Last week Vincent shared his story about overcoming metastatic colon cancer using natural therapies.

The post generated a huge response. Many of you were inspired by Vincent’s journey and keen to know more about his recovery and diagnosis. One reader asked Vincent to explain how he knew he was cancer free, since he had not returned to a hospital since his diagnosis.

I thought it might interest you to hear Vincent’s answer:

‘I know that this may sound strange and maybe even delusional, but I just know.
Let me tell you why I took the decision not to go back and this is purely my opinion and I don’t want anyone to think I am advocating this to anyone else in the same position.We all have to decide what we feel comfortable doing and what path to take when facing a difficult situation..

I felt the stress of waiting for an appointment, which could be weeks or months, then waiting for the results which again could be weeks or months and finally hearing what the consultant has to say if it is not good, was not worth the trauma. More importantly, what would they offer me if things had got worse? Chemotherapy, Radiation or more surgery. How long can you keep cutting bits out and not actually addressing the root cause of the problem? The tumour is not the cancer, it is merely a symptom of the underlying cause, fix the underlying cause and the body will heal itself on it’s own.

I wanted to stay completely focused on what I was doing, and more damaging radiation from scans, biopsies that spread cancer seeds around and an increase in the levels of stress whilst waiting for test results, was not I felt, conducive to my recovery plan.’

Vincent’s explanation really resonated with Mum. She too has refused to have any follow up scans – PET scans, mammograms or CT scans – since her diagnosis ( she did agree to one CT scan at that time).

‘ I didn’t want to get locked into that cycle of fear,’ Mum said yesterday. ‘ And obviously I didn’t want the radiation either.’

One double CT scan delivers the same amount of radiation as 700 X-rays.

So what’s more terrifying? Having doubts about whether you are 100% cancer free or submitting to a procedure that significantly increases your risk of more cancer? One CT scan is thought to cause cancer in one out of every 270 people screened, but patients are rarely told of the risks.

Instead the radiologist might have a friendly chat with the patient before they flick the buttons… and scurry for safety.

Bada bing, bada boom.

One survey published in the American Journal of Roentgenology in 2009 found that some patients had up to 70 CT scans over eight years – equivalent to the radiation levels from 21 Hiroshima bombings.

What about PET scans?

The procedure uses a radio-tagged sugar molecule to ‘light-up’ up cancer anywhere in the body. This test delivers as much radiation as a head, chest, abdomen, pelvis and bone scan combined.

In Take Control of Your Cancer Dr. James Forsythe offers a word of caution for patients:

‘ After enumerating all of your symptoms, do not allow your doctor to over-test your body with excessive amounts of radiation including excessive CAT scans or PET scans, which can often make your condition worse by weakening your immune system.’

Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy also has reservations about ‘routine’ doses of radiation. Last week, as guest author on Renegade Health (Kevin Gianni’s fantastic blog) she had this to say on the subject:

‘Medical imaging… is now responsible for about half of our radiation dose, and the over-use of diagnostic tools like CT scans has devastating consequences. The 70 million CT scans performed in this country in 2007, for example, could result in the development of nearly 30,000 cases of cancer down the road, including leukemia, colon, and lung cancer.

Are all these scans necessary? I doubt it. The much-ballyhooed whole-body CT scans, for example, are actually worthless as a health screening tool, since no clear benefit has ever been proven.’

It’s worth noting that CT and PET scans are by no means definitive.

Mum was recently told that if a patient has wind it can obscure the results on a CT scanner. Moreover, a cancer metastasis must measure between 5 and 10 mm before it can be detected on a PET scan.

Know Yourself

Ultimately, each patient must weigh up the risks and benefits of diagnostic procedures – taking into consideration both the emotional and physical toll they might take.

According to Lothar Hirneise, independent cancer specialist and author of Chemotherapy Heals Cancer and the World is Flat cancer patients would do well to assess the anxiety and stress brought on by regular check ups. The following excerpt is taken from an interview with Hirneise for ODE magazine in 2003:

When people ask me which diagnostic tests they should and shouldn’t do I tell them:

‘Can you sleep without that diagnosis?’ If so, don’t do it. If you need the diagnosis to sleep better, then go ahead. Instead of a blood test, you’re better off looking in the mirror.

Look at your whole body, your skin, etc. That is a better diagnosis. Then meditate and listen to your body. Listen to what it wants to tell you. You will discover a great deal, gain a lot of insight. Afterwards you can always go to a doctor. Don’t just go to a doctor to have your blood tested or have an x-ray. I know this is a big sacrifice.

We think the doctor should know best, right? Wrong. Believe me, that’s not the way it works. The tumour is not your enemy. Stress is the true source and no one can handle the stress of too many tests.’

For Mum, the idea of anxiously waiting for results every three months was abhorrent beyond belief.

So what’s the alternative?

Thermography, MRI, ultrasound, elastography and blood marker tests are all non-radioactive ways of checking-up on what’s inside.

Since her diagnosis Mum has opted to have a bi-annual CA-125 blood test (a marker for ovarian cancer) and she keeps an eye on her general health through iridology and SCIO scans – a computer that picks up nutritional deficiencies and toxins, among other things.

When she felt a lump in her breast a few months ago, she booked in for a (nuke free) ultrasound. Thankfully it came back clear. But if it hadn’t?

‘Perhaps if I got some really bad news I’d take myself off to an alternative clinic,’ Mum said.  ‘But a bad result isn’t going to make me suddenly decide to stop doing vitamin C injections, ozone and coffee enemas and start having conventional treatment.’

Mum now takes time out to listen to her body and keep her stress levels under control; she also keeps herself active – with shaking, kayaking and dog walking – and makes time for joy in her life.

Last month she went on holiday with her boyfriend to America. She watched raunchy shows in Las Vegas, hiked the hills in Yosemite National Park and took in the beauty of Niagara Falls.

Yet when she mentioned the imminent trip to friends, nearly everyone asked – in hushed tones – whether she was going away ‘for treatment.’

Mum was pleased to be able to respond that the trip was purely about pleasure. It was a holiday she had planned, in minute detail, since her diagnosis.

And therein lies a very vital part of healing: anticipatory pleasure.

