Tag: ian gawler

Grace Gawler – how the uncertainty principle influences patient’s choices in cancer treatments

Examining the ‘Uncertainty Principle’ and How it Negatively Influences Cancer Treatment Choices

 As a director of an integrated cancer solutions charity in Queensland, in my years working in the cancer industry, I remain shocked at the large numbers of cancer patients abandoning conventional treatment in favour of alternative therapies. Unfortunately I’ve also seen the terrible results of such choices ranging from emaciation, electrolyte depletion, metabolic exhaustion, insidious spread of cancer and associated pain increase and even death. Why?

More troubling is the number of ‘integrative’medicine GPs who are not; for the patient’s benefit; collaborating or communicating with mainstream doctors, oncologists or other therapists involved in the patients care. I’ve witnessed there to be little or no communication between treating doctors who should all be active members of the team devoted to a patient’s survival.  It’s also important that integrative medicine GPs  don’t abandon scientific training in favour of promoting excessive supplements – often via affiliations or network marketing initiatives or by promoting dubious diets like Gerson, vegan diets, coffee enemas, various electrical treatments and many other forms of therapy whose evidence is questionable.

Whether a combination of positive placebo and supplements, one very common issue is the plight of cancer patients who are surviving on will power and positive thinking…it appears that strategy has a use by date – they eventually hit a brick wall and deteriorate rapidly when there is a sudden downturn in their condition; often a condition that could have been avoided had they sought proper medical advice. It is a trap for the unwary patient because their general wellbeing may have increased temporarily; but what we see far too often are patients who are entranced by some therapists into denial of their symptoms. They have soldiered on and used up a lot of energy in their struggle for survival. The question begs – What is it in the psyche that encourages cancer patients to completely abandon conventional medicine and play Russian roulette with their lives?

Last week I heard a medical doctor say …”We give people antibiotics for an infection – they don’t have to believe in them in order to have them work- the just do!” He has a point!

At the time I had been thinking about a young man in his late teens, a friend of a friend whose mum implicitly believed in natural medicines, refusing medical advice – he had developed pnuemonia – Without treatment, he died within 4 days.
People believe that there is a certainty in natural medicines because they are natural…they can also believe the same of conventional medicine. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between…

An article in the Guardian newspaper (UK) – We Must Learn to Love Uncertainty and Failure made these points:-

  1. Uncertainty is a central component of what makes science successful.
  2. The idea of something being “scientifically proven” was practically an oxymoron
  3. The very foundation of science is to keep the door open to doubt.
  4. A ‘good scientist’ is never ‘certain’ – adopts different view if better evidence avails.

Perhaps I had discovered an answer to my questions!

  1. Alternative cancer treatments are promoted with compelling certainty and sophistication.
  2. Simultaneously alt/med amplifies the uncertainty of conventional medicines.
  3. Terminology – ‘slash, burn and poison’ – denigrates conventional treatment and sows fear.
  4. Many patients we see in our practice are terrified to stop taking their supplements. It is implied by some natural therapists that if patients stop using alt/med methods they will die or be toxic from their medical treatments—ironic that an industry that claims to promote wellbeing has an emphasis on fear – the negative placebo.
  5. Alt/med has successfully promoted the image of the greedy ‘big pharma’ but little is said about alt/med avarice, pseudo science and deception – illustrated below.

Last week we met a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy while simultaneously spending $1100.00 a week on ‘secret’ alternative treatment – but afraid to give it up because it ‘seemed to be working’ – he didn’t notice anything or feel any better – but was afraid to change what he was doing and had been doing for the past 2 years. I recommended an oncologist – He is now in hospital for emergency drainage of ascites ( fluid accumulation in the abdomen) – 10 litres of fluid has been removed. His naturaopath missed the warning signs. This patient is typical of many, who driven by the fear of their diagnosis, don’t want uncertainty and thus are easily lured by the certainty, the increasingly sophisticated ‘pseudo’ science and ‘aura’ of alternate therapies.

