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Natural Healing in a High-Tech World Fitness Hospital Flukes Supplements Cancer Treatment
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Natural Healing in a High-Tech World for use especially after surgery

1. Don't do anything that causes more stress (unless it's a daughter who through her stress needs to be near you more than your needs). If walks in the sun feel good, do it. If exercise causes you much stress, try simple yoga exercises in the privacy of your living room (with only a gown or long shirt, or better yet, naked, for maximizing learning more about your body, unencumbered by waistbands and elastic and leather, or even plastic. Hard, cold, tight. Leave them behind for soft, warm, slow movements, conscious movements). In the beginning try using music, soft and slow, or hard and driving (this covers up or drowns out the negative voices better). Later, after you have come to enjoy the companionship of yourself, you'll enjoy doing it even better in the silence. If you can find it.

2. Which brings us to home. If you haven't already, this is the time to build your nest, a place where you can go at any time -- to rest, meditate, think, plan, daydream, sleep, masturbate, or otherwise entertain yourself in a quiet, stress-less way. This place can be your bedroom (if you don't do too many other things there that might distract you into "working") or a spare room or even a special corner of the living room. If you live with a partner, try and find a place apart from your place with him/her.

When an animal has been hurt, it crawls into a cave for 2-3 days, without food or water, to heal. Then he comes out for water, then returns to heal more. When he returns to the outside life, he eats and drinks, regaining his strength slowly. Your healing place needn't be anything fancier than an animal's cave. Or it may contain plants, candles, incense, and music. It must be yours.

3. You need lots of time to heal from a surgeon cutting out a tumor from your body, under anesthesia.

4. You should feed yourself fruits, vegetables, beans, juices, whole grains like rice, barley, Kashi, oatmeal, etc., with a few nuts and seeds for fat. I found it only took me a month to develop my own vegetable bean soups with a wide array of vegetables and grains.

5. Take a good multi-vitamin (like at the drug or health food store), 8-10 grams of vitamin C (8000-10000 mg), 1200 USP vitamin E, selenium, a good B vitamin complex, 2-1000 mg calcium/magnesium tablets for several months, then some of these amounts can be reduced. Use astragalus and pau d’Arco as directed.

6. When you first get home from the hospital, take wheatgrass juice (1/2 oz - 1 oz daily as tolerated) to help clean out your systems of the hospital toxins.

7. Walk every afternoon when your natural energy decreases (after a nap if a nap feels right).

4/15/2004 (unfinished)

12/7/09 five and a half years later, thirteen years post cancer surgery with no further treatment than supporting the immune system, I couldn’t agree more. PRINT, POST

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Fitness

I'm not. Very fit, that is. But I do watch what I eat, and I do try to keep myself as fit as I am able, given that seven years ago I had extensive abdominal surgery which left me with various lower body handicaps.

At least that was the story I told myself over two years ago when I started this article. At that time I had occasion to peruse the webpage of a fitness expert/personal trainer, and I was amazed at all the tests I would never “pass” and the number of movements and positions I never use or make. But later, thinking about it, I realized there must be some reason I was still alive after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer 7 years earlier.

One was that I became, in the words of a young chef I know who cooks at a local upscale restaurant, a really good cook. “I've never had anything you've fixed me that wasn't good,” Brian told me recently. “I've liked every one of the new dishes and strange-looking foods you've made for me.”

A vegetarian most of the time, I've adapted family recipes, ethnic dishes, and even some newspaper recipes that sounded interesting into vegetarian food with interest, color, and healthy ingredients. I restudied nutrition in light of what is now known regarding natural medicinal values of food. I also learned a variety of other perspectives beyond caloric value and vitamin content -- from what foods are best with which blood type to which vegetables provide the most protein (yes, protein). Though I have had many eating transgressions from an optimal vegetarian diet along the way, I do try to eat only whole grains, organic fruits and vegetables, and virtually no processed food.

The second reason I'm not dead like most other ovarian cancer patients is that I have consciously tried to rebalance myself: my blood ph, my brain chemicals, left/right sides of my body, and moods. For helping me with this I use diet, water, and various stress reducers such as yoga, meditation, deep focused breathing, and positive affirmations. I also take a variety of herbs, vitamins, and minerals in pill and capsule form to supplement my diet and to provide me with added strength, clarity of mind, and just better feelings.

I live close to nature, which has shown me the delicate balance all living creatures and plants have with the sun, wind, and rain. I listen to the animals and birds that live in the nature preserve surrounding my house, and observe the ducks, turtles, frogs, herons, beavers, and occasional river otter that populate the pond behind my house. I see how one gets eaten by another if he isn't careful. I go out in the sun along with the turtles in my pond, I walk in the fresh spring air after a gentle rain like the birds who come out to sing from the treetops after a storm, and I bury myself from the cold in the winter like many of the wild animals, who, for the most part, live peaceably with me. I take my time, rarely rushing.

What do I do to stay fit in the exercise realm? I start the day with 100 deep (belly) breaths, which I do reclining in bed in front of the open window. By 30 or so I am usually breathing a little easier, with less tension in my breathing apparatus and in the rest of my body. My heart is pumping faster by now, and the ease at which I can breathe in and out allows me to add an additional exercise, either the Kegels or face and neck stretches. I try to do 100 each of these, but in actuality I often do more if it feels good. When I'm feeling particularly adventurous, I do all three together. All of these exercises help oxygenate the blood.

From here I usually take my pills and go downstairs, where I continue my morning, with a leisurely cup or two of tea, my email, and then my breakfast. If I have a kitchen chore left over from the night before, I will do it here in time, also. If I have any food preparation to do, it will also get done, as standing in the kitchen is easier for me in the morning than later in the day. My attention isn't that great in the early morning, but after my green tea and ginkgo, I'm good to go!

