[EDIT: I’m still getting emails asking how best to consume lemons for their anti-cancer effect here’s a disclaimer: Lemons Are NOT A Therapeutic Agent For Cancer Treatment. It Is A Hoax. This Post Is NOT Medical Advice. If you Have Medical Questions Please See A Doctor. Also Please Read the FULL Post Which Continues Past The Green Text]
The surprising benefits of lemon!
Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Charles Street Baltimore , MD 1201.
This is the latest in medicine, effective for cancer!
The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that: It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas … The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells. And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.
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No, I haven’t turned to the dark side, yet. The above was sent to me by a workmate and I have reproduced it here, complete with eye catching colours. Searching the intertubes reveals that many people have perfected the art of the uncritical copy and paste[1]. Not everyone has “drunk the kool-aid” though[2].
Lets deconstruct shall we? This is going to be fun.
Initial reading of this “article” throws up numerous red flags that the claim is either wholly made up or exaggerated. First is the allusion to conspiracy, while drug companies can certainly act in nefarious ways[3] this article implies that scientists in general would close ranks and perpetuate the conspiracy. Otherwise why haven’t government funded scientists or otherwise drug company independent scientists picked this up?
Another is the fact that several authoritative sounding statements are made but there is no detail to back them up
1. lemons kill cancer: Well what part of the lemon? where is it most concentrated? what variety is best? how should it be prepared for maximum benefit? what dose?
2. A laboratory has tested it: Well who? Where? what papers were published? what was the experimental set up? was it in vitro or in vivo? what were the results exactly?
3. Lemons are 10,000 times better than chemotherapy. Really? not 8,000 or 12,000 but exactly 10,000? In all situations?
Many fruits and vegetables have potentially therapeutically beneficial compounds, there are promising anticancer compounds in broccoli[4]. But the levels found in the foods are often too low and too variable to be of therapeutic use. But that’s negative thinking, what matters is that the compounds are there and it’s all natural, practicalities are a downer.
This lack of interest in dose response permeates the altmed/pseudoscientific crowd, both in the positive and negative sense. There is no safe dose of toxic compounds[5] and no lower threshold of benefit for “good” compounds[6]. So questions such as “how many lemons would you have to eat to cure your cancer?” become in this context almost nonsensical. While we in the evidence based camp might ask whether it should be 10 or 100 or 1000 lemons, and is that per day? And for how long? Further, how does the concentration of the anticancer component vary with the nutrition of the plant from year to year, or even within a season? How about between plants? Is the component present in the flesh or the skin? Those in the vague, feel good altmed camp are content with the message “Eat Lemons”.
In a laboratory and medical setting active ingredients aren’t extracted from plants and purified or synthesised solely to generate profits for drug companies (though that’s a motivation don’t get me wrong) but to make it easier to work with and quantify the correct therapeutic doses and optimal delivery methods.
Additionally, labs have to get consent for testing drugs on humans so it’s likely that the tests alluded to, if they occurred at all, were on cell cultures. This method can indicate interesting directions for research but does not guarantee that it will turn into a useful therapy. The body is very complex and things that work in a petri dish do not necessarily work in the body. It could break down too fast, or not reach the right tissues effectively, or be modified by metabolic processes or excreted too efficiently or any number of other things. Basic science research is good at generating these sorts of leads but the journey from bench top to consumer is one fraught with pitfalls. Few drugs that appear promising at the outset make it to market[7].
Another red flag is the number of other conditions it treats. Each of the ailments listed have different causes and treatments, it is highly unlikely that the same thing will combat both high blood pressure and parasites when these have absolutely nothing in common[8].
Also, much of the text is similar to an article about another “miraculous” fruit, Guyabano, fruit of the Graviola tree[9].
Points of similarity:
1. We don’t know about it because the drug companies are trying to make a synthetic version to patent.
2. You can help a friend by telling him to drink the juice, the taste is not bad and has no side effects.
3. A large drug company has conducted 20 tests on it since the 1970s.
3. Kills 12 types of cancer.
4. “The tree compounds proved to be up to 10,000 times stronger in slowing the growth of cancer cells than Adriamycin, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug!”
