Alternative Medicine + Cancer: A Killer Combination

This is the story of three legendary celebrities who died prematurely of cancer due to choosing alternative treatments early in the disease instead of following doctors' orders. There are many more out there like them--Ananda Lewis, Kirstie Alley & Val Kilmer to name a few, but these stories have haunted me the most because all 3 of the people in question were otherwise intelligent, young & vital.  And all 3 could've lived had they followed doctors' recommendations & had timely treatment.  They had another thing in common too: massive regret, as evidenced by the reversal of their decisions to reject conventional medical treatments like chemo and radiation near the end, when it was too late.  I hope anyone who's at high risk of cancer or considering "alternative" remedies will read these true stories & reconsider. 

The first is the story of reggae superstar Bob Marley.

BOB MARLEY

Bob was a fit mon

Bob Marley lived a healthy life, waking up early each morning and jogging on the beach at sunrise, eating an "Ital" diet of natural fruits, vegetables, fish and beans and playing soccer daily.  His only vice was ganja, which his religion viewed as a sacrament.  He didn't drink, smoke cigarettes or use hard drugs of any kind.  Like most Jamaicans he was somewhat superstitious, avoiding mainstream medical doctors and believing that speaking words like "cancer" would bring them into existence.  So when he developed melanoma in his big toe in 1977, he ignored it for a long time--too long.  Yet it was still curable by the time he finally limped in to see a doctor.

Bob's cancer (not Bob's foot).

It started as a soccer injury that wouldn't heal, then the toenail fell off and refused to grow back, then the nailbed turned black.  Bob ignored it until the pain was too great, then was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma, a type of skin cancer that affects dark-skinned people in areas like the soles of the feet or palms of the hands.  He was told he would need to have the toe amputated to save his life, which he pondered seriously for a while before rejecting the idea on the grounds of his Rastafarian faith, which not only forbids amputation but believes Rastafarians are immortal.  Literally.  This is also why Bob refused to draw up a will, leaving his 12+ kids and multiple babymamas to fight over resources after he passed.  

Bob looking over some prosthetic legs in 1977

But there were other factors at play:  his fame was on the rise & he couldn't afford to take a break from recording/touring, he was told by a greedy few in his inner circle.  Also, amputation would interfere with his ability to dance and play soccer, both of which were vital to his quality of life.  So he opted to have part of the toe cut out and do a skin graft instead, stating that "Jah will heal me wit' the meditations of me ganja chalice."  In other words, he went against doctors' recommendations and chose alternative treatments for his cancer.  Marijuana, in this case.

Bob lived an active and seemingly healthy life until the cancer claimed him.

Everyone forgot about the toe after the skin graft was completed.  Bob's star continued to rise as he toured the world and recorded more legendary albums like Kaya, Exodus, Survival and Uprising.  He was a worldwide superstar everywhere except the U.S, which is where he was when his health started to give out.  After completing two sold out shows at Madison Square Garden in September 1980, Bob was jogging in Central Park one morning when he collapsed in a fit of seizures and began foaming at the mouth.  He was stunned when doctors said the cancer had spread to his brain and lungs. 

News clipping

Bob's doctors said they'd never seen someone with that much cancer in their body still walking around, so the cannabis likely helped with symptoms like nausea and wasting, though it certainly hadn't cured him.  Bob Marley & the Wailers gave one more show in Pittsburgh, with Bob playing "Another One Bites the Dust" during sound check as his confused roadies looked on, totally unaware of what he was dealing with.  It would be his last show ever.

Bob in late 1980 looking gaunt, Pittsburgh, PA

Now feeling the effects of the cancer and staring down his own mortality, Bob opted for a course of radiation therapy before heading to Germany for more experimental alternative treatment with Dr. Josef Issels, an ex-Nazi quack who was reportedly quite cruel to Bob.  He lost his dreadlocks, which devastated him.  He was falsely declared "cured" and died of advanced melanoma on his way home to Jamaica in May 1981 at the age of 36, though he looked much older.  His last words to his oldest son Ziggy were allegedly "Money can't buy life."  

