Going Back To Basics

I suffer from stomach problems such as gastric pain since I was in my 20s. After I left the banking sector, my gastric problems improved but I developed another problem, indigestion. I did not pay attention to it. I believe that people with stomach problems if left untreated are very prone to develop chronic disease later in life. Anyway, in the current case, the main problem is I think is that I took too spicy food. I have stopped taking such foods and the incidence of acid reflux is slowly getting better.

Last night, I was quite sleepy but yet I could not settle down to sleep. There is always something disturbing me. My pair of restless legs. I feel lack of energy in my legs and as I result, I have to sort of massage it every now and then. It becomes more prominent when I lie down to bed. Anyway, I think the situation is turning around slowly. I need to relax a more particularly just before I go to bed like meditation, something which I forgot in the midst of my problems. I will go back to the basics and re-foucs like I did in the early days.

An Evening With Lothar Hirneise
Yesterday evening together with my friend Yeong, his wife Khatijah, we met Lothar Hirneise, his wife and two other friends at KLCC. They were really friendly and we adjourned to a nearby Indonesian restaurant for dinner. I took the opportunity to find out more about his work and his clinic in Stuttgart, Germany. I found out something interesting about how they treat cancer patients at his clinic. They run a 5 week program and the very first two weeks are spent on detoxification and mind work. Basically, he said that getting patients to change overnight is almost impossible and the mind is the key to recovery. He quoted a case about a healthy man who went for a scan and the doctor said that he could be suffering from pancreatic cancer. After hearing the news, he died weeks later believing he had cancer. Later, they discovered he did not have cancer. So reprogramming the mind is most important. One of the exercises that they ask every patient to do it to make a contract with oneself that is in how many months would one be free of cancer. Other aspect include visualization that is to develop the mental imagery skills for motivation mastery for coping with difficult circumstances. Surprising it may sound, he said the partners (notably husbands) are a barrier to the patient's healing and in such a case, they would ask the partner to leave the clinic.

There is so much to talk but we had too little time, only about 2.5 hours. Before he left, he gave my friend a copy of his book Chemotherapy Cures Cancer and The World Is Flat. The book is 776 pages thick and I managed to glance over a few chapters. Unlike some books that I read which is nothing more than a compilation of various alternative cancer protocols, it reflects his deep understanding experiences with cancer which led to the development of the 3E program to treat cancer. He is also one of the only two students of Dr Joanna Budwig. I hope to read his book one of these days.

Energy Imbalance

I have developed some anxiety feelings when the night nears because I am worried if I might not be able to sleep. Yesterday night, I retired to bed just past 11pm but spent almost two hours trying to sleep. I think I dose off into sleep after that but I think my sleep was a little disturb. I don't feel rested despite getting up 8am this morning.

I have also been experiencing restless legs for sometime now. My legs feel weak and devoid of energy. I read that this is also a symptom of sleeping disorder. Then again, it could also be due to the massage that I took last Friday. My masseur said I would feel pain on my feet after she found the blood circulation blocked. The unblocking massage was very painful and she said the pain will persist for a few days. Besides the feet, my neck, shoulder and back areas also received similar massage. She suggested a follow-up treatment five days later. In the morning, I also feel weak and energyless. I have not felt like that for a long time.

I will be visiting my family doctor for some prescription later today. This is because I need address my sleeping problem in the short term. I must have sufficient sleep in order for the body to heal.

This evening, I will be meeting one of the most well know cancer guru from Europe, Lothar Hirneise.

Lothar Hirneise’s Cancer Research

Who is Lothar Hirneise? According to one source, possibly one of the most knowledgeable persons in the world on the subject of cancer... Lothar Hirneise is also the President and Founder of People against Cancer [Menschen gegen Krebs] Germany, a non-profit organization established to promote international Research, education and consulting regarding alternative, as well as conventional cancer therapies. He is the author of Chemotherapy Heals Cancer and the Earth is Flat.

"Who survives cancer? - The 3E Program (Ernährung, Entgiftung, Energie) (Eat right, Eliminate [Detoxification], Energy)

In the last few years I have interviewed several hundred so-called final stage survivors, meaning patients who were in the final stage of cancer and who are all healthy again today. And already after, met me say 50 patients, did it become rather quickly clear to me, that was actually going on here. Which before had rather eluded me for years because I had always delved too deeply into these theories about that cancer really is. And what was it? Very simple, there are three points:

1. One point, which I discovered with 100% of all survivors, is the energy work, the sun.

2. In approximately, hmm - I will say 80% of all patients, I found a nutritional change.

3. And in at least 60% of all patients did I find intensive detoxification therapies.

These are the three really important points, the central thread or continuity that can be found in these patients that have survived cancer in the final stage. More information can be found here.

A Faint Light

Friday The 13th
Last Friday was a difficult night for me. After nightfall, I tried to sleep but I could not. I also could not lie down or sit down. I was waiting for morning to break. I tried watching TV but could not concentrate. I was wondering what caused this restlessness in me? As I searched for the answer from within, I observed that I was not able to fart neither could I burp. I felt uncomfortable. I feel a burning sensation in my upper stomach region. The cause was acid reflux. When I lie down, the back flow of acid to the esophagus causes the discomfort and in turn made it difficult for me to sleep. This went on the whole night. At past 4am, my mother suggested that I try her remedy which is using Chinese Medicated "Wind" oil. She applied the oil all over my chest and the stomach in circular motion. Minutes later, I just dosed off. What a night!

Saturday Blues
I woke up at about 7.30am. I felt relieved but very sad over the passing of my family dog, Bobby. Bobby was a stray dog that came to our house over a year ago.

I quickly went about my morning routine and then gave the dog a decent burial. At 11am, I was already exhausted and my hands and feet were trembling. I quickly drank my apple+carrot juice that I made earlier and went to bed. I managed to sleep without any problems and woke up at about 1pm just in time for lunch. After lunch, I slept again and woke up about 3.30pm. It was the first time in two weeks that I managed to sleep that easily.

Despite all the sleep during the day time, I was still feeling very tired and weak. I rested in bed and skipped my TCM class.

As night came, I became a little anxious, wondering if I could sleep or not. I applied the Medicated "Wind" oil. I could lie down in bed without the restlessness feeling. That's a good start but I think having spent so much time sleeping during the day time has made me less sleepy. I applied the Medicated "Wind" oil a second time and about 3am, I managed to sleep undisturbed till 9.30am this morning. After a good night's sleep, I felt much better this morning. Today, I will try to skip any napping so that I could bring my body clock back to normal. Tonight, I will retire to bed much earlier so that I could have a proper rest to allow my body to heal.

Farewell Bobby!

I am really sad today because our family dog Bobby passed away this morning at about 6am. He was 9 years old. I last saw Bobby at 5am. Bobby has been sick on Thursday and I took him to the vet and after the dog was given injection, he was much better. The veterinarian said the Bobby should recover within two days failing which I will have to admit Bobby later today.

My mother was very upset and cried this morning because she was very close to the dog. Bobby has brought us so much joy. I am also feeling very sad and could not contain my tears. I am too upset to write today.

