Suzanne Somers Misdiagnosed with Full-Body Cancer

By PopEater Staff Posted Oct 26th 2009 09:50AM

Last November, Suzanne Somers faced an emotional roller coaster when six different doctors confirmed she had "full-body cancer." Somers was filled with fear thinking she only had days to live. "For six days, six doctors confirmed I had inoperable cancer. I went into that valley of fear. I saw my death, it was horrible," Somers said. Somers later learned she had been misdiagnosed.

During the time Somers thought she had cancer, she spoke with several doctors and patients about their various treatments and decided to write her latest book, 'Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who are Curing Cancer and How to Prevent Getting It.' She shares what she describes as "groundbreaking and successful cancer prevention and care protocols incorporating chemo-free options that are available now."

The book has been highly controversial, and Somers said she's been attacked by doctors for promoting treatments that avoid chemotherapy. Somers argues that alternative methods are just another solution for patients who don't respond well to chemotherapy.

In 2001, Somers decided to forgo chemotherapy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead she had a lumpectomy to remove the cancer followed by radiation therapy and used alternative treatments.

In her book, Somers writes, "Cancer death rates dropped only 5 percent from 1950 to 2005. What other technology has performed so miserably over this fifty-five year period? In contrast, the death rate from heart disease dropped 64 percent in that time, and for flu and pneumonia it fell 58 percent."

She continues, "It is a very brave choice to go against traditional medicine and embrace the alternative route. It's easier to try the traditional route and then, if it fails, go to the alternatives, but often it can be too late. My friend Farrah Fawcett - would she have made it if she had gone alternative first? There is no way of knowing."

Tags: farrah fawcett, FarrahFawcett, Suzanne Somers, SuzanneSomers

Comments

(100)

Monday 26 October

By mary collins finn

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Somers is a menace with her hunger for publicity and her "earth is flat"v iew of modern cancer therapy. Survival rates for most forms of cancer have increased dramatically over the past 40 years (contrary to her claims. Sources :NEw England Journal of medicine and American Cancer Society. This woman is irresponsible and I pity the poor naive souls who might actually decide to take their medical advice from a former sit com and thigh exerciser-plugging starlet.

By g

"Full Body Cancer"?! What the Hell is that?

By kay

"full body" cancer is not any diagnosis I've heard of!!! She is trying to sell books. Shame on her for giving false hope to people who really do have cancer.

By Lisa

This is all very odd - first off the thought of anything called full-body cancer scared me to the point of not even reading the full article at first and looking up full-body cancer. As a healthcare employee I had never heard of such a thing and I can tell you the only thing google lists for full-body cancer is that Suzanne Somers was told she had it. There are no informational sites, no awareness, no wikipedia listing or webmd listing, not even another listing that anyone ever has ever had such a thing. So we are supposed to believe that 6 different doctors all diagnosed her with the same thing and that thing is something that no one has ever had or even spoke about before??? This confuses me. I am sorry for whatever pain and sorrow she felt she was put through but in the meantime people are dying from illness and cancers that need much more awareness and support in order to ever begin to think of finding a cure for example pancreatic cancer - I will focus on awareness of those listed online or anywhere for that matter.

By Dorothy

I remember some years back reading about a hypnotist in Las Vegas who could hypnotise people to believe they were being burned by a cigarette, when they were only being touched with a pencil eraser. The spot where they were touched actually showed a cigarette burn from being touched by an eraser that they BELIEVED was a cigarette! Imagine what the body begins to do when a doctor tells you that you are going to die and you are powerless to do anything about your disease, but he may be able to save you and you BELIEVE him! Don't ever agree with them! That is the beginning of the end for you.

Thursday 29 October

By shelley

ALL 6 OF SUZANNE'S HIGH CLASS DOCTORS WOULD HAVE DONE PET SCAN, MRI, CAT SCAN OR X-RAY BEFORE TELLING HER SHE HAD FULL BODY CANCER. SHE IS SELLING A BOOK AND THE STEM CELL SCAM. SHE HAD STAGE 1 CANCER, YOU DON'T EVEN GET OFFERED CHEMO FOR THAT. SHE IS A CIRCUS BARKER SELLING SNAKE SKIN OIL.

