Dr Chan’s Cancer Self-Healing:  Featuring the Power of Positive Breathing
by Herb Borkland

Physician, heal thyself? Apparently not when it comes to the Big C.

“I have never heard of anyone,” says Dr Y.C. Chan, “who performed self-treatment for their own cancer.”

Yet, by 1984, this internationally-honored acupuncturist discovered that he must try or die. In that year Dr Chan’s surgeons removed an abdominal tumor the size of a grapefruit. There were so many infected nodes still riddling his stomach lining that they could not be operated on individually.

“I could tell that all my doctors were extremely pessimistic regarding my chances to overcome this disease,” their patient recalls, “and believed I would die within a few days or a few weeks.”

What came next, a medical miracle, began with rejection of Western chemotherapy in favor of an all-out, all-natural, no-drugs, side-effect-free regimen of traditional Chinese medicine. American specialists typically want 3 years of follow-up testing and 5 years of observation before pronouncing a patient definitely cured. The case of Dr Chan is already 12 years old. To date, no trace remains of his once life-threatening histolic lymphoma. Most intriguing of all, what The White House’s favorite acupuncturist is discovering in the ongoing process of healing may be even more noteworthy than the cure itself.

Who is Dr Y. Chen Chan?
Born into a Chinese medical family, the Maryland-based practitioner has treated more than 200,000 patients in various countries over the past 30 years. A great many high-ranking members of the federal government have saluted his professional accomplishments, among them Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Celebrities like NBA basketball star Moses Malone have consulted him, along with an international gallery of presidents, governors, senators, and mayors.

In his private life, the doctor is also a museum-collected painter and calligrapher of note, an award-winning scholar of traditional medicine and the author of over 100 articles and 8 books, ranging from volumes of wellness poetry to a seven-printing Chinese-language bestseller, Acupuncture in the U.S.

A wary skepticism should greet any claims of extraordinary cancer cures. So, in order to document his own remarkable success story, Dr Yang freely publishes all relevant personal medical records. Twenty-one physician’s notes are on file. His primary oncologist, surgeon, and other doctors involved in his case are unanimous as to his condition, both before and after.

What did he do?
A little of everything, and all at once. “I combined different kinds of exercise, completely altering both my diet and my lifestyle, and incorporating some Chinese herbal medicines and some acupuncture.” His wife, also a noted acupuncturist, was always there to help. “Features of my self-treatment included acupressure, the use of vitamins, and a complete change in several aspects of my lifestyle. These included meditations, a conscious attempt to reduce stress, and spending more time on relaxing activities. A combination of all these treatments and therapies led to my full recovery.”

Dr Chen has been careful to avoid claiming that either he or any other acupuncturist can cure cancer. He is quite clear about it: “My attempts to treat myself were based on convenience, meaning I was trying first and foremost to treat my symptoms... I do not wish people to think that I treat cancer with acupuncture and this is an advertisement.” Instead, stresses the doctor, “I use it (acupuncture) for pain control and increased energy. I did not intend to cure my cancer, but the acupuncture was a last resort.”

In other words, still no magic bullets. But Dr Chan’s story seems to reaffirm current thinking that, when dealing with mortal illness, a patient’s whole life must be healed, not simply the disease.

What, then, is the single most important element in his traditional styles of therapy? Dr Chen: “I believe the most helpful part of my self-healing was my exercise,” citing especially the almost infinite variety of breathing and relaxation techniques loosely grouped under the term qigong.

Whichever specific forms of qigong he may have practiced, Dr Chan is emphatic about its significance: “According to Chinese medical records... qigong has helped hundreds of people with cancer to recover.” Helped, not guaranteed. “I would like to make clear... that the method of ‘deep breath exercise’ will not cure cancer. However, it can improve your general health and prevent many diseases.”

Clearly, too, relaxation for its own sake has become a crucial component of Dr Chan’s regimen. Indeed, in his account of the disease, the doctor pinpoints how he succumbed after a long history of Type A overachieving which had begun to undermine his health. Once again, another reputable practitioner rounds up the usual suspects—job stress, family problems, over-commitment, lack of sleep and exercise, and bad diet.

Sound like anybody you know?