Showing posts with label alternative healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative healing. Show all posts
Monday, March 1, 2010
Juice Feast - Days 5&6
Oddly enough, yesterday & today I experienced more hunger than the previous 4 days. I also had thoughts of eating solid foods, although I wasn't tempted to do so. It was almost like nostalgia, but without the desire to go there. The hunger is always mild, it comes & goes & never stays for long, which is nice. To satisfy it I just drink more juice, but I still haven't made it to a full gallon - 3 1/2 quarts is the most I've been able to take so far. Today I had coconut oil for the first time on the feast & it seemed to be just what I needed. I mixed it with some bee pollen & was so pleased with my concoction that I plan to take it routinely - maybe every other day, alternating with hemp oil. The release of mucus has tapered off & there haven't been any other odd or interesting detox episodes to report thus far. I'll certainly document them here when they do occur.
Monday, July 13, 2009
An Overview of Healing
This post is in response to a comment left by Amanda who requested that I give a summary of my healing journey, including the ups and downs, over the past two years. It's been quite a trip and it's not over yet, even though I've been cancer-free since January 2008. As I've achieved a greater state of health I've become more in-tune with the needs of my body and I have a better understanding of the connection between my physical and spiritual well-being. This journey is not a temporary phase of my life, as I once thought it would be, but rather a lifetime committment to reach my greatest potential on all levels of body, mind and spirit. This opportunity wouldn't have presented itself had I not been diagnosed with cancer and chosen an alternative natural path to healing.
I've remained faithful to a plant-based diet since early 2006 which I believe is the most important contributor to my healing. It wasn't always easy to stay the course but my desire to reverse the cancer kept me motivated. My exams at three-month intervals showed that the cancer had stabilized and the tumor markers were slowly declining. Despite all my good efforts there were a few times when the markers were unpredictable - up a little, then down a little on the next visit, then up again. That sometimes felt defeating, but I understood that this type of bloodwork isn't always reliable. It's more cause for concern when the tumor marker continuously rises by many points at a time. That didn't happen for me but I still sometimes had doubts, and that's when it was tough to remain patient and faithful to my protocol. Keeping a possitive outlook was at times tricky but it became much easier when my tumor markers started to plumet.
I didn't start to see an uninterrupted downward trend in my tumor markers until I started fasting one day each week and then switched to a high-raw diet. (80-100% raw). I believe this helped my body to detoxify on deeper levels than were possible with mostly cooked food. Fasting once a week wasn't easy but I felt it was important to periodically divert my body's energy from digestive tasks to deeper healing. With habitual practice fasting became easier. I've since gotten out of the habit of regular fasting but I keep trying.
It took a period of several months for me to switch to 100% raw. My first attempt at 30 days raw was a huge struggle. I felt deprived mainly because I missed the grains. I continued to research, learning more about how to prepare raw foods, what to have on hand, etc. and in early 2008, after several months of being high-raw, I transitioned to 100%. It's now my preferred way of eating.
Here's a picture of the residual nodules on my neck that was taken about a year ago.
...and this was just a few weeks ago.
It's hard to tell if there's much change since the lighting is different.
These nodules may be scar tissue, I'm not sure. They were noticeably larger and brighter pink when the cancer was still active and spreading. This is about all that's left and they're stubborn. I've tried therapeutic doses of enzymes, daily infrared sauna sessions, and countless other attempts to dissolve them, but they're not yet ready to budge. They are a reminder to me that my body has other important rebuilding work to do and will get to these later. Stay tuned for my next post when I'll write more about raw foods, my dry eyes and supplements.
I've remained faithful to a plant-based diet since early 2006 which I believe is the most important contributor to my healing. It wasn't always easy to stay the course but my desire to reverse the cancer kept me motivated. My exams at three-month intervals showed that the cancer had stabilized and the tumor markers were slowly declining. Despite all my good efforts there were a few times when the markers were unpredictable - up a little, then down a little on the next visit, then up again. That sometimes felt defeating, but I understood that this type of bloodwork isn't always reliable. It's more cause for concern when the tumor marker continuously rises by many points at a time. That didn't happen for me but I still sometimes had doubts, and that's when it was tough to remain patient and faithful to my protocol. Keeping a possitive outlook was at times tricky but it became much easier when my tumor markers started to plumet.