I continue with office work, email chores, house plants, laundry, and other work associated with running a small business, usually finishing by 1 pm, when I can turn my attention to my writing and publishing work. Editing, typesetting, creating flyers, putting together book orders -- most of these are not real strenuous physically. But every ten minutes or so -- call it ADD if you wish -- I get up if I have been sitting, sit down if I've been walking, walk if I've been just standing, etc. I vary my movements to include some down time, some meditation time, some thinking time every few hours during the work week, more frequently on the weekends or other days off (post office holidays, for instance). Besides the variation in position, I do the following for exercise:

In the winter I lift weights of 4 to 5 lbs each by swinging split red-oak logs from the wood stack to the large woodstove I use for heating in the winter (with an old oil furnace as backup). This goes on 24/7 unless I elect to stop.

When the weather is nice I walk 250 steps from my front door around the circular driveway. When I've gone through a period of inactivity, I can only do one circle, but every day I add another one until I can do several easily. It is 600 steps from my front door to the end of the long drive and 600 back. In the early spring I walk the whole driveway when my stamina has progressed from its usual winter setback to a respectable level. Sometimes I need to rest on the way back, but eventually I like to walk up my drive, across the street and through the nearby development, along the sidewalks that provide me with a one-mile jaunt where I can admire my neighbors' gardens and landscaping. In the spring, summer, and fall I do my own gardening chores like watering, weeding, and cutting those beautiful blooms for inside (which encourages more to bloom outside), thereby providing me with more exercise.

Sometimes I put on a Grateful Dead CD and dance freeform and rhythmically.

I can always feel my muscles stretch and my lungs expand after doing this, my heart beats perceptibly, and I feel good.

In the hottest days of summer I walk the aisles of the grocery store, even though I now buy very little at a regular supermarket other than paper goods.

I try to incorporate exercise into my daily life to help myself stay healthy.

Two years ago this fall I took a three-hour Qi gong workshop which felt wonderful until we got to the part where you jump, or lift your whole body off the floor in a sudden manner. I hesitated at the time: I wasn’t sure if it would be good for my abdominal adhesions. But looking around the circle of people, many older and/or more handicapped than I, I could see they were all doing it, so I did, I jumped, and then I repeated the exercise. Wow! Something “snapped” in my abdomen. I was glad the class was over. The next day I was in agony, and for several days after that I had to baby myself and let myself heal.

Surprise! Now, two years later, I have absolutely no residual pain from adhesions, and I am doing more and more as the days and weeks and months go forward. Although I still carry too much weight, my abdominal discomforts have all but faded and I hope to hold a weekend Qi gong workshop at my wellness retreat next spring, so that others may learn of this wonderful gentle exercise.

2003, 2005

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Hospital

I first heard of the medicine-less hospital in China in 1998, when I was two years post surgery for ovarian cancer.

If I even get my cancer back, that's where I'll go to heal, I thought to myself. I hardly ever thought about the possibility of it coming back, but I figured I needed to have a back-up plan just in case.

Well, that's not exactly true. I thought about it coming back every day, several times a day at that time. But I had a whole list of possible things to do -- supplements to take that I wasn't already taking, exercises to improve my overall physical condition, foods to eat that would help with reducing tumor production, etc. I figured I'd do them first, then go to China.

The medicine-less hospital in China has a 95% cure/improvement rate. Had. It was closed down by the Chinese government. The focus was on simple healthy diet (vegetables, fruits, rice, a little fish), group interaction, counseling by former patients (which they called "students" of self healing), and a gentle exercise program called ChiLel Qi Gong. Qi gong is similar to yoga or t'ai chi with an emphasis on using the imagination as well as the body. For those too infirm to stand up, they did their ChiLel qi gong sitting down; and if they were bedridden, they did it lying down, using arms, legs, and more importantly, the mind, to circulate that "magic energy" called qi (chi).

I knew about asking for what you want; that eventually it would come to you, like my house, my woodstove, my peace of mind. I didn't ask for things often, but the more I would think about something I wanted, and whether I really wanted it or not, the more likely I was to get it. Most of my time early on was to figure out what I really wanted.

One thing was for certain, I didn't want to have cancer any more. I didn't want to go to hospitals, doctors, support groups, etc. I wanted to find a different way to live.

And I did.

November 18, 2005
posted July 2007

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Supplements

Richard:

Here are some suggestions for boosting immune system: when you are off antibiotics, etc. (you can't be pro life and anti life at the same time!) you can start these, one at a time, with maybe 2-3 days in between, just to make sure each one agrees with you:

1. St. John's Wort. I prefer Nature's Way brand, green bottle, this is best for improving mood, but is also helpful with inflammation and a host of other things. I'd take full dose. Take one when you get up on an empty stomach, 1 with breakfast, 2 with lunch. Can be taken 2 in morning on empty stomach, 2 in mid afternoon on empty stomach for maximum effectiveness. Continue till next fall at least, or better yet, through the winter.

2. Once on that, add Astragalus. Again, Nature's Way, green bottle. Take 3, 3x a day with food. An immune system booster.

3. Once on that, add Pau d'Arco, a South American root for immune system. Ditto, NW, green. Take 2, 3x a day. If you're not feeling better by then, take maximum dose, which I believe is 3, 3 x a day. Read bottle if you can see the tiny letters.

4. If at this point you're up and about, start adding in Siberian Ginseng (not American or Korean). Sometimes called Siberian Eleuthero. This is a tonic to make you feel better and more energetic once you're on your feet. For years I rotated 2, 3, and 4, being on only 2 of them at any given time. Otherwise it's too many pills to deal with. Lately I've been on 2, 3, and 5 for the (still) tooth problems.

5. If you feel yourself getting sick, start a regimen of Echinacea for a week or two -- 3, 3x a day until you feel better, then reduce to 2, 3x a day for a week, then stop. For infections, viruses, etc. Must be started promptly, not after you're already sick. This is a regimen I would stay on as long as you're alive. Who are you, old man?

