HealthBeat News

Are You a Deer In The Headlights?

Written by Wellness Club on January 4, 2010 – 2:37 pm -

Are You a Deer In The Headlights?

By Nurse Mark

It was late and dark and the highway was like glass, covered in powdery snow and ice. I was driving a 1/2 ton truck and pulling a powerboat on a trailer, traveling at about 50 mph. Suddenly, just outside the illumination of my headlights, I caught a glint of reflected light. Just one heartbeat later, a deer leaped onto the road in front of my truck.

With several tons of inertia on ice, I knew only too well that a sharp swerve or hard braking would spell disaster. I tried my best to slow and move aside as much as I could.

I will never forget the look in that poor creature’s eyes.  I could almost hear it’s thoughts: “Uh… oh, what to do … Should I jump left? Should I jump right? Maybe straight up? Uh, Uh, what to do, what to do?” I could see it wavering; a bit to the left, a bit to the right, but it never actually moved – it stood, transfixed.

Then came the sickening whuuuuump! I had slowed and moved across to the other lane, but not enough to save the animal. My quick decision to brake and swerve as best I could had surely saved me and my truck. The impact crumpled my right front fender, but I was able to continue my trip because my radiator was not damaged. The deer did not fare as well.

The poor deer’s indecision — paralysis actually — cost it its life. Had it moved in either direction instead of standing paralyzed it would likely have survived. I felt terrible for the animal, but was glad to be safe myself.

Why tell this painful story?

Because we have been seeing that “Deer-in-the-headlights” look a lot lately since Dr. Myatt has recently been overwhelmed with stage 4 cancer patients in her practice. (For those of you who don’t know, Stage 4 is very advanced cancer – “Stage 5″ is the funeral service…)

Conventional medicine pretty much gives up on stage 4 cancer patients and treats them as “hopeless,” “terminal,” and “palliative” or “hospice.” But we don’t give up, and as a result we get plenty of referrals from other so-called “hopeless cases” – patients of ours who have confounded the predictions of their conventional doctors and are now referring friends and acquaintances to us when they too are turned away, given up on, and all-but-abandoned by conventional medicine.

We also hear a lot from folks who have just been given that most terrifying of diagnoses: cancer.

Cancer is a word that strikes fear into the heart – for we intuitively know that despite the grandiose claims made by the drug companies, conventional medicine does not have a very good track record when it comes to most cancers. Cut, burn, and poison are the treatments offered, and despite a few high-profile success stories (think Lance Armstrong), the results are more often disappointing (think Patrick Swayze).

People fear that the diagnosis will sentence them to a lingering and painful illness, punctuated by mutilating surgeries, nauseating drug treatments, and debilitating radiation exposures – none of which offer much of a promise of extended life though they do promise to make whatever life remains feel longer…

So we take on cancer patients.

And many — I’d say most — exhibit that very same terrified “Deer-in-the-headlights” look of indecision.

You see, they have been “researching” on the internet. They have been reading how-to-cure-your-cancer books written by cancer survivors. They have talked to their friends, their family, their neighbors, their hairdresser, their dog groomer, their postman, their accountant – none of whom is a cancer expert, but each of whom is more than willing to offer their own treatment advice based on something they heard or read somewhere that someone else claimed to work.

Apple cider. Alkalinizing. Juice Fasting. Veganism. Carrot juice. Celery juice. Pineapples. Green apples. Saunas. Exercises. Detoxification. Enemas. Bloodletting. Blood infusions. Vitamins. Coral Calcium. Energized water. Ionized water. De-ionized water. Magnetically aligned water. Oxygenated water. Hydrogen peroxide. Silver ions. You name it, someone is promoting it.

The list of “guaranteed cures” is as endless as the people that are happy to assume the role of cancer expert and recommend them.

So the poor person freezes with that “deer-in-the-headlights” look of indecision. Too many choices, too many promises – how can they all be right? Which one is right? How to know? What to do? How to do it?

If they don’t come to us, many of these people will stand, transfixed, like the deer – not really doing anything, or doing little bits of this and little bits of that and little bits of every other idea and treatment that they hear; but not ever deciding one one thing, one path to follow.

Like the deer in the headlights, indecision will cost them their life.

When they do come to us we have our work cut out if we are to help them: Not only must we research and determine the best course of treatment for each individual patient (oh, come now; you really didn’t think that there was one magic, secret, fail-proof, natural herbal cure for cancer did you?) we also have to find a way to cut through all that mesmerizing, overwhelming information overload that these patients come to us filled with.

“I heard that…”
“But what about…”
“I read in this book…”
“I found on the internet…”
“I got this email that says…”

The reality is that there are exceedingly few treatments that Dr. Myatt has not heard of and researched to determine it’s merits. If something works, it is in our arsenal. If it doesn’t work, no matter how promising the advertisement or book sounds, we won’t waste precious time with it.

Then when we have recommended a course of treatment we must deal with the nay-sayers:

“My doctor / oncologist / chiropractor / massage therapist / pharmacist / veterinarian says that this is a dangerous treatment / herb / supplement / diet…”
“My neighbor says that your idea can never work and I should try…”
“I read that a diet like this can cause (insert organ or body part here) damage…”
“I have a book that says (insert herb or vitamin or other remedy here) will work and that your recommendation won’t…”

All the while, time’s a-wasting! The clock is ticking, and when the cancer is to that 4th and last stage, time is short – and precious.

For every cancer treatment, no matter how unusual, unconventional, or even outlandish, there is at least one person – if not more – who will swear that it has cured their cancer. Whether the claim of cure is accurate or the cure was a coincidence is something we’ll often never know, since many of these treatments, remedies, and cures and backed up not with peer-reviewed scientific research but by testimonial.

“Ah, but the government / conventional doctors / pharmaceutical companies are suppressing it!” people will say – and they may be right. Even so, if there is any shred of credibility to a treatment, Dr. Myatt and her research team will know about it – she is very good at separating truth from fiction in these matters!

So, if you have cancer, do something! Don’t be that deer in the headlights; don’t allow yourself to be gripped by indecision. Pick a program. Chart a course. Choose your doctor and let your doctor do his or her job helping you to find your best strategy for treatment. Then do it whole-heartedly!

That’s not to say that if compelling evidence of the need to do something different comes along you must not change – it just means that you must not succumb to the temptation to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that, all the while really doing little indeed. Asking questions of your doctor is fine – but stopping treatment or delaying treatment while waiting to have each concern of every other well-intentioned outsider answered is simply a waste of precious time. Time is something that most stage 4 cancer patients just don’t have.

And remember: While I’ve talked about cancer patients here, this same advice goes for anyone who has been given any serious diagnosis: cardiac, diabetic, viral, renal, whatever. Even people wanting simply to lose weight or improve their overall health succumb to this “deer in the headlights” syndrome!

Research is fine, but only action will change your health.

P.S. Remember that reading one or two books constitutes “secondary knowledge,” and that actual medical practice and experience constitutes “first-hand knowledge.” Dr. Myatt and I both recommend that anyone with a life-threatening medical condition work with a skilled holistic practitioner who can bring this first-hand knowledge to your case. A little bit of second-hand knowledge is a shaky platform from which to make life-and-death medical decisions.

 Print This Post
Posted in Nutrition and Health | Comments Off