5. Only kills cancer cells.
Curiously similar given it is a completely different plant being talked about.
Searching the “Health Sciences Institute” (not the Institute of Health Sciences) I couldn’t find anything about Lemon and cancer but a Graviola and cancer search turned up a similar looking article (requires a subscription[10] to read but I suspect it may well be the source of the information for the one at the address above)
So it looks like this is actually a mash up of at least two different claims. I think we are witnessing the birth of a new altmed mythology, right here.
None of this means that Lemons cannot be used as a basis for anti-cancer drugs, in fact I did actually find that there are at least a couple of citrus derived compounds being investigated for anticancer activity[11&12]. Even so, the likelihood that simply eating lemons will cure you of cancer seems quite low, for all the reasons given above.
Multiple lines of evidence appear to be converging on this being if not a scam then at least a confabulation. Well meaning people will forward items like this to friends and relatives without much thought. I consider this to be irresponsible behaviour. As I have pointed out before in the context of chain emails, if we truly want to help our loved ones it behoves us to investigate these claims before passing them on. Whom do we help by perpetuating falsehoods?
—
Footnotes:
1. Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here– and about a thousand others. I’m so depressed right now.
2. While searching out instances of this rot I found a breast cancer forum that had posted it, as a joke to be ridiculed. Read it now, it shows how these ridiculous items are actually insulting to those affected by cancer.
3. Like ghost-writing research and review articles in their favour. Yes they are profit driven entities, and yes they can go too far to ensure those profits but they do crucial research and development and we need them.
4. Yanyan Li et al (2010), Sulforaphane, a Dietary Component of Broccoli/Broccoli Sprouts, Inhibits Breast Cancer Stem Cells
Clinical Cancer Research May 1, 2010 16; 2580
http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/16/9/2580.abstract
5. For example in the anti-vax movement.
6. Like homeopathy, even ZERO isn’t a small enough amount for there to be no benefit.
7. Shoot, I’ve been archiving wecite versions of pages I link to to make sure the don’t vanish without a trace but was too late for this one. http://brneurosci.org/drug-failures.html
8. Not withstanding that everything in the altmed world is linked, it’s all toxins or vibrations or pH or quantum or something.
9. http://guyabano.com/ [webcite] – with another version containing even closer wording here: http://mybongabon.com/samut-sari/the-sour-sop-miraculous-natural-cancer-cell-killer-by-arlyn-roa/ [webcite].
10. 1-year risk-free membership, Brand-New Encyclopedia of HSI’s 100 Greatest Cures and FREE bonus reports :No More Sick Days: The Immune Discovery of the Decade” and “How to Survive the FDA’s 10 Deadliest Hush-ups” for just US$67. [webcite]. You can’t get more credible than that. [article webcite]
11. Chidambara Murthy K.N., et al(2011), Citrus Limonin and Its Glucoside Inhibit Colon Adenocarcinoma Cell Proliferation through Apoptosis.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21338095
12. Cazal, C.M., et al(2010), Evaluation of effect of triterpenes and limonoids on cell growth, cell cycle and apoptosis in human tumor cell line.
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, 10(10):769-76.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21269253
Scepticon 
There is also a ‘wonder’ weight loss and slimming technique(s?) going around at the moment highlighting lemons as the prime active agent 🙂
edit : The Lemon Detox is just one of many examples. simply google ‘lemon weight loss’ or similar terms and watch the hits flow in 😀
You are behind the times, I wrote about lemon detox almost 2 years ago
i am 71 years old my grandmother gave me book on lemon juice 50 years ag0 that lemon juice cured cancer
ok, so the idea is not new. Do you have anything further to add?
my granmother gave me a book 50years ago that cured cancer with lemon juice
yes i cured my self i had cancer of the tongue with lemon juice and green tea bill volman
I’m glad things worked out for you, but you do see the problem with isolated anecdotal reports don’t you?