Photo by Showtime

Whether you choose to have regular check ups or not (and for some people it is the right choice) make sure you have something to look forward too – a massage, a weekend of back-to-back Borgias or a dip in the ocean – whatever the results.

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Disclaimer

Connecting with others who have taken the road less traveled and come out the other side can be just as important as any dietary change or treatment plan, according to Mum.

We’ve received a steady stream of emails from other natural cancer survivors since starting this blog, and many have been generous enough to allow me to share their story on this site.

A few weeks ago Nicola, from the UK, shared her story of beating breast cancer naturally and Jane – a six year bladder cancer survivor – recently talked about the benefits of Essiac tea and the importance of embracing change.

It’s my great pleasure this week to share with you Vincent Crewe’s story. Despite pressure to have chemotherapy five years ago, Vincent opted for a host of non-toxic treatments instead. As you can see from the picture, he is now in rude health. Here is his story, in his own words:

‘In January 2007 and at the age of 57, I was diagnosed with colon cancer which had spread to the liver.  As a non-drinker, non-smoking fella who had exercised most of his life, this was a bit of a shock to put it mildly.

However, I am a person that gets stressed quite a bit and had recently experienced a very tragic bereavement, which I think was the tipping point for my immune system.

Although avoiding surgery was not an option (the colon was almost completely blocked) I knew enough about chemotherapy to avoid it completely. Although the oncologist tried his best to persuade me to have it, I refused flatly.

When I told him about the alternative treatments that I would be using instead, all of which were non-toxic, he remarked arrogantly that none of these had any proven benefits.  I did point out that neither has chemotherapy, which  did not go down too well and I could see there was no point in discussing this with him any further and so I took my leave. I have not been back to a hospital since that time.

I knew what I had to do, which was to address the toxicity, deficiency and stress which all seem to be a factor in cancer. I bought a book by Dr Sherry Rogers entitled Detoxify or Die and that book became my bible.

From it I learned why we get so toxic in our modern world and how these toxins lead to serious and degenerative illness. The book also explains how to go about getting the toxins out of the body. I used a variety of supplements and the famous coffee enemas, which is the best thing I ever did.

From my research I knew that cancer cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment and one which is alkaline. So my next step was to make my body as inhospitable as possible for the cancer cells.

I started out gently at first using Flor Essence which is an herbal tea and has anti-cancer properties.

Once the cancer cells started dying off, I would need all the elimination channels working as effectively as possible, otherwise the liver gets overloaded.

I invested in an ozone generator from Ozone Guru Dr Saul Pressman in Canada and self-administered Ozone therapy. Having read about the benefits of Infrared sauna treatment, for not only detoxing but also stressing cancer cells to destruction, I invested in a small one person unit.

I also combined the two therapies by heating up my body to a high level with the sauna and then funnelling Ozone, whilst still in the sauna (pores wide open) to the site of the removed tumour.

I juiced organic carrots, celery and a green apple every morning to which I added ground bitter apricot kernels.

I also followed the complete B17 Protocol which includes pancreatic enzymes, Zinc and several other supplements. There is lots of information about B17 on both Philip Day’s Credence site www.credence.org and also www.anticancerinfo.co.uk

Every afternoon I made fresh fruit smoothies and tried to include pineapple and Papaya, because they contain some very potent anti-cancer enzymes, Papain and Bromelain. I also included some of the Brazilian super fruits Acai and Acerola which I bought frozen from a juice bar supplier (you cannot buy these fresh) I cut out red meat and ate chicken and fish for protein.

I supplemented with high doses of Vitamin C, Vitamin A, COq10, Glutathione, Alpha lipoic, Selenium, Zinc, Magnesium, and several more. I got back into exercise as soon as I could because that brings so many benefits both physically and mentally.  That was 5 years ago and looking back, the whole journey has been a blessing.

It is so important to take control and responsibility for your own health and educate yourself about the options available. Do not be bullied into going down the conventional route without checking out other options first and don’t make the mistake of thinking that doctor’s know everything about health matters, they don’t!!’

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Disclaimer

‘Holistic unit will ‘tarnish’ university’s reputation’ the headline read. As I read on, my blood started to boil. When I got to the quote from the ‘professor of alternative medicine’, I nearly choked on my tahini toast. By the end of the article my stomach was making origami; I had indigestion and I was angry.

Aberdeen University is considering setting up a chair funded by a clinic that uses mistletoe to treat cancer patients.

Cause for celebration you might well think?

Apparently not.

The news has triggered a ‘furious reaction from mainstream scientists’ according to Sunday’s piece in The Observer.

‘How dare students carry out studies into a non-toxic cancer treatment!’ the researchers must be railing.

‘ Don’t they realize the ONLY way to treat cancer patients is to put them through the excruciating – and humiliating – horrors of poisoning, cutting and burning!’ they’re surely saying, shaking their heads in puzzlement.

According to reports, the Raphael Medical Centre – an anthroposophical clinic – would provide £1.5 million to fund the chair for five years; the other £1.5 million would come from the German company Software AG.

So if the proposed research centre isn’t taking away government grants, why is the scientific community so up in arms?

For those who profit from the holy trinity of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery – the research centre represents a direct threat to their bottom line.

What would happen if the students discovered there was a way to heal patients, without poisoning them? What if the students found that anthroposophical medicine actually works?

You don’t have to look far to find evidence that it does. The AnthroMed Library has over 600 articles, documents and research papers on the subject.

Anthroposophy is based on the principle of treating the body, mind and soul of the patient and includes therapies such as mistletoe and homeopathy.

I’ve written about both treatments in the past, but for new subscribers, here is a little re-cap:

Kissing Cancer Goodbye

Mistletoe is the most commonly used oncological drug in Germany.

8 MIILLION cancer patients have benefited from Mistletoe – in conjunction with conventional therapies – over the past few decades, according to one report from the Mapapo Institute (German – Argentine Institute for Oncologic and Immunologic Investigations).

Iscador, a specific extract of mistletoe, has been used in controlled pilot studies in the Berlin University, Witten/Herdecke, Germany and the University of California, USA, for breast, colon, prostate, brain, intestine, ovary, stomach and lung cancer.

