- Unfortunately there are 2 more entries in the "What is the worst that could happen?" series.
The first news item can be found at the following link Sean Flannagan's story. Sean was suffering from late-stage bone cancer : - "His parents searched frantically for a way to ease his pain.
- David and Laura Flanagan of suburban Denver believed they found that, and more, in the office of Dr. Brian O'Connell. O'Connell assured the Flanagans he could not only relieve 18-year-old Sean's suffering from late-stage bone cancer, he could cure Sean as he had others.
O'Connell's treatment of choice: photo luminescence, a form of "energy medicine" using light waves. O'Connell would take a vial of blood from Sean's body, expose it to ultraviolet light from a device, then inject the treated blood back in a hydrogen-peroxide solution. Although the treatment was unconventional, the Flanagans took comfort in O'Connell's charisma and in his impressive credentials as a naturopathic doctor....
Two days after Sean's treatment by O'Connell began, the young man was rushed to the hospital with an infection caused by the injection. Six days after that, as O'Connell administered another round of treatment, Sean begged, "Please, God, no more." The next day, Dec. 19, 2003, Sean died — about six months sooner than his medical doctors had predicted."
It causes me great anger every time I hear this sort of story of a charlatan, a fraud, taking advantage of people's pain and preying on their hopes to benefit financially and fatten his/her bank account, often causing great pain physical, emotional and financial. And this guy is not an isolated case. From John Edwards (not to be confused with the Democratic presidential hopeful) with his talking to the dead charade, to Sylvia Brown who told the parents of a missing boy that he was dead (on national television nevertheless!), they all are made up of the same substance, crap!. The boy turned out to be alive after all and they caught the perv. But can the emotional damage and pain this so-called psychic of national fame caused, be undone?
True, Sean Flanagan had an incurable disease. His short life was shortened even more by an unscrupulous, evil being, namely "Dr." Brian O'Connell, a.k.a the jerk!
The second news item can be found at the following link Antonio Campos' Story. The first few paragraphs of the story follow:- "A young mother in Los Angeles was desperate. A rare form of cancer was ravaging her 5-month-old son. Their doctor said chemotherapy offered the best hope for survival, a 1-in-4 chance.
- Natalia Campos watched as her baby, Antonio, struggled in pain through the first few treatments. Then she learned of an alternative-therapy clinic that promised a cure, without pain, using a machine called a PAP-IMI.
Twice a day at the Bio-Energy Services clinic, Campos held Antonio while the 260-pound machine pulsed powerful electromagnetic waves into the tumor bulging from his neck. The treatments failed, and Antonio died — the victim not only of his cancer, but of what one health official later called a "major national health fraud."
Why are these jerks successful? Why is the public buying into their snake oil?For two reasons. First, these jerks prey on people who are going through hard times, and are willing to grasp any ray of hope that goes their way. As a new parent, I can understand the urge to reduce your child's pain, even if that means trying the impossible and hoping against hope. It takes great will to distance yourselves from a supposed "cure" when your child has an incurable disease. I do not know if I myself would be able to do it; I could fall prey to these vultures under the same circumstances. My heart goes out completely to Antonio's mother; I understand what she was going through. She should not be blamed!
Second, we live in a society where "alternative" medicine is viewed with a positive eye, there is a certain fascination with "ancient" stuff. Non-tested claims abound and are accepted left and right. Chiropractic, homeopathy and most acupuncture claims come to mind immediately. All of them are based on some primitive philosophies of life having to do with life energy, chis and such nonsense. All of them claim to have one answer for all illnesses. How childish it is to accept that one thing is what causes every ill and that there is a simple way to manipulate this one thing, to cure everything! Psychics claim to tell the future for the right amount of money, or find missing people for absurd fees! At the very least they cause financial harm by exploiting people's pain. At the very worst they cause much , much more harm as the above two sad stories show.
We all need hope! Life without hope is very boring! Let us hope about love, family, a good life, winning the lottery even. But when we start hoping on things simply because we would like them to be true, that's when we open ourselves up to the quacks out there. At every corner there is someone willing to sell us whatever kind of hope we many need at the time, for the right price of course. DO NOT PUT REASON ASIDE! DO NOT ACCEPT SOMEONE'S FANTASTIC CLAIMS SIMPLY BECAUSE IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THEY WERE TRUE! DO NOT SAY "WHAT IS THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?". Do seek out the worst that could happen. Do ask someone who makes fantastic claims to produce fantastic evidence. And whatever you do , do not accept anecdotal stories (there was this guy who did it and it worked for him!) as evidence. Do your research, seek out professional advice.