Interesting follow up. However if you have trouble proving that lemons are not effective in curing cancers than your words are merely as empty as the statement made that says they can. If someone with cancer is feeling desperate and scared I can only imagine reading how lemons may help them and quite possibly cure them would be worth the trying. Chemotherapy is not full proof either but yet people with cancer are subjecting themselves to those treatments nonetheless. I personally say cheers to lemons! Btw lemons help balance the body’s ph by creating alkelinity and lower acidity in the bloodstream. Many cancer patients find that their blood is highly acidic. This alone speaks volumes of how lemons can be an effective treatment of cancer.
The burden of proof here is not symmetrical. It is the person with the positive claim who must show proof of it. I have provided reasonable doubt that either this claim in particular or the wider claim of lemons being beneficial for cancer is unfounded.
I disagree that an implausible treatment is worth trying especially if it is preference to proven treatments.
Also it is interesting that while I have given the reason I find this implausible you have made several claims for which you have given no evidence. Given lemons are acidic by what mechanism do they promote an alkaline body environment?
This does not speak volumes for lemons to me.
The real problem happens when someone diagnosed with cancer avoids the recommended chemotherapy in favour of the lemon juice magic. I know people who claim they would refuse chemo because it’ “toxic” and they want to “almost kill the patient to kill the cancer”. They would put their hope in an unproven lemon cure. It may work, it may not and it won’t hurt you but saying it works with no proof is dangerous. Ask any oncologist and they will tell you the only 100% guaranteed effective cure for all cancers is when the host organism is dead.
Your “explanation” of acidity and alkalinity is completely incorrect and profoundly absurd. First, the pH of blood is tightly maintained between 7.35-7.45 (on average) by a bicarbonate buffer system, as deviations from this range create physiological problems with cellular and enzymatic function. It would take *massive* doses of acid/alkali consumption to alter this level significantly. Second, you haven’t explained how lemons, which are acidic, can create alkalinity in the body (they don’t). You clearly have no knowledge of basic physiological or biochemical concepts.
The pH of the blood is not what is so acid. Blood pH is regulated to stay within the narrow range of 7.35 to 7.45; otherwise you DIE. The cells and the intra-cellular spaces which are filled with fluid that exchange nutrients into the cells and transports toxins out, however, can become over acid which dramatically slows the exchange of material into and out of the cells causing a build up of acids.
This article needs much in the way of support. Yes, lemons in moderation are good for most of us. Is it the d-limonene from the skin that kills cancer? Probably, from other research I have seen. We as humans just can’t tolerate too much of this substance at one time. There are many alternative treatments that can help, even cure, many kinds of cancer, but some of them such as the Gerson therapy, are difficult for an ill person to follow without constant help.
Dr. Stanislaw R. Burzynski, MD, PhD, an internationally recognized physician and scientist from Texas was persecuted by the FDA for 20 years. His customized protocols have proven VERY successful in treating many forms of cancer. He has pioneered groundbreaking, non-surgical, non or low-toxic cancer treatment regimens; some now available within clinical trials.
I am dealing with a leukemia caused by chromosomes that broke apart and translocated (joined back together with parts mismatched). For over 40 years I have worked with herbs and nutrition. It is amazing the people who, without knowing anything about this kind of illness start offering AUTHORITATIVE advice and asking why I am taking a medication.
Before 2001 most people died from this particular illness, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), in 3 to 4 yrs. and I was almost one of them because I was diagnosed very late due to the fact that I don’t often go to doctors. My prognosis is now excellent due to research that developed a medication that costs over $4000 per month. There are few herbal/alternative treatments that make ANY DIFFERENCE in CML and NONE are known to cause destruction or apoptosis of the abnormal 47th chromosome known as the Philadelphia chromosome.