A major 30-year-long study with more than 35,000 participants reported that mistletoe extract greatly improved survival rate for a wide variety of cancers, including breast cancer. Study participants who used Iscador in conjunction with conventional treatment survived 40% longer than those who didn’t use the plant therapy.

Not only can mistletoe improve survival time in a wide range of cancers, but it has also been shown to help patients tolerate conventional cancer treatments and improves cancer related fatigue.

And what about homeopathy?

AKA, mainstream medicine’s favourite whipping boy.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of blogging about a German man who beat pancreatic cancer thanks to homeopathy.

Emil Brehm was diagnosed in 2004- the same year Steve Jobs discovered he had the deadly disease – and today, more than seven years later he is still very much alive.

You can read his miraculous story here.

But that’s just anecdotal evidence! I can hear you scolding.

Well, what’s wrong with an anecdote, if it’s true? I’d have to argue.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of peer-reviewed studies on homeopathy and cancer if you care to take a look.

One study, published in the February 2010 issue of the International Journal of Oncology found that homeopathy works as well as an expensive breast cancer drug.

Researchers from the USA and India, found the cancer killing effects of the remedies Carcinosin 30C and Phtytolacca decandra 200C showed similar activity to Taxol the most commonly used chemotherapeutic drug for breast cancer… but without the nasty side effects of course.

Patients with brain cancer have also been cured thanks to homeopathy alone.

252 patients with brain tumours were treated at the Prasanta Banerji Homeopathic Research Foundation – between 1996 and 2001.

The 91 patients who were treated exclusively with the remedies Ruta and Calc Phos had an average survival time of 92 months whereas 11 patients who had been treated conventionally, and used homeopathy only as a supplement, survived for 20 months. 7% of the homeopathy only patients had a complete cure. (What Doctors Don’t Tell You, March 2012).

And yet according to the so-called ‘professor of alternative medicine’ quoted in the Observer, anthroposophical medicine doesn’t work:

‘Anthroposophical medicine has no basis in science. Its concepts were dreamed up by Steiner and are based on mystical thinking,’ says Edzard Ernst, professor of alternative medicine at Exeter University.

This isn’t the first time Ernst has criticized alternative medicine:

He has been called upon to contribute to the following features:

Inside the Chinese medicine minefield Daily Mail 8.5.07

Homeopathy is worse that witchcraft Daily Mail 1.5.07

Complementary Medicines are useless and dangerous Daily Mail 12.12.06

Homeopathy is pointless Daily Mail 23.5.06

Chiropractors may be a waste of time Daily Mail 30.3.06

Alternative cures are bogus Daily Mail 19.3.04

(Thank you Sue Young for collating that list)

So how qualified is Professor Ernst to cast ‘expert’ judgements on alternative medicine?

Not at all apparently.

‘I never completed any courses,’ was his response, when quizzed about his credentials recently.

According to Young, a registered homeopath and blogger: ‘No investigator has discovered any evidence of his enrollment in any alternative medicine training school or college and Professor Ernst has not published any alternative medicine educational credentials at all, beyond his claim to have them.’

Is this some kind of joke? I mean, you couldn’t make it up.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking to Phillip Day founder of The Campaign for Truth in Medicine and author of Cancer: Why We’re Still Dying to Know the Truth. This is what he had to say on the matter:

‘Professor Edzard Ernst is a false-flag defender of complementary medicine. Asking him to comment on complementary medicine is like telling the wolf that someone’s been in the hen house. If you want people to hate policemen, you dress up somebody as a policeman and get them to go around bashing old ladies over the head.’

You might chuckle – but really, there’s nothing funny about suppressing and skewing information that might help cancer patients; especially those for whom conventional medicine has failed.

No punch line this time I’m afraid. A punching bag would be great though.

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Disclaimer

‘Words can become swords, and cure or kill just like a scalpel.’ Dr Bernie Siegel

Most of us have heard of the word ‘placebo’: it’s a ‘dummy drug’ – usually a sugar pill- used in scientific trials so the real drug can be tested against a control.

In order to get FDA approval, a new drug has to prove more effective than a placebo in at least two trials.

How hard can that be?

Quite difficult, apparently.

Half of all antidepressant drug trials fail against a placebo, according to a review submitted to the FDA in 2008.

Thanks to brain imaging technology we now know that when we take a placebo, the brain releases its own natural chemicals as if we were taking the real thing. ‘At least one third of all healings have …to do with the placebo affect,’ says Bruce Lipton, a renowned cell biologist in The Living Matrix.

The body is a well-stocked pharmacy; ready to dispense natural painkillers, endorphins and antidepressants at any given moment – we just need to deliver the right prescription, or message, to the brain.

So what boosts the placebo effect?

Research shows the effectiveness of placebos varies from as low as 10% to as high as 100%.  Capsules seem to be more effective than tablets; increasing the dose – taking four tablets rather than two – heightens the effect and injections work better than pills.

In a famous case study in the 1950s, one man’s cancer was reversed thanks to an injectable placebo. The patient, with advanced cancer, was led to believe he was receiving an effective new drug, when in reality he was given an injection of water. The result? His tumours vanished– such is the power of belief. To read the full story, click here.

Personality also plays a role in the placebo effect:

‘Optimists are more likely to benefit from something that’s going to make them better, while those who are negative react better to something that’s supposed to make them worse,’ writes Dr. David Hamilton in How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body. ‘Again the key to healing lies within us.’

But it also depends on your doctor. In a Harvard study on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), the response to a placebo increased from 44 % to 62 % when the doctor treated patients with ‘warmth, attention and confidence.’

If your doctor’s words and demeanor have the power to heal, it’s also true they have the power to harm.

And this is where the nocebo effect comes in. If you’re told a pill might cause nausea – there’s a good chance it will. And if you’re told you’re going to die – you just might.

In Australian aboriginal culture, if an elder points the bone at another tribal member, the man is expected to die. The practice is still common enough in Australia that hospitals and nursing staff are trained to manage illness caused by ‘bad spirits’ and bone pointing ( according to Wikipedia anyway).