In Buddhist tradition, may Bobby achieve a good rebirth.

A Turn Around?

May 2011 has been a difficult month for me but still I am thankful that my problems have been few. Ten months ago, I was also going through a difficult period and it lasted almost two months. Those days, I have lingering pain all day long besides stomach gases. When I have stomach gases, it means almost having problems eating proper meals. I think there three things that a cancer patients would not want to experience are body pain, unable to sleep and unable to eat. Of the three, I am spared from body pain most of the time. A scale of 1 to 10, my body pain is mostly 3. But I suffer from stomach gases for most of the time. Unlike 10 months ago, although I had stomach gases, I was able to sleep. This time round, I was unable to sleep. Of course, mental suffering is always there.

I have been observing what is that thing that is causing me difficulty in sleeping. Although I do feel that my body is very warm at night but I think its not the main cause. I think the main problem is palpitation. When I become aware of my irregular heat beat, that's when I feel that I do not have sufficient oxygen intake and that makes my lungs breath even harder. Then I start to feel agitated and become restless. The body "knows" that it does not get sufficient air and tries to its best to breath more air. I have been doing deep breathing exercises and also using the personal oxygen generator to help out. It does make a difference for a while. Perhaps, it is the mind that is playing tricks. When I get engrossed listening to the chanting music, I momentarily forget about my breathing problems and then dose off to sleep.

Last night, I went to bed early about 10pm and I think I dose off at about 11pm but woke up at 1am. I was hungry and then made myself some oatmeal. I then tried to resume my sleep but I was again having this difficult breathing feeling. I power on the personal oxygen generator to breath in more concentrated oxygen for about 20 minutes. I felt better and was able to sleep after that. I woke up again at 5.30am. Yesterday evening, I added Indian Snake Grass into one of my juices and I think it helped cool my body down. I think I have made some progress and hope this is the turn around that I have been looking for.

I will continue to search for other kidney cancer patients experiences with alternative therapies. As kidney cancer is not a common cancer, it's even more difficult to find patients taking about it in forums or blogs. As far as therapies are concerned, I think I have covered sufficient therapies that I can chose from and most likely, I will not for the time being look for any new therapies. I will focus on resolving my present problems. When my condition stabilised, I will go for a blood test and maybe a chest x-ray and kidney ultrasound as well.

Sabah Snake Grass Vs Fungicide Therapy
I was given about a week supply of Sabah Snake Grass (SSG) and decided to try it. It's not cooling as I thought it to be and of course there wasn't any bitter taste. After two days and this is what I observed. I have been spitting out white phlegm since I starting consuming SSG. When I started the Fungicide therapy, this is exactly what happened too. I feel my throat a little saltish and starting throwing whitish phlegm each day while I was on the therapy. I have stopped taking the Fungicide therapy about 10 days ago (a few days short of my target of 30 days) and the whitish phlegm also started to stopped. Is this a coincidence both these therapies works the same way?

Another Hope

I think I may have misread my body reactions. I may have been attributing too much of my present problems to internal heat. Yes, there was internal heat. The last two days, I observed that something else are happening in my lungs and stomach areas. The chest area would feel a heaty sensation (something like a heart burn or reflux) and the stomach would also have a heaty sensation as if you have taken spicy food. I also noticed that my stomach is bloating a little and there are water and gases sounds coming from my stomach. At times, the stomach would ache a bit. These sensations has made me very uncomfortable and I am still experiencing sleeping difficulty. Yesterday, I only slept at 5am. Luckily, I managed to take a nap later in the day.

My cough has been off and on but since yesterday, I found traces of fresh blood in my phlegm. There is surely something happening in my lungs. There is no pain however during my coughs. My breathing and heartbeat are still irregular at times.

MMS Protocol
I continued to look for a solution to my problems and I think my efforts was not wasted when I found this therapy. You may be wondering why another therapy? This is the first time I found a testimonial of a kidney cancer patient on alternative therapy who used a protocol with success, so I thought I should at least have a look at it. The protocol can also help in acid reflux problems too. In fact, there are a host of diseases that it can cure. Initially this protocol was used to cure malaria and they has cured over 75,000 cases of malaria in 5 countries in Africa at US$0.75 per treatment. This is impressive.

The Miracle Mineral Supplement (MMS) introduced by Jim Humble (author of The MIracle Mineral Supplement of the 21st century.) is another mineral supplement that can help people to overcome chronic disease. Part 1 of Jim's book is available for free and you can download it here. Amazing as it might seem, MMS when used correctly, the immune system can use this killer to only attack those germs, bacteria, viruses, molds, and other microorganisms that are harmful to the body. It does not affect friendly bacteria, including the intestinal flora, nor healthy cells. The MMS is 28% sodium chlorite that generates chlorine dioxide (that’s CLO2) when mixed with vinegar. The reason why it produces chlorine dioxide when mixed with vinegar is because the acetic acid (in the vinegar) causes the solution to be neutralized or, better than that, causes it to be slightly acidic. The MMS solution is normally extremely alkaline. When it is made acidic, by adding the vinegar, it becomes slightly unstable and it begins to release chlorine dioxide. The American Society of Analytical Chemists stated in 1999 that chlorine dioxide was the most powerful pathogen killer known to man. MMS is banned in Canada and Australia. In USA, it is known as Miracle Mineral Solution to clean water because FDA did not allow it be be sold as a supplement.

The red blood cells that normally carry oxygen throughout the body have no mechanism to differentiate between chlorine dioxide and oxygen. Thus, in the walls of the stomach where the blood picks up nutrients of various kinds, when a chlorine dioxide ion touches a red blood cell it is accepted. If there happens to be a parasite present it will be destroyed and the chlorine dioxide will be destroyed as well. If there are no parasites present, the chlorine dioxide will be carried by the red blood cell to some part of the body where oxygen would normally be used to oxidize poisons and other bad things. There the chlorine dioxide is released. If the chlorine dioxide does not hit anything that can set it off, it will begin to deteriorate and thus gain an electron or two. This may allow it to combine with other substances, creating a very important substance that the immune system utilizes to make hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is probably the most important acid of the immune system. It kills pathogens, killer cells, even cancerous cells with this acid. When the body has a deficiency in the important substance from which the immune system creates the hypochlorous acid, it is called myeloperoxidase deficiency.

I found the testimonial of David Voy which led me to discover MMS, who was diagnosed with RCC (Renal Cell Carcinoma) cancerour tumors in 2 kidneys (left kidney Tumor 20mm in size, right kidney tumor 11mm in size) in a CT scan done in Feb 2010. He did not mentioned whether the tumors has metastasized to other parts of the body. He reported that after 3 weeks of use, his left kidney and right kidney tumors shrank in size to 14mm and 8mm respectively. He then went back on a junk diet because his family said "Stop taking that crap" and he became so discouraged, he gave up. Subsequently in March 2011, he did another scan, the tumor did not spread neither did it grow. It remained at 14mm and 8mm as previously. He later realised that the therapy is working and has since resumed the protocol. It should be mentioned that when it comes to the tumors, the body can also kill them and then encasulate them without shrinking or absorbing them. This sometimes happens with cancer, and in that case the tumors will no longer shrink or grow because they are dead. In those case, CT scans will show these tumors as bigger but darker in color.