SOOOOOOOOO, I have come to find a balance between allopathic medicine and alternatives, both of which have much to offer and both of which can be misused or abused.
Thanks for the comment Charla, I hope everything goes well for you.
I’m also glad that you are taking advantage of modern medical science.
I’m not against finding a balance between modern medicine and other options, so long as it is realized what the limitation of those other modalities is. People have the right of autonomy but I do feel strongly that that autonomy is diminished when they are working under false information regarding the effectiveness of alternative therapies.
Hello,I have the same form of leukemia just found out in April 2014
any advice? Than you so much for you time and the comments you made.kind regards~Lloyd
Yes , it could be possible that lemon can kill cancer cells. Scientists do not know what tomato is made of. So it could be possible that they do not know what humble bitter lemon is made of, To we have to drink it or soak in it in tha bath or both? laugh.
[Edit – Moved from About page. S]
funny how “skeptics” constantly ridicule those who feel hopeful regarding claims such as this…yet they themselves so often lack curiosity or do the research. How polarized. Lets try to have an open mind people.
Funny how “believers” will accept any rubbish spammy vehicle so long as they agree with the message. The message here being Natural = Good; Doctors = Bad. The fact that there is good evidence to show that the original article isn’t even ABOUT LEMON is irrelevant is it? If that is untrue how much of the rest is untrustworthy? My point here is that there is nothing here that can even be corroborated and the advice is so vague as to be useless. But that doesn’t matter…all we need to know is Lemons are good, right?
As such your follow-up post actually is fine, there are compounds to look at, specific things to investigate. All well and good and what cancer researchers do every day. You are essentially refuting the original claims yourself, showing how easy it is to find REAL information. Why didn’t they do that? Oh right, it’s made up.
Anyone can make up something that is vaguely plausible the devil is in the details,, as it were. show as much skepticism of the vague claims as you do of my investigation and you’re off to a good start
About open minds, I actually link to several studies looking at Lemon compounds in particular as well as vegetable extracts (broccoli) that are showing promise as possible cancer treatments. Read to the end.
2 seconds of research and I found this – for all you stick-in-the-muds. and it has some sophisticated term so you can feel justified in taking
it seriously.
Monoterpenes are found in the essential oils of many plants including fruits, vegetables, and herbs. They prevent the carcinogenesis process at both the initiation and promotion/progression stages. In addition, monoterpenes are effective in treating early and advanced cancers. Monoterpenes such as limonene and perillyl alcohol have been shown to prevent mammary, liver, lung, and’other cancers. These compounds have also been used to treat a variety of rodent cancers, including breast and pancreatic carcinomas. In addition, in vitro data suggest that they may be effective in treating neuroblastomas and leukemias. Both limonene and perillyl alcohol are currently being evaluated in phase I clinical trials in advanced cancer patients. The monoterpenes have several cellular and molecular activities that could potentially underlie their positive therapeutic index. The monoterpenes inhibit the isoprenylation of small G proteins. Such inhibitions could alter signal transduction and result in altered gene expression. The results of a new gene expression screen-subtractive display-have identified or confirmed several up- or downregulated genes in regressing mammary carcinomas. For example, these regressing tumors overexpress the mannose 6-phosphate/IGF II receptor. The product of the gene both degrades the mammary tumor mitogen IGF II and activates the cytostatic factor TGF-beta. These and other alterations in the gene expression of mammary carcinomas lead to a G1 cell cycle block, followed by apoptosis, redifferentiation, and finally complete tumor regression in which tumor parenchyma is replaced by stromal elements. It is likely that monoterpenes prevent mammary cancer during their progression stage by mechanisms similar to those that occur during therapy. In contrast, prevention of mammary cancer by polycyclic hydrocarbons such as 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene occur by the induction of detoxifying phase II hepatic enzymes.
your way of reasoning is a clear explanation for the downfall of humanity,i m sorry to say this..
Yeah, logic reason and evidence is a bummer.