So what happens when a doctor says, ‘you have three months to live’? If the patient dies, after three months, was the doctor right or did his words simply become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

‘Those doctors foolish enough to predict death are playing ‘God,’ and my personal belief is that that may be the most reprehensible and unforgivable component of my profession,’ writes Dr Rashid Buttar in The 9 Steps to Keep the Docotor Away. ‘The power of words is tremendous, beyond our comprehension, and we should never forget that the most important thing we can offer those who seek our help in living is to offer them hope.’

Prognoses are based on statistics, but there are always exceptions. ‘Terminal’ cancer  patients – with metastases to the bones, lungs and liver – have been known to fully recover, pancreatic tumours have vanished and those who’ve been sent home to die, have gone on to live. In the last year I’ve had the privilege of speaking to many cancer patients who’ve defied a death sentence and I now firmly believe that where there is hope, there is healing.

So how should you respond if a physician tells you ‘there’s nothing more we can do?’  Dr. Keith Scott Mumby, author of Cancer Research Secrets, suggests the following:

‘ If a doctor ever says such words to you, translate them as follows: ‘I don’t know what I’m talking about and I don’t know what I’m doing. I suggest you find a natural healer and follow a spiritual and lifestyle path to a cure.’

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‘ What’s your water like?’ asked the doctor.

‘Oh, um… pretty normal,’ Mum replied.

In the month following her diagnosis Mum had spoken to more specialists, therapists and naturopaths than you could shake a stick at, and had become inured to sharing intimate details about herself.

But mercifully, this time, the doctor was only interested in the quality of water coming out of Mum’s kitchen tap.

In our post recession world, asking for ‘just tap’ has become du jour. But the unpalatable truth is that pesticides, heavy metals, hormones, drugs and even rocket fuel regularly make their way into the water system.

How do these contaminants get there?

* Pesticides and herbicides are drawn into the supply as rain-washes over the land

* Heavy metals are picked up from pipes and joint fixtures

* Hormones – such as oestrogen – contaminate the system thanks to women on the contraceptive pill and men taking Prozac.  These drugs ultimately end up in the rivers and groundwater supplies which are then used as sources of drinking water.

So what does this have to do with cancer?

Let’s start with runoff from farms.

Emerging evidence suggest fertilisers may pose cancer risks. People exposed to high levels of nitrates in drinking water have increased risk of stomach and liver cancer, according to studies in China. Nitrates are a common component of fertilisers.

Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup, has also been linked to cancer – as well as endocrine disruption and DNA damage, according to numerous studies.

One report observed a higher incidence of multiple myeloma in those in contact with Roundup (glyphosate) compared to those who never used the chemical.

And, despite previous safety claims, a recent report demonstrated that Roundup was in fact capable of entering the groundwater supplies.

But, getting back on tap.

There’s also the problem of heavy metals – such as lead – in our drinking water.

Not only do heavy metals cause significant oxidative stress but they also have the ability to displace essential minerals – like zinc, magnesium and selenium – that your body needs to stay healthy and cancer-free.

And finally, there’s oestrogen.

Many experts believe the female sex hormone is one of the main drivers of cancer – and not just breast and prostate cancer – but also endometrial, cervical, colon, brain and testicular cancer.

According to a recent piece in the magazine Icon, one of the biggest sources of oestrogen in big cities is tap water.

So is Evian the answer?

In short, no.

Plastic bottles leach phthalates and Bisphenol A (BPA) – oestrogen mimics – which means you’re back to square one on that front. BPA has also been linked to both breast and prostate cancer.

Added to that is the huge environmental cost of drinking water from plastic bottles … and the fact that forty percent of bottled water IS actually tap water.

So what can you do?

There are many water filters out there and it’s really up to the individual to research and find what works. Carbon filters are meant to be great, and the reverse osmosis filter gets the thumbs up from a lot of experts.

According to Dr William Campbell Douglass: ‘Not only will reverse osmosis keep the bacteria out, it’ll also rid your water of the chlorine, too — not to mention the fluoride, herbicides, pesticides, hormones, drugs (legal and illegal), rocket fuel and everything else that’s oozing out of your tap.’

Getting clean, high quality water is paramount for cancer patients, according to Dr Leigh Erin Connealy:

‘I would say all tap water around the United States has chemotherapy and medications and radiations and birth control pills and blood pressure pills and every kind of medication you possibly know not to mention the chemicals that are in the water,’ she said at the recent Healing Cancer World Summit, presented by Kevin Gianni.

While Mum has had a water filter in her home since the ’80s, it’s only in the last year that she’s made a conscious effort to drink more of it, and that’s important too.

As Dr Coldwell said to me recently: ‘Healing and cleansing starts with four litres of water a day.’

And since our bodies are composed of 75% water, it’s worth making sure what we’re drinking is clean.

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Disclaimer

Our family home has just been given a new lick of paint – the first time it’s had a makeover since we moved in 20 years ago.

When I took in the new gum-tree-grey house, after a long flight from London, I felt a momentary pang for the old terracotta orange. But after a few weeks I became accustomed to the colour, and by end of the holiday, I appreciated just how much better it looked.

It’s a funny thing change. We will do anything to resist it – we’ll put up with toxic relationships, dead-end jobs and peeling paint – just to maintain the status quo. But when fate finally forces our hand, we wonder what took us so long to move on.

Painting the house is just one of the many ways Mum has embraced change since her diagnosis last March.

These days she no longer sweats the small stuff (she saves the sweating for the infrared sauna); she’s studying to be a health coach (after decades of dispensing advice for free) and she now can’t imagine life without green juices, coffee enemas and the many wise and inspiring people she’s connected with in treatment rooms, health food stores and through this blog.

From the vantage point of her new reality, Mum can now appreciate that getting cancer kick-started a series of positive changes in her life, and led her to shake-things up – both mentally and physically.

… Like a Polaroid Picture

Recently, both Mum and I have been shaking uncontrollably for twenty-four minutes, once a week, thanks to a new DVD by world-renowned yoga instructor, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa.

In Kundalini Yoga: Healthy Body Fearless Spirit Gurmukh instructs students to shake to the point that: ‘your innards are shaking, your lips are shaking, your eyeballs are shaking, your brain is shaking… like you’ve been plugged into a wall with high voltage.’

