Would you kick a dying man?

Would you rob a grieving widow of her life savings?

Hopefully at this point your thinking of course I wouldn’t nobody would. Unfortunately this is not the case, my dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May and has secondaries in his spine, hip and brain. The prognosis according to the doctors is not good. In fact I’m rather pleased that he is still alive. I have found however that other people are also pleased he is still alive, as this is a prime marketing opportunity.

The first of these people is the proprietor of Cancer Options. Cancer Options is a private consultancy offering advice to cancer patients. It is run by Patricia Peate who is a qualified nurse. My dad went to see her and she told him the good news, if he followed her advice he could be tumour free in 3 to 4 years. She advised him to have intravenous vitamin c, to have oxygen therapy, heat therapy and to take a myriad of supplements.

Given that it is only months since they met and he isn’t yet dead how can I be sure the advice is faulty? There is partly the fact that she has advised treatments that are not ‘medically proven’; many of these therapies have been tried and found wanting. She assures him that they are common place in other countries and delivered alongside conventional therapies. However a quick google search suggests this is not quite the case with lots of advice about how to evade regulation and find places that will deliver these treatments. There is also the fact that the advice is unfollowable, the supplements are insanely complicated in their various requirements and he is refused the vitamin c treatment as he has had chemotherapy previously and therefore has insufficient veins.

So accepting that this isn’t going to work, that her presentation of case histories of people with different sorts of cancer is hiding a lack of evidence, does it really matter?

It does to me. My dad is 59 and is the breadwinner in his family. My mum has never really worked. She doesn’t have a pension. They have savings of £15,000. Over a three month period (following her advice) they would have spent £4,640.

Telephone consultation £175
Personal consultation £185
Supplements £400
Oxygen therapy (15 sessions £10 per session) £150
Infra red and oxygen (£25 per session 10 sessions) £250
Acupuncture (£40 per week) £480 for 3 months.
Vitamin C (160 per session, 15 sessions plus consultation fees) £3,000.

In addition many of these therapies can’t be delivered in his hometown in the north west of England. She advises a cancer clinic (Vision of Hope Clinic) in Brighton. This would involve him being away from home for 3-5 weeks. There are great financial costs associated with this (travel and accommodation are difficult for the terminally ill). It also means that he would be away from his children and grandchildren who would like to spend some of his last days with him.

She talked to them about the power of positive thinking and my mother is convinced that he will get better. This means that she has not begun to come to terms with his death.

It also means that when he becomes unwell she does not see it and therefore does not seek medical attention when needed. The brain tumours are discovered as a result of an infection to the brain. An hour before he is rushed unconscious into hospital she is saying ‘he’s always a bit under the weather in the evening he just needs a rest’. The risk from this positive thinking and removing him from the support networks provided by friends, family and the NHS are great.

It also means that members of his family don’t know that he is dying, my brother believes he is getting better ad my aunt has postponed her wedding until his recovery.

Advertisement