Have you ever thought about what effect a cancer cure would have on the economy? Think about all the money that is made in private sector, drug manufacturers, hospitals, stock markets, etc. The list could go on and on……..Why would the government want to cure cancer????
So all the doctors and researchers in the WORLD are greedy bastards who do exactly what the government tells them? Not at all like those altmed folks who are just trying to make the world a better place and give their cures away for free, right?
Our creator put everything on the Earth that we would need for healthy bodies. The Medical and Scientific community are doing their best……but they are way behind in their research and documentation. My suggesstion…..is to not eat any citrus…lemons, oranges, grapefruit and the like…..and study the effects that that course of action may have on your body. In addition, please eat all of the artificial sugars and partially hydrogenated oils and saturated animal fat…. that you can gobble down. I’m sure that you will be satisfied with the result……..and may you R.I.P.
Thanks for the thoughtless and nuance free comment. Look everyone, how not to have a conversation.
The creator of the biblical narrative also provided individuals whose sole existence is that of an object lesson for others. Looks like you are fulfilling your purpose well.
It seems you are arguing that there is nothing on Earth that is neutral or bad for us, in order to assume that despite medical evidence Lemons MUST be good for cancer. And yet you contradict this assumption later in your comment. So which is it? Is everything here for our betterment or are some things harmful? How might we tell the difference in absence of divine decree? (I don’t recall any lemon/cancer passages in any holy text).
Oh, science and medical investigation perhaps?
Just because there as yet undiscovered medicines in the world does not mean we have to believe any unproven claim that comes our way, nor does the fact that I treat these claims with skepticism mean I advocate ingesting the most unhealthy things you can find.
You you can summon the faculties to have a rational conversation please return. Else further comments may be summarily deleted as a public service.
Until I got to the end I nearly took this seriously LOL
theres people that have cured there cancers with nothing but carrot juice! But one fact i do know is chemotherapy kills, it destroys the immune system, and same for radiation. The “cure rate” is around 3% for mainstream treatment. THe sick part of all this is the amount of money it generates! Drugs destroy the body! Put down your soda pop, throw your Doritos in the trash, and instead of ordering pizza tonight, how about we have a home made square meal… I dont know if lemons cure cancer, but they are very tasty!
Happen to have any citations for those assertion you’re making?
The study on carrot juice would be fascinating.
Those thinking flawlessfoose has a good point about chemotherapy might want to go read this:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/chemotherapy-doesnt-work/
two years back my cousin was diagnosed with liver cancer,she had part of her liver removed,then few months later she was told cancer has spread to her healthy part of liver and was given three months to live, I googled on the net if their was herbal cure for it,thankfully i came this article (simple lemon can cure cancer,)she started the lemon & 2 spoons of olive oil treatment every morning her blood test shown the cancer has stopped spreading and two and half years on she is well,
I my self was told by doctors that my blood test show that i might have leukemia my white blood cells were 12.8 and was referred to hematologist i started taking lemon with two spoonful of extra virgin olive oil and i went to see specialist again he repeated blood tests and told me that my blood test shown that white cells have come down to 11.3 he said he is he was willing to bet his house that i have not got leukemia if it was the case the blood count would have increased.
ABDULA QADOOS, good to hear you and your cousin is doining well, its comments like these any many others ive read that make me a firm beleiver in food as a medicin! There is gonna be people out there that never will except that, no matter what proof or evidence you show them, so keep doin whats best for you!!!
I too am glad to hear your cousin is well. I have to take a different tack than flawless however, we can’t leap to the conclusion that lemon was the deciding factor in either case. It may be, there is no inherent implausibility – it’s not homeopathy. But neither is there a compelling reason to think so other than your own recollection and story telling. I say that not as a disparagement but a simple statement about how we function as human beings – we have flawed methods of recall (with respect to absolute fidelity) and we can’t stop ourselves fro creating a narrative that makes sense to us. People do inexplicably recover from cancer, rare but not unheard of. Could the lemon be responsible? Perhaps but there is no more compelling reason to think so than there is to think that it was any other item that was not directly related to the treatment.
