If you have not read the previous installments, begin here.
As we researched and poured over all the treatment options and research, we relied heavily upon prayer and fasting to guide us in our decision. Friends and family and even strangers offered up prayers and fasts in our behalf as they learned of our desperate situation.I had finally resigned myself that if I were to die, that Jeremy and my children would be taken care of. I knew that if that was Heavenly Father’s plan for us, He would make it all okay. But I kept feeling a deep nudge to push me toward life; that this was not the end yet. I knew that if there was a solution out there, and if it was in Heavenly Father’s will, He would guide us to it. And I definitely felt that it was not my time to go.
Our good friends, Travis and Carol, invited us to attend the LDS temple in Mesa with them one evening. It was a great opportunity to get some eternal perspective of life and have some introspection about what really is important in life. While we were there, I definitely felt a sense of calm and peace that had been hard to obtain since the diagnosis. I knew that Heavenly Father would show us what to do.
Since my talk with Mary, the idea of a naturopath kept swirling around in my head. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. One day Jeremy and I sat down at the laptop and found Dr. Huber’s website natureworksbest.com. It was impressive, to say the least. She boasts of a 90% cure rate for all types of cancer. I don’t know of any other cancer treatment center that can make that claim. She also has a research paper she updates frequently that details each patient with their type and stage of cancer, what type of conventional treatments received, if any, if they went into remission and if they are still in remission, and how active their lifestyle is now. I was fascinated that there existed a treatment that could have such a high cure rate and no one seemed to know about it; and, it was all natural. It seemed too good to be true. One thing I did notice as I read further was that the patients that did not comply with the dietary recommendations did not respond to the therapy or did not live.
Jeremy and I started to seriously consider the naturopath option. But we had a hard time reconciling ourselves to the high cost, especially since our health insurance wouldn’t cover the expenses. My parents offered to help pay for it when they learned that we were looking into Dr. Huber and her high success rate. I think they were as deperate as we were for any treatment that showed success. However, Jeremy was convinced that she wasn’t the only one in the Phoenix area offering these services. So, being the diligent researcher that he is, he found another naturopathic medical doctor in Tempe that also provides high dose IV vitamin C and nutrient IVs to treat cancer. And, this NMD accepted insurance! Jeremy made us both an appointment with Dr. John Williamson of the W Clinic on the same day as my next appointment with Dr. Wingo. It was kind of exciting to think that I was finding a treatment plan that I felt good about.
A few days later Dr. Wingo called again. We hadn’t finalized any treatment plans with her yet. She asked if we had come to a decision yet as to which option I was leaning towards. I asked her again what she thought about the hormone treatment since the pathology report showed that my specific cancer had estrogen and progesterone receptors on it which was likely why it grew so fast during my pregnancy. She reminded me that all the research shows that leiomyosarcoma has not shown to respond to the hormone therapy, but if I wanted to try it she would arrange it. I faltered and couldn’t commit. Dr. Wingo then became very serious. “Carrie,” she said, “the last patient I treated with this cancer only lived two years. We really need to get started on a treatment–any treatment.” The solemnity of her remarks reminded me of the bleakness of my situation. I told her I needed to think about it some more and do some more research before I could make that decision. We resolved to talk about it at my next appointment.
Soon after my parents returned from the funeral, my mom began receiving scrapbook pages from all of her kids for Mother’s Day. She showed me each one as she put them in her binder. It was fun to see how each of the grandkids had grown from the previous year and how each of the siblings (or their wives) arranged each page. They were all very creative and cute. I then pulled out the scrapbook pages I had put together while she was gone. Her eyes started to fill with tears as she looked at the pictures. She did not expect that I would have been able to have pictures taken and put together while she was gone. In all likelihood she probably would have discouraged it if she had known I was doing it. After a kind chastisement that I didn’t have to do that and she didn’t expect me to do it, she very gratefully tucked the two pages into the sleeves in her scrapbook binder and gave me a tight squeeze.