Shaking will fix ‘every single thing’, according to Gurmukh:

‘If you have disease, if you have depression, if you have anything going on that doesn’t keep you in harmony with your divine self – gone – with the shaking,’ she says.

If you’re worried that doing Gurmukh’s DVD will damage your street cred, a glance at her client list should allay your fears.

Some of the world’s coolest people have been taught by Gurmukh, including Gwyneth Paltrow, David Duchovny and Madonna. And although Gurmukh is based in LA – where she is the director of the Golden Bridge Yoga Centre – her influence extends beyond the Hollywood Hills.

At the age of 68 Gurmukh is still traveling the globe (she was recently in Iceland) leading kundalini workshops and encouraging followers to take up a spiritual practice and take themselves less seriously.

‘If you sweat and you laugh everyday, that’s what makes you healthy, happy and whole,’ Gurmukh says on her classic DVD Kundalini Yoga.

While I was back in Perth Mum and I would do Gurmukh’s latest DVD together – and alternate between laughing at each other and looking at the clock and wondering how the hell we’d manage to shake for another twenty minutes when our arms were burning after just four.

To take the edge off, Mum and I would take turns on her rebounder (mini trampoline) – and let the springs do the shaking for us.

While Gurmukh might see this as cheating, many experts now believe that rebounding is one of the best things cancer patients can do…

Jump Around

Rebounding strengthens the immune system, oxygenates the blood and dramatically increases lymphatic flow.

The lymph system helps remove toxins – such as dead cancerous cells, viruses and heavy metals – from the body. But unlike the blood (which is pumped by the heart) it takes physical movement to get fluids moving out of your lymph glands.

‘Rebounding has been shown to increase lymph flow by up to thirty times,’ writes Ty Bollinger in Cancer – Step Outside the Box. ‘…without muscular contraction, adequate exercise, and movement… the lymph doesn’t flow. Thus, the body’s cells are left stewing in their own waste products and starving for nutrients, a situation which contributes to cancer and other degenerative diseases as well as premature aging.’

According to Lee Euler from Cancer Defeated, one Mexican cancer clinic has a mini-trampoline in every room, and they consider it one of the most important parts of their treatment protocol.

It goes without saying that exercise is vital for cancer patients.

‘Exercise alone reduces breast cancer 50%,’ said Dr Leigh Erin Connealy at the recent Healing Cancer World Summit, presented by Kevin Gianni.

The journal Cancer Research also recently published a study showing that men with early stage prostate cancer who did not exercise were more than twice as likely to see their cancer come back – compared to men who walked three times a week.

So how does rebounding differ from other exercise?

‘All of the body’s cells become stronger in response to the increased ‘G forces’ during rebounding,’ writes Ty Bollinger.

While jogging on hard surfaces can put stress on your ankles and knees, jumping on a trampoline strengthens your joints without the risk of damaging them.

If you own a mini-tramp (or indeed, Gurmukh’s DVD) there’s also no excuse to avoid exercise: whether it’s raining or you’ve got a toddler in tow; whether you’re feeling the pinch financially or feeling time poor – you can find twenty minutes or so, to get your body moving.

Back in London, I’ve been shaking with Gurmukh while it’s been drizzling outside. My boyfriend warns that unless I put the blinds down, I’m going to end up on YouTube.

I’m not too worried. Somehow I don’t think ‘girl shaking with eyes shut’ is ever going to rival ‘Ultimate Dog Tease’ or ‘Funny Talking Animals – Walk on the Wild Side.’

And on that note, if you haven’t seen either of those clips, I’d urge you to have a look… a good belly laugh is surely the ultimate way to shake it all out.

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Disclaimer

Last month I had the privilege of speaking with Dr Leonard Coldwell. The German-born doctor boasts a 92.3% success rate for treating cancer patients; has written a raft of best-selling books, including The Only Answer to Cancer; and famously cured his own mother of terminal liver cancer, when he was still a teenager. If you missed the first part of the interview here is a little soupcon:

‘…you have to understand that it will never be one single thing that cures cancer…If you get vitamin C intravenously, once a day or three times a day your cancerous tumours are gone in twelve days in my experience – all of them. But of course they will come back if you never address the root cause: the bad marriage, the horrible job…the lack of hope, the lack of love, the lack of self-love. These are the causes of cancer.’

To read Part 1 of the interview, click here:

Dr C – as he likes to be called – believes that 86% of all cancers are caused by mental and emotional stress. ‘So what about the other 14%?’ I wondered. According to Dr C other contributing factors include bad diet, a lack of exercise, too much acidity … and vaccinations:

‘There’s only 14% of cancer that is caused by outside forces. The main cause is vaccinations,’ said Dr C when we last spoke.

I was quite taken aback by his answer: I wanted to know more about the vaccine/cancer connection and to find out whether it was possible to cleanse the carcinogenic substances from your body.

Four years ago I had the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. Not knowing any better, I thought it was the right thing to do to protect myself from cervical cancer – how naïve I was! Having looked into the issue I rue the day I rolled up my sleeve for the persistent GP.

I have since had trouble with my vision and issues with my fertility and from what I’ve read these are two of the most common Gardasil side effects. So I was all-ears when Dr C started talking about what you can do to limit the damage that may have been caused by vaccines.

In Part Two of this interview Dr C also touches on the importance of enzymes, the power of juicing, and a few other basic, but powerful healing tools. So if you’re interested read on…

So why do vaccines cause cancer?

Dr C: ‘Basically everything that’s in them causes cancer. There’s formaldehyde, mercury, dioxins… there are live cancer genes in the vaccines. There are neurological damaging elements in every vaccine. The Gardasil vaccine has only been produced – in our experience and opinion – to make all these young girls infertile. Nearly every girl that has had Gardasil is infertile to a certain degree. And most will get cancer.’

Wow – OK. That’s a bold statement. So if you’re like me and did get the Gardasil vaccine… what can you do?

Dr C: ‘First of all there is always hope. Never believe there is a situation where you cannot repair. How old are you?’

I’m 29.

Dr C: ‘So that means you have another six years to repair everything you’ve ever done to your body. Up to the age of 28 we all grow, physically. That’s why every athlete is at its peak at the age of 28. Then we have another seven years – to the age of 35 – where we’re kind of in this state of limbo; where we still have a lot of regeneration powers.