Your story with regards to your own health situation suggests and alternative even more plausible explanation, a blood test showed that you might have leukaemia. There are two issues I have with this, first is that tests are not 100% accurate all the time. They suffer from what are called false positives and false negatives. You may have had a false positive, in this case it sounds like we would need to know the uncertainty of the test and the error rate to know what the likelihood of this test being correct is. Even so there is no way to know for that single instance, what is needed is replication. In this case you did that and the test was now negative. Given this situation the more likely proposition is that the first test was a false positive rather than lemon “cured” any nascent cancer.
The second issue is this; the human body functions within a range of values for various parameters. The test in question compares your values for a particular parameter (white blood cells) at a single instance in time to this known range and concludes that there is a possibility you have cancer. This method is open to at least two ways of being wrong, first is that you might just happen to function on one extreme end of the range and the value measured is simply normal for you. The other is that there was some other factor the raised your white blood cell count that either resolved itself or was otherwise no longer present when the second test was performed. As it stands we have no way to know for sure.
As I say it is not impossible that things progressed in exactly the way you describe but, and here’s where the need to critically analyse comes in, we don’t know for sure and it is only one in a large space of possibilities. Should we latch on to the wrong one too soon damage may be done further down the line when we rely on that faulty conclusion when making subsequent decisions.
Thanks for your comment.
thanks for your replies,the reason i went to see the doctor was that i had been feeling unwell coughing joint and lower back pain,lately small lumps started appearing on my arms,also breathlessness pain under my left side of ribcage,
I also have had heart condition since 1993.
Barring the heart condition these symptoms can also be triggered by an infection, so presumably the doctor used all of these to come to the tentative conclusion of Leukemia, which was then falsified by the subsequent test. Not saying that’s absolutely what happened but it is in my mind more plausible than lemons curing cancer.
Thanks a lot.
total lie!
Scepticon,
No one knows for sure what works. What works for one does not work for all. Lemons may work for some simply because they believe it will, The mind is a power force that most of us really do not know how to direct.
First, Cancer is not a decease, it is a malfunction of the nervous system, All cancers are and abnormal function of cell growth. The brain controls this growth. When a part of us is injured, the body at that point changes polarity, that sends a message to the brains that basically says “Hey Boss”,” we need a repair crew down here to fix a problem” The brain then decides what is needed and supplies then necessary ingredients and tools to make the repair. And when the repair crew is finished they send a message back to the brain that says “We are done
, Where to you want us to go next” Well our nervous system is not foolproof, Sometimes, somethings interrupts the signal the repair crew sends back to the brain and instead of sending the repair crew somewhere else, no message get back to them and since they have not more directions they keep working to produce more cells that are not needed. I realize this is t simple explanation for a complicated process but that is exactly what happens.
Sometimes when the repair crew does not return the brain (mind) goes looking for it. This search may be initiated by thought, something we eat or even something we feel. When the crew is found the brain stops the abnormal growth and sometimes reverses the process.
What is needed is a total mapping of the electrical system of the body. For our bodies run on electricity. thorough the nervous system guided by the brain or mind.. If we knew how to detect and recognize the nerve signals, we might could interceded and inject a signal where and when needed. Alas, the process once learned will not cost a lot so little or no research is carried out, Only few researcher had kept at it and they are finding somre great discoveries.
So although you may have what you think is sufficient doubt. you may not realize that there are forced at work in our bodies that have yet to be discovered. Lemons may well be part of the cure for cancer., Alas you as all skeptics see only the dark side of of the issues and are geared to pick them apart. Not a bad thing, but is is limiting to the mind.
I will start believing the skeptics when mankind know all the answers.
How ever llke many you have the right to post your opinion.
But tell me, and I think I already know the answer. but I will ask. Is it better to give hope that something will work or to take away that hope because you think you know that it won’t work..