Photos of Bob at Issels clinic in '81 & his family at his funeral (bottom right)



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STEVE_JOBS



Young tech rebel

The second story is that of tech innovator and CEO Steve Jobs, the man credited with creating the iPhone.  While Jobs was indeed a genius in the tech realm, he did not know more than his doctors about treating pancreatic cancer.  More on that later.  While more "educated" than Bob Marley, Jobs shared many of the same views on natural diets and alternative medicine with the Rasta musician.   

Jobs co-created the Apple Macintosh in his parents' garage

Steve Jobs was adopted and grew up in Silicon Valley as a tech genius among tech geniuses, co-founding Apple, Inc with Steve Wozniak in 1976.  Like many youths living out West in those days, he experimented with psychedelics like LSD, which he listed as one of the most significant experiences of his life.  He was also a college dropout and had an anti-establishment attitude, thinking of himself as "special", as if he could cheat reality with magical thinking and denialism.  To be fair, this strategy had worked wonders for him in the world of business.  By age 25, Apple--the company he'd started in his parents' garage--was worth around $50 million.  His focus was creating products that had never existed and that people didn't even know they needed, and he was a natural at it.  Jobs' coworkers joked that he had a "reality distortion field" around him because of his seeming ability to make the impossible a reality.

Apple CEO reflects on taking acid. 

In 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the original Apple iPhone and cemented his legacy as one of the greatest tech innovators of our age.  Unfortunately, by this point he was already deathly ill.  In 2003, a "dark spot" was visualized on his pancreas while doctors were looking for kidney stones.  Bad news:  pancreatic cancer. 

The good news:  his was one of the 5% of pancreatic cancers with a good prognosis if treated early--endocrine instead of exocrine like most cancers of this type.  He would need surgery to remove it, he was told.  But he declined, telling the doctor he preferred alternative treatments like his long-time "fruitarian" diet.  (Ironically, it may have been this diet that contributed to his developing cancer, as Ashton Kutcher developed pancreatitis within weeks of adopting it while playing Jobs in the movie about his life). 

Fruitarianism involves eating a mostly-fruit and fruit juice diet with some vegetables, seeds & nuts.  Jobs had always flirted with eating disorders ("orthorexia") but favored fruit juices and other fruit-derived products even when he shunned other foods.  The cruel irony is that such a huge dose of fructose is incredibly taxing on the liver and pancreas over time.  Even if that weren't the case, no diet or lifestyle change has ever been shown to treat or cure cancer once it exists.

 
Disappearing tech guru

After being diagnosed with this mercifully treatable pancreatic cancer in 2003, everyone in Jobs' life begged him to have the surgery.  He refused for 9 agonizing months, believing he knew more than medical professionals about treating cancer.  Predictably, the disease progressed.  By the time he opted for (real) treatment, it was too late. 

He kept his disease a secret as long as possible, telling everyone he was "cured" until he became too thin and pale to hide the truth any longer.  As death neared, he used his wealth to move himself to the top of the liver transplant list even though the transplant would not be life-saving--a highly controversial move considering this was a mostly self-inflicted situation.  He was worth about $7 billion by the end of his life. 

On his deathbed, Steve Jobs told his biographer he regretted not getting surgery sooner, musing about the afterlife or whether there was one.  "Perhaps all our collective knowledge just goes away like an on/off switch" he said somberly.  "I don't like that idea.  That's why I never put an on/off switch on iPhones."  Jobs died in 2011 at age 56 and left behind a wife and four children.

  

Last known photo of Jobs in 2011.



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Andy Kaufman

The King

While some believe Andy Kaufman faked his death & is plotting a magnificent return, the fact is we haven't seen any proof whatsoever of that, or him, since May 16, 1984.  Therefore we must assume he really did die, though the truth about when he knew he was sick, and with what, might be more convoluted than we were led to believe.

Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman was born January 17, 1949 in Great Neck, NY to working class Jewish parents.  From a young age he showed a great interest in performance art of all kinds, from music to wrestling to stand up comedy and more.  He was a rebellious teen in the '60s, taking tons of drugs and drinking daily with friends who called themselves "F Troop".  Shortly after getting his girlfriend pregnant in 1968, he smoked a final joint and never touched drugs again, replacing the chemical high with that of transcendental meditation.  TM would essentially serve as his religion until he died, & he credited it with keeping him out of the gutter and off drugs. 

