[Two Pronged] As a fan of Dr. Willie Ong, I feel helpless about his cancer diagnosis

Rappler’s Life and Style section runs an advice column by couple Jeremy Baer and clinical psychologist Dr. Margarita Holmes.

Jeremy has a master’s degree in law from Oxford University. A banker of 37 years who worked in three continents, he has been training with Dr. Holmes for the last 10 years as co-lecturer and, occasionally, as co-therapist, especially with clients whose financial concerns intrude into their daily lives.

Together, they have written two books: Love Triangles: Understanding the Macho-Mistress Mentality and Imported Love: Filipino-Foreign Liaisons.

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Dear Dr. Holmes and Mr. Baer,

Do you know Dr. Willie Ong?

He has a YouTube channel where he gives medical advice to people for free. He also does medical missions, helping those in remote areas get medical treatment. I am a huge fan.

He now has cancer. I follow his updates regularly. I read articles and watched his videos where he cried and looked so weak. Despite all this, he still loves the Filipino people. He said that if we prayed for him, he is sure to get better. I pray for him every day. On my next payday, I will pay for a novena for him. What else can I do? I feel so helpless and guilty, especially since I did not vote for him.

Please enlighten me,

Ester

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Dear Ester,

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately, I know nothing of Dr. Ong. However, I can address a possible connection between prayer and physical/mental health in general as there are some academic studies on the effect of prayer which are worth examining, despite being controversial and challenging to administer rigorously.

Studies on prayer and health outcomes have produced varied results—either positive or no significant impact. Studies showing positive effects mention psychological benefits (e.g., reduced stress, increased optimism), social support, placebo effect, and for believers, potential divine intervention (though this is not of course scientifically measurable).

However, there are severe methodological challenges, such as controlling variables like type, frequency, or sincerity of prayer, ethical considerations in randomizing patients to receive/not receive prayer and the difficulty in blinding participants (knowing one is being prayed for may influence outcomes).

Significant studies include Byrd (1998) (suggesting positive effects of intercessory prayer on cardiac patients’ outcomes) and Benson et al. (2006) (STEP project) (finding no effect of intercessory prayer on complications after heart surgery). Meta analyses such as Masters et al. (2016), Andrade et al. (2018), and Hodge (2021) found small or no effects.

To date, therefore, there is no clear scientific consensus on the efficacy of prayer for illness recovery, with any apparent effects generally being attributed to psychological or social factors rather than supernatural intervention.

However, even if its actual efficacy cannot be proven scientifically, there is no doubt that prayer provides much solace to believers, both those suffering from illness and those seeking to alleviate others’ suffering.

So in response to your question, Ester, keep praying if you really believe it might help.

All the best,

JAFBaer

Author’s Note: There are studies that show potential benefits of meditation for various aspects of health and recovery, including stress reduction, pain management, immune function, and sleep quality, but this merits a separate column.

Dear Ester:

Thank you very much for your letter.

Unlike Mr. Baer, I know Dr. Willie Ong, having appeared with him on the same TV show a couple of times. I too am a great fan.

However, like all great minds (charot!), he and I might disagree about certain issues in science, medicine, healing, and even prayer.

When I had cancer, I asked people to pray for me and was heartened by all who did. I have no doubt it helped in my healing, though I don’t think it did so via a neat mathematical formula such as the degree of healing is a function of the x% of people who prayed, the number of times they prayed, the status of the people who prayed and/or, indeed, the money spent on masses, novenas or what have you.

Also, being “cured” does not necessarily mean physical healing, does it? It can mean a greater awareness of God’s role in your life, a greater acceptance of the cards you have been dealt with in your life, a greater appreciation for what you have, less investment in getting what is your “due,” etc. It can lead to just plain loving God more and wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

Politics being what it is today, my antenna picked up when Dr. Willie appeared on YouTube telling people, “I think I got all this pain from negative thoughts, from negative emotions, from all the hurt, all the bashings I got from 2022 Vice Presidential campaign.

In another YouTube video, at approximately 42 seconds into the video, Doc Willie repeats: “I think I got all this pain from negative thoughts, from negative emotions, from all the hurt, all the bashings I got from 2022 vice presidential campaign. Then, at 55 seconds, he add: “If you pray for me, I think I will get well. If you keep bashing me, I think I will die.”

How is that supposed to make people feel? I would definitely feel guilty (like you felt, Ester) even if you did not bash the good Doc Willie. I daresay if one followed the guilty feeling to its extreme (which, alas, I am prone to do), for those prone to guilt, remorse if one didn’t vote for him when he ran for vice president and even a determination to vote for him should he ever run for office once more.

By asking people to pray for you, you encourage them to conclude they have skin in the game, that they are invested in your life. If one were a canny politician, this would be one of THE best ways to garner more votes in the next election.

On the one hand, some people may say (or even you, dearest Ester, though I sure hope not): All Ester asked about was prayer…and how on earth did this lead to emotional blackmail and then I realize this may sound horrible and I have steeled myself in case I, too, get trolled. Many would say, how DARE you?!!? The man is dying”. But one can still hope for recovery, can’t one?

At 6:46 of the same video. Doc Willie says: My diagnosis right now is neutropenic sepsis (NS). This, NS, is a common and predictable complication of cytotoxic chemotherapy. Admittedly, patients with neutropenia are vulnerable to invasive infection, which can be rapidly overwhelming, causing septic shock and death. There is also widespread recognition that NS, as with all forms of sepsis, is a medical emergency in which urgent administration of intravenous fluid and antibiotics have proven benefits on outcome.

However, NS remains a major complication of cancer chemotherapy, with an associated mortality rate ranging from 2% to 21%. Neutropenic sepsis is a medical emergency in which broad-spectrum antibiotics must be given without delay.

Praise God Doc Willie is getting appropriate treatment for his condition.

In the unlikely event that Doc Willie decides not to run, his wife Doc Liza Ong, who is perhaps as well known and admired as Doc Willie and thus would garner much of the goodwill Doc Willie has gained, could. An earlier version of this was called widow’s succession (WS).

Wikipedia defines WS as “a political practice prominent in some countries in the early part of the 20th century, by which a politician who died in office was directly succeeded by their widow, either through election or direct appointment to the seat”. The last example of this in the Philippines was in the 1967 senatorial race when Magnolia succeeded her husband Gaudencio Antonino who died on the eve of said election.

A variation of this might be our beloved Cory Aquino’s being elected president, or indeed, Pnoy’s own election… not to mention all the Duterte clan members coming out of the woodwork — from the sheriff-punching ex mayor becoming Philippine VP, etc. That this happens is not necessarily wrong, especially since there is some truth in “We get the government we deserve.”

But I hope we are aware of what these politicians are doing. It certainly is somewhat manipulative.…but then elections and campaigns have always involved manipulation, to a much higher degree than anything else, haven’t they?

Dearest Ester, please forgive me. My column has gone way beyond your original question. But this is an example of how “mere” advice columns can be mirrors (and thus guides) of what is happening to our country today, even to the shenanigans of politicians?!!?”

Forgive me if you are slightly exasperated by this seeming detour. But the personal is oftentimes political, and this is a perfect example of this.

Ingat lagi, (take care always), dearest Ester. By all means, use your paycheck for a novena. I cannot think of anyone who would not appreciate this if they had cancer.

Kudos to your kindness,

MG Holmes

– Rappler.com

Please send any comments, questions, or requests for advice to [email protected].