The protocol that David took is called Protocol 2000. This is an intense program that often works on cancer at any stage, and has worked for Stage IV cancers. According to the author Jim Humble, it is the best he knows at this time for advanced cancers. Of 390 AIDS cases treated by MMS IV in a small clinic in Kampala, Uganda over an 8-month period beginning March 2004, 60% of the cases were considered free of AIDS in 3 days. The remaining 40% were judged free of AIDS in 4 to 30 days. Only 2 of the 390 cases were considered failures.

The protocol calls for consumption of MMS1 and MMS2. MMS1 consist of chlorine dioxide. MMS2 is calcium hypochlorite in powder form in size zero gel capsules. Calcium hypochlorite turns into hypochlorous acid when dissolved in water which is used by the body to kill microorganisms. The immune system simply cannot make enough of this chemical to kill a cancer, but you can furnish it with these capsules. It's the very same thing your immune system uses. This acid is generated by the chemical called calcium hypochlorite.

MMS1 is available online in Malaysia and distributed by Lightworks. You can buy calcium hypochlorite from any shops that sells chemicals for cleaning swimming pools to make MMS2. The cost to implement this protocol is very cheap. 3 months supply is RM300(US$100) while it costs RM100 (US$33) per year when in maintenance mode. If you make your own MMS, its even cheaper.

It's Still Not Over

I have not been able to sleep for almost two weeks now. Even the relaxant that was given by my family doctor was not able to help. Spicy food does not cause cancer but acidity. In fact the sprouted bread + habaneros pepper has been known to cure cancer. As a Chinese, I am not used to a spicy diet and taking of the cayenne pepper has unsettled my system. It manifest as internal heat, the burning of the heart sensation when I lie down and when I sit down. As a result, the body becomes very restless and cannot settle down whether to sleep or to sit. I avoid all forms of spicy foods until now. This is the first time I experienced it and I did not think it would be so bad so much so even I became hyperactive. A cancer patient requires lots of sleep and I am now on the opposite end, not sleeping. This has weakened my body and I hope the tumors did not take advantage to advance.

I have been very pale looking since the last blood vomiting episode. Yesterday morning, I was not only pale all over, I felt energyless, especially on my feet. I was feeling very tired and at the same time, I can't even lie down to sleep. My mother recommended that I take beetroot soup (not raw beetroot but the dried version that you can buy in Chinese medical halls). Everytime when my mother has internal heat problem, she would drink the soup and she tells me it worked all the time. Research found that the red coloring matter of beetroots contain anti-carcinogens and can increase the uptake of oxygen by as much as 400 percent. This helps fight against cancer and increase our cardiovascular activities. In TCM, beetroots can nourish the blood and bring down internal heat. Within 10 minutes of drinking the beetroot soup, the internal heat subsided and I managed to take a 2 hour nap. I felt much better when I got up just before lunch.

I am still very tired and any sleep lost cannot be catched up. Still, I will try to sleep with every available opportunity. My neck and shoulder has become very stiffed. Yesterday, I continued my second day bathing with cold water. This time, I managed much better than previously despite a slight drizzle outside. My internal heat seems to be reducing and I feel very much better now physiologically.

Sabah Snake Grass (SSG) Revisited
Recently I have been receiving lot of emails about SSG and a reader of this blog, Swee Seng emailed me and said how her mother's cancer after taking SSG is fine now. She also introduced a SSG grower, a Mr. Ng to me and I took the opportunity to go for a fact finding mission yesterday evening. When I was almost about to reach Mr Ng's home, my car overheated due to a leaking radiator. I have to abandoned my car by the roadside and then walk for a kilometer to Mr. Ng's house. Later, I arranged for a tow truck to tow the car back to the workshop. It's was a long but fruitful night for me.

Mr. Ng explained the different types of Snake Grass to me. The common variety grown is called the Indian Snake Grass (ISG) and it differs from SSG in the following areas:

	SSG	ISG
Leaf size	Bigger	Smaller
Taste	A little sweet taste	Very bitter taste
Side Effects	Lung cancer patients may experience nausea	Backache
Efficacy	Effective against cancer as reported by patients	Not known (but my own trial shows it's not effective. It is not possible to increase the dosage to say 100 leafs per blending as it becomes too bitter and you get a very bad backache)

Mr. Ng grows the SSG in his garden and currently supplies to about 30 cancer patients. According to him, ALL patients reported improvements and some even show tumors disappearing as early as 2 weeks of consumption. For more serious cases, he said it may take about 4 weeks. Mr. Ng not only gives away SSG for free, he also give the patients tree stocks so that they can grow on their own and become self sufficient as part of his charity work. People who did not do chemotherapy would respond very well.

He later said I looked normal and examined my hands. He saw some yellowish skin and I assured him that this is due to the carrot juices that I have been drinking over the past 21 months and not due to liver tumor. My November CT 2010 scan showed no liver metastasis. He even said for me, I think in one month if you take SSG, you will be clear and urged me to try. I am the first person he met with kidney cancer, so he has no past results to share. Anyway he gave me a few days supply and gave me the dosage to take. Apparently, he give different dosage to patients depending on their condition.

He also seems well read about certain alternative therapies and we talk about a few of them. One of the therapy caught my attention. He suggested for tumors with masses like kidney cancer, much of the mass is made up of calcium. As such an alkaline environment would not be able to shrink the tumor mass. Instead the the environment should be acidic so that the acid can dissolve the calcium. He read about it in a book. This is something new to me and I would want to research more on what he said.

The reason why I am revisiting this therapy is I have also been asked about this therapy for which I have no experience. I would direct them to someone else who has experiences with SSG and also sells SSG. I have no financial interest when I do referrals. The other reason is for overseas readers. I would like them to know about SSG. SSG is grown in other parts of Asia as well but Malaysia seems to have a database of successful patients that you can check out. This therapy can also be supplement to other therapies (but not TCM and some exceptions) so you can still try without giving up your present therapy.

Starry Starry Night

I can't sleep so I thought I may as well write today's post earlier than usual.

I have been thinking why of late I have been bugged by this reflux problem. My food intake has been quite consistent except for the following:
1. Spicy Dhal curry for about two weeks
2. Spouted bread + cayenne pepper for about two weeks
3. Green apples and pineapple

I think eating spicy foods are the major cause of my acidity problem. I have stopped taking the above foods (except for item 3) for a week a week now and the reflux problem is getting better. Because of the reflux problem, I developed this craving for eating green apples (1 apple a day) and pineapple (one 1 slice a day) during the last few days. I have also since stopped eating green apples and pineapples.

More than reflux, I think I am suffering from some deficiency syndrome as it is known in TCM. The symptoms are palpitation, insomnia, restlessness, unable to lie flat, heat in the chest, palms and soles, dry mouth and throat and sticky sputum. I feel feverish at times, cold feet in the day and warm feet at night and restless all the time. It gets worst towards the night. Due to the disturb sleep, I easily feel agitated and have no presence of mind. My TCM lecturer said treating this syndrome is not easy.