May 9 2004

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Cancer Treatment

Sally, I am thrilled to know you are a 8-year cancer survivor. When I speak with women who are just beginning treatment, it is the success stories like yours that buoys them as they begin treatment.

Just to clarify your impression of what we do, we are not a research company. We provide decision support tools to help patients and caregivers understand the science behind the standard treatment options available to deal with their diagnosis. Along with cancer, we have provided tools for lung disease and heart disease that are available on the American Lung Association's web site and the American Heart Association's site respectively.

Our mission and goals are to "level the playing field" of understanding and to present unbiased, and ethically presented health information to those who use our tools. As far as the research companies who ask for our assistance in contacting patients in their behalf, the goals are to improve the educational materials they develop as well as to learn from those who have experienced the diagnosis and treatment for their disease rather than to make assumptions.

Many patients value having a voice and access in reaching those who are doing this work on behalf of biotechnical and pharmaceutical companies. I always ask those who have participated to give me feedback on their experiences. The feedback has been consistently positive.

I respect your views and desire to not have us contact you again. We will remove your email address from future mailings, but if you don't object..... I will say "I heard from a women who is an 8-year survivor of ovarian cancer" when someone contacts me and is anxious about the journey she is beginning. Take care and thank you for taking your time to let us know your thoughts and desires. Claudia

Claudia: When you write about treatment, and standard treatment options, I know that these are not based on science, but on doctors (mostly men) doing experiments on patients (mostly women), though my husband was the first man to have cytoxin for seminoma. He died leaving me with 4 children. We were never informed that this drug, this treatment, this chemotherapy was actually mustard gas!

I am delighted that you would mention me, but please always add that I did it with NO chemotherapy, no toxins, no radiation. If I were going to do it over, I would not have surgery, either, as this left me with many surgical handicaps.

I get so mad when I see companies and organizations acting like they are talking about all treatment options, when in reality they only deal with the toxic ones. Vegetables and meditation and immune system supplements are never mentioned. Sorry I came on so strong. Please keep my website in mind as a referral.
Sally Miller SallyMiller.com

April 2004

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Natural Healing

I was watching a movie recently about a young woman who was being operated on for cancer. During her operation she had the quintessential walking-toward-the-white-light experience, only she was a little girl, and her father was taking her hand and urging her to walk toward the bright light with him.

I couldn't help but sob as she struggled between wanting to go with her father and wanting to go back, for I have been there, cradled by loved ones, in the arms of death, in the rays of the bright white light. Wayne Dyer calls it the healing stream when you summon it forth and allow yourself to heal in its presence. When I'm feeling bad I go there often, usually alone, basking in the warmth, the comfort, the Universal LOVE. It is amazing to me how many times I have healed an ache or pain, to say nothing of my cancer, since I learned how to access this gift of the universe.

Natural healing entails not only accessing the universal healing stream, but also accepting the other gifts we have been given to help us live our lives in a healthy way. Vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, and other plants, consumed as close as possible to their natural state, are there for us to nourish ourselves.

When my ovarian cancer was diagnosed and operated on in 1996, I became a reluctant vegetarian. Tomorrow I will celebrate my 7th year cancer free. Along the way I learned to like raw foods and become a good vegetarian cook.

A vegan most of the time, I've adapted family recipes, ethnic dishes, and even some newspaper recipes that sound interesting into vegetarian food with interest, color, and healthy ingredients. I had to restudy nutrition in light of what is now known regarding the natural medicines of food. I also looked at other perspectives beyond caloric value, from the effect of blood type to which vegetables contain the most protein. I learned how toxic our food supply is.

According to the History Channel, the 4 big cereal companies — Post, Quaker Oats, Kellogg and General Mills — spend more on advertising their cereal products than the US government spends on disseminating nutrition information to its citizens. We're not even talking about optimal nutrition here, but nutrition that reflects large lobbies like the dairy farmers and meat producers as well as grain farmers. No wonder we're a nation of overweight sick people!

It makes me sick to think how I was taken in for so many years — that it took me 50 years to figure out what was good for me, not just what someone wanted me to buy. I thought meat and milk and cheese were GOOD for me. My parents told me so, my schools told me so, my church taught me so (except for Fridays, when fish was better), and my government told me so. It took cancer and my natural healing program to open my eyes.

Each of you should have a set of handouts. The first one [1] shows the typical American diet. . . ., and on the back is what I've come to believe is the ideal.

Figure 1. Typical American diet

Figure 2. Ideal diet

Figures 3 & 4 give some suggestions on how to make this change.

I supplement my diet, which is approximately 60% raw, with vitamins, minerals, herbs, roots, and tonics. [Figure 5] If you have any individual questions I would prefer to do that during a private consultation. I'm not an herbalist; quite frankly, I prefer pills to liquid or drops or potions. But if you have any questions about individual herbs or vitamins, I'll try to answer them.

To help with the natural flushing process I also drink deep well water in copious amounts, overhydrating myself in the morning and spacing my other water drinking throughout the day between meals. I looked for a place to live where they had a deep well. It takes pollution from on top of the ground 400 years to reach a well of 200' and I found a place in the country with a 244' well, so I figured the water was pretty safe.

Another large part of my treatment program has consisted of stress management, which has been difficult for me given the complex world and my state of bad health after my cancer operation. I started by creating a safe environment in which to heal — first just my bedroom in a small apartment, later in a large 4 bedroom/4 bath house on an 11-acre estate. This has given me a place to go where I can completely relax and let my body do what it knows how to do best — heal.

I manage the stresses of an active life partly by withdrawing from the outside world as much as I can. I call my place Boxelder Basin Wellness Retreat — it is a place to retreat and support wellness. You can see pictures of it on my website at SallyMiller.com.

