Bob Ellal

You hear about people who beat cancer by employing alternative means—macrobiotic diets and even by employing the mind/body connection. I’ve even seen a guy with a site on the Internet who supposedly beat cancer by using qigong (energy work), the Chinese internal energy exercises that I used as a complement to chemotherapy in my cancer battles.

This can happen. But unfortunately, the evidence is purely anecdotal. We hear about one person who beat cancer using alternative methods, but not about the other 99 who died using the same means.

I talked to my acupuncturist, Peter Thompson, who trained for five years in Japan at a noted acupuncture institute—one of the first Caucasians allowed to study there. I asked him: “Can you beat cancer with qigong and acupuncture alone?”

He replied that he thought it would be possible under very controlled conditions. A cancer patient would have to go away to a retreat for an extended period—many months—and be away from worldly concerns, such as finances, bills and family problems. Then, the person would have to be completely immersed in healing: daily acupuncture sessions, hours of meditation and qigong, Chinese herbs and a special diet to support the immune system.

Of course, the cost would be prohibitive, and not covered by insurance. And who could just “drop everything” for a year and go off to a mountain retreat? In essence, he said, it’s just not practical. So in general, the answer would be “no.”

From my own experience, I believe chemotherapy and/or radiation is a person’s best shot at beating cancer—strongly supported by employing complementary means. Such as exercises that enhance the mind/body connection. In my case, it was qigong. For others it may be yoga, Transcendental Mediation or other forms of mediation and visualization from other traditions.

The combination of East and West is very powerful.