WE are in the first two weeks of June and somehow, I feel that this month has been a ‘cancerous’ one for me.

Why? I have been surrounded by news of people I know who died of cancer. Then, articles about cancer seemed to be staring right at me as if to send me a message. And I’m still smoking and coughing. Oh dear!

Firstly, well-known women activist Zaitun ‘Toni’ Kasim passed away on June 3 at a relatively young age of 41. She had been suffering from duodenal cancer for several months.

I consider Toni a casual friend and had the opportunity to meet her on several occasions at the many seminars and conferences where she was a prominent panel member.

Like many who know her, I admire her resilience in her activist work. Toni had, over the years, advocated reform in laws that discriminated against women and had held key positions in a number of women’s organisations. She was also an educator on HIV/AIDS.

Then, the mother of a colleague of mine died last Monday from throat cancer. She was 60. Throat cancer may refer to head and neck cancer, a group of biologically similar cancers originating from the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity (mouth), nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx, according to an on-line search.

All cancer patients suffer unbearable pain. According to my colleague, his mother had also suffered for the past six months and was in and out of hospital. After her final stay in the ward, everyone knew the end was near as she was discharged.

I must congratulate the humanitarian effort exercised by hospital administrators. Doctors should know when only a miracle could save the life of a patient. And it is better to allow the patient to go home when nothing else could be done medically.

My colleague’s mum spent her final five days at home in the company of her children and other family members. I believe this was what she wanted too — to pass on in familiar surroundings, in her own home and among people she loved and who love her. This is also the wish of many who had finally accepted that the end is near.

So it was too with Toni Kasim. She died at her sister’s house in Shah Alam, Selangor, also surrounded by her siblings. I’m glad she went that way, if it is any consolation to me and those who have become better beings from knowing Toni.

I believe I am able to comprehend how dreadful a disease cancer can be. I lost a sister to cervical cancer in 2001. She succumbed to the disease after battling it for one long year and watching her suffer for that 12 months was agonising. She was only 50, and like Toni Kasim, that was again a relatively young age to say goodbye for good.

My sister also came to terms with her fate. She was prepared for the end as some two months before her death, she requested us to make the necessary arrangements on her worldly possessions as well as to help prepare her to go on a happy, spiritual journey.

And as I write this, I have been constantly praying for an aunt who is currently undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. Then, there is also an uncle who has to undergo haemodialysis three times a week for the past two years due to kidney failure. That is kidney cancer. A former classmate in Kuching is also suffering from a similar ailment.

The articles that I came across in recent days were from two sources.

Not too long ago, The Borneo Post also published an article about stomach cancer in its SingHealth Healthy Living series. I read that article with keen interest.

It says that stomach cancer is a major health burden. Worldwide, it is the fourth most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death with 700,000 deaths attributed to it every year.

The risk of stomach cancer varies among different countries and population in Asia. China, Japan and Korea are some of the high-risk areas while Malaysia and Singapore are considered intermediate-risk countries. Within our multi-ethnic population, the Chinese population is the highest risk group for stomach cancer.

Well, that doesn’t sound very comforting!

Then, last Tuesday, I received a forwarded email from someone whom I don’t even know. It’s a report on the latest findings on cancer from the John Hopkins University, USA.

The article is long, so let me just pick up some of its highlights.

Basically, it says that there is an alternative treatment for cancer other than chemotherapy. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

So an effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

Among other things, cancer cells feed on sugar and milk. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. A diet made of 80 per cent fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruit help put the body into an alkaline environment.

Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water — best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

The article is interesting and informative. I believe it is obtainable online. I would advise readers to make a search for it on the Net.

Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, resentment, and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

Finally, let me be honest. I’m scared of cancer, very scared. If I should go, I would want a painless, quickie one. Give me a heart attack or a bullet in the head (no, I will never contemplate suicide) anytime.

But cancer. Oh God, please spare me that.

(Comments can reach the writer at paulsir99@hotmail.com)