I live primarily with nature. I go out in the sun along with the turtles in my pond, and I go out to walk in the fresh spring air after a gentle rain like the birds singing from the treetops. I take my time. I admire and tend to my small flower gardens outside and my houseplants inside. I listen to the animals that live in the nature preserve surrounding my house, and observe the ducks, turtles, frogs, and herons that populate the pond behind my house (as well as the occasional river otter and beaver). The cycles of life in nature have shown me the importance of balance.

Stress reduction techniques that I use to help me create balance in my own busy life include the following:

In the beginning, after my operation, I used mostly rest to allow my body to heal. I still have my bedroom arranged for my comfort and try to rest there at least once a day besides my night sleep time. I also have provided relaxing chairs and even a four-poster bed in other rooms in the house for resting. I often find first time guests asleep in a reclining chair or on the 4-poster, which means my guests find it relaxing, too! It's while your body is at rest that the most efficient healing is done, without any effort at all on your part!

Soon after my surgery I began to do intentional breathing. I've detailed this process in my book The ABC's of Living Without Cancer. This serves me as a meditative technique as well as helping me oxygenate my system. As a bare minimum I do 100 deep breaths every morning and another 100 at night before I go to sleep.

For years I've been a big fan of positive affirmations for small injuries and body pain, so I have continued with these. My best source for positive affirmations is Louise Hay's little book Heal Your Body. Favorite affirmations I have typed up in various fonts and stuck on walls and window sills where I will see them frequently and say them to myself. The way these work is that they actually change your body chemistry from a negative energy flow to a positive energy flow, which promotes healing.

Throughout my healing I've used yoga stretches. These also supply me with a small amount of exercise. My other exercise is walking, outside when the weather is good, up and down supermarket aisles (even though I don't buy my food there) when it is bad.

The most important stress manager I've used is meditation. Meditation just means quieting the mind. It gives the body a chance to rebalance itself. I don't sit in a lotus position. I don't go "om." I use a variety of techniques which I have written about in a chapter called "Meditation" in my ABC book. Meditation has taught me valuable skills that I use frequently to help myself stay centered. No matter where I am or what is going on, I can take a few minutes to meditate.

The difficulty of running a small estate that was in very poor condition when I first moved into it 4 years ago has added many stressors to my life. Between chasing squirrels out of the attic, picking up fallen tree branches, and keeping the wild animals at bay, I have the normal tasks of overseeing the maintenance of the grounds, pond, and house. I also took on the responsibility for hiring contractors to upgrade the electric, water, heating, roof, and painting. All these things, tied in with my writing and my health care, have filled my life up. Meditation is the only way I have been able to regain my balance after some house disaster upsets me.

The other area I have attended to in my healing journey, spiritual growth, also began before I was diagnosed with cancer, but became a much more serious endeavor once I viewed death so close. I was baptized as a Presbyterian, and grew up as an Episcopalian, but spent most of my adult life as an atheist. I have developed a belief system based on readings of Carlos Castenada, Marlo Morgan, Jim Carten, Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, and songs of the Grateful Dead, as well as more traditional religious teachings. I had a close friend who shared much of this journey with me, and I also owe much to our discussions.

Since I was stricken with cancer, meditation has helped me access qi (chee), the Life Energy, or what some people call God, as well as that healing stream, in a very direct way.

I believe now that if your body can create a disease, whether it's cancer or epilepsy, paranoia or rheumatism, it can also get rid of it. Not by treating the symptoms as regular drug medicine does, but by changing our lives in such a way that the natural healing process of the body is encouraged to work. The body wants to be healthy, we just need to support it in its effort.

Speech presented at the Natural Living Conference. August 2003

Me Get Cancer?
How a Reluctant Vegetarian Finds Health & Happiness

Never in a million years did I think I'd get cancer. People in my family died of heart problems or Alzheimer's. When I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in August, 1996, I was flabbergasted. It never entered my mind that I might get cancer. My husband had died from cancer years before — but it wasn't catching. Why did I have it?

I knew from the experiences with my husband and with a good friend whose wife had cancer that I didn't want to go the normal medical route, which is currently surgery and chemotherapy or radiation. By the time I was finally diagnosed the tumor was so large I had new stretch marks on my belly (and this was after four babies) so I knew that if I were going to live, I would have to have the tumor removed.

But I also knew from the John Robbins book Reclaiming Our Health that chemotherapy was originally mustard gas, left over from the World Wars, and there was no way I was going to harm myself beyond the trauma of surgery. Or let anyone do it to me! I decided to go a more natural way. I'd have the tumor removed as much as possible, and live as comfortably and healthy as I could for as long as I could. If the cancer came back or if it went haywire, I'd overdose on something or some other way end my life. I believed in a good quality of life, not the horror of dying from intentional chemical poisoning.

Little did I know that that decision would save my life. It gave me enough time to read about alternative healing methods. Almost all of them mentioned a change in diet, so I started with that. I began to get well — as well as I could given that I lived for nearly 60 years eating toxic food, drinking toxic water, and living an otherwise toxic life (including smoking unfiltered cigarettes for 30 years!).

After three years of changing my life, using natural healing methods, my prognosis is now good: cancer antigen blood tests have all been negative. I'm writing a book called The ABC's of Living Without Cancer, and I moved to a new house to open up a cancer retreat to help others learn ways to live healthy.

What do I mean by natural healing? Do no harm. Nothing invasive. Support the body's natural immune system, which in my case had obviously broken down.

We all have toxins (antigens) in our system. A healthy immune system will destroy and remove these every day. But if we overload the system — through our food, our water, our air, our thoughts and behavior — to the point where our bodies can no longer get rid of the toxins, we build an accumulation. It is this accumulation of toxins or overload that causes the immune system to break down and cancer cells to get out of control. Cancer is like a toxic dump in your body, often focused in a place that is stressed or previously traumatized.

