I'll speak to this. I've been on low dose chemo for 19 years. Not for cancer, but for Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is the body attacking itself. The years before I got on chemo were hell. I have terrible deformities for those years. And more deformities for when the meds failed and a lively active life when they were working. Like riding by bicycle 30-35 km every other day for 10 years, doing weights and stretches, completing my MDiv. Being a worship leader and teaching adult (women's only!) Bible studies. And I was happy. And of course, my veggie garden.
The fact is, that although these chemo drugs are harsh, my body is smart and figures them out and then disables them. And my liver is tricky, so I have to really work at keeping it pristine, including lots of beets, beet juice fasts and lot of freshly squeezed lemon juice daily. So, there is a place for natural products, but more to keep the body cleansed.
My only fear with these drugs is that I will run out of them, and then I will be bed ridden, have to go into some kind of care, and my life won't be worth living. So that is my story. Yes, I am an adult, but after 22 years of being an organic vegetarian, growing my own veggies, chemo was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was well worth it.
On to the acute leukemia. My best friend about 25 years ago was a nurse, and had a daughter who was 4 and got the same disease. She allowed her to go into a study, about dosing, and her daughter was in the lowest dose group. She had radiation, and I do believe her mother's nursing ability was a big factor in her surviving, particularly when she wouldn't eat.
She also had terrible mood problems, but they were not from the chemo drugs. All chemo drugs for this disease are accompanied by large doses of prednisone. Twice what I took for asthma attacks, and I probably weighed 3 times her daughter's weight. The prednisone helps force the chemo into the cells. In fact, I had some good talks with her mom about what prednisone felt like, which helped her understand what her daughter was going through. She didn't complain and call her a "monster" like the mother in the article did with her son. Instead, she loved and cared for her. An admirable objective for any parent!
Because of the low dose chemo, the cancer returned in a year, and her mom put her on the strongest dose possible. She is alive and in her late 30's now - the same age as my second son. She is happily married, and has had no long term problems.
I understand cancer treatments don't always work. Just like my chemo drugs don't. But, they save lives which would have been lost. These parents needed to be informed as to why their son's behaviour was so changed. Because that was the reason given, for resorting to quack nostrums like alkaline water??? You have to be joking!! That's like all the people taking apple cider vinegar to make their blood more acid, and those taking baking soda to make their blood more alkaline and to cure RA. Pure placebo effect. That child would be dead, and it's because of frauds and quacks like JD who keeps pushing this anti-big pharma and nutrition can "cure" anything garbage. I have a friend currently on one of his treatment regimes for Type 2 diabetes, which consists of juice fasting daily. Yes, her blood sugar has gone down, it will not be permanent. But, she is telling everyone she is "cured" and someone took her aside and put her on this diet. She is a friend from CC, and there is no doubt in my mind that JD told her to do this.
Since JD did that to me, really in a totally insulting and paternalistic way, and I refused his quack nostrums and lack of any medical training and an understanding of the scientific method and how it works to find the drugs that work, AND their side effects. I have never regretted not following his garbage 18th century placebo medicine.
I could go on about JD, but maybe I will just report him, and maybe they will stop him from practicing fake medicine on 'CC. If only!