Yesterday, I took my bath for the first time in 21 months with cold water. The water was chilly and I had to cope with the cold even though the evening sun was in full blast. I was afraid to catch a cold which would make matters worst. I figure that cold water would help me to cool down my whole body. I have not experienced all these symptoms together in the past. I am also not sure if these symptoms are cause by the tumors or the changes in the food intake or my new therapies or combination thereof.

Due to the way and the food I took the last 21 months, my body has been conditioned in certain ways and can be easily get out of balance even with a simple diet change. As you can see, adding spices to my diet was a big mistake and self inflicted. I should have been more patient. Dhal is fine but I made it very spicy! So double whammy. Sigh...

I have been very conservative in performing my therapy but in recent months, I am starting to lose patience. I have became bolder in my approach and I have still have not understood why I am beginning to be more aggressive. I think this song Vincent by Don McLean best reflect how my mind is now:

Starry starry night
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the darkness in my soul.

Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.

And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they did not know how
perhaps they'll listen now.

Starry starry night
flaming flo'rs that brightly blaze
swirling clouds in violet haze
reflect in Vincent's eyes of China blue.

Colors changing hue
morning fields of amber grain
weathered faces lined in pain
are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand.

And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
perhaps they'll listen now.

For they could not love you
but still your love was true
and when no hope was left in sight on that starry starry night.
You took your life as lovers often do;
But I could have told you Vincent
this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

Starry starry night
portraits hung in empty halls
frameless heads on nameless walls
with eyes that watch the world and can't forget.

Like the stranger that you've met
the ragged men in ragged clothes
the silver thorn of bloddy rose
lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow.

And now I think I know what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen they're not list'ning still
perhaps they never will.

Roller Coaster Ride

For the last three days, I continued to have very strong stomach acid reflux problem. I had reflux problems before but not so serious as this time. So, I have been taking the baking soda remedy two to three times a day. I find this remedy very effective and within minutes of taking the remedy, I could feel not only the release of gases but feel quite good. There are some side effects, mostly in the beginning stage; my stomach would feel a little pain followed by palpitation for about 15 minutes or so. When all these are over, the relief is experienced. I can lie down and not have any problems. I think it also help me reduced my phlegm retention. Yesterday, I felt that my lungs have taken back the function of fluid management. I was also able to nap better in the afternoon.

I would like to thank those who commented on my post yesterday. Not only very enlightening but I am touched as well. While having this cancer, I have also found something important to me. This cancer has definitely made me live differently and I am trying to live my life as free and as full as possible. I think taking alternative therapies can be liken to the stock market, sometimes we have a bull run, most of the time nothing exciting happens and at other times the bear takes over. The fact that I have plodded on till now tells you that I just don't just give up. Perhaps this blog has provided me an avenue to express my feelings and thoughts which are therapeutic in effects, so that I can let go of my emotions and not do stupid things.

As I said before, what therapies that I shared in my blog is biased toward me, meaning I do it for myself. As you can see, sometimes, no matter how much you read, how much positive comments and testimonials about certain therapies, at the end of the day, nobody is sure if it will work for you. This is not the first time I took a supplementary therapy that not only did not work but had a bad effect on me. The first was the taking of apricot seeds for vitamin B17 (laetrile) way back in October 2009 based on a book CANCER: Why We're Still Dying And To Know The Truth by Phillip Day. Later I found out that B17 is only effective on certain type of cancers (sorry not kidney cancer). Even if B17 is to be consumed, we should take the tablet form. However, B17 is banned in most countries, so obtaining it is a problem. That's why I continue to read and read and search the forums for answers and for people's experiences and even then, it's not safe. This is because most people would report success or failures but not reactions while taking a therapy. This is the reason why I spend so much of my time journaling the reactions of whatever therapy that I am doing. I actually physically examine my enema discharge every time even though it’s smelly and note down what I see and smell. But unfortunately I cannot post photographs for it would upset your stomach. My last episode of blood vomiting, I also took photographs of the blood but it is not tasteful and too graphic for some people, so I left it out of my blog.

The reason why I am taking a TCM course is not to be a guru in TCM. I have no formal training in medicine, nutrition or other form of health sciences. My training is in accountancy and management. There are many things I do not know when I follow the Gerson Therapy and Dr Max Gerson only list a handful of healing reactions. I can’t explain many things that are happening and also don't know what to do. Since taking the TCM course, I am beginning to know more about how the major organs of my body work. The good thing about learning TCM is that the lecturer also compares it to Western medicine so we get to know if there are common grounds. This additional knowledge will allow me to tweak my therapy better. Perhaps it will also tell me if certain therapy will be suitable for me as my physiology and tolerance to certain foods are not the same. I can now understand my present state based on TCM perspective. So I can look for a solution to take in additional herbs or things I can do to help myself. I agree I am very different from other cancer patients. I want to get out of the helpless and hopeless shell. Charity begins at home and I should love myself more and therefore help myself more. Oh, my friends are also my gems; they help and also encourage me too.

I have seen too many cases of over dependence on doctors and therapist to the extent that doctors/therapists know bests. Well, for most things, I agree but for cancer, I would rather take a different view. Want different results then do things differently. I am not saying we don’t need the doctors/therapists. For example, in my blood vomiting episode, I would not go to the hospital for treatment for I know what they will do to me. The confidence in treating me does not come free. I have to read a lot and also ask a lot of questions from the doctors. TCM is part of the price. You just have to look at the case of Ms S that I wrote about two weeks ago and also KC (supervised by a therapist) to know how patients and caregiver makes decisions. I was also like that when I was first diagnosed with cancer. I was forced to change because the doctors have no cure for me. Now, I don’t manage my cancer that way. Sure,I can make wrong decision, but at least I think the decision was not guess work. Some would call this arrogance but I call it confidence. I think ignorance is a costly price to pay.

The Going Gets Harder

Way back in August 2010 when I went for my 1st year review in Singapore, my oncologist has classified my cancer as slow progressing. Despite on Gerson Therapy (GT), I found new tumors in my body, one at T6 area (March 2010) and another at the left collarbone area (July 2010). I subsequently met my urologist later with a view of going for surgery in November 2010. Following a therapy just by the documentation is not easy. Because from testimonials, GT patients just recover in months and for me, after over a year, I got more tumors. What's happening and what am I going to do? So in December 2010, I left for the Gerson Clinic in Mexico to get professional help. Back then I did not know so much about other alternative therapies except for GT and I began to read more because I knew my condition will deteriorate overtime, so I will need additional therapies.

I don't know if this is just a coincidence because many of my cancer friends that I met six to nine months ago has passed on within the last week or so. When I met these people, they condition were like me and all of a sudden, just within 2-3 months, their condition just deteriorated. I am fully aware that cancer can take an unexpected turn and when that happens, the end is swift but painful.

My friend who is also my strongest critic, gave me a lashing for trying the spouted bread + cayenne pepper diet. She said this has done more harm than good to me. She is right because at the moment, I am suffering of excess heat internally. I feel warm all the time (even with air conditioner on) and make it difficult for me to sleep as well. She also said I "trust no one" and "think you are so clever and technical" but "forgot your thinking can be flawed". Her message hit me hard. Have I been too arrogant, too clever for my own good?