I didn't start to see an uninterrupted downward trend in my tumor markers until I started fasting one day each week and then switched to a high-raw diet. (80-100% raw). I believe this helped my body to detoxify on deeper levels than were possible with mostly cooked food. Fasting once a week wasn't easy but I felt it was important to periodically divert my body's energy from digestive tasks to deeper healing. With habitual practice fasting became easier. I've since gotten out of the habit of regular fasting but I keep trying.
It took a period of several months for me to switch to 100% raw. My first attempt at 30 days raw was a huge struggle. I felt deprived mainly because I missed the grains. I continued to research, learning more about how to prepare raw foods, what to have on hand, etc. and in early 2008, after several months of being high-raw, I transitioned to 100%. It's now my preferred way of eating.
Here's a picture of the residual nodules on my neck that was taken about a year ago.
...and this was just a few weeks ago.
It's hard to tell if there's much change since the lighting is different.
These nodules may be scar tissue, I'm not sure. They were noticeably larger and brighter pink when the cancer was still active and spreading. This is about all that's left and they're stubborn. I've tried therapeutic doses of enzymes, daily infrared sauna sessions, and countless other attempts to dissolve them, but they're not yet ready to budge. They are a reminder to me that my body has other important rebuilding work to do and will get to these later. Stay tuned for my next post when I'll write more about raw foods, my dry eyes and supplements.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Spring Cleanse Resumed
I've decided to make this a relatively simple cleanse by eliminating all fat from my diet for the next ten days. This will give my body a bit of a digestive break while allowing it to easily assimilate the nutrients from all the fruits, vegetables and juices I'll be consuming. With less digestive work to do my body will be able to divert that energy to cleansing and healing.
I did great on Saturday with the Master Cleanse and yesterday was also a good day, although I had a little olive oil in a dish I made for a family function. Since I want this to be a completely fat-free cleanse I've decided to start over with today as day#1.
My day was simple with a wheatgrass juice first thing this morning, a green smoothie for breakfast and dinner, with fruit in between when I felt hungry. The bulk of my calories on this cleanse will come from fruit to keep me energized.
Rest is also an important part of my cleanse and today I took a three-hour nap! I haven't done that in years and it felt incredible. I may not be able to do that everyday but I've given this cleanse priority on my schedule for ten full days so I should be able to get in at least a few cat naps. All the benefits of my healing regimen are minimized without proper rest so I'm making it a goal to get adequate sleep consistently, not just during a cleanse. I'll post again in a day or two.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Health Update
Today I received my PET-scan & tumor-marker blood test results & I'm happy to report once again that there are absolutely no traces of cancer. In January my tumor marker finally dropped to 27, which is well within the normal range (0-40). Since then it's been tested again 3 times & has stayed right there at 27, until now. It just dropped another 5 points to 22! This year I've seen my oncologist's (and his staff's) concern and skepticism over my alternative path gradually give way to genuine happiness and amazement at how well I'm doing.
I'm also seeing Dr. David Brownstein - a holistic MD - who wrote the book on iodine -"Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It". He ordered tests to check my levels of vitamins, minerals, hormones & heavy metals. I also had an ultrasound of my thyroid, which is under active. Test results show that I have several deficiencies, but the good news is that I no longer have high levels of mercury or other metals. These toxins were interfering with the absorption of nutrients from food. I'm taking several new supplements to help my body in its rebuilding phase. Eventually, as my levels become more balanced I will eliminate the supplements. I believe my raw food diet is the best "building material" I can offer my body so I'm sticking with it.
I'm also seeing Dr. David Brownstein - a holistic MD - who wrote the book on iodine -"Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It". He ordered tests to check my levels of vitamins, minerals, hormones & heavy metals. I also had an ultrasound of my thyroid, which is under active. Test results show that I have several deficiencies, but the good news is that I no longer have high levels of mercury or other metals. These toxins were interfering with the absorption of nutrients from food. I'm taking several new supplements to help my body in its rebuilding phase. Eventually, as my levels become more balanced I will eliminate the supplements. I believe my raw food diet is the best "building material" I can offer my body so I'm sticking with it.
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