He was very happy with all the attention, being a Lab. He actually thrived from the dietary changes, the vitamins, etcetera. Coat got shinier, bright eyes. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there is an end to this life that cannot be avoided, and it hit me hard when he died because he was doing so well and was so happy. Seemed unfair. He was quite old for a Lab, though.
I have an acquaintance who hit hard times along about 2008, and has had no medical insurance since then, finding employment was hard for him and what he did find didn’t last. He developed an uncomfortably bloated stomach fairly suddenly three weeks ago, and finally broke down and went to a doctor despite not really being able to afford it. Stage 4 cancer, fluid build up. I can’t say I agree with his decision but it was his to make and he’s at peace with it, no treatment, just diuretics and painkillers. He did get into hospice, but no shunt to relieve the fluid, they didn’t want him back and forth to the hospital and, again, no insurance. I’ve been visiting him once a week on Friday, and he’s still holding up, the hospice facility is quite nice. How much of the sunny outlook is the drugs, I can’t say, but he’s lucid, so there’s that at least. He may last a few more weeks or a few more months, no way of knowing.
He’s 57.
I also wanted to say that Vitamin C in large doses has been used for cancer treatment. There again the danger was listed of too quick necrosis of the tumor poisoning the body, so early treatment, and very, very careful late treatment seems to make sense. Someone mentioned Leatril which was based on organic cyanides and the theory that these kill cancer cells. It has been suggested that if we eat foods with small amounts of these organic cyanides that they could attack very small cancers by killing the outside cells. Would probably not help with a larger mass. I now eat the seeds inside my apple, my orange seeds, grape seeds, and watermelon seeds. Not in large quantities, but just along with the amount of food I am eating.
That was a tough story to read about your friend. Try to hang out with him as much as you can. The worst part about having cancer is that it freaks people out and they stop calling and visiting.
I lost many friends because of it — they just don’t want to be invested in the situation. People I knew for years and saw often just faded away during my treatment and subsequent recovery, and still don’t call even though it’s been almost 3 years. I understand that people get freaked out about cancer, but it still sucks.
So try not to be that guy. I remember being almost certain I would end up in a hospice after treatment, and I was sure that dying would be something that I would do alone (except for family visits.) Being a companion for your friend is such an honorable and selfless thing as he heads for the exits. Good luck.