Promoting self-healing, couple publishes books on
cancer cures

by Ivy Harper , Staff Writer
August 19, 1998 Page A11

In 1983, Dr. Y.C. Chan of Potomac was diagnosed with the same kind of cancer that quickly killed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1994 -- terminal lymphatic cancer. Doctors gave up on his case and told him that he would only live for a few months.

Unwilling to accept his fate, the Chinese-born-and-raised Chan changed his diet, lowered his stress, stepped us his regimen of Asian exercise, Chi Kung, and administered the ancient art of acupuncture on himself.

"I have never heard of anyone who performed self-treatment for his or her cancer," said Chan, who runs The Acupuncture Clinic of Maryland in a North Bethesda medical center across the street from White Flint.

Before his cancer, Chan was distinguished here and abroad for being one of the first practitioners of acupuncture to popularize the traditional healing art in the United States.

For years now, said Chan, who came to this country from Hong Kong in 1972 to practice Asian medicine, he "has never felt better."

So much so that in 1995 he decided he needed to share his treatment with other cancer patients and their families. To that end, he and his wife, Dr. Rong Shiaung Yu, contacted major publishing houses with their idea for a book chronicling Chan's dramatic cancer turn-around. They were put off by the publishing world's terms, the sloppy editing they discovered in many books coming out of the top houses and the cheap covers they saw on most new releases.

Disillusioned, the couple, who have two children in elementary school, chose the self-publishing route. Although Chan would not disclose how much money he has spent to produce more than 1,000 top-quality books, he would say that "money is not the issue."

"I wanted to publish an elegant book with extremely useful and important information that also serves as a record of our lives," Chan said.

One month ago, the couple's three-year self- publishing odyssey ended with the publication of "Dr. Chan's Cancer Healing: Cancer Prevention and Self-Healing," a 200-page, red-leather-like-bound account of Chan's life before and after cancer.

The Chan's have already held two jam-packed book signings in their picture-filled basement office and a third has been scheduled for September.

Ed Hogan, a columnist for Olean County, N.Y., newspapers, wrote of the book that retails for $39: "It's a book of hope for cancer patients. It's a moving true story of a man who literally took the advice of 'physician, heal thyself' and did just that. "He wants Americans to understand the power they hold over cancer," said Yu, who edited her husband's manuscript and chose the cover and title for the book.

The couple wants Americans to reverse the order that people turn to when they are diagnosed with cancer.

"Currently, people look to their doctors and to medication," Chan said. "I want them to turn to themselves and their families, first."

Chan also believes that until Americans understand that many cancers are environmentally induced and take action accordingly, "people will continue contracting cancer."

He predicts that in several decades, Americans will learn what the Chinese have known for centuries -- that "we control our lives," he said. " In the next century, people will be healthy without doctors," Chan said.

In the meantime, Chan says, stay away from toxic chemicals, smoking and sugar. Increase exercise, art therapy and acupuncture. Last, but not least, he recommends smiling.

"You will get more oxygen into the body," he said.

Dr. Chan's Cancer Healing (By Dr.Y. C. Chan)

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