Besides insomnia, I think my current greatest challenge is possibly dealing with fluid retention in my lungs. It has not gone to the state of needing surgery to drain out the fluid but this is a bad sign, the beginning of the end? I think my last episode of blood vomiting is a sign that my lungs may have been damaged. My alveoli may be affected because at times, I am experiencing breathing difficulties. I find breathing more difficult when lying down and this is also one reason why I am also not sleeping well.

My TCM lecturer suggested that I consult some more experienced TCM practitioners. My classmate, Jeanie said her sister knows of a TCM practitioner that specialises in lung cancer and I have asked her to help me get the address so that I can go for a consultation.

For the moment, I am trying to survive 2011 because I would not want to miss my 2nd pilgrimage to India. Because I am so eager to go in November, I think I will still be around for a while.

Can I be an organ donor if I have had cancer?

You may be able to be an organ donor if you have had cancer. There are medical conditions that mean you can’t donate, but cancer isn’t necessarily one of them.

According to the UK Transplant website, you definitely can’t donate your organs if you have CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) or HIV (Human Immunosufficiciency Virus). But you may be able to donate if you have any other medical condition (including cancer). Doctors consider each case individually.

After someone dies, a health professional carefully considers the persons’ medical history. They then make a decision about whether or not some or all of the person’s organs or tissue are suitable for transplant. Because the decision is made after a person has died, unfortunately this means that you won’t know whether you can be a donor or not.

Cost of Conventional Breast Cancer Treatment - World Record?
An accumulated S$24.8mil (RM60mil or US$20 mil) medical bill was charged to a single patient for seven months’ breast cancer treatment by a top transplant surgeon in Singapore. The family of the patient, a cousin of the Brunei Sultan and sister of the Queen, who succumbed to her illness in 2007 complained about the bill. The surgeon inflated a third party specialist’s bill of S$400 to S$211,000. Another’s bill of S$500 was inflated to S$93,500, and a third doctor’s charge of S$3,000 was blown up to S$285,100. When Singapore Medical Council investigated the fee, the surgeon offered to discount it by half, and later reduced to just over S$3mil.

The best part was the surgeon offered to entirely waive the fee if the Brunei government would give her “a letter of good standing”. I feel like vomiting blood again when she requested that. “At most one can raise a question of ethics,” said a retired doctor. The surgeon was not charged with any wrongdoing other than overcharging. Do you agree it's only a question of ethics and overcharging here? You can read more here.

Back To Normallcy

Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective of Cancer
I have just completed my TCM tongue diagnosis class and I always wonder if there is a possibility to tell if by looking at the tongue, we can tell if the patient is suffering from some chronic disease like cancer. I did take a look at my own tongue and I must say, it looks pretty normal in TCM terms, pale red, moist and with a thin even layer of white coating. Of course, the correct time to look at it was at the time I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and not 21 months later. From pulse diagnosis, my lecturer say that I lack qi but then again to diagnose cancer is really not that easy. Treatment of cancer is also not an easy matter.

From TCM prespective, there is no specific concept of cancer and the tumors is just a symptom of something more seriously going on inside the body. Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners believe that the causes of tumor development comes from a) external factors include toxins and other environmental factors and b) emotional stress, unhealthy diets, and damaged organs are internal factors. Internal factors also include stagnant blood, and a blockage or accumulation of qi (pronounced chee), the vital energy said to circulate along the meridians, or pathways, linking all parts of the body.

All illnesses, in the perspective of TCM, are a result of energy imbalance, either an excess or a deficiency of the body's elemental energies. Therefore cancer is the manifestation of an underlying imbalance, and a tumor is the "uppermost branch" of the illness, not the "root". Therefore to cure cancer is an attempt to treat the imbalance. But I have yet to acquire enough knowledge to discuss on this subject matter further.

Western medicine has begun to take notice of the correlation between cancer patients and changes in the color, coating and texture of their tongues. There is a very interesting article in the December 2002 issue of “Acupuncture Today” which discusses a scientific study being conducted at Pittsburgh Medical Center. Researchers have begun taking computerized images of patients’ tongues to see if an examination can provide an early indication of colon cancer.

Can Tongue Diagnosis Predict Colon Cancer?
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are taking a scientific approach to the usefulness of tongue diagnosis. In what is believed to be the first study of its kind in the United States, the investigators have begun taking computerized images of patients' tongues to see if an examination can provide an early indication of colon cancer.

Yang Cai, PhD, a native of Suzhou, China and a systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon, is responsible for taking and analyzing the tongue images. He also has a vested interest in the subject, having lost a close friend to ovarian cancer and an aunt to brain cancer only four months after being diagnosed.

One intriguing paper, published in the Chinese-language Journal of Oncology in 1987, examined the tongues of more than 12,000 patients and found "significant changes" in color, coating and texture in the tongues of cancerous patients compared to those without cancer.

The results of Cai's informal investigation led him to Dr. Robert Schoen, director of colorectal and gastrointestinal cancer prevention and control research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). After initial discussions, Schoen warmed to the idea of tongue diagnosis and allowed Cai to add his research project to Schoen's ongoing study with the Early Detection Research Network.

To date, Cai has personally photographed more than 30 tongues, and has provided a camera and instructions on tongue imaging to Xingming Lin, a traditional Chinese medical doctor who oversees a cancer unit at Anhui Medical School in Hefei, China. If tongue screening proves accurate, it would give providers an inexpensive, noninvasive alternative to a traditional colonoscopy.

This is a good start between Western Medicine and TCM collaboration and I hope it would include other forms of cancer as well.

Fungicide Therapy Trial - Day 25 Update
Yesterday, just after lunch I took a nap to catch back some sleep. After lunch, I went to see the TCM practitioner who diagnosed that I had internal heat. I bought herbs to be taken over 3 days. After I had first bowl of herbs 5pm, I fell asleep while watching the TV and I woke up at abut 7pm. I would like to sleep a bit more but I can't as I need to make my juices and also take dinner. I also know that I would not be able to sleep so early in the night.

At about 11pm, I took the baking soda remedy to neutralise my stomach acid. It's quite effective and I could lie down without feeling the discomfort of the acid back flow. I was not sleepy then, so I watched an old 1993 Chicago, Live At the Greek Theater video. To me, this is one of their best rendition and in particular, songs like Look Away, Hard Habit to Break and If You Leave Me Now was beautifully done. Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff's combination were magical. I was mesmerised by guitar genius, Dawayne Bailey and thought, if only I could have 1% of his skills, my guitar would not be collecting dust. I was so in the mood! After that, I managed to sleep without any sleeping aid.

I have been on the fungicide therapy for 21 days now. So far, the notable changes since I took this therapy is that I have more whitish phlegm discharge everyday and that my enema discharge are a little more smelly. There has not been any side effects or discomforts. I will continue this therapy for another 9 days.