Conclusion:  There is an important role for complementary (CAM) therapies in cancer medicine, but the role of alt/med is questionable as is usage of the often touted term ‘evidence-based’ medicine. A recent Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) article disclosed significant errors in a high profile cancer patient recovery story that has influenced the course of alternative, complementary and lifestyle medicine in Australasia for 32 years. It has even influenced peak training bodies such as The Australasian Integrative Medicine Association (AIMA). In the light of the MJA disclosures, the question of what is evidence-based integrative medicine must be addressed in the public interest.

Happily excellent working models exist in Singapore and Hong Kong. These set the standard for excellence for integrative, or as I now like to call it, collaborative cancer medicine. The winner is the cancer patient.
References:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jan/15/uncertainty-failure-edge-question

National Cancer Centre, Singapore (NCCS).   Strong Team-Based, Evidence-based Practice  http://www.nccs.com.sg/medprof/04.htm

Grace Gawler MJA article – Cancer patients at risk from inaccurate clinical reporting in a high-profile alternative treatment story: comments and corrections – Sept 20 2010

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html

Dr Linda Calabresi – Australian Doctor article
http://insidewww.australiandoctor.com.au/news/58/0c06d258.asp

Ian Gawler response – Australian Doctor article
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

 

Grace Gawler's Story – Grace, Grit and Gratitude – A Memoir

Appreciation –  Olivia Newton John – thank you for allowing me to use such apt and beautiful track for this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1ZYnDGIRI]

Grace, Grit and Gratitude is a story of courage and survival through repeated and horrendous adversity, my own life-threatening condition that required 20 surgical procedures, the effects of separtion/divorce when ill then coping with a teenage family and facing the prospect of imminent demise. I have also recorded in the book an accurate account of my shared time with Ian Gawler – when I was his prime 24/7 caregiver at the age of 21. 
At that time I had little awareness of how life would unfold and that I would become so intimately became involved in a very famous cancer recovery story. 

Caregivers: It is rather unfortunate that Ian has played down the care-givers role in his recovery…A few years ago one Abc radio interviewer Melbourne 774 introduced Ian as the man who single-handedly conquered cancer. I had hoped Ian would correct the statement – but he did not. Little media time is given to caregivers…. honest acknowledgement of the efforts and unseen (and often unspoken challenges) that caregivers experience. We are often invisibilised – but our contributions to humanity and care are essential in a community. When Ian was very ill – at his most critical point  – it was not diet or meditation or lifestyle that pulled him through his darkest night of the soul – but love, compassion, proactivity, faith, hope and belief of his caregiver.

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s Dr Ainslie Meares praised Grace Gawler for her part in helping her husband to live. He said, “The support he had from her first as his girlfriend and later as his wife, has been very remarkable. She is very sensitive to his needs and feelings and has spent hours and hours massaging him and helping him with his meditation.”
Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

More than 3 decades have passed since Ian Gawler was told he was clear of cancer. We were together for 23 years –  had 4 children during that time, co founded the Gawler Foundation and created the Yarra Valley Living Centre. In 1997 Ian left the family, we then divorced and he later married Dr Ruth Gawler  – a GP who now works at the Gawler foundation and assists Ian with his private seminar and merchandising company. Ian retired this year.
Our story that led to Ian’s recovery was complex and once it had been made public we carried the extra responsibility of making sure that it was told accurately and truthfully. As Dr Linda Calbresi from The Australian Doctor magazine recently wrote: ‘ we had
Recently the Australian  published an article based on a refute letter that I had written to the Medical Journal of Australia after belatedly coming across a rewrite of Ian’s story in that journal…a version that was full of clinical time-line errors, non factual material and some serious omissions. The MJA published this version December 11 2008 under the banner of “True Stories” and although the patient was not named in the article, it was clearly Ian. It was a  former patient that alerted me to the story after she had seen it reproduced on the Gawler Foundation’s website…she was sure that some of the information was not correct especially the reference to Ian having strictly adhered to a vegan diet. As a recovered patient herself who had attended our earlier programs – she was surprised to read this because she Little did she know that this error was just the tip of the iceberg.