Sometimes life just doesn't work the way we want it to. Sometimes, things are just outside of our control. Those are the times when we get desperate. Do not let your desperation becomes someone else's golden pot. You only stand to loose.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
What is the worst that could happen ? Part 2
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2 comments:
Never give up!
The worst thing that can happen is to give up and say, “I can’t make it; what’s the use of fighting?”
It is tragic that some greedy people prey on those with terrible problems, and the two examples given seem to be in this category. But everything not “scientifically” proven may be of value to some individuals. Much of the reason I and my loved ones have survived is due to what some would call “anecdotal” methods, like chiropractic, mentioned in this article as being ineffective and practiced by greedy people wishing to cash in on the misery of their patients.
Most of my life has been aided by anecdotal means, as defined in this article. This evidence is not based on claims by others, which could be made up, but on my own anecdotes. My parents often talked about the “quackery” of chiropractic and told me to never even consider it. I didn’t, until I was in my mid-twenties and began to have serious lower back problems. The conventional scientifically proven methods did not work; in fact the medical doctors had very few answers. After spending several thousand dollars on x-rays their best solution was valium. I never had the prescription filled. Instead, I ignored the advice of my parents and started going to the local chiropractor. The best decision I could have made. My pain went away and stayed away for long periods of time, then I went back for another treatment. This money was better spent than on “proven” medical treatment that could not be guaranteed.
The FDA, licensed medial doctors, the pharmaceutical industry, and our wonderful politicians are all in bed together. They feed on the money generated by each of them to build their own grandiose nests. The “proof” of effectiveness is statistical. Statistics courses were the only ones of my entire college courses that I have ever used specifically. The problem with this math is that the surveys must be set up to examine a few specific variables. This fact by itself renders every statistical work open to some criticism. Complete randomness is not possible because you could never pinpoint what you wish to study. This is why we have constantly conflicting reports on many drugs, the foods we eat, and other physical aspects. We stay confused because the study results depend on the worldview of those doing the study and who finances the study. So, no matter how much research you do, you are going to find as many ideas on the positive side of an issue as there are on the negative side. Research will certainly inform you, but the final decision lies within you.
Now to my other personal anecdotes. After falling into complete despair upon losing my family and all my personal wealth I had to figure how to survive from day to day. This led me to some self-help material that changed and saved my life. I became aware of power within me that I never dreamed was there. I realized how to draw on my subconscious mind to achieve things I could never have accomplished before. I began to learn how to alter my worldview so I can take advantage of opportunities luck presents to me. I will tell everyone I’m the luckiest man alive. And I found miracles through prayer and meditation.
My most significant personal anecdotal experience occurred when my soul mate became critically ill several years ago. Upon her entry to the best training medical center in our area the doctor immediately said she had only a few months to live. Mate asked me if he really said she was going to die. When my answer was, “Yes” , she wanted to know what to do? “We’re going to make a Miracle for you”, I said. I had no idea what to do, so I made a list of everyone we knew and began to ask them to say a prayer, ore meditate, or cast a Voodoo spell, or whatever it is you do that is similar to prayer. I read that several instances where positive results were thought to happen had utilized the efforts of many at a specific time. So I asked all my people to try and participate between 9 PM and 12 AM each night; my best estimate is there were one or two thousand people who ultimately helped us. To them we owe our greatest thanks, because the initial statement of doom was not the worst thing that could happen.
A series of tests performed the day after the doom statement showed that first prognosis to be wrong. What a relief! But relief was not for long. The following night my friend had some sort of chemical imbalance and ended up in the most serious section of intensive care; around 2 AM the following morning they advised there was nothing further they could do; she was removed from all life support and taken to the part of the hospital where they let people die as painlessly as possible. How “worst thing that could happen” is that?
First, I asked my subconscious for help, recalled our prayer list, and spent most of the next two days in prayer and meditation. The herd of doctors that visited several times a day were very nice while their leader instructed them about all the bad things that happened during a terminal illness. With all life support removed I began to worry about food and water. Early the third morning I perceived some improvement; she opened her eyes for the first time in a week and made significant body movement. When I told the medical team about these things they returned, did some tests, and agreed something good was happening. By the fourth morning she began to eat and five years later we’re still around and very happy. Those doctors still won’t say what happened and they certainly never mentioned that word, “miracle.”