By Mike

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I didn't believe a word she said at the beginning and I don't believe a word of it now. I thought it very odd that the cancer mysteriously disappeared. I think it was a publicity stunt to get people to read her book. Someone in the media should challenge her to produce the doctors and her medical records. She can easily request and receive those records at any time. She can also give her doctors permission to discuss her condition with anyone. Wanna bet she won't?

By Steve

You are so right! She has some problems that start in her head, I hope no one dies from her advice like John Travolta's son did.

I would just like to know what FULL BODY CANCER is? What does it look like, is it in your blood,skin,lymph nods? What test did they use or show her that is used for full body cancer? There is no medical term called FULL BODY CANCER and unless she can provide a name for the cancer and the names of the Doctors / Hospital she is not telling the truth. I just feel bad for the people that listen to actors for advice!

By Sharon

Is it possible her Breast Cancer has
returned and spread and she may
be in denial?

By Dave

"6 different doctors told her that she had full body cancer?" I'm wondering why she hasn't enlisted the services of top LA lawyers for a gross malpractice lawsuit. That in itself should speak volumes.

Tuesday 27 October

By April

It is so very sad that she is overlooking all of the success, that doctor's have had, and I am a part of it. I was originally diagnosed with Stage 1 Breast Cancer in 1998, had a mastectomy and chemo. Then I recurred in 2001 with spread to my bones. I have, since then, mostly been on the newer targeted therapies. There was one year, a couple of years ago, that I did have more chemo, but otherwise they are keeping me stable mostly with the newer therapies that target only the cancer cells and have less side effects. I am Her2 Positive, which makes mine an aggressive form and as I have said I have been Stage 4 - with bone mets - since 2001. They treat me with mostly Herceptin and Avastin. The insurance companies don't even consider them chemotherapies. Years back, I would not be here by now, with the type that I have. I have even read of many women, these days, who have it in their liver and are living with it; for years. If that isn't success, I don't know what is.

By icdou007

ELAINE WRONG U R.

Elaine, Breast cancer stages are based on whether the cancer is invasive or non . ... There are five stags in breast cancer. Two..............There are 5 staging groups for vaginal cancer. Research!

Each type of cancer has it's own criteria to decide what the stage is; for example, a person with a cancer of the tongue will have different staging criteria than a person with colon cancer.
Now in colon cancer no stage 5, in breast yes, each depends. I wish there was none.

By Robert1207

Am I the only person who finds it ironic that Suzanne Somers, who had stage one breast cancer, wherein treatments for same don’t always include chemotherapy, is telling the public not to take a drug, that either she didn’t need or has never taken.

Rather, she is promoting a holistic approach to cancer and is describing the benefits, powers and success of beating cancer with natural alternatives. Her mantra is eat right, take vitamins, replete yourself with bioidentical hormones and most importantly, stay away from the poison, chemotherapy.

I gather she is not totally sold on the holistic approach, as she acquiesced to traditional care by undergoing radiation treatments and surgical intervention when, she herself, was treated for cancer. I also gather that her view on medicine has been shaped after she was diagnosed, for if she was eating right and taking her vitamins beforehand, she never would have gotten cancer in the first place. (Yes, I know that is a ridiculous statement, but this is Somers’ logic, wherein you can cure a disease by advancing a certain lifestyle, but can’t prevent it).

Now Somers is promoting a book on this holistic approach. Her very lay opinion is that conventional care kills and its ideology is based upon economics not medical care. With her bright smile and saddened eyes she is going from talk show to talk show describing her woes of a cancer patient and discussing that tragic, tragic day, she was told she “had full body cancer”. Fortunately for her, she was given a wrong diagnosis, but the six long excruciating days she spent thinking about it caused her extreme trauma.

Well, cry me a river Ms. Somers, your pathetic story of woes is an affront to every person with stage four cancer and all those who need medical treatments to survive one day, let alone six. How in all consciousness you try and elicit sympathy for the six days you thought you had “full body cancer” and juxtapose that with those suffering with this disease is incredulous and cowardly.

Further, this so called brave stance on conventional care is misguided and deceitful. Ms. Somers, has never taken the drug and I’ll guarantee it that when she was treated for cancer, chemotherapy was a secondary or supplemental treatment. (Prove me wrong and publish your records).