You can produce cancer as I did through habits, proclivities, indulgences, or just ignorance (such as believing that meat and dairy products are really good for you, like we've all been taught). You can be genetically predisposed (though the experts agree that your chances of getting cancer are 30% genetics, 70% environmental).

I had few of the known common risk factors for ovarian cancer, but I did have many sexual partners with unprotected sex (meaning I was introducing foreign protein, or antigens, into my body). I had a terrible diet, high in sugar (which is food for tumors), meat (which is full of toxins and highly correlated with colon cancer), and dairy products (which are particularly bad for hormone-related cancers such as ovarian, breast, and prostate). I didn't drink enough water (which facilitates the normal flushing process) and I didn't get enough exercise (which circulates the body fluids in the flushing process). I had been on several prescription drugs for long periods of time — drugs I now consider unnatural and toxic, and I had a heavy diet Pepsi habit.

What are some of the natural healing methods I employed? After finding the most skillful surgeon I could to remove the mass — and not to remove this, not to touch that — I went home and crawled into my bed cave like an injured animal. I slept as much as I could, somehow knowing that rest and sleep were important parts of natural healing. If you're running back and forth to a doctor's office, or getting dressed in tight work clothes and going to work, these activities interfere with the natural process the body uses to heal. Energy is diverted from healing.

After the initial healing period from the trauma of surgery, I began to focus more on what was going into my body to create the healing energy. I had many years of bad eating habits to undo. I had a charcoal-broiled steak the night before going into surgery, so I guess that shows you where I was three years ago. My son Dave, who's been a vegetarian for many years, was extremely valuable helping me make changes. I remember asking him once, "How do you make spaghetti sauce if you don't start it with meat?" and similar questions along my healing journey. That first year I stopped eating meat, butter, and sugar; I began to learn how to cook with beans.

The second year I learned how to make a really good green salad and enjoy eating it. A friend of mine helped me get over my salad phobia by helping me shop and prepare the vegetables. We made salads together for nearly a year. The method we developed was the least stressful for me, and has served me well. I now hunger for a green salad every day.

Along the way I began to adapt old favorite recipes with my newfound knowledge about nutrition, and I even created some new ones. I have outlined many of the foods I eat to stay healthy and cancer-free in Figure 1.

Figure 2 shows proportions of the different types of food my research showed were optimal for health. Figure 3 lists foods by their acid/alkaline producing qualities. People with illness usually have an acid system from eating too much acid-producing food.

While I was gradually changing my diet, I began to learn more about what is currently known concerning good nutrition (which is much different from what I was taught as a child, or what I taught others as a La Leche leader in the late 60s). I began to pay attention to the animal rights aspect of vegetarianism, also becoming more aware (through John Robbins) of the terrible waste going on to feed animals to feed us. I exposed myself to religious/spiritual approaches to diet.

I have now adopted many of these beliefs and practices (such as eating only fruit for breakfast and not mixing live and dead — cooked — food in the same meal), though in the beginning these ideas seemed too much for me. When I first read about particular foods or food combinations they seemed bizarre, but after additional reading and trying various things out in my own eating routines, I refined my diet to include those things which suited my individual needs and desires. I try to eat more than 75% of my food raw or very lightly cooked, preserving the enzymes contained within the food for easy digestion.

Now, as long as I don't stray too far, I am reasonably comfortable, given that my intestines were severely traumatized during the surgery and are particularly sensitive. Because I chose not to do chemo, the surgical team wanted to make sure they "got everything," so they removed my intestines and went over all 26 feet of them inch by inch, carefully examining all sides for cancer.

My diet is almost vegan (meaning plant based), and at the same time, it is also as natural as I can get it, meaning it has had minimal processing, which destroys nutrition. I also try to find produce fresh as I can (the least time from the field to your stomach). I also try to get food as toxin-free (organic) as I can get it. I find that the organic produce at Grand Union is better than the organic produce at the health food store. But I find the produce from farm stands fresher, and though local farmers aren't usually organic per se — up to California's high standards — they are almost all farmers, often old time ones at that — I even buy produce from one Chinese family straight out of The Good Earth — who all know not to put tons of toxic stuff on their produce. They eat it, too.

I make food choices all the time — when I shop, when I send someone else to the store for me, when I cook, and when I eat. I do the best I can, given what is available at any given moment and given the above healthy principles (vegan, natural, organic, fresh). I'd choose a fresh non-organic carrot over packaged carrot cake from the health food store; fresh spinach from a local farmer over frozen spinach. Of course, homegrown organic vegetables are the best! But lots of work! I have included in Figure 4 some of the foods I allow myself to eat once a year and some I allow monthly. They all contain toxins, animal products, or are processed. Eventually they may all drop out of my diet, but for now, I allow them, as I've never done very well with should nots and absolutes.

All this food has to be sandwiched in between 1/2 gallon of water a day. The water is for flushing. Water is used in the blood, in the lymphatic fluid, the tissues, the cells. If you don't drink enough, the toxins you do put into your body will be concentrated in various parts of your body. Water flushing is another one of those natural methods that's easy to use and very effective in ridding the body of toxins. Can you imagine what it would be like to have bladder cancer? If your urine smells, you're not drinking enough water!

For best results I use well water, and drink my 64 + ounces in 10-oz glasses. I start every day when I first wake up with a glass that I keep by my bedside, and another glass with my pills, and a glass when I start fixing breakfast. I try to keep my drinking to at least half an hour before eating or more than two hours after eating. This avoids dilution of the digestive juices, which means your body has to use more energy to digest your food. I do take small amounts of water with each meal to swallow my supplements.