Of course we can do a lot of help prevent this [ageing process] because I have a friend who’s 76 years old and he looks like Sylvester Stallone in the height of his prime. He’s one of the fittest and healthiest people I’ve ever met in my life. He just got married again – his wife is 30 years younger – so it’s all good. Do you have children Laura?’

No, but I would like to have children one day. But first I want to get the Gardasil out of my system… how do I do that?

Dr C: ‘Healing and cleansing starts with four litres of water a day. That’s really important, especially for you. The body is like a river, as long as the water is flowing, we really can dump a lot of stuff in there and it cleans itself.

But imagine a river that’s stuck for a week – for five or seven days – everything is rotten, all the fish die because it doesn’t clean itself anymore, because there’s no movement. The same thing happens to your body if you drink less than three litres of water a day.

So you need to have four litres of water a day with half a teaspoon of salt in it – Himalayan salt or sea salt – but in my opinion the oceans are so toxic I prefer Himalayan salt.

Of course you can never have table salt. Most table salt contains many elements that are not salt – such as glass and sand – which cuts your arteries and the cholesterol now goes there to stop the bleeding. Because of that process, if it [the cholesterol] is all over your arteries it will raise your blood pressure.

You also have to have a lot of greens – like algae like spirulina – to transport and chelate certain things out of your system. You need a good heavy metal cleanse – in England it’s relatively easy to get chelation therapy, which I would prefer. Otherwise Zeolite would really help to get rid of the heavy metals in your system.

Fresh juices are also important. For 28 days I would make an apple, celery and carrot juice – one third each – every morning on an empty stomach. You should start it on a day when you don’t need to work or go away, because you might get diarrhea if you’re really toxic.’

Drinking fresh vegetable juice floods your body with enzymes. Can you explain why enzymes are so important for cancer patients?

Dr C: ‘First of all let me explain what enzymes are for. Enzymes are basically the mailmen – they convert information into our biochemical system. All of our food is basically dead: it’s cooked, it’s preserved it doesn’t come with the enzymes anymore.

But if you eat a banana all the enzymes you need to digest the banana are in the banana. If you eat an organic apple, all the enzymes you need to digest it are in the apple. Now cook the apple – cook the apple to death – and eat it. You get bloating, horrible problems with your stomach and digestive system because it’s just rotting away in you, like all of our other food.

So if you do not have enough digestive enzymes, you constantly produce toxic gasses that will be absorbed into your blood stream. That’s why people get dizzy and nauseous after they eat.

But if you take a sip of freshly made vegetable juice, every time you eat – with every bite basically – you always have enough enzymes to digest it perfectly.

I don’t really endorse artificial enzymes; I really am a friend of juicing. People should invest in a juicer and just juice organic vegetables – you cannot mix vegetables with fruit, the enzymes kill each other. The only thing you can mix with vegetables are apples, because of a specific form of enzymes they have.

You really need to understand that if nature didn’t make it – you don’t need it. If it didn’t exist 150 years ago, you don’t want it.

Ask your Mum how often she had the feeling she shouldn’t eat something, but she overran her instinct and still ate it and then she got a problem – bloating and so on.’

That’s definitely true with dairy – and now Mum has totally cut it out

Dr C: ‘Because milk is not made for human consumption. One of the main causes of acne – all kinds of allergies – and mainly the reason that our 8-year-old girls get their period now…all these kind of things [come from drinking milk].

We have been trained not to believe in our own instincts. A little child says ‘I’m full.’ [The mother says] ‘ No, you eat what’s on the plate!’ Now you are murdering their instinct. So that’s how it happens really. If you start again using common sense and your instincts, you will cure yourself no matter what. You just need to learn to listen to it again.’

To find out more about Dr Coldwell’s Instinct Based Medicine System (IBMS™) click here.

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Since starting the blog I’ve heard from numerous natural cancer survivors: Lance, an Australian man who traveled abroad for Hyperthermia; Jane, an English woman who chose apricot kernels over chemotherapy; and Emil, a German man who is now free of pancreatic cancer after opting for homeopathy.

Many others have written to tell me about their experiences with black salve, hydrogen peroxide and cannabis oil. The one thing all these survivors have in common? There’s no one thing they’re doing.

The star of this week’s post is no exception. Nicola has researched and run the gamut of alternative cancer therapies; re-assessed everything that went ‘in or on’ her body and has given herself time to reflect and reshape her mindset. Here is Nicola’s inspiring story, in her own words:

‘My name is Nicola. I am 42 years old, and have two sons aged 8 and 5. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the right breast (ER/PR positive, grade 2), onset of Pagets disease of the nipple and DCIS. One of 32 lymph nodes showed positive for disease.

I had a mastectomy, and 2 weeks later a full lymph clearance. Somewhere in between those two operations I started asking questions, and began taking responsibility for re-gaining my health.

I quickly rejected chemotherapy, based on empirical evidence that there would (optimistically) be between 5 and 12% success of it ‘mopping up’ any micro-metastases. (I later learned that chemo is great for de-bulking tumour mass, but it cannot destroy circulating cancer stem cells).

Instead I looked to a good friend, who is a naturopath, for advice. She initiated what was to become a long and fascinating education in detoxifying and re-nutrifying my body. Initially my family was very concerned about my decision to reject allopathic medicine, but very quickly they came to trust, and actively support me, particularly my husband.

Interestingly, the lifestyle changes I’ve made have had an impact on the way that my immediate family and close friends think about their health and nutrition. (My husband fights me for time in the sauna, our sons are now gluten free, and as a family we eat only organic food. Friends have taken on board my lectures about cooking only with coconut oil, and my Dad is treating his newly diagnosed diabetes solely with diet and nutrition).

I made big changes in small, manageable steps. The first change was to my diet. Although I’d been a vegetarian for over 25 years, I didn’t understand about nutrition. Out went salt, sugar, gluten, dairy and alcohol. I bought a reverse osmosis, ionizing water filter, and a juicer. I started putting lots of organic greens into my body, and aided detoxification with coffee enemas, castor oil packs and epsom salt baths.