Now, we’re using the same methods to help her through a return of cancer after 12 years. Her radiologist gave a forward-looking message when he said cancer was just like any other chronic disease such as heart trouble or diabetes; you just have to learn to live with it.
The way you live with this disease is to seek the best medical treatment and try to do what they say. However, if any doctor or medical professional who is treating you for cancer or any other serious affliction ever says words like, “you only have two months to live; there’s nothing more we can do”, you should immediately seek other professionals to help you. No doctor nor anyone else can say how long anyone will live; only God and the Universe know this. Make the most of what you have and don’t quit.
Having said all this, here is what I believe and all my evidence for any of this is personal anecdotal; it only happened to me and I can’t speak for others. Should you wish to investigate these ideas there is plenty to read about all of them at my Website, YankElliott.com, under the “Unconventional Wisdom” tab. I believe in God, which is the Universe containing all knowledge and everything needed to run even the smallest particle of matter and that God resides inside my consciousness and in every smallest particle of my body. This is not the God of Abraham and Moses, nor is it Allah of Islam. This is my God. I believe in my inner ability to control many aspects of my life and surroundings through my Subconscious Mind. I believe in Luck and my ability to control how it may impact my life. I believe in miracles but understand that sometimes they don’t happen exactly as we might wish; if The Universe decides it’s time for someone to leave the physical world there is nothing more to be done. Just don’t quit prematurely. I believe in prayer, meditation, or other means of communicating with the Universe. I believe we all exist in the Quantum concept of the Zero Point Field and are thus subject to every thought that ever has been or ever will be anywhere in the Universe; to take advantage of these ideas it is necessary to somehow overcome our ingrained world view because it filters out most of these information bits which are estimated to be in the millions of bits every second. What a waste to lose this valuable information because of erroneous ideas instilled in us from birth.
Do find out all you can about any idea that may help you. There are millions of people enjoying life with supposedly terminal cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses. I have survived a heart attack and serious cancer myself and I’m the luckiest person alive. Look around, read books by survivors of various illnesses, especially cancer because this article is about cancer. You won’t be able to do everything they all say but you should be able to find a few things that will help you. Do investigate new ideas, including those with anecdotal evidence, and decide for yourself if you should try any of them. No one should force you to do anything including those who say every unusual idea is “Quackery.”
Don’t give up, don’t quit, keep tying! Don’t believe anyone who says you will die in two months; they have no idea when you will die.
Wow, that comment was longer than my original entry.
First thank you for taking the time to read my blog and replying. Secondly, thank you for keeping your comments civil. It just goes to show that two people can disagree on an issue and still be respectful of each other.
I am glad that everything worked out ok for you and your loved ones. I also do not doubt that you sincerely believe that your soul mate was saved through the power of prayer. I do wonder though how did you come with the estimate of 2,000 people? How can you know for sure that they did infact pray between the hours of 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM each night? Do those hours have a specific significance or did you choose them at random? What do you think would have happened if these people had prayed between 1:00PM and 4:00PM? How do you know the recovery was not spontaneous? Why do you attribute it to the prayers?
I believe you are commiting a "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" logical fallacy. All proper studies that I am aware of on the area of the healing power of prayers have shown it to be useless, not better than chance or placebo.
Unfortunately, anectodal tales are not evidence. They do not prove anything to be right. At most they can point out that something is going on, though not necessarily what the anectodes itself claim. For every quack "doctor" out there, you can find hundreds if not thousands of testimonials. You may say "well, it worked for me and I don't care what science has to say about it" and you would be well within your rights to do so. However, I am not comenting on the psychology of these things, just the fact that they have not been shown to work, they are a fraud and people do get hurt, not just financially.
Now as far as your chiropractic experience is concerned, I believe, if memory serves, that lower back pain is one of the few or the only thing that chiropractice has been shown to be effective in proper studies, just like accupuncture and migraines (I may be wrong I am solely relying on my memory right now). That does not change the fact that they are both pseudosciences, based on ridiculous ancient philosophies and the mechanism thorugh which they are supposed to work has never even been shown to really exist (chi manipulation for accupuncture, and subluxations for chiropractic and the idea that the bones "pinch" the nerves has never been shown to be the case). I could be wrong of course, so if anyone is aware of proper studies that prove these things, plese do leave a comment and a link so I can check it out.
Anyway, my reply is getting too long, I should really write about chiropractic and accupuncture on my blog. Stay tuned, and thanks again for the dialogue.
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