I have also been on zeolite detox for more than a week now. Zeolite is easy to take and I normally mix it with my oat meals. After taking zeolite, I noticed my enema discharge smells a little fishy and for the last two days, I also noticed a top layer that look like minerals floating on the surface of the enema discharge.

I met another stage 4 lung cancer patient about 7 months ago. At the time, he was still on conventional medicine, Irresa(Gefitinib) and practiced medical qigong. In Japan, over 800 people have died due to Iressa’s side effects, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry(Kyodo News 2011 Jan 8). He looked quite good then and we exchanged experiences and as usual, I suggested that he changed his diet to organic vegetarian but he could was not after finding out that it was a no sugar, no salt and no oil diet. I just received news that he was called home to be with the Lord. May he rest in peace.

A Night To Forget

Sometime back, I wrote a story about Lothar Hirneise, world-renowned cancer researcher from Germany. I have the good fortune through a friend who has invited me to join him for dinner on 30 May together with Lothar Hirneise who is in Malaysia for a visit. I am looking forward to meet the guru and hear first hand from him.

I think I am now paying the price for eating spouted bread + cayenne pepper. I am starting to develop tongue ulcer and also sore throat. One of the things I forgot to do when on such a diet is to keep the body "cool" by taking in cooling herbs. I also believe my inability to sleep at night is also due to the excess heat in the body. Yesterday night I could not sleep at all, every time, I lay in bed trying to sleep, my chest feels like on fire. It was torturing for I have not been able to sleep for about 10 days now. I am tired and yet I could not rest. I took a bath in the middle of the night. I cook some food to eat. It was a night I wish it would end even if it meant I had to die. I just feel very warm even with the air-conditioner blasting away. I could not lay down even, so I spent most of the time watching TV. Later this morning, I will have to go and see the doctor but my mother suggested I visit the TCM practitioner first.

Gerson Therapy - Outdated?
Today, I want to continue to talk on the topic of Gerson Therapy (GT). I feel a bit sad when I read in Cancer Tutor that Gerson Therapy has been classified as an outdated therapy, past it's time. The GT was designed by Dr Max Gerson himself and he developed over a 30 year period. He published his work, A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases, a year before he died in 1959. Since his death, GT has remain largely unchanged. In his days, he used raw calf liver extract but after his death due to pollution, etc the raw calf liver extract were replace with B12+liver injections. The supplement used has also remained largely unchanged except with some new additions. No other person has continued to research and develop his therapy. His daughter, Charlotte Gerson has been the person that continued to champion his father's work but she is also very protective of his therapy, as I found out while I was in Tijuana, Mexico.

As a cancer patient, as a Gerson therapy follower and also as a self appointed unapproved Gerson therapist to myself, I have the privilege of working closely with this therapy with myself and a few others, there are gaps in the therapy that I observed are not addressed. I stand corrected of course. The case of KC which I wrote about two days ago is one example. Other examples of patients that I wrote about in this blog like Joanne and Ms S who at some point in the therapy was bed ridden. It would be very difficult for these patients to do coffee enema detox. So the only option was to stop because there are no other approved alternatives. If a patient has hemorrhoids, the patient will also have to stop coffee enema detox. But coffee enema is one of the main pillars of the therapy, so what are we going to do in the meantime? I am not disputing the merits of coffee enema, in fact I think it is so important that by not doing it, the patient loses some advantages. Dr Gerson wrote in his book that patients were saved when he introduced coffee enema. But yet circumstances beyond the control of the patients comes to play and the therapy has no alternatives. Unfortunately, although I knew about this, it did not occur to me bring it up during my casual discussion with the resident doctor while in Mexico.

Before I continue, I want to let followers of Gersons knows that this therapy works for many cases but at the same time, we must be aware of the shortcomings. It is a very good therapy and I owe my life to this therapy. But its also a book that has not be updated for a long time (though Charlotte Gerson with Beata Bishop did write another version, The Gerson Way based on his father's original book. The updates are largely on Gerson recipes and other health information.). Two main areas that I felt that need revision are the detoxing methods and use of new supplements. Although I now have access to consultation with the Gerson Clinic in Mexico, yet at times, I do not make use of it, eg. when I had my third blood vomiting episode. This is not to say I am better than the resident doctors, only that I know what their standard reply will be.

Frequent stomach indigestion is a precursor to many chronic disease. A cancer patient's digestive system is not efficient as a normal person and often needs help to bring it back to working order. Probiotics may not be well featured during Dr Gerson's days as it is known today. To this end, probiotics supplements shows potential and yet these are not part of the Gerson therapy. Yes, there are supplements like pancreatin and Infzyme forte (both contains protease which digests proteins, amylase digests carbohydrates and lipase digest fats), but there are still other microorganisms in the stomach and intestinal tracks. Enzymes are the key factor that determines the effectiveness of how your body functions. Probiotics are live microorganisms and consist of common types like Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria and also certain yeasts and bacilli that may also be helpful. In laboratory investigations, some strains of LAB (Lactobacillus bulgaricus) have demonstrated anti-mutagenic effects thought to be due to their ability to bind with heterocyclic amines, which are carcinogenic substances formed in cooked meat. According to Wikipedia, the human gut is home to some 400-500 types of microbes. It is thought that this diverse environment may benefit from multiple probiotic strains; different strains populate different areas of the digestive tract, and studies are beginning to link different probiotic strains to specific health benefits. As for me, I just add these supplements as part of the therapy.

What I am trying to say is this. Getting therapist supervision for cancer helps greatly in the cancer patient's recovery. What I note is that some patients just depended too much on the therapist and will be lost when the therapist is unable to help. I would like to think of the therapist as a teacher, a guide and the patient as a student, who must also do his/her homework and learn about other ways of solving his or her own problems. If the therapist is able to help, well and good but when he cannot? So, in this sense, the therapy is outdated. Gerson Therapy is a very good anchor therapy and with proper knowledge, we can look for other ways to update it ourselves. It has to rely on the patient or caregiver to update it to make it more relevant.

So a patient must know when to depart when certain standard Gerson formula does not work. Do not wait till the end and then only realise. Observe the feedback from the body. Read about other therapies, other people's experiences and look for opportunities to combine. The critical question still remains however, when the patient is under such condition, would he or she be able to help himself or herself? I too don't have the answer.

Kefir Kombucha Hybrid

I don't know why this post that was posted on 12 May appeared today?

I last wrote about kefir about 6 months ago. I got a fresh supply of kefir grains from my ex-colleague just after Chinese New Year. I stored some of the kefir grains in my fridge and gave the rest away. Most people culture using cow or goat's milk. Due to my condition, I would prefer water kefir but so far, one of the ingredients has always to use sugar for the fermentation. In some other recipes, some fruits are also added. What you have is an alcoholic beverage. The description of water kefir made with sugar fermentation is that it taste like soda. Sodas are sugar with water. If fruits are used, its fructose with water. For me, sugar is one of the things I avoid all together.

A friend of mine has been experimenting with water kefir without (or very little of) the sugar. But so far, his efforts have failed because one of the main requirements is fermentation before the culture would grow. I am abstaining myself from taking cow or goat's milk kefir for the time being. So is there another way to take water kefir without the sugar and alcohol?