I changed everything that went in or on my body: make-up, deodorant, toothpaste, moisturiser and washing powder. I learned quickly how important it is to cook every meal from scratch: porridge, short grain brown rice and salads are daily staples, along with nut milks, vegetable juices and green smoothies. I shifted my culinary focus away from a Western diet and started to get inspiration from Asia where dairy and meat are typically less important.

Within a few weeks I began seeing a complementary doctor for high dose Vitamin C/hydrogen peroxide infusions, with hyperthermia (with Dr Trefza www.hightreeclinic.com ). I had (preventative) lymphatic drainage and acupuncture regularly. I started to feel amazing!

Next I approached my emotional and mental health: hypnotherapy, healing and reiki. Yes To Life gave me a grant to buy a FAR infrared sauna, and I started practicing yoga.

I chose safer screening: Thermo-scans rather than Mammograms, and Minimal Residual Disease testing. I also had Chemo-sensitivity testing to check which complementary medicines would have an impact on any circulating cancer stem cells which had spread into my body via the lymph.

The final piece of the puzzle was finding a functional doctor who is looking at my body’s underlying weaknesses, and rebalancing my system. I take natural hormone balancers (DIM, amongst others) and a range of supplements specific to my body’s needs.

I continue to reject the one size fits all approach to healing. I’ve learned incredible things over the past 2 years….things which have challenged the way I think, and have altered the way I live my life. I no longer get ill, and many of the health issues I had prior to diagnosis (migraines, painful periods, candida, eczema, gum disease) have disappeared. I try not to be motivated by fear, but rather to live in the present, be guided by my intuition, and understand that cancer has been an opportunity for me to become the person that I am today.

My results as of last week show that my cancer stem cell count is low and stable, essentially meaning that I have no evidence of disease and a low risk of metastasis.’

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Imagine if there was a computer that could detect all your imbalances; a machine that could not only scan your body for nutritional deficiencies and toxins, but could also pick up parasites, viruses and bacteria that were wreaking havoc on your health.

What if there was a device that could cut through hours of therapy and tell you –via a colourful graph – the underlying emotions ruling your life and ruining your immune system?

If you think it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, you’re not alone.

A few months ago I received an email from an Australian man who told me he was treating his tumour with something called a SCIO machine. ‘Interesting…’ I thought – and then forgot all about it.

That was until a few weeks ago, when a woman in Mum’s astrology class, Tamara Gries, turned up with a strange looking contraption.

Mum was blown away by the information the machine picked up and, being the intrepid health explorer she is, Mum booked in a for a SCIO session with Tamara.

After getting hooked up to the machine – by attaching wrist and ankle straps and a cyber-headband – Mum watched as various areas of her body lit up the screen.

‘If something comes up, it means there’s an energy disturbance in that area,’ said Tamara, a Perth based holistic practitioner.

Mum’s adrenal glands, crown chakra and lymph system flashed repeatedly.

‘No surprises there,’ Mum said. ‘I had thirteen lymph nodes taken out when I had the hysterectomy.’

What was surprising was the measles vaccine ‘tag’ that appeared: a vaccination Mum had been given over 20 years ago.

So what does the patient do with all this information?

‘The SCIO sends a biofeedback frequency to stabilize those areas in your body,’ Tamara explained.

During Mum’s session she also discovered her body needed more oxygen; that dairy didn’t agree with her; and that there were still some emotional issues she needed to address.

Feeling a bit fragile myself – a tad anxious, overworked and jet-lagged – I decided to see what the SCIO machine brought up for me.

The good news? I had no parasites, my PH was good and my heart and brain were ticking over nicely.

The bad news? My nervous system was crashing and I was running on empty.

As the SCIO took a reading of each of my organs, it became clear I had my work cut out.

‘The energy level of your liver and pancreas are both 64% – you want them to be up around 80%,’ said Tamara.

My sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, were 50% and 31% respectively.

‘When you start to get down to the 30s, you need to do something,’ Tamara said. ‘The 50s you can explain with flying and change of environment, but the 30s …that’s low.’

‘What else?’ I asked, hopefully.

‘Your kidneys are 27%.’

‘That’s my worst mark yet!’ I squealed.

‘Well kidneys… that’s the organ of fear,’ said Tamara.

The session was a wake up call for me: it was time to turn and face the mirror.

I’ve spent the last seven months writing about the corrosive effects of unresolved emotional issues; quizzing experts about the link between stress and disease; and constantly telling Mum to chill out.

Yet I have been diligently ignoring my own body’s alarm bells – and starting to identify with too many of the ‘cancer personality’ traits. All the hallmarks – being submissive, anxious and resentful – all cropped up in my take-home emotional read-out ( displayed below).

If an emotion appears above or below 60-90 on the graph – it’s out of balance: ‘Greed’ for me was 119.

But I was relieved to hear there was room for interpretation on that one.

‘Greed actually means there’s something in your life that you want, that you don’t currently have,’ explained Tamara.

Hmm, I thought: ‘A calmer mind?’ ‘The ability to say no?’ ‘A French bulldog?’

Dr Rashid Buttar, who is ranked among the top 50 doctors in the US, believes it’s vital for all of us to be aware of – and deal with – emotional toxicity and low-level stress, if we want to avoid chronic illness.

When I spoke to Dr Buttar last week, I asked him what tools he uses to help cancer patients mentally detox.

‘We use a couple of energetic medicine techniques that help retrain and reconfigure the brain… we use many different things, including electro-dermal screening,’ said Buttar.

‘Are you talking about the SCIO machine?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he said, sounding a bit taken aback. ‘Exactly.’

One of the most experienced and respected SCIO practitioners in the world, is the UK naturopath, Dr John Kelsey. His previous career as an engineer no doubt put him in good stead to work with the SCIO.

So, how might the machine complement other traditional diagnostic methods?

‘The SCIO picks up on active information anywhere in the clients system. It is like a subconscious questionnaire,’ said Dr Kelsey when I contacted him. ‘The information stored is the energetic signature of items, like an electronic version of homeopathy.’

While there’s certainly a place for traditional diagnostic tests, perhaps we need to embrace a broader definition of health screening; one that takes into consideration the mind/body connection.