After I have over indulged, I use fruit, brown rice, and green salad as my first three meals of the day and extra water to flush my bladder and colon. The natural fiber in fruit, vegetables, dried beans, and whole grains have prevented any signs of colon cancer, which my surgeon was concerned about because my tumor was already attached to my colon.

Other natural methods I use are stress reduction techniques that facilitate meditation such as deep breathing (which also helps the lungs get rid of toxins, and recharges your heart pump, which pumps the blood that carries discharged toxins to the liver for filtration). I do this every morning when I wake up, and again before I go to bed at night. I also do lots of deep breathing when the sky is a really deep blue and clear of pollutants. I rest every day, if only lying on my bed while I do phoning. I watch a regular sitcom that I find particularly funny — in the beginning it was Seinfeld reruns; now I am watching Frasier instead of the news at 11 pm. I always get a belly laugh or two before I go to sleep.

Other meditative exercises I do — simple yoga, stress bathing, and sensory meditation — help to balance my body and mind. Quieting the mind has the effect of allowing energy to go toward restoring the right balance in the output of hormones and other chemicals into your bloodstream. If you never shut your mind off, you tend to always be off balance a bit!

Avoiding the toxins that are within your control is another good strategy for those wishing to reduce their chances of getting cancer (which is where I am now). Besides sugar, meat, and dairy, avoid processed food and non-organic food. Change your deodorant, stop coloring your hair (1 /2 of all women in the US color their hair! — which puts toxins directly into the scalp!), stop drinking chlorinated water, stop using toxic make-up, stop using laundry detergent & fabric softener, stop walking outside during ozone-alert days or even days with "moderate" air quality, stop shallow breathing, stop breathing fumes from paint, cars, carpets, etc., stop using pesticides, coloring in food, hair dryers, electronic clocks/gadgets by your bed, etc. Avoid other peoples' cigarette smoke. I'm sure you can come up with more toxins from your own life.

Perhaps it is a toxic relationship, or a toxic family member. Distance yourself and within months, even weeks, you'll begin to feel better. I lived in a toxic apartment, over people who smoked heavily and beat each other up regularly. If you lead a high-stress life, hardly ever stopping until you fall in bed at night, you're pumping cortisol, a stress hormone, into your body at a rate that your body won't be able to dispose of, particularly if you overload your body with other toxins. Toxins accumulate in the body over time until cancer or other disease signals complete overload. It's up to you whether you want to be toxic.

Don't get overwhelmed by the magnitude of living naturally in a chemical, unnatural world. Drop things from your life one-by-one. For everything you get rid of (start with the easiest ones first), add a new vegetable the next time you shop. When you run out of new vegetables, try a new fruit. After you run out of new vegetables and fruit, try a new dried bean. After you run out of beans, you will be so chemically free that you'll probably be able live without cancer for the rest of your life (and free from heart disease and many other major diseases). The stats, by the way, show that vegetarians have much less cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, ms, etc.

Figure 5 shows the supplements I am taking. I devised this after much reading, experimenting, trial and error. During the first year I was often taking 75 pills a day. Now I take 60. Some are tumor killers, some are antioxidants, some are vitamins, some are immune system boosters, some are tonics. The list is revised by me on a monthly basis.

One of the simplest but most effective things I have done is use positive affirmations. Taped in various places around my home, these simple phrases remind me to change my thinking, too. Primarily I use Louise Hay's book Heal Your Body for inspiration. These positive thoughts, said out loud, actually change the body chemistry. Recently this has been scientifically proven. What you do and think influences — moves in concert with — flows into and connects with — your body through the brain's chemistry.

This is much like our influences as human beings, moving in concert with, flowing into and connecting with the rest of nature, with Gaia (the spirit of Earth) and with the universe.

My spiritual reawakening had begun before I was diagnosed in 1996, but healing from cancer certainly helped me become more aware of qi (chi), the eternal life force or energy that permeates all living things, whether animal, bird, flower, fruit, herb, insect, tree, vegetable, or human being. According to the Taoists, ancient Chinese spiritualists, qi is a vital substance that has to be nourished by certain breathing and meditation practices, many of which I do. I surrendered my life, and was given this chance to live, holistically and naturally. I believe I was allowed to live so that I could spread my message.

Besides becoming more aware of my connections to qi, I began to feel more love and support from family, friends, readers of my book, and even some doctors. I could not have healed as well, I am convinced, without these positive connections.

Striving to live the best you can, based on a plant-food diet for the best energy, will carry you far in avoiding cancer, and will help make a better world. For more detail on these and other items, please see the current draft of my work in progress, The ABC's of Living Without Cancer, or come visit at me in Flemington NJ at my home Boxelder Basin.

GOOD LUCK!

Light Gazing

While living in Iowa in 1992, I developed Seasonal Affect Disorder during a recordbreaking number of cloudy days in November. After fifteen days of having no sunlight, I could consciously feel myself, day by day, getting closer and closer to suicide for no obvious reasons. Luckily I had a friend in Boston who also experienced winter depressions, and he told me that there was no need to expend large amounts of money on elegant lights, as regular light bulbs also worked. Through trial and error I established the following method for treating my physical and emotional response to the lack of sunlight. You might want to try it if you crave carbohydrates, feel sluggish, or have unbalanced moods from the lack of sunlight in the shortening days between October and December..

On cloudy days, get up, wash your face with cold water, and look directly into a bare 60-watt light bulb. This can be one in a floor or table lamp, over the stove, at a bathroom vanity, or in an overhead light (if you're tall). Hold your face about 22 to 24 inches, but NO CLOSER than 18 inches! The first time limit your gaze by counting to 5, then look away from the light bulb.

For greatest effect, at this point close your eyes and focus on the image of light. Looking straight ahead, bend or turn your head so the image of the light settles in the middle of your forehead (the third eye). Allow the image to become the sun, then let your eyes relax and enjoy this image, with its accompanying light and warmth, until the image fades. Open your eyes slowly.