A young pre-fame Kaufman

But the health fanaticism didn't stop there--Kaufman was a verified wellness freak, lining up 21 vitamins each morning and taking them in the same order before breakfast.  He adhered to a strict vegetarian diet with no alcohol, tobacco or other drugs after 1968.  He would sometimes do intense detoxification rituals involving swallowing cheesecloth and "internally flossing" (🤮).  He always washed his hands before eating, especially in restaurants or other public places where people tended to shake his hand.  According to Kaufman, his only vice was chocolate ice cream.  

Despite this, he was said to constantly badger his doctor about whether he had cancer "yet," as if it was a foregone conclusion.  He wouldn't be the first in his family to fall ill with some variant of the disease--his beloved grandpa "Papu" Cy as well as his mother both died of cancer.  But nobody was prepared when Kaufman got the news that he had a rare, advanced form of lung cancer in 1983 at only 34 years of age. Lung cancer is typically a disease of people over age 50 that frequently affects smokers, neither of which applied to Andy.  The specific type he had--large cell carcinoma--is incredibly rare & makes up about 1% of all lung cancer cases and almost never occurs in non-smokers.

According to his official biography, Andy got the dreadful news in December of '83, though he allegedly told a select few about his illness before this date, and he began showing signs of illness--coughing, taking boxes of tissues on talk shows, sniffling--a whole year before.  Due to his professional history of "crying wolf" and pulling off elaborate stunts, nobody believed he was actually sick.  Fans & even longtime industry friends like Cindy Williams ("Laverne & Shirley") didn't believe he was truly sick even as he wasted away before them & lost his hair.  Taxi co-star Carol Kane quietly poked his body in the casket to see if it moved.  👀
 

Girlfriend Lynne trimming Andy's remaining hair into a mohawk

Assuming it's true that he knew he was sick with lung cancer a full year before the "official" diagnosis, he likely didn't have to die.  He allegedly told Margaret McMullan of Vogue magazine that he was "fasting" to treat an unspecified illness in April 1983 and thinking of going to Baguio, Philippines where he eventually had psychic surgery, neither of which managed to extend his life by even a day.  He was reportedly so weak already that she pinned him while wrestling; he made her promise not to tell.  Then in November '83 he told Jerry Lawler he was sorry for coughing and hacking on his TV promo but he'd "just been diagnosed with lung cancer."  Except he hadn't been because that wouldn't happen until December at a follow-up appointment after family members forced him to see a doctor about breathlessness and a nagging cough at Thanksgiving dinner. 

It would appear Mr. Kaufman wanted to keep his diagnosis a secret while he tried out various (bogus) alternative therapies instead of actually treating his cancer.  Perhaps like fellow young lung cancer victim Dustin Diamond, he feared tabloids picking up the story if he sought treatment.  Though he certainly wasn't concerned about that by the end when he allowed photos of his psychic surgery to be sent to tabloids.  Whatever the cause, Andy paid the ultimate price for this choice, dying at only 35 from large cell carcinoma of the lungs despite his healthy lifestyle.

Passport (to Heaven)

There were also rumors he might've actually been suffering from HIV/AIDS, which tends to cause symptoms before lung cancer would as the immune system gradually fails.  The disease was rising in gay men and other marginalized groups at this time but no test for the virus existed in '83/'84, so unless you were openly gay or an IV drug user, no doctor would've suspected AIDS.  Kaufman openly bedded thousands of prostitutes in Nevada throughout his career and allegedly was into anal sex, which is even riskier.  So even if he wasn't gay/bisexual, he could've been infected with HIV which would've increased his risk of contracting cancer & other opportunistic diseases. 

Since there was no cure or even treatment for AIDS in those days, the alternative treatments wouldn't have been to blame for his death in this scenario, though it's still wrong to steal money/time and give false hope to a dying person.  He spent 6 whole weeks in the Philippines near the end of his life--time he could've spent with family & friends in the comfort of his home.  In this alternate reality, he might've chosen the bizarre psychic surgery and allowed photos to be sent to tabloids to throw them off the AIDS trail.  (It was very shameful in those days, as having AIDS was synonymous with homosexuality). 