From what I read, there is a different combination. It's kefir with kombucha. Kombucha (first recorded use of kombucha comes from China in 221 BC during the Qin Dynasty) is a living health drink made by fermenting tea and sugar with the kombucha culture. The result can taste like something between sparkling apple cider and champagne. As the Kombucha culture digests the sugar it produces a range of organic acids like glucuronic acid, gluconic acid, lactic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, malic acid and usnic acid; vitamins, particularly B vitamins and vitamin C; as well as amino acids, enzymes.

So far from what I read in the forums, most people make water kefir and kombucha separately and then mix them together when drinking. This is also not what I preferred as the water kefir has sugar and alcohol contents in it. I managed to find a person (Tim Anderson) making it the way I want and he calls it kefir/kombucha hybrid.

Ingredients
1. A chunk of kombucha "mother"
2. Kefir grains
3. Green Tea or milk
4. 3 glass jars and plastic spoons

Preparation
1. Culture the kombucha mother
Pour the chunk of kombucha mother into an open jar and tie a cloth over the top. If it's still alive you'll see a skin forming on top in a few days. After a month or two you'll have a nice thick layer of mother in there. Kombucha gets more and more sour with time. The more sour it gets the better the mother grows. This step can be skipped if you already have the kombucha mother.
2. Culture the hybrid kefir/kombucha mother
Get a chunk of kombucha mother and put it in another jar and add the kefir grains. Swirl it around. Leave it for a couple of days. You now have a hybrid kefir/kombucha mother.
3a. Milk hybrid kefir/kombucha
Transfer the hybrid kefir/kombucha mother and put in glass jar. Add milk and allow to ferment for two days. Pour out milk and serve. Add new milk to the jar to make the next batch.
3b. Green Tea hybrid kefir/kombucha
As in 3a above, but only add green tea instead of milk. Tim Anderson uses milk in his example and by logical extension, I think it should work for green tea. For me, I would prefer green tea due to my present condition.

Notes on kombucha:
1: Cover jar with a cloth and let in air. We don't want anaerobic fermentation.
2: Prevent condensation. Anything looking like a lid will get condensation, even if it's loose. Then there will be white mold. The kombucha mother will die and fall apart.
Notes on kefir:
1. Never used any metal utensils as it could harm the kefir.
2. If you are using milk kefir grains but want to use it in green tea, soak the kefir grains in water first to remove the milk concentration. Otherwise, you will have a milk green tea kefir/kombucha drink combination.

I now have to source for kombucha mother before I could try this hybrid drink.

Fungicide Therapy Trial - Day 16 Update
Today, I will resume my fungicide therapy. My coughing has been more active during the early stages of me lying down, possibly due to some fluid retention for which I have to cough out the phlegm but it stops after about a few minutes later. I believe things should start to become normal back today.

My difficulty in falling asleep meanwhile continues and I am beginning to think that this could be due to the Sanuvis Acidum L(+)-lacticum. I just don't feel sleepy. But as far as I know, there are no known side effects.

Overcoming Fear

Yesterday I rewarded myself by making oats noodle soup. I would like to eat more of it but it contains a little sea salt and unbleached protein flour. So I have to restrict and take it once in a while.

My insomnia is really bad. I think my biorhythm is out of sync, I can't seems to fall asleep at night while I spent more time sleeping daytime. I did try not to sleep during daytime in the hope that I can fall asleep at night but it did not work. I think I am building up internal heat possible from taking Dhal curry and sprouted bread + cayenne pepper for a while that is making me difficult to sleep. So, I will consult a TCM practitioner and get some herbs to drowse the internal heat in TCM terms.

Vitamin B12 And Liver Injections
I believe this is one of the most important part of the Gerson therapy that every Gerson cancer patient should take in the beginning months. When I first started, I had no information about it so I could not do it then but today, I hope to change all of these. For people doing Gerson therapy on their own, it is now possible to give yourself the Vitamin B12+Liver (B12L) injections to rehabilitate the liver. I can tell you where to buy the B12L solutions and today, I am going to show you how to go about the injection. Actually, it's not difficult and you can watch any Youtube video on this subject to get an idea because my instructions maybe too wordy.

Giving Yourself The Jab
I have only a few months of experience of giving myself the B12+Liver (B12L) injections. For the record, I am afraid of needles but I managed to overcome the fear to give myself daily injection on the butt.

Equipment and Solutions
1. Alcohol swabs (1 box = 100 swabs)

2. Nipro disposable plastic syringe (3ml capacity, 1 box = 100 pcs. 1 set consist of 1 syringe and 1 drawing needle). Pictured shown with drawing needle attached to the syringe.

Parts of the disposable plastic syringe.

3. Nipro hypodermic needle (0.5x38mm, 1 box = 100 pcs). Pictured shown with needle attached to syringe.

4. Liver extract solution vial (1 bottle = 30ml, good for 300 injections)

5. Vitamin B12 extract solution vial (1 bottle = 10ml, good for 3.4 injections)










You can buy the syringe and needles from your local pharmacy. The brand I used is called Nipro. Syringe and needles are to be used ONCE only.

Drawing Solution From Vial
1. Inside the disposable plastic syringe set (item 2 above), you will find a 3ml syringe and also a drawing needle needed for drawing the solution. To prevent injury, the needle is protected by a plastic cover. You should only remove the cover when you are ready to draw solution. Attach the needle in cover to the syringe and lock it (twist to right). To remove it, make sure needle is in cover and twist to left.

2. Put the Liver solution vial on the table. Next, push the plunger to the end of the syringe barrel. Wipe the alcohol swab on the mouth of the vial. Remove needle cover. Insert the needle into the vial rubber stopper (see diagram).

Hold the Liver extract solution vial (with the inserted needle) between your thumb, first and index finger with your left hand. Push in the needle and pull the plunger backwards to draw out 0.1cc of liver solution from the vial. Pull out the needle and replace cover. Store the liver solution vial in a safe place.

3. Now, we are going to draw B12 solution. Wipe the alcohol swab on the mouth of the vial. Hold the B12 solution vial between your thumb, first and index fingers of your left hand. Take out cover and insert the needle into the B12 vial rubber stopper. Meanwhile maintain a firm grip on the plunger because due to different pressure in the vial and the syringe, the vial will draw any fluid in the syringe into the vial. We don't want that. Draw out 2.9cc of B12 and plus the earlier 0.1cc liver solution, we now have a full 3cc (or ml) mix of B12 and Liver solution. We are now ready to proceed with the injection.
4. Drawing the solution from the vial may take getting used to. After a few tries, you will know what to do.