References:

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/first-wife-disputes-cancer-guru-ian-gawlers-survival-story/story-e6frg8y6-1225935666765

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
Authors: Dr Ruth Gawler & Prof George Jelinek

Source: 

 http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s

Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

Grace Gawler’s Story – Grace, Grit and Gratitude – A Memoir

Appreciation –  Olivia Newton John – thank you for allowing me to use such apt and beautiful track for this video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS1ZYnDGIRI]

Grace, Grit and Gratitude is a story of courage and survival through repeated and horrendous adversity, my own life-threatening condition that required 20 surgical procedures, the effects of separtion/divorce when ill then coping with a teenage family and facing the prospect of imminent demise. I have also recorded in the book an accurate account of my shared time with Ian Gawler – when I was his prime 24/7 caregiver at the age of 21. 
At that time I had little awareness of how life would unfold and that I would become so intimately became involved in a very famous cancer recovery story. 

Caregivers: It is rather unfortunate that Ian has played down the care-givers role in his recovery…A few years ago one Abc radio interviewer Melbourne 774 introduced Ian as the man who single-handedly conquered cancer. I had hoped Ian would correct the statement – but he did not. Little media time is given to caregivers…. honest acknowledgement of the efforts and unseen (and often unspoken challenges) that caregivers experience. We are often invisibilised – but our contributions to humanity and care are essential in a community. When Ian was very ill – at his most critical point  – it was not diet or meditation or lifestyle that pulled him through his darkest night of the soul – but love, compassion, proactivity, faith, hope and belief of his caregiver.

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s Dr Ainslie Meares praised Grace Gawler for her part in helping her husband to live. He said, “The support he had from her first as his girlfriend and later as his wife, has been very remarkable. She is very sensitive to his needs and feelings and has spent hours and hours massaging him and helping him with his meditation.”
Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

More than 3 decades have passed since Ian Gawler was told he was clear of cancer. We were together for 23 years –  had 4 children during that time, co founded the Gawler Foundation and created the Yarra Valley Living Centre. In 1997 Ian left the family, we then divorced and he later married Dr Ruth Gawler  – a GP who now works at the Gawler foundation and assists Ian with his private seminar and merchandising company. Ian retired this year.
Our story that led to Ian’s recovery was complex and once it had been made public we carried the extra responsibility of making sure that it was told accurately and truthfully. As Dr Linda Calbresi from The Australian Doctor magazine recently wrote: ‘ we had
Recently the Australian  published an article based on a refute letter that I had written to the Medical Journal of Australia after belatedly coming across a rewrite of Ian’s story in that journal…a version that was full of clinical time-line errors, non factual material and some serious omissions. The MJA published this version December 11 2008 under the banner of “True Stories” and although the patient was not named in the article, it was clearly Ian. It was a  former patient that alerted me to the story after she had seen it reproduced on the Gawler Foundation’s website…she was sure that some of the information was not correct especially the reference to Ian having strictly adhered to a vegan diet. As a recovered patient herself who had attended our earlier programs – she was surprised to read this because she Little did she know that this error was just the tip of the iceberg.

References:

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/first-wife-disputes-cancer-guru-ian-gawlers-survival-story/story-e6frg8y6-1225935666765

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
Authors: Dr Ruth Gawler & Prof George Jelinek

Source: 

 http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/50/0c06d750.asp

In an article in Woman’s Day in the late 70’s

Ian Gawler backs that. “I had to battle against negativity a fair bit, especially early in the piece, when I was so sick. But there was never anything negative about Grace. She would always give me a good old kick in the pants and get me going again. I am very fortunate to have her.”