If everyone was talking about his weirdo treatment, they'd be less likely to think of AIDS, though those rumors did briefly circulate in Hollywood following his death.  He was allegedly most concerned about his father Stanley finding out, according to best friend and writing partner Bob Zmuda & girlfriend Lynne Margulies, who coauthored a book containing the AIDS theory.  That book came out the year Stanley Kaufman died.  

Receiving "psychic surgery" from quack Jun Labo

Like the other 2 men in this article, Kaufman "covered his bet" with a round of radiation & chemo before flying to the Philippines.  While these gold standard treatments can be lifesaving early in a cancer diagnosis, they're merely palliative later once the disease has spread, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis & treatment.  Kaufman had to have known psychic surgery was bogus, being something of a magician himself.  The procedure involves pulling bloody chicken guts from the palms & pretending it's clumps of disease coming out of the body.  

Andy Kaufman died in a hospital bed at Cedars-Sinai hospital on May 16, 1984 from kidney failure secondary to advanced lung cancer.  Friend and ex-girlfriend Elayne Boosler wrote of his final hours:

"Andy never gave up hope. He didn’t intend to die. Near the end he took to sleeping with his eyes open just to make sure. When death came, early in the twilight of a warm Los Angeles evening, it was met with two unflinching eyes. When the nurse tried to close them, they just opened again. I remembered a reviewers words: “This guy doesn’t know when to get off.” I laughed. One more time he was teaching me. I stood on the ground below and watched him ride on alone. It was smooth. He was on the next hill before I realized it. I knew then that when my turn came, I wouldn’t be afraid. He had shown me the way."

Last known photo, April 1984, with girlfriend Lynne Margulies



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The lesson here is simple but I'll spell it out anyway: cancer is time-sensitive.  Early diagnosis & treatment are your only hope of survival.  This is why invasive diagnostic procedures like colonoscopy, PAP smears, mammograms & prostate exams are done--to catch cancer and pre-cancerous conditions at their earliest stages when they're most treatable.  Because it only gets more invasive from there: surgeries, emergency lifesaving procedures, swallowing cameras and other unpleasant diagnostic tests to check for recurrences, chemo, radiation & much more.  And once cancer is Stage IV/terminal, these things will only prolong life or provide modest symptomatic relief, not provide a cure.  Read that until you understand it.  There is no cure for Stage IV cancer.  

While we're on the subject:  Chemo, radiation and surgery ARE imperfect & scary.  The side effects are often unpleasant, though not nearly as bad as they once were due to the development of targeted treatments & medications like Zofran for nausea.  There are even cold caps that can help prevent or lessen hair loss.  But even at their worst, these harsh treatments don't hold a candle to the horrors of wasting away from advanced cancer as it ravages your organs, eats through your bones & causes pain & sickness so severe not even the strongest medications will help.  That's to say nothing of the helplessness of loved ones as they watch you die needlessly and are left to live out the rest of their lives with that trauma and without you. The idea that cancer is a "natural" thing you can just "die peacefully at home" from is delusional.  There's nothing peaceful about dying from cancer, not a damned thing.

Don't make the mistake these celebrities made and wait until it's too late to undergo real treatment.  Do it early and follow your doctors' treatment recommendations so you have a fighting chance.  If you think that checkup or screening test is expensive & invasive, you have no clue what's coming.  No matter how brilliant, talented, enlightened or advanced you are in the other parts of your life, you do not know more about cancer than an oncologist.  

Short list of things that have never cured any type, grade or stage of cancer:

Prayer

Acupuncture

Homeopathy

Macrobiotic diets

Fasting

Gersson Therapy

Smoking cannabis

Chiropractic care

Holistic dentistry

Chelation therapy

Colloidal silver

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Amygdalin

Psychic surgery

Black salve

Alkaline diets

Detoxes or "cleanses" of any sort

Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine or other folk cures

Magnet therapy

Naturopathic medicine

Reiki

Urine therapy (eww)

Reflexology
Herbal supplements
Apple Cider Vinegar
Mushroom blends or "superfoods"
Ivermectin
Peptides
Coffee enemas (wrong end!)

...and here's the long list.  ☠🪦⚰⚱