Repeat this procedure every fifteen minutes for the first hour you are awake on cloudy or stormy days (four times). The second hour, gaze twice; the third hour, once or twice. At this point do not look directly at the light any more, but busy yourself around light as much as possible. When working at home, I turn all the lights on when I first get up — in the bathroom, the office, my bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room — so that no matter what I do, there is plenty of light.

Light gazing is easy to overdo, so follow the cautionary advice and proceed slowly. Adjust your gazing the second or third day. If you are still experiencing symptoms, increase the gazing times by counting slowly to 10 instead of 5. If counting to 10 doesn't seem quite enough, a day or two later proceed cautiously to 15.

I found that counting to 15 was about right for me on those day-after-day grey days in November. More caused me to be so hyper by early afternoon I couldn't concentrate, hold a conversation, or get any work done — OD'd on light!

Standing or sitting more closely than 18 inches caused my eyes to feel irritated and dry, almost like a chemical burn. This was after a morning of gazing from approximately a foot. By using eye drops and resting my eyes frequently, I felt normal by the end of the day, but I wouldn't want anyone else to experience this, so please, be careful with your light gazing. Start with 24 inches if you have concern about your own eyes.

I was initially a real skeptic of this winter depression treatment but was forced to reconsider it when it helped me stabilize my mood in spite of the Iowa weather. Reflecting on my high school days in that same location, I see now that I had difficulties even then coping with mood swings in the winter, though I understand SAD does become more pronounced with age.

Now that I am back in NJ, I continue to use light gazing when I get up on cloudy days to insure a reasonably stable mood throughout the day.

Other thoughts and suggestions for those of you severely affected by the lack of sunlight:

Learn to take advantage of natural light whenever possible — very carefully choose the rooms you spend the most daylight hours in, whether it be your work rooms, bedrooms, or kitchen. Hopefully they will face south as much as possible. An alternative is to make rooms that face south into the rooms you spend the most morning hours in (such as putting your breakfast table in the room with the most east/south exposure).

Listen to the local weather on tv or radio, and on nights when cloudy weather is predicted for the following day, mentally prepare yourself before going to bed. Open your curtains or blinds before retiring, so you can catch the morning light, meager as it may be. Focus on some breathing or centering exercises to de-stress yourself before sleep.

During those grey days where there are clouds obscuring the bright winter sunlight, make it a habit to get up a little earlier than usual to take advantage of what natural light there is, and do two or three light gazes even before you know whether the sun will shine brightly later on.

During sunny days in the winter, go outside as much as you can. Walk in the sun, play in the sun, drive in the sun.

I used to think that sitting and watching tv for a while "energized" me — that I needed my energy "fix" — but I now know part of what I was doing was focusing more light into my eyes, mind, and body. Light treatment is more efficient.

Years ago, in my thirties, I had great difficulty dealing with any light while I was trying to sleep. I even went so far as to buy and use a sleep mask to block out this unwanted light. Now I live a life that is much more natural — for me — and can sleep whenever I am tired, regardless of how much light is in the room.

I have done this by finding my own natural pace of waking (late to bed and late to rise), sleeping (whenever I sense myself as tired, even though the nap may last only ten minutes), and working (very long days several times a week). I have also tried to become more aware of stressors and how to manage stress. Yoga, meditation, t'ai chi, walking, bathing, daydreaming, dancing, and my favorite, talking, have all come in handy at one time or another for dealing with stress.

As a result, my internal self is calmer, less stressed, more tolerant and adaptive. Closing my eyes, even with sunlight streaming in my windows, is simply pulling down a shade to the outside world. Now that I enjoy my inside world, resting is to renew my energy. It is easy to slip into sleep from this peaceful, restful state. Reversing the process by opening my eyes and welcoming the outside world is often enhanced by the warming sun.

For more ideas on managing depression, see Getting Out of It, Stress Bathing, Microwave Yoga, Power Objects by Sally Miller; Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine by Lester Grinspoon, MD; and Heal Your Body by Louise Hay, all available through Synergy Book Service, POB 8, Flemington NJ 08822.

Getting Out Of It

"What do you do to get out of it?" my sister asked of my self-acknowledged, self-proclaimed depression.

"I do lots of things. . . " and my mind wandered to the dozens of times I'd recognized, then treated, my own depressions.

"I usually don't stay in it more than. . ." For a moment I remembered the time lapse as infinite, when in actuality, it was more like ". . . six hours, or sometimes only an hour or two."

She seemed relieved.

In the beginning, of course, the depressions had lasted for days, and weeks, and months, and had been completely out of my control. One of my friends finally took me to a doctor, who put me on an antidepressant. "This will allow you to feel the contrast with being undepressed, which in turn will enable you to change the thinking and behavior which is causing you to be depressed in the first place."

Although I deplored the thought of taking a prescription medication, his logic seemed sound, so I decided to take a chance. Within four days I was writing poems with a bit of hope in them, as I had before the depression.

During the ensuing four years on the medication, I learned many techniques for developing depression awareness and subsequent control over depression.

I continued with my sister, "My friend John says, let yourself get into it. So sometimes I do that, like a pig wallowing in warm mud I crawl into bed, luxuriating in the cool sheets, the soft pillow, and not having to move, like an infant, only with awareness.

"Sometimes I let myself cry, and release the tension, which is mostly what my depressions are about — tension and stress — though they certainly do have a biochemical component, a relation to the toxins I have in my system (what I've been eating, breathing, drinking, medicating with, etc), and how long it's been since I had an orgasm.

"Sometimes I call somebody, like I'm calling you. Earlier I called David, and left a message on his machine that I was bored, which was what I was feeling a couple of hours ago; but just now, talking with him again, my ennui had turned to depression.