If I told all the kids that I teach model building that there aircraft will not fly, none of them would probably get into the air. But I encourage their designs because although I have retired from the Aviation industries and and pretty well versed on aerodynamics, I don’t know it all. and I have seen some of oddest creations fly and outperform many conventional aircraft designs.
That;s my take on it.
ole Blake
I have no words, that is not even wrong..
Life at 70 is simple. You live every day to the fullest extent. Here is why my views are what they are.
February 1968 found me in Viet Nam as a DOD contractor, (That meant that I was in the war but could carry no weapons) One evening a mortar shell exploded out my hooch and a piece of shrapnel went straight through my heart. Other then a bit of blood on the skin front and back, I felt nothing but later x-rays show the entry and exit from my heart. So I guess I was lucky.
In 1974 I was on a motorcycle heading into work. I was hit by a car and I flew through the air without benefit of wings. My left legs stayed on the bike. At the scene of the accident, an air force captain stopped, pulled off his shirt and belt and make a pressure bandage around what I had left of a leg.
At the local hospital a 20 minutes later, they told my lady that there was noting they could do for me because I had lost too much blood. Well my lady was not impressed at all and she called an ambulance and had me transported to another hospital 20 miles away.
In the emergency room at this new hospital, they took about 20 minutes to sew up what was left of my left leg and worked for 16 hours rebuilding my right wrist. which was crushed. ( the built it back using plates and wires. ( I still have trouble getting through airport security)
However, just as they put the finishing touches on my right arm cast, they lost all vital signs, flat line scope nothing at all. They worked for about 15 minutes trying to revive me but nothing worked.
About that time there was a great influx of folks that came into the emergency room because of a large auto pile up of many cars. Not being able to get my vitals, the pulled the sheet up over my head and pushed me into a storage room just of the ER.
Four hours later a nurse came in to get supplies and say my cast move toward my face a coupe of time and she wheeled me back out and they tried the paddle again but still no vitals, The the nurse the found me asked who I was and the intern got my chart from the end of the bed and read off my name. They say I woke up like I had been sleeping. Did I hit hit it lucky again?
Moving along to June 1972, I started having great pains in my back and chest. X-rays, and biopsies pronounced me with carcinoma cancer from my shoulders to my pelvis. The Dos who was also my friend gave it to me straight, Too much cancer for surgery, Chemo was out of the question and so was radiation because of he damage it would do before it started working on my cancer.
They gave me 60 days at the most to live. ( It is truly amazing what goes through you mind when they tell you this) Any how, 6 months later more x-rays and no trace of cancer.. More luck?
Today I am back in cancer treatment and will know within the next few day if it is working. I don’t count on luck, all of us have to go sometime. and if it is my time, it is a win/win situation, If I am called home, I win, if I get to stay and teach kids how to build models, I also win. So no matter what anyone says. there are things in this world that are just not explainable.
I am a skeptic too, but in reverse. I believe things I don’t understand can happen. Every day is a wonder and precious. And by the way. I do have a bucket list to share. You can find the one item it here.
http://ablaker2.blogspot.com/2011/04/legacy-of-wings-project.html
Now if there was anything to be skeptical about it would be my ability to get this project into reality. If you like the idea, your good and and mental well wishes would be appreciate, as would be your passing it along.
Regards
ole Blakle
Great stories, I’m not sure how they bear on anything written here.
I too believe that things I can’t explain happen, but at the same time I get very angry when others say they DO know and go on to use that “knowledge” as proof of their favourite pseudoscience/superstition. It makes me really angry when they exploit others by SELLING their magical cures. So like you say we shouldn’t rely on luck, or magic. Unexplained does not equal unexplainable and we should always admit when something is truly unexplained as that’s when the real magic happens: finding out what the explanation is.
Aye I agree, I can understand if someone says “I heard that:” but to say “I know” is like to a quote my father used to pound into my head: Better to be thought a fool than to open you mouth and remove all doubt”
Regards
ole Blake