[Monterrosa-24]

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel, CANCER WARD, the patients have a long discussion about a tree bark tea that is supposed to work wonders. Later one of the three female doctor admits that it may have some beneficial effects especially with stomach cancer.

This novel takes place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, USSR in 1955. It is semi-autobiographical as Solzhenitsyn was a cancer patient there after serving an eight year sentence in the Gulag. He was given three weeks to live at one point but is still alive today after getting conventional treatments and waiting in the queues.

[Marysecretary]

I, too, have heard of different teas. One of them is 'casie's tea' or essiac. You can get it in health food stores.

[Freebird Forever]

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel, CANCER WARD, the patients have a long discussion about a tree bark tea that is supposed to work wonders.

Do you recall if the name of the tree was mentioned?

Two which come to mind are:

the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia), from which the drug Paclitaxel (aka Taxol) is derived; and

Taheebo (Tabebuia Avellanedae or Tabebuia Impetiginosa) from which Pao d'Arco is obtained.