Most of the time I try to ward it off, by recognizing and being aware of the early warning signs. These can vary from person to person, but they often include, at least for me:

not wanting to go outside

feeling lethargic

craving carbohydrate

having negative thoughts about anything

watching a lot of television

not feeling sexual

getting sick or having allergies worsen

reading the want ads

calling one certain friend

Being an observer of my own behavior has gotten easier over the years, particularly with friends who recognized and pointed it out to me. Once I realize I'm behaving in a certain way, I look for some of the other signs, and if I see several more, I know it's time to set the anti-depression behavior into motion.

Besides the previously mentioned wallowing, crying, and phoning, I have also found the following things helpful in reducing the depression (usually by reducing the tension in my body or mind):

taking a bath

talking to someone

going for a walk

dancing

masturbating

working at the computer

cutting and arranging flowers

sitting or driving in the sun

watching a sunset

thought watching

centering

meditating

using "stop thought" with depressing thoughts

giving myself a face or head massage

writing

or anything else that makes me feel better, but which when depressed I have to "make" myself do. It's easier to eat ice cream.

Now the tension is making my arm stiff and painful, my mind negative, my thinking distorted, and suppressing my immune system. I fight it successfully this time by words to others, that they may benefit from my experience.

Sometimes just doing one thing on my list (I keep it posted on my refrigerator and in my office) will be enough to change the depressive mood for a week or more. Occasionally I have to do several of them in succession within an hour to get out of it.

The worst depressions for me come from the conflict between my dreams and my reality — what I think I can do and what I'm presently doing.

Life tension, I call it. You can reduce your life tension. Some suggestions:

simplify your life

modify your goals

be more realistic in your ambitions

quit feeling sorry for yourself

expand and change your thinking

listen to your knowing place.

GETTING OUT of DEPRESSION

Recognition * Awareness * Action

P.S. Since the writing of this article, I discovered light therapy for treating depression -- free and easy!

I also found St. John's Wort helpful during the periods of time when there is the least sun (October 20 to February 20). I have cleaned the toxins out of my body and am no longer depressed.

Microwave Yoga

* Too busy for stress reduction routines?

* No time for exercise?

* Does meditation seem too far out?

Try these simplified yoga stretches while you use the microwave or wait for a pan to heat!

Each part will take between 30 to 60 seconds, and can be done easily in most kitchens and lunchrooms. If you try microwave yoga at the fast food store, however, you'd better wait until the aisles are clear!

For best results, do each activity very slowly, concentrating on exactly what your body is doing and feeling at each moment. Close your eyes to help you focus better on what is inside you.

The first time or two you might like someone to read the directions outloud while you do them.

Tea (60 seconds)

Stand still, comfortably, with feet together and hands at your sides. Take a deep breath and let your shoulders drop.

Slowly bring your arms out to the sides and up to shoulder height, keeping them straight and very slightly stretched.

Starting with your thumbs toward the front, rotate your arms, turning the thumbs up and over, ending with your thumbs toward the back. Palms still up, stretch slightly and take a deep breath.

Slowly bring your arms up above your head, gently stretching just as much as is comfortable for you. You will probably find yourself holding your breath.

Lower your arms to shoulder height, letting your breath out as you go. Rotate your thumbs forward and bring your arms down to your sides. Drop your shoulders and take a slow, deep breath.

Pizza (30 seconds for each side)

Stand with feet comfortably apart. Raise your right arm slowly, and as it passes your shoulder, begin to lower your left hand down towards the floor. Continue to gently stretch your right hand up, curving it over your head, feeling the stretch all along your right side. Your left hand will drop. Go only as far as is comfortable for you. Slowly bring your right arm down and to your side as you straighten your body. Take a slow, deep breath.

Raise your left arm slowly, letting your right hand hang down towards the floor. Gently stretch your left hand up, feeling the stretch all along your left side. Right arm will drop down. Slowly bring your arm down and to your side. Take a slow, deep breath.

Garlic Oil (15 seconds)

Stand with feet comfortably apart, shoulders relaxed. Slowly move your head back, feeling the stretch first under your chin, then in your neck your chest, stomach, and legs. Let your breath out as you slowly return to a standing position. Take a slow, deep breath.

Vegetables (60 seconds)

Stand with feet fairly far apart, shoulders relaxed, hands at your side. Bring your head forward, keeping your chin tucked in. Imagine a spot on the top of your head, and let that spot drop down, slowly, with the rest of you following. When you get as far down as you still feel comfortable, let your shoulders and arms drop down even further. Unlock your knees if you wish. Feel the stretch in your back and legs.

Slowly return to an upright position, letting each vertebra in your spine sit properly on top of the one below it. Drop your shoulders and take a slow, deep breath.

Enchiladas (30 - 60 seconds)

Stand with feet slightly apart and extend arms out to shoulder height. Slowly bend knees, bringing your pelvis down. Feel the stretch in your saddle area and shoulders. Straighten knees and stand upright, dropping arms to side. Take a deep breath.

Slowly rock your pelvis back and forth and loosen any remaining tension. Shake or rock any other part of your body that you're aware still has tension. Take one last deep breath, releasing residual tension with the air you breathe out.

This complete process can be done while heating frozen entrees, cooking popcorn, or thawing a quart of soup. If you're working at a computer, try this yoga routine while waiting for the printer to do its thing or use every half an hour to avoid body aches.

You will feel so good afterwards that you might even be tempted to incorporate these gentle stretching and focusing routines into your daily life. Watch your blood pressure go down, and your attitude improve!

Most activities can also be done on a modified basis from a sitting position, making them ideal for obese or handicapped people who wish a tension relieving, energizing program that won't cause more stress.

Audio tape of Microwave Yoga available from Synergy Book Service, POB Eight, Flemington NJ 08822. Price is $8 + $2 p & h.

Adapted from yoga stretches taught by Jim Day. From The ABC's of Living Without Cancer.

1991