated area was showing signs of burning. By the last treatment, there was substantial burning to the area, but if that is what it took to make it better then that is what wass needed.

Then came the first chemotherapy. As the chemo from the drip entered her veins in her arm, she felt the burning. The vein could be clearly seen through the skin due to her being so thin, and it was clearly damaged by the poison going through her system. (chemotherapy is poison). The oncologist was called and after inspecting the veins we were told that she would have to have a port inserted. A port is a device that is surgically inserted into th chest, just below thye skin, and has a tube flowing directly into the heart area, which allows the chemotherapy to enter into the system in the heart area and not do so much damage to the vein(wonder what it did to the heart). Well doctor knows best, so it was back to the surgeon and again another operation to have a port installed.

Back to chemotherapy once a week, lost all the hair, and now a terribly weakened wife who does not feel at all like a women due to the loss of a breast and now the loss of her hair. Bear in mind that she was still anorexic and anorexia is a lot about trying to have the perfect figure.

Eventually the nightmare was supposedly over, the chemo treatments were finished, hair was starting to grow again and she was pronounced as being clear of cancer. We would still need to return monthly, and then every three months, for blood tests to check that the cancer did not return.

We were ecstatic that the cancer was gone but yet at every slight pain, or before every test, the fear was always there again, "Had it returned". Little did we know that it was going to return and what we experienced in the past was a mere pin prick of what was to come.

Anorexia by Jaci Berkopec

The Second Attack of Cancer.

The bible states in Matthew 12 from verse 43 to 45 that when a unclean spirit goes out of a man, it then later returns and finds the house swept clean, and brings with it seven more demons, more wicked than itself. This unclean spirit was the cancer and it did return and it brought back the seven more demons that were more wicked.

Back to the oncologists with the multiple tumours that had sprung up all over the inside of her body. This time the attack was severe and the cancer was extremely aggresive. MRI scan after MRI scan. Chemotherapy. Attempted brain surgery to remove a tumourt that dissapearred before they could operate.

Then came a shock. A tumour formed and was squeezing the main artery, near to the heart. The tumour was not reacting to the chemo. I had to show the oncologist that she in fact had multiple types of cancer. (Cancer is a group name given to some 252 different sicknesses and can be treated with 75 different types of chemotherapy). It could not be radiated as it fell in an area that had been already radiated before and a second radiation would totally kill the flesh.

Changed chemo and half the tumours shrunk, half increased. Change chemo again and the ones that shrunk previously flared up and the ones that had flared up before shrunk marginally. Her immune system was now totally run down and although she was desperately trying to fight the sickness with all she had, on the physical side there was just no strength left.

There is not enough space here to recount everything that happened, both good and bad, as the story would take forever, but sadly after several hospitilizations, my wife passed away at the age of 40 and just days after our 18th wedding anniversary.

One small point was that for the first time ever in her entire adult life, at the age of 40, in her last couple of days of life, she started to wish that she could gain weight, in order to give her the strength to fight back. She was a fighter, but the poison in her system from the chemotherapy, gradually brought her so far down that she could no longer get the strength to fight. Even on her death bed, just hours before passing away, she said to us, "I haven't stopped fighting".

Now that she has gone and all that there are left of her is the fond memories,

What I have learnt about Cancer.

During the past 7 years, I have tried to hide away from anything to do with cancer. I have tried to hide away from the deep hurts and constant questions that I had concerning my Wife's treatment. I have acted like an ostrich and buried my head in the ground. Since 20 January 2009, I started a full time online ministry with a christian website called His Love For Us. In the past couple of days God has been deeply challenging me to start addressing the wrongs that are being committed to people like my wife and brother, people that could be alive today if we knew the truth. It is for this purpose that I have broken the seven year silence.

Some Facts:-

1) 100 years ago it was estimated that 1 in 100 people would suffer from cancer. In our modern day and advanced medical world, this estimation now stands at 1 in 3!

2) Medical costs for the average cancer treatment range from 800 000 to 1 250 000 dollars per individual. Mark ups are high and profit is exhorbitant.

3) Of those who receive cancer chemo, the cancer prognosis is that 3% treated have a chance of long term survival.

4) Cancer treatment is known as mutilate(surgery), burn(radiation) and poison(chemotherapy)and is there to try stop the symptoms and never looks at the cause. This treatment seriously attacks and weakens your immune system and this is the exact defence that your body needs to fight and overcome the cancer.