Gawler and Jelinek – MJA Cancer Patients at Risk with Errors of Consequence

 Visit Grace Gawler’s personal website at www.gracegawler.com

Thankyou Healthyliving.middaily for publishing this MJA report http://healthyliving.middaily.com/the-gawler-foundation-conference-opportunity-to-discuss-flawed-mja-report.html

As stated in “healthyliving.middaily” – I too believe a public enquiry needs to be held into the 11 Dec 2008 MJA errors authored by Ruth Gawler and George Jelinek – not my preference but if my diligent attempts to discuss, mediate and secure a public statement have failed, then it must be achieved through other channels. As I have said before, patients usually don’t read medical journals and they are the ones who need to be informed.
The waters of communication and transparency have become very muddied indeed. I emailed detailed proof to the authors of the MJA 2008 article hoping they would make a public statement – but, no reply. Ruth Gawler and George Jelinek work for the Gawler Foundation – however the Gawler Foundation believes that the MJA article has nothing to do with them?  This is even more amazing because the Foundation uploaded the MJA 2008 link to their website on 10 December and it has been there since.  http://gawlerfoundationmedia.com.au/2008/12/ Note – The day before their article in MJA was officially published.
The new-look Gawler Foundation bases their programs on the content of the 2008 article in question – the article that is incorrect! So they all need to get the story right because it is told around the world via the internet, at their national support groups, conferences, in books, workshops and most importantly now – in medical journals. See blogspot thesecondsight
http://thesecondsight.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-facts-meet-merchandising.html

I have spent time emailing and faxing my irrefutable proof to the CEO of the Gawler Foundation. In response she posted a letter on the gawlerfoundationmedia site. It fails to address the issues but of great concern is her last sentence.  “These articles are in no way helpful to the important work of the Foundation nor to those people suffering from cancer.”
Well, if letting cancer patients and doctors know that incorrect material has been published in a reputable medical journal when it comes to this issue of a high profile cancer remission such as Ian Gawler’s, I would think it to be very helpful indeed!   
Despite the challenges I remain undaunted in my duty to get this medical maze sorted out. I am hopeful that A Current Affair who filmed an interview with me in early October will eventually go to air…it is currently deferred until they can interview Ian and Ruth Gawler and or George jelinek. This week video footage relevant to the clinical timelines ( taken in the Philippines between March 1976 – May 1979)  has been subject to complaint and removed from you tube – seemingly with no recourse from me as the owner and with permission from all to be filmed including Ian. As well my email has been corrupted and still in process of restoration. And now the Gawler Foundation is threatening defamation via a legal letter requesting that I immediately cease publishing material defamatory of the Foundation. I ask – Is the truth defamatory?
The Yarra Valley Living Centre was my vision for cancer patients & I devoted years of my life to establishing it.  As Gawler Foundation co founder, ex director, therapist and the person who was there 24/7 for years for Ian Gawler as dedicated caregiver, I could never have imagined that my own Foundation would threaten to sue me for being involved with misreporting a part of my own story that, of necessity ran parallel with Ian’s.  Now that takes some inner processing!
The following is reported on Healthyliving.middaily
“Cancer patients are amongst our most vulnerable community members. Fear driven by horror stories of chemo suffering and words for alt/med like ‘ cut, burn and poison they put faith in alternative cancer cure stories.

So when significant errors about a high profile alternative cancer cure story are found in the prestigious Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) article by Dr Ruth Gawler and Prof George Jelinek from the Gawler Foundation about the cancer healing history of Australia’s most famous cancer patient, Ian Gawler (IG) it is cause for a public enquiry…”  Read more at
http://healthyliving.middaily.com/the-gawler-foundation-conference-opportunity-to-discuss-flawed-mja-report.html

 visit my personal website www.gracegawler.com

Ian Gawler – Is Bemusement the Appropriate Response for Cancer Patients and Caregivers?

More at www.gracegawler.com

For more than 3 decades, Australia’s most famous recovered cancer patient has travelled under the medical radar without his medical history being questioned – that is until now.