Essentially, Somers wants others to forego a medical treatment that she deems worthless, simply because she survived cancer and never took chemotherapy. She believes that conventional care is commercialized to such a point, that profits overrule cures. Ms. Somers should do more research and get her facts right. Conventional treatments not only saves lives, but the advancement in medical care has afforded those with cancer to return to full productive lives.

Concerning the dedication of doctors treating cancer, as a personal injury lawyer, I work with medical professional on a daily basis. I rank my oncologist, radiologist and surgeons as some of the best medical professionals I’ve ever encountered. My oncologist, board certified in internal medicine and oncology, is not only the smartest person I ever met, but also the most compassionate about his life’s work

But, in all fairness to Somers, there are many organizations making profits off the unfortunate plight of others. Physicians from BodyLogicMD charge from $275.00 to $395.00 an hour for patient consultations. Somers cites to BodyLogicMD as one of her expert resources in her latest book. Gee Ms. Somers, have you ever heard the expression, the pot calling the kettle black.

It is also interesting that a women who had surgery, but not a mastectomy, underwent liposuction procedures. She explained all that away on a Larry King interview many years ago. Truthfully, I didn’t buy it then, and certainly, don’t buy it now. When one is in a life and death struggle, your primary focus is health, not beauty care.

And its not that Ms. Somers does not deserve sympathy, for she is part of an exclusive club that no one wants to join, but where her survival rate is exponentially higher than other members of the club, she should not be seeking sympathy for what might have been.

If Somers really wants to eradicate cancer and not just sell books, go on the TV talk show circuit and tell the public what the early signs of colon cancer are, the early signs of breast cancer, the early signs of lung cancer, etc. But that type of truth does not sell books, only controversy does.

There are so many issues that can be addressed here, mainly other reasons why Somers has no credibility. But the only real issue here is cancer. So if anyone suspects they have cancer or have cancer like symptoms, that person should seek immediate medical care. Thus, learn all you can, inquire about all possible treatments and seek the care of a qualified medical professional.

Finally, and more of a side note, the reason oncologists had not been critical of Ms. Somers in her denouncing of their profession, is that no respecting MD is going to disparage a cancer survivor regardless of how misguided they are.

So Ms. Somers, as a stage four cancer survivor, with three surgeries under my belt, eight weeks of radiation treatment and over thirty chemotherapy treatments, I speak for all those who are too polite to say what they really feel, SHUT THE HELL UP.

By e

Well said!

Tuesday 03 November

By Donna

I've been reading health books for 35 years, since I was diagnosed with colitis and was told I had to take azulfadine for the rest of my life. What I have learned is that the body is an amazing organism that is programmed to heal itself. (Your cuts and sore muscles get better, don't they ?) I ended up curing myself of colitis, which my gastroenterologist ignored. With the proper nutrients and the proper care, with the removal of toxins and foreign substances from your life, I believe you can stay cancer free. I have not read her book, but the people criticizing it don't seem to be aware of the way the body works. Between hormones and the endocrine system and the perfect balance of these bodily functions, good naturopathic doctors can find the missing link that is keeping your body from functioning correctly. I'm not cursing all doctors, but let's face it. All they know is drugs and think drugs are what cures you. YOU are what cures you. I think this is her main point, and THAT I agree with. There's an interesting book called "Patient Heal Thyself" whereby this young man did his own research, and cured himself of Crohn's disease. The picture on the front of the book says it all. This self-healing process takes a lot of reading and a lot of time, but most people are too lazy and want immediate results and a pill to pop as a cure. It doesn't work that way and I think most of the people who are begrudging Somers come from that genre.

Thursday 25 February

By Sean

Weather or not her chimo is bogus does not change the fact that natural medicine is the most advanced medicine we have to use. I am not a god fearing man but anyone who would feel other wise would only be saying that god is wrong man is write give me some radiation put me on oxys..No no ill pass on those herbs and natural medicine please just feed me that man made crap to torture my body...slow and painfull side effect after side effect after this round and that round of poison. Am I the only one that see's this?

WAKE UP!!!!

Sunday 27 February

By Dannie

I really feel for Suzanne Somers and her struggles w/cancer and I hope that she does fully recover. One issue I have w/Suzanne Somers is her health program, which in itself is good. She is false advertising, though. She is phoney. Anyone with that kind of money can afford to look good at his/her age, with plasic surgery, false nalls and phoney hair. That's just not the norm, for average, every day people.

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