Recently, there has been a great awakening of natural or alternative cures for cancer with some of the highest advocates of the cures being medical doctors. Those promoting alternative medicine cancer cures have all got one thing in common - serious threats on their lives if they do not withdraw their alternative cures. Why? Simply because alternative medicine works, it heals cancer, and the huge pharmaceutical giants stand to lose billions in lost revenue if people switch to alternative cures.

Imagine that you had a business that sold cheap items at a very high price. Not only that, but your expensive service also does not work. However customers are very loyal to you and so you have built a high turnover business with exhorbitant prices.

Joe Soap now opens a business down the road from you. He sells a product that works very well and at a fraction of the price that you are selling at. What would you do to protect your business and profits. You would do all in your power to discredit Joe Soap and his products that work.

Our giant pharma and health care corporates are no different. They are doing all they can to prevent these alternative systems from operating. They are merely protecting their profits.

Alternative medicine systems for cancer treatment exist and are showing incredible results. Read the testimonials. Check the systems for yourself and then decide what you want to do. Do you want your loved ones, or yourself to be a victim of the mutilate, burn and poison system, with a prognosis of 3% survival chance, or are you prepared to step out of the box and fight and beat cancer.

My suggestion to you is firstly that if you already have cancer and are prepared to fight it, then seriously have a look at the alternative route of treatment. Alternative cancer treatment is far better than the medical options and seem to have a far better success rate. I am personally working on my own special program but that i sstill a work in progress. Until the time that my program is completed and ready, I would like to suggest a program by Bill Henderson that has already seen more than 3000 people set free from cancer. This program is fantastic and I can recommend it to anyone who is suffering from cancer and wants to be cured, or to anyone who does not ever want to get cancer. Buy the Cancer Free digital download or order the softcover book for total change in your life and to be able to live cancer free. 

Please do not wait for something to happen to you and your family like it did to mine. Act now and stop cancer and other disease.

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Eaglekiwi profile image

Eaglekiwi  says:
6 months ago

Thankyou for sharing what must have been a devastating and traumatic time for you all !.!...I lost my mum to Cancer ,she was only 44 and I was 13 yrs old... my dad raised 4 daughters alone ,continuing to work and then had to battle authorities over rasing his OWN children ( was in the early 70's). I will remain eternally grateful to him through my teenage years ( I mention him in a couple if my hubs) for his strong support!...it wasnt unil I became a parent myself ,did I relise how unselfish and difficult my mothers death was on him.

Thankyou also for sharing helpful reminders on diet and lifestyle . I have benefited from your insightful and compassionate hub....to your best life-ekiwi

John foster profile image

John foster  says:
6 months ago

Thank you so much Ekiwi. It is difficult to lose a wife, but so much harder to lose a mother, especially when you are at such a tender age. I pray that those hurts that were left behind in your life be healed.

God Bless.

Helen  says:
5 days ago

Your comments and ignorance disgust me. The fact that you are polluting desperate people's minds with this rubbish is indefensible and morally reprehensible.

People are vulnerable when they are ill. Modern medicine is evidence based, tried and tested. Alternative medicine is not.

I hope people that read your article are not as ignorant as you, and they continue to seek expert medical help from qualified oncologists.

John foster profile image

John foster  says:
4 days ago

Hi Helen,

From what I understand, knowledge comes from experience and as it is clear that you have not been through this type of experience I wonder then who the ignorant one is.

Yes, people are vulnerable when they are ill and often are so vulnerable that they only go to the person that they have been trained to go to, the medical doctors.

Unfortunately this could cost them their lives as it has again recently done to my late father in law who died of cancer 1 month ago, and my brother, who also died of lung cancer 1 year ago, as well as my late wife to whom the above article is dedicated.

I do not reject doctors and oncologists who often try their best, but merely point out that there are alternatives to visiting oncologists who most of the time are really too busy making money to take the time to properly check you and treat you.

My brother could still be alive if the oncologist had bothered to initially do the correct diagnosis and treatment. Somehow the oncologist just never worried about finding out where the cancer was and what type of cancer was there, and rather performed a mild general cancer treatment instead of a heavy targeted cancer treatment. Two weeks before he died and 8 months after his initial diagnosis, the oncologist suddenly realised it was lung cancer.

My Father-in-law's lung cancer was diagnosed far too late despite many medical check ups and tests. The oncologist told him to concentrate on quality of life as there was no medical treatment to help him. Unfortunately he refused alternative treatment as well because it would affect his quality of life. Well I do not know about you, but I do not call bed ridden, incontinent and 24/7 total agony that even the morphine could not mask, as being quality of life.

Helen, you and other readers are welcome to choose the regular medical route, but I know that if I ever get diagnosed with cancer, I will be going the other route.

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