Health, wellbeing and aspiring to assist people with life challenging illness has been a life-long passion. My interest in healing was I believe genetic – a product of my mother’s Irish side of the family. Going back some 52 years to my first day at primary school, I was the only child with wholemeal salad sandwiches, I was vegetarian and had to manage a lot of teasing. My Irish genes served me well and I developed a doggedness for standing up for myself, for what I knew was right and what I knew was right for me. I was also heavily influenced by my health and lifestyle conscious uncle Leo White – alias Kid Young, an Australian champion boxer who was terrific bloke as well as a mentor. I knew that I had a vocation early in life. This manifested initially through healing and veterinary work – I worked as a part time nurse when I was at high school and met Ian Gawler when he came as a locum vet. He offered me a job at his clinic and eventually a relationship blossomed – but within a few months he was diagnosed with bone cancer and had a leg amputated. The rest is history or should I say now, ‘his-story’.
The ‘her – story’  – my important role in his recovery, seems to have been relegated to the ‘his-story’ books. Continue reading “Ian Gawler – Is Bemusement the Appropriate Response for Cancer Patients and Caregivers?”

The Gawler Foundation Conference An opportunity to explain MJA errors

Visit www.gracegawler.com or http://gracegawler.com/Institute/
The Gawler Foundation’s annual conference will be held at the Hilton Hotel Melbourne this weekend November 12 and 13.  I trust that this could be an opportunity for speakers such as Professor Ian Olver from the Cancer Council and the MJA article’s authors, to discuss and disclose to the public, health professionals and the cancer community, why such significant errors in the timelines and photographs relating to Ian Gawler’s cancer recovery were altered and published in Australia’s most prestigious journals – the Medical Journal of Australia. The MJA took a total of one year to deliberate on the facts I had provided before publishing my refute article.  Fortunately I had kept original photos and documents that prove my case.  You can view my refute letter by selecting the link below:
‘Patients at Risk from Inaccurate Clinical Reporting in a High-Profile Story: Comment and Corrections’ 20 September 2010 MJA Volume 193 Number 6 20 September 2010- pp371-372 http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html
Recently I met with Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke whose daughter Monique tragically died last year from advanced secondary breast cancer. A believer in natural therapies approaches to cancer, she avidly read self-help books and used natural therapies to alleviate her cancer symptoms for some time. She did not believe in mammograms. By the time she reached hospital – it was too late. Devastating for loving parents to endure.
The Satori case from Perth reported in the Australian newspaper last Saturday is another chilling report and a tip of the iceberg in alternative cures for cancer that are flooding the community! 
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/cancer-patient-smelled-of-spices/story-e6frg6nf-1225948551756
Over the past few years I have seen an alarming increase in emaciated and debilitated cancer patients on vegan diets – some while on chemotherapy and others who have been following the natural therapies path. I have seen in my practice some shocking tumour masses befitting 3rd world countries where treatments are not available. The Cancer Council reported the following in an article by Jill Stark March 2010 the Melbourne AGE: Continue reading “The Gawler Foundation Conference An opportunity to explain MJA errors”

Ian Gawler – A Survivor’s Bemusement?

The fact that Ian Gawler survived his wrangle with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) is highly significant, however when a cancer suvivor becomes famous for just that – surviving, there are public responsibilities inherent in the role. One of them is accuracy about the story, time-lines and incidents crucial to their survival. A high profile patient must be transparent with the details, medical history, photographic and radiographic evidence and needs to be answerable to the public and the medical community – especially if obvious flaws are brought to their attention. These “flaws” were made very obvious in an article about the patient under the banner of “True Stories” – a 2008 Australian Medical Journal (MJA) article. Medical journal articles give enormous credibility to ‘alternate cancer cure claims’ and are supposedly peer reviewed and accurate.

This blog was never intended for speaking out against the story that I was so intimately a part of – however when one can see that the MJA story in question had such a makeover as to make it almost unrecognizable – then for me not to make a statement and rectify the errors in a public forum would be reprehensible.

So cancer patients beware:  Since most of you don’t have the luxury of reading refutes in medical journals spreading the true version this story is the value of my blog.

