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Surviving mesothelioma: The story of one man’s struggle For anyone faced with a dire prognosis of cancer or any other disease, the following interview will inspire you. In the annals of cancer, mesothelioma is one of the worst possible types of cancer to have. In the words of oncologists it has a "dismal therapeutic outcome"¹ and is "an aggressive incurable tumor." The median survival from diagnosis ranges from 6 to 18 months³. Despite this prognosis, Mr. Paul Kraus is alive nearly 8 years after he was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma. What is equally remarkable is that Mr. Kraus had no orthodox cancer therapies - he opted to say 'no' to chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. Instead, Mr. Kraus made radical lifestyle changes, altering his diet, using intravenous and oral vitamins, herbs, amino acids and other immune boosting therapies and supplements, and tapping into the power of the mind-body connection. The Interview Cancer Monthly: Paul can you tell us when you were diagnosed and what types of symptoms you experienced that led to your diagnosis? PK: I was diagnosed at the end of June 1997. The only symptom I had was a very bloated abdomen. I did not have any pain. I actually went into the hospital for an umbilical hernia repair and the cancer was an accidental finding. During the surgery the surgeon removed a lot of fluid from my abdomen. He also conducted a laparoscopic examination that revealed widespread metastases. He first thought that I had metastatic pancreatic cancer. It took two or three weeks for the pathology to come back from Sydney and say that in fact it was mesothelioma. Cancer Monthly: And that diagnosis was reconfirmed by another hospital? PK: Yes, my pathology was sent to Australia's leading pathologist in mesothelioma cases, Professor Douglas Henderson of Adelaide. They had two teams of pathologists verify and confirm the diagnosis. In fact, it was confirmed as peritoneal or abdominal rather than pleural mesothelioma. This is a very unusual subtype, even within the annals of mesothelioma. Cancer Monthly: Does peritoneal mesothelioma have the same kind of dire prognosis as the more frequently encountered pleural mesothelioma? PK: Yes. In fact, when we first went to a professor of oncology in Sydney, we thought that peritoneal is less dangerous than pleural. He shook his head and said, "Oh, no, oh no. In fact, in some ways it is even more difficult." To read the rest of the interview go to http://www.cancermonthly.com |