I was beginning to move around the house a little easier and Jeremy had taken charge of making all the meals. He was starting to run out of his PTO hours that he had accumulated at work. Fortunately, the word of my cancer had spread at the power plant and many of his coworkers had generously donated some of their PTO hours to him to allow him to stay at home for a few more weeks while we continued to formulate our plan of action. And while we really appreciated my parents and Amy staying with us to help us out, we were ready to try just being our own little family again.
Jeremy was a superhero, managing the kids, making the meals from scratch, taking care of the baby, and researching during his downtime. He even made homemade pizza several times just to perfect the pizza dough recipe he had been experimenting with. I tried to help in little ways, like feeding Blake and trying to change his diaper, and reading books to the younger kids. Matthew and Corinne rose to the occasion and helped a lot more too. I was impressed to see them take on more responsibility at their age. But after a couple of days, he was feeling overwhelmed. I called my parents and asked them to come back for a few more days. They happily obliged.
After a few days of prayer and contemplation, I felt like I should start juicing. I was feeling a sense of urgency to do something to start healing my body of the cancer. On our next trip to the grocery store we bought a Costco size 10 lb bag of organic carrots, some organic apples, and a big bunch of organic dandelion leaves. Jeannie swore that the dandelion leaves helped her. Jeremy called our good friends, Travis and Carol, to ask if we could borrow their juicer. I can only imagine what went through their minds when Jeremy explained that we were going to juice my cancer away. But despite all of their likely misgivings and because of the sweet, kind souls that they are, they brought over their juicer. While Carol and I talked, Travis proceeded to instruct Jeremy in the fine art of juicing. Jeremy must have been sold on Jeannie’s glowing recommendation of the dandelion juice because he juiced all of the dandelion greens into a glass for me. Just dandelion greens. As I went to take a sip, the overpowering bitter smell hit me first and made me hesitate. It smelled just like a dandelion weed smells when you pull off a leaf. I held the tall glass in my hand and just looked at the dark green color for a few minutes before finally deciding that I was going to drink it. I put it to my lips and took a sip. Jeremy, Carol, and Travis were all watching as the acrid taste hit my tongue. I couldn’t help but squint my eyes and pucker my lips in disgust. It tasted just like that smell of the milky dandelion sap. It took all my determination to take another sip. And then another. I tried plugging my nose as I swallowed a few gulps. But the unpleasant aftertaste remained. I seriously thought about not finishing the juice. It really was that bad. However, if I was really going to go through with this juicing to cure cancer, I needed to make up my mind to just do it. I reconciled myself to it with the thought that it was definitely better than having to go through chemotherapy and it definitely tasted and felt better than the CT barium contrast nastiness I had to force down a few days earlier.
After that first bitter batch of dandelion juice I was a little hesitant to try another juice. But after having decided that this was the course to pursue, and feeling the need to be doing something towards healing my cancer, I tried another juice. Since carrot juice is the main staple juice of the Gerson therapy, I decided to try that one next. I was amazed at how many carrots it takes to make one cup of juice. That meant a whole lot of nutrition in one small glass. As I took my first sip I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted mildly sweet, just like a carrot. I know that should sound like common sense, but after that dandelion juice, it was comforting to know that juices don’t have to be unpalatable.
Over the next few days I began juicing and juicing and juicing. Mostly carrot and carrot apple juices. These are the main staple juices of the Gerson Therapy which was the diet we had decided we were going to follow to heal my cancer. I also juiced some leafy greens like kale and dandelion greens; but I learned my lesson and added apple and lemon with it so it wasn’t so bitter. It still wasn’t my favorite, but I knew that it providing my body with a plethora of vitamin and minerals to aid in more rapid healing of the cancer. But the carrot apple juice was by far my favorite. I also noticed how I felt after drinking the juice. I can only describe it as a clean feeling; like the inside of my body was getting washed out. And I felt a little extra burst of energy. I was definitely on board with juicing.
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