  • When open comment is sought after errors are brought to attention and there is silence – I am concerned.
  • When I write to Dr Ruth Gawler, Professor George Jelinek and Ian Gawler about the significant errors and I get no reponse – only silence – I am concerned.
  • When I read their rufute of my factual timeline letter in the MJA and they do not address or worse, show indifference to the facts – I am deeply concerned.
  • When I see comments like the following quote from Ian Gawler saying: – ” It is rather bemusing to be a long term cancer survivor and to have so many people claiming to be responsible for curing you and to have their own version of what you did” – having been instrumental in many of the treatments we tried and having walked the arduous path to his recovery alonside him – I am am not only concerned but shocked!
Ian Gawler - after Meares and Gerson diet Photo taken Philippines March 1976

So…. to you the patient or caregiver –  if this blog is serving its purpose to help you, it is imperative I address these critical errors in Ian Gawler’s story.

My new Institute’s charter is to provide cancer patients and caregivers with accurate cancer therapy information as well as information about the traps, tricks, scams and fraudulent statements in profusion on the internet and in the plethora of do-it-your-self cancer books and blogs now available to cancer patients – all at the touch of a “mouse.”

Therefore it would be unethical of me and certainly not in the public interest if I chose to ignore the version of Ian Gawler’s medical history and remission story that was published in Dec 11 2008 MJA ( Medical Journal of Australia). Incidentally about the same time Ian’s Biography, The Dragon’s Blessing was penned by Guy Allenby.

After almost a year of scrutiny, fact checking and cross referencing – the MJA decided to publish my refute of the story along with original photographs, correct dates and many other corrections. Ironically, Allenby’s biography actually validates the dates I have included in my refute letter!!

How could Dr Ruth Gawler and Prof George Jelinek got it so wrong?  All they had to do was read the Dragon’s Blessing or previous articles in the Gawler Foundation’s Inspiring People or read the timelines that were previously published on the Gawler Foundation website or even read a copy of the Australian Doctor September 3 1983 as I did when verifying what corresponded with my memory. If I find out the answer to the question – rest assurred it will be published here.

But – there is more…

1.    The Patient never adhered to a vegan diet – neither throughout his recovery period 1975 – 1978 nor for the following years we were married 1978 – 1997.

2. Inversion of timelines as evidenced by the photographs published by the MJA 2010. Even in their reply to my refute – Drs Gawler & Jelinek are still claiming these photographs were taken in 1976!!- They were unaware that I had provided the MJA with my originals at the last minute prior to publication. The new date on the photos happens to fit in with their version of the 2008 True story; which states …. only after Ian Gawler failed chemotherapy and other medical treatments – did he then consult Ainslie Meares. However Ian can’t have consulted Ainslie then because he first consulted Meares 12 December 1975. ( see page 74 The Dragon’s Blessing) This is a timeline error of 19 months and corresponds with my memory!

MJA published 20 September 2010
Ian Gawler - Photos with actual dates dsiplayed MJA 2010

Ian’s now very famous photographs are dated and have been reproduced many times in many publications including many of his own.
The date is clearly stated – they were taken 7 July 1977 when Ian Gawler was basically well – not when he was critically ill Feb 1976.

3.    The 3rd not so publicly known issue: That Ian failed to correct Ainslie Meares wrong version of our story in 1978. Meares also inverted critical medical timelines. He also states Ian had a mid thigh amputation. Ian is aware I have tried to correct this error since 1978.

1. The 1978 Meares article – misreported
http://gawlerfoundationmedia.com.au/2008/11/10/medical-journal-of-australia-case-study-by-ainslie-meares-1978
2. The 2008 MJA “True Stories article – even more errors
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
3. Patients at Risk from Inaccurate Clinical Reporting in a High-Profile Story: Comment and Corrections’ 20 September 2010 MJA Volume 193 Number 6 20 September 2010- pp371-372
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html

I encourage you to look at the facts – view the MJA articles online and then make up your own mind. The question of why the story changed after 1996 and why the makeover aoccurred just might be related to attempts to write me out of Ian’s story and the Gawler Foundation’s history. Failing to report the whole story in context and accurately presented is a great travesty for cancer patients and caregivers.

