Tom Van Flandern

Another stretch:

Presumably a cancer tumor would enlarge because of an enhanced blood vessel network leading to it and perhaps "demanded" by it. What if a "superglue" could be injected into the proper region, which was thin and slow setting. Perhaps the "superglue" would flow along the blood vessel pathways towards and into the tumor.

When I have used "superglue", I can spray it with an accelerator after it has spread. The "superglue" instantaneously sets up. This cyanoacrylate material is primarily non-toxic. It has been used in surgeries to quickly seal shut tissue which has been bleeding. Large scale surgery may not be needed in such an algorithm. The tumor would simply starve to death.

I am simply casting for possibilities, not proclaiming miracles.

Gregg Wilson

Being in Hawaii we eat a lot of fruit that I grow in my yard such as payayas, grapfruit, and oranges. I would not drink bleach under any condition, but my wife and I go to costco about once a week and was there yesterday so I looked for grape seed extract and they had bottles of it near the pharmacy. I usually get a flat of strawberries and grapes, I think that in Tom's case that a juicer could help. I would get apples, carrots, and make a lot of juice that would help cleanse the body and heal the cells. I have not done a ton of research on this subject, but loading the body with antioxidants and the resveratrol compounds [take extra grapes seed extract tablets along with juices and eating grapes/raisens] might as suggested in the study help. I would sure contact Sanoviv and take a look at the research that is out there regarding these compounds that are found naturally in fruits and vegetables. I have heard of grape fasts and actually had a yoga friend that was vegetarian (I am not never could since always have been too muscular surfer construction hard labor type)and remember seeing him with a crate of dark grapes and that was all he was eating. That was down in Cardiff, good surf in Southern Cal. But, the point is that I think a radical natural cure certainly needs to be looked at, even if you just approximate and look at results. Again I would contact SANOVIV and the USANA HEALTH SCIENCES products are awesome which is also owned by Dr. Wentz. Their science based pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements contain high (have patents on Olival) levels of antioxidants and are not toxic, they only use precursors and no iron, always rated number one with highest five star rating by Nutritional Comparative Guide. Dr. Wentz is a scientist [has a partnership with scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute-they were friends, at University of Oregan-where he gave them five million to study Resveratrol], owned Gull Labs creating viral test kits, grew billions of human cells so he knows how the cell responds to antioxidants/nutrition. My wife and I take USANA am/pm health pak100 (has resveratrol in paks) keeps immune system strong and helps you avoid getting sick. John

Cancer tumors in the liver are normally considered "inoperable" because the liver can bleed massively and is one of a kind. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation all tend to be "sledge hammers" hitting an ant.

I hope alternatives to ridding the liver of cancer are looked at, including a transplant of a liver. One can lose a great deal of the liver and it will still function.

Just thoughts.

Gregg Wilson

Update: The tissue surrounding Tom's lungs are now so full of fluid that Tom frequently panics and hyperventalates when conscious. He simply feels like he can't breath even though he's on oxygen and his O2 levels are normal. As a result he's now almost continuously sedated.

A fluid specialist was called in a few days ago and assumed management of fluid problem. When Tom arrived at the hospital he weighed 169lbs. After draining 6 liters of the malignant ascites fluid Tom was postoperatively profused with fluid until his weight reached 213lbs. In addition to causing extreme Edema he now feels like he's drowning. The fluid specialist is doing a good job turning things around but progress is necessarily slow and new complications continue to impede progress. Tom's sodium levels briefly exceeded 150 recently (a very dangerous condition) before returning to more normal levels. Tests are also being done to determine if some hidden heart damage might have resulted from November's PE episode.

In short Tom's making slow progress but he is miserable when conscious, so he's usually sedated. It's clear at this point that the cancer is going to win, the only question is how much, if any, quality time Tom has left. He's has high ambitions and would like to make some progress on his second book before passing. We're trying to give him that opportunity.

PS I want to reiterate that Tom's condition has been repeatedly been diagnosed as incurable by numerous specialists specifically because of the extensive peritoneal metastases. Life expectancy was set at 2-4 months in early November. If Tom ever does recover from surgery there are more aggressive treatments to be tried, but at this point we're mostly talking about palliative care.

At 8:54AM on Friday January 9, 2009 Tom Van Flandern passed on. I cannot begin to express what this man meant to me. I'll write more later as there is so much I want to say about my father, Tom. But right now I and the rest of his family just needs some time to grieve.

I do take some solace in knowing we did everything possible to maximize Tom's quality time once he was diagnosed. Also, Tom was well sedated and died peacefully.

Tom was a great man and lived a very full life. Tom told me recently that he'd just wanted some measure of understanding of the fundamental workings of the universe, even if he couldn't share that knowledge. He believed he'd accomplished that and was happy. It's unclear how much of the many contributions Tom made to science will pass the test of time, reach critical mass or will be lost and need to be rediscovered. But by any measure Tom was brilliant, well educated, hard working and prolific.

Tom was also a remarkable father and role model. He and his wife Barbara raised 4 remarkable and very unique individuals. Tom was the most principled man I've ever met and his imprint on my life and future generations of Van Flanderns is indelible.

Goodbye Dad, I love you so much. -Mike

My condolences Mike. This is a very sad day for us all. He will be sorely missed.