Ignorance is Ignorance

Perhaps what pissed me off the most last Tuesday, was the fact that the 'experts' - the Butcher and the Dalek - felt no need whatsoever to even mention the fact that butchery and blasting with ray-guns were not the only therapies. I could have come away from that meeting feeling that these were the only options. Never, not at the preliminary meeting nor at the board, did anyone even hint that there were other treatments. I don't think I was even advised to look for alternatives.

But THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES and they sound seriously better that the comparatively primitive approaches supported by my local NHS. If you have just discovered that you have cancer you MUST investigate the range of therapies. Don't fall into the trap of thinking that the first doctor you are referred to is going to be the best - or even give you the best advice. According to something I read it takes an average of 17 years for new, cutting edge (pun) treatments to be accepted as acceptable mainstream practice. Can you imagine your consultant driving around in a 17 year old car ... on his salary? I don't think so!
I've been doing a lot more looking into Photodynamic Therapy since last Wednesday. It almost sounds miraculous! Apparently it's been around for almost 100 years - and as far as I can discover there are still only two places offering this on the NHS. So I feel lucky to have got as far as an appointment in just a week.
But even the NHS is not at the cutting edge. Light therapy has come on significantly in the last few years. Firstly the photosensitive dyes have improved. But before that, a warning...I cannot guarantee the accuracy of what come next. This is just my interpretation of what I have read on the net. I think I understand it but I am just a layman so there could be errors. However, I think I've got the big picture right. Back to the dyes. The original ones were based on haemoglobin, obviously a substance that had huge ability to carry extra oxygen around. They are also long lasting which is the reason that one has to avoid exposure to bright lights for several weeks after. More recently dyes have been developed based on chlorophyl. Apparently this is quite similar chemically to haemoglobin and clearly schoolboy science tells us that it is light sensitive. But the dye's life time is much shorter and as far as I can discover it does not react to normal light so the body is nothing like as photosensitive. Secondly the light source and type of light used has moved on. The original dyes responded to intense white/blue light generated by a laser. This light could only penetrate tissue to a depth of around a third of an inch so only shallow or superficial tumours can be treated in this way. Only one treatment was needed if it was appropriate. More recent developments have designed short-life dyes that respond to infrared and red light. The wave length of this light enables deep tissue penetration (think of infared heat lamps used to treat muscular problems). The light is generated by a machine that looks something like a sunbed! You lie on it for anything between 15 and 45 minutes whilst your whole body is dosed with infared. As the dyes only attach to cancerous cells only diseased parts of the body are effected. However, if the cancer has spread (metastesized) even unknown tumours deep inside the body are destroyed. The treatment regime is also different. Instead of having just one blast of light and thanks very much it's all over now, the treament extends over two weeks. Injection or drops on Monday then three exposure sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - all repeated again the following week and then a follow up appointment with the consultant two weeks later to check that the bloods etc are clear. A follow up MRI scan after a couple of months and Bob's y'er uncle.
Of course, it goes to say that this treatment is not yet available on the NHS. Give it another 10 years or so and treatments like this may be widespread but for now there is only one place in England where it is done - a private clinic in Hampshire. Whilst they will accept NHS funded patients the NHS is unlikely to pay for it. But the atmosphere is changing. Contact your Primary Care Trust and ask for the Commissioning Officer. If you can convince said officer that this treatment and ONLY this treatment will deal with your illness you may stand a chance of the fairly hefty fee being paid for you.
This treatment is (apparently) so effective that some people, with a history of cancer in their family, are now using it as a precautionary, preventative measure. As there is no level of toxicity or build up of effect (as there is with the Dalek treatment) treatment seems to be completely safe and infinitely repeatable. I know, it sounds too good to be true. Watch this space!
For those of you who are mystified by the Dalek reference: You are obviously not fans of Dr Who. This is a very long running science-fiction TV drama which has been broadcast by the BBC since the early 1960's. Dr Who, the last of the Time Lords travels the universe in his time and space ship the Tardis. He has a particular affection for the people of earth who he saves from universal destruction almost every week. The Daleks are one of his chief ememies - a combination of slime and robot armed with ray-guns and a limited vocabulary of which "EXTERMINATE!!" is the most frequently repeated word.