My advice – Choose CAM therapies wisely – check facts and claims – your life may depend upon it!  Grace Gawler: http://www.gracegawler.com
If you would like more information and an information package on this topic please email me via my website.

Ian Gawler – A Survivor's Bemusement?

The fact that Ian Gawler survived his wrangle with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) is highly significant, however when a cancer suvivor becomes famous for just that – surviving, there are public responsibilities inherent in the role. One of them is accuracy about the story, time-lines and incidents crucial to their survival. A high profile patient must be transparent with the details, medical history, photographic and radiographic evidence and needs to be answerable to the public and the medical community – especially if obvious flaws are brought to their attention. These “flaws” were made very obvious in an article about the patient under the banner of “True Stories” – a 2008 Australian Medical Journal (MJA) article. Medical journal articles give enormous credibility to ‘alternate cancer cure claims’ and are supposedly peer reviewed and accurate.

This blog was never intended for speaking out against the story that I was so intimately a part of – however when one can see that the MJA story in question had such a makeover as to make it almost unrecognizable – then for me not to make a statement and rectify the errors in a public forum would be reprehensible.

So cancer patients beware:  Since most of you don’t have the luxury of reading refutes in medical journals spreading the true version this story is the value of my blog.

  • When open comment is sought after errors are brought to attention and there is silence – I am concerned.
  • When I write to Dr Ruth Gawler, Professor George Jelinek and Ian Gawler about the significant errors and I get no reponse – only silence – I am concerned.
  • When I read their rufute of my factual timeline letter in the MJA and they do not address or worse, show indifference to the facts – I am deeply concerned.
  • When I see comments like the following quote from Ian Gawler saying: – ” It is rather bemusing to be a long term cancer survivor and to have so many people claiming to be responsible for curing you and to have their own version of what you did” – having been instrumental in many of the treatments we tried and having walked the arduous path to his recovery alonside him – I am am not only concerned but shocked!
Ian Gawler - after Meares and Gerson diet Photo taken Philippines March 1976

So…. to you the patient or caregiver –  if this blog is serving its purpose to help you, it is imperative I address these critical errors in Ian Gawler’s story.

My new Institute’s charter is to provide cancer patients and caregivers with accurate cancer therapy information as well as information about the traps, tricks, scams and fraudulent statements in profusion on the internet and in the plethora of do-it-your-self cancer books and blogs now available to cancer patients – all at the touch of a “mouse.”

Therefore it would be unethical of me and certainly not in the public interest if I chose to ignore the version of Ian Gawler’s medical history and remission story that was published in Dec 11 2008 MJA ( Medical Journal of Australia). Incidentally about the same time Ian’s Biography, The Dragon’s Blessing was penned by Guy Allenby.

After almost a year of scrutiny, fact checking and cross referencing – the MJA decided to publish my refute of the story along with original photographs, correct dates and many other corrections. Ironically, Allenby’s biography actually validates the dates I have included in my refute letter!!

How could Dr Ruth Gawler and Prof George Jelinek got it so wrong?  All they had to do was read the Dragon’s Blessing or previous articles in the Gawler Foundation’s Inspiring People or read the timelines that were previously published on the Gawler Foundation website or even read a copy of the Australian Doctor September 3 1983 as I did when verifying what corresponded with my memory. If I find out the answer to the question – rest assurred it will be published here.

But – there is more…

1.    The Patient never adhered to a vegan diet – neither throughout his recovery period 1975 – 1978 nor for the following years we were married 1978 – 1997.

2. Inversion of timelines as evidenced by the photographs published by the MJA 2010. Even in their reply to my refute – Drs Gawler & Jelinek are still claiming these photographs were taken in 1976!!- They were unaware that I had provided the MJA with my originals at the last minute prior to publication. The new date on the photos happens to fit in with their version of the 2008 True story; which states …. only after Ian Gawler failed chemotherapy and other medical treatments – did he then consult Ainslie Meares. However Ian can’t have consulted Ainslie then because he first consulted Meares 12 December 1975. ( see page 74 The Dragon’s Blessing) This is a timeline error of 19 months and corresponds with my memory!