‘It’s very interesting that we do all these things – we do pap smears, breast exams – but how often do we really deal with the things that impact us in such a deep manner; that keep us awake at night?’ said Dr Buttar.

Not nearly enough, is the answer – if my own lack of awareness is anything to go by.

For comments click here

To find out more about Tamara Gries go to: www.harmonyhealth.net.au

For more on Dr John Kelsey got to: www.thebep.co.uk

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Mum’s knee jerk reaction to her diagnosis was to exile all the vitamins she’d long relied on to keep her healthy. ‘Fat lot of good they did,’ she thought. But she was wrong. Many practitioners have since expressed their surprise at Mum’s rapid recovery and it seems the years spent knocking back antioxidants weren’t spent in vain.

Still, after much research Mum discovered the supplements she was taking weren’t particularly geared towards cancer prevention, or recovery: pycnogenol, kelp and kombucha all have a role to play, but they’re not necessarily cancer-fighting all-stars.

So what does work?

Mum and I have asked many experts this question and, after listening, experimenting and noting which supplements came up time and time again, she now feels confident with her daily dose. I am certainly not suggesting Mum’s regime is the be-all and end-all. Every cancer is different, every person is different and every treatment path is different.

That said, Mum is constantly being asked what she takes. So for those who are interested, here is a breakdown of what Mum ingests upon waking ( just the supplements by her bed):

Rutozym – A potent blend of Nattokinase, bromelain, papain and rutosides Mum thinks this is the Mac daddy of enzymes. So why are enzymes so important? Among other things they have the ability to digest a protein (called fibrin), which coats cancer cells. By breaking down this barrier, the body’s white blood cells can get in and do their work. Almost every expert I’ve spoken too has emphasized the importance of enzymes – some suggest supplements, others recommend daily juicing. If you’d like to know more, click here.

Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C - Touted as the ‘take-home vitamin injection’ this is a great one for those on a budget, or those on the road. The innovative nano-sphere technology allows for maximum absorption and eliminates the need for binders, fillers and gelatins. Snip the sachet, mix in juice and take on an empty stomach. British readers can go to www.lyposphericnutrients.co.uk and Australians can purchase the product here: www.livonlabs.com

Modified Citrus Pectin –It’s derived from the pulp and rinds of citrus fruits and has a mean ability to halt metastasis – the spread of cancer. In one study involving melanoma cells, MCP decreased tumour metastasis to the lung by more than 90%. Mum mixes it – with the lypo-spheric C – in her juice every morning.  Along with mopping up cancer cells MCP can also draw toxins and heavy metals from the body – often the underlying cause of disease. To read more click here.

Vitamin D3 – Readers of Mercola.com and Natural News will be well versed in the benefits of Vitamin D3. But for those of you in the dark, it can: reduce metastasis; increase apoptosis (programmed cell death); and might double the survival rates of colorectal cancer patients. Dr William Grant estimated that 17, 000 to 23,000 Americans die prematurely each year due to insufficient vitamin D [Grant, 2002b]. But there’s no need to sacrifice youthful skin for cancer protection. You can now buy D3 in spray form: one brand offers 3000iu per spray. When I recently interviewed Dr Patrick Kingsley he suggested cancer patients take 10,000iu of D3 a day.

Iodine – ‘Vitamin D and iodine are the most important things to take,’ one cancer specialist told Mum shortly after her diagnosis. Breast cancer patients might also benefit: ‘Iodine kills breast cancer cells without killing off normal cells in the process. In other words, it’s ideal for both the treatment and prevention of breast cancer,’ says acclaimed practitioner Dr Jonathan Wright. Iodine can also protect against radiation: when we have enough non-radioactive iodine in our bodies, there’s no room for radioactive material to go. Mum takes three drops of nascent iodine in her water every morning. It works synergistically with selenium…

Selenium- It’s found in tahini, brazil nuts, eggs and wheatgrass and doctors have known about it’s anti-cancer properties for over a century. There have been a MOUNTAIN of double-blind, long-term trials showing that selenium can prevent cancer, reduce tumours and supercharge the immune system.  Studies conducted by Dr. Gerhard Schrauzer, M.D., Ph.D. produced a 70 percent reduction in breast cancer by adding trace amounts of selenium to the diet. Word of warning: cancer experts recommend taking selenium derived from plants and yeast rather than the synthetic form of this trace mineral. For further reading check out Selenium: One Cancer Answer, by nutritionist Chris Barr.

Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C) – If you’re dealing with cervical, breast or ovarian cancer (or you have a family history of it) this supplement might be worth looking into. I3C promotes the healthy metabolism of oestrogen. Eating cruciferous vegetables – like broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels spouts, and bok choi – also encourages the body to produce this potent phytonutrient.

Beta Glucan –These polysaccharides are powerhouses in terms of immune support. Why? They are music to the ears of macrophages – the good guys – the cells that detect and destroy tumour cells; remove foreign debris; and boost bone marrow production. Glucan is one of the most common macrophage activators in nature. It’s also potentially radioprotective. In one study, 70% of rats given a lethal dose of radiation were completely protected from side effects when given a dose of yeast beta glucan.

Another source of beta-glucans

Force C: A relative newby to the cancer-fighting team this supplement contains phyto-compounds found in ginseng – Ginsenosides. A study at Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University in Japan found that ‘R-family’ Ginsenosides induced cell death in mouse melanoma in as little as 24 hours. For more info about Force C go to: www.healthsecretsusa.com

Max One – ‘Glutathione …deserves attention as it is perhaps the most important anti-oxidant within cells and has proven to be highly cancer-protective,’ writes Patrick Holdord in Say No to Cancer. Unfortunately, most of us are deficient in this regularly overlooked antioxidant. You can boost levels through having coffee enemas, wearing patches or taking Max One. Max recently released a new supplement called Cellgevity – a souped-up version of the original formula. Along with pre-cursors to glutathione it also contains milk thistle, cordyceps, curcumin and more.

Of course there are other nutrients vital for cancer patients; some of which I’ll be covering in future posts. In the meantime I’d love to hear from you: What are your top three supplements? Is there one, in particular, that’s been a game-changer for you? Or do you feel your diet provides all the nutrition you need?

Please feel free to click here and share your thoughts.

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