MJA published 20 September 2010
Ian Gawler - Photos with actual dates dsiplayed MJA 2010

Ian’s now very famous photographs are dated and have been reproduced many times in many publications including many of his own.
The date is clearly stated – they were taken 7 July 1977 when Ian Gawler was basically well – not when he was critically ill Feb 1976.

3.    The 3rd not so publicly known issue: That Ian failed to correct Ainslie Meares wrong version of our story in 1978. Meares also inverted critical medical timelines. He also states Ian had a mid thigh amputation. Ian is aware I have tried to correct this error since 1978.

1. The 1978 Meares article – misreported
http://gawlerfoundationmedia.com.au/2008/11/10/medical-journal-of-australia-case-study-by-ainslie-meares-1978
2. The 2008 MJA “True Stories article – even more errors
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/189_11_011208/jel11032Cancer
3. Patients at Risk from Inaccurate Clinical Reporting in a High-Profile Story: Comment and Corrections’ 20 September 2010 MJA Volume 193 Number 6 20 September 2010- pp371-372
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/193_06_200910/letters_200910_fm-1.html

I encourage you to look at the facts – view the MJA articles online and then make up your own mind. The question of why the story changed after 1996 and why the makeover aoccurred just might be related to attempts to write me out of Ian’s story and the Gawler Foundation’s history. Failing to report the whole story in context and accurately presented is a great travesty for cancer patients and caregivers.

My advice – Choose CAM therapies wisely – check facts and claims – your life may depend upon it!  Grace Gawler: http://www.gracegawler.com
If you would like more information and an information package on this topic please email me via my website.

Australian Doctor – Grace Gawler comments on Ian Gawler's Cancer Recovery

Gawler Australian Doctor
22 October 2010 Gawler Australian Doctor Article

Laptop users  – To  magnify use control + on your keyboard

Article reprinted from Australian Doctor with permission

For more new evidence about  Ian Gawler’s  cancer recovery see press media kit

If you, family or friends are seeking authentic  information about Integrated Cancer Solutions see Grace’s website

CAUTION: As you may now becoming aware, there are many stories about miraculous cancer cures circulating the internet and bookshops. Cancer support veterans like Grace Gawler, have seen ‘miracle cures’ come and go and sadly most were not valid.

Indeed it has taken Grace decades to correct errors in the Ian Gawler cancer cure story – a story she was involved in 24/7 .

Please fact check and cross check all ‘miracle cure claims’ and do not abandon conventional therapies. Some common cures persist such as MMS, Hydrogen Peroxide, Hulda Clark’s ‘Parasiste Cure’ (It is not widely known she died of cancer) The Gerson Diet and many others.

Pip Cornall

Australian Doctor – Grace Gawler comments on Ian Gawler’s Cancer Recovery

Gawler Australian Doctor
22 October 2010 Gawler Australian Doctor Article

Laptop users  – To  magnify use control + on your keyboard

Article reprinted from Australian Doctor with permission

For more new evidence about  Ian Gawler’s  cancer recovery see press media kit

If you, family or friends are seeking authentic  information about Integrated Cancer Solutions see Grace’s website

CAUTION: As you may now becoming aware, there are many stories about miraculous cancer cures circulating the internet and bookshops. Cancer support veterans like Grace Gawler, have seen ‘miracle cures’ come and go and sadly most were not valid.

Indeed it has taken Grace decades to correct errors in the Ian Gawler cancer cure story – a story she was involved in 24/7 .

Please fact check and cross check all ‘miracle cure claims’ and do not abandon conventional therapies. Some common cures persist such as MMS, Hydrogen Peroxide, Hulda Clark’s ‘Parasiste Cure’ (It is not widely known she died of cancer) The Gerson Diet and many others.

Pip Cornall

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