Giving The Injection
1. The drawing needle that is attached to the syringe is not suitable for injection. Remove it and in place of it, the hypodermic needle. Before giving injection, it may be good to remove any air bubbles from the syringe. To do that, after you have change the hypodermic needle, remove the cover and hold the syringe at eye level with your left hand. Push the plunger with your right hand so that a little of the solution oozes out of the needle. Cover back the needle.
2. Since the patient is going to receive daily injections, it would be best to take the injection in the buttocks. We alternate between the left and right buttocks each day but not on the same spot. Imagine you are wearing your jeans. The place at the top side of both back pockets are suitable places for needle injection. Another way of finding the place is to place your thumb on your hipbone and move your fingers over the buttocks. Those areas are also suitable. Basically we want a fleshy place to do the injection because that place is the least painful.
3. Some people advocate a 45 degree angle for inserting the needle. I would prefer to inject the needle at right angle. Wipe the alcohol swab over the place you want to insert the needle. Remover the needle cover. The hypodermic needle is approximately 1 1/2 inch long. You should sink in about 3/4 of it (slightly more than in 1.1 inch deep). After inserting, hold firmly and push in the plunger slowly. The slower you push, the less painful the injection. After a while, you should get a feel of the speed to push but NEVER push in the solution quickly for it's very painful. After injection, pull needle out and wipe with alcohol swab. Cover back the needle. Sometimes there may be some blood, but do not worry. That's it.
4. If you need to practice, you can use an orange. Do not waver when you give the injection. Just relax but be firm. Hold the barrel firmly with the thumb and forth and fifth fingers while you push in the plunger slowly with the first and index fingers of the same hand if you are giving yourself the injection.

Disposal of Needles
Never just dump used needles and syringes into dustbin. Use a plyer and make sure you break the needles into smaller parts and then squash the syringe as well. Put in plastic bag. Now you are ready to dispose the broken needles and syringe into the dustbin. I collect over a week's use before I dispose them off.

Cardinal Rule of Gerson Therapy

About two weeks back, I reported a case about Ms S and last week she was admitted to hospital. I was made to understand that she had a fall that lead to the seriousness of her case. It is with great sadness I learned that she has been called home to be with the Lord sometime last week. May she rest in peace.

Her case really deteriorated very fast (from able body to bed ridden), all about in 3 months. For those of you who just following my blog, although you may noticed that my condition is now stable, my doctors describes my condition as not serious but really serious. This is because I just have too many tumors in my lungs (over 43+). Gerson therapy has been good to bring my condition under control for now but this condition may change anytime. This is why I am relentlessly looking for some potent adjunct therapies to help myself.

From my own experience, I think one of the difficult tasks for caregivers following the Gerson therapy are what to do in the event of something unexpected happens to the patient. For Gerson therapy, not all healing reactions are documented and when I was at the Gerson Clinic in Mexico, even the resident doctor who has 20 years of Gerson experience, there are some things he cannot give me a straight answer. Sometime last July 2010, I met a stage 4 colon cancer patient called KC in Clementi, Singapore. We met through my blog and when I was in Singapore I paid him a visit because he was following the Gerson Therapy under a qualified Gerson therapist. I was eager to find out what differences, if any, there are between his protocol and my own protocol. The main difference that I found out was that he was given B12+Liver injection while I did not have access to this injection and two other supplements. But there is something he keep complaining about and asked me if I had similar reaction. His therapist was not able to help. He said he felt very weak after going on Gerson protocol. He feels hungry and lacks energy. He is quite skinny, I think not more than 50kgs. We are about the same height but I was weighing 64kgs then, so it would seems I should be the one complaining lack of energy rather than him. Through my conversation I found the following:

1. He dislike the diet and as such did not eat that much
2. Had stomach gases and just could not eat
3. He lacks energy.
The next two items was not disclosed by KC but for completeness, I am including it here:
4. Patient may get backache.
5. Patient not willing or don't know how to start coffee enema.

The above problems may look trivial but I know many of those cancer patients that I introduced Gerson therapy gave up the therapy because of it. It is rather unfortunate that Gerson therapist was not be able to help in KC's case too. As time passed, he abandoned Gerson therapy all together, when went back to a normal diet and then went for chemotherapy. I last wrote to him in November 2010 but he did not reply me. I can only hope he is in good health.

Gerson therapy is a diet (of no meat, protein, salt, sugar and oil) therapy which is not the easiest to follow. A Gerson lunch/dinner menu typically consists of a bowl Hippocrates soup, salads, cooked vegetables and baked potatoes (or brown rice). No matter how many variations you can make, you can imagine if you eat like this day in and day out, you will soon run out of variations. Want to know how it feels, just for one meal, steam your brocoli, cabbage and spinach or any other combination of vegetables (no sugar, no oil, no salt and no spices but can add apple cider or lemon juice) and eat for lunch and dinner and let me know if you if you can continue to eat like this for the next 24 months?

My suggestions are practical. It helped me tie over this difficult period and I hope it will help those who want to go on this therapy too. One of the problem with steam vegetables is that it taste flat, like eating grass. What we can do is to add a little flavor by squeezing some fruits juice like lemon, lime and orange. Adding a little apple cider might also help. On days I don't add juices, I would also cut an apple, guava or other fruits that are not too sweet into smaller pieces and mixed them with the vegetables and eat them together. Later I learned in Gerson Clinic, they actually add a little raisins in the cooking to make the vegetables taste sweeter but NEVER use any artificial sweetener. Of late, I have made Dhal curry (no oil and salt of course) to enhance the flavor but this recipe is for those who have been on the therapy for at least a year. For baked potatoes, you can mixed squeeze lime juice with minced garlic. If you have help, you can try the Gerson recipes as well but I find it's a lot of work to do it on my own.

Not eating enough is one of the reason why the patient feels hungry and lacks energy. An ordinary person requires 2,000 calories a day and if one follows the Gerson therapy to the fullest, the calories intake is about 2,900 calories. The other reason is that the patient does not drink enough juices. Recommendation is 13 juices and I think at minimum, a patient should take at least 10 juices. Some patients drink with pulp and I think this is not recommended. The patient already have sufficient fiber in the lunch and dinner and drinking juices with pulp would mean the patient drink less juices and hence not enough nutrients and calories. It leads to loss of energy. There are times when the patient may not be able to drink 8oz (or 250ml) of juices hourly. In such a case, allow the patient to drink 4oz (1/2 cup) at 1/2 hourly intervals or to drink as much as possible at each go. In my first year of therapy, I eat every waking hour in between juices. I would eat fruits and/or with oatmeal whether hungry or not. Sometimes I would make rye bread and eat rye bread (with a little honey or apple sauce) as well.

For some people, especially women, continuous drinking of juices would lead to backache and weakness in the legs. In TCM, vegetables has a cooling effect and this may lead to backache. So some patients may not want to drink so much vegetables and fruit juices. One way to overcome this problem is to add a little ginger into the juices. This would neutralise the cooling effect and hence the backache. The other thing is to build up the number of juices slowly to allow the body to adjust. Combining vegetables in juices also leads to stomach gases. Bubbles are formed during juicing and I would normally scrape away the top bubbles layer before drinking. If stomach bloating continues, I found that taking more cooked vegetables (less raw) helps. Finally if it still continues, I would go for something like magnesium trisilicate to ease the gases. I don't like to take any medication if possible but it's more important to eat .

Asking people to do coffee enema is like asking someone to extend the hand into the toilet bowl to pick up the handphone. People are just uncomfortable and may take time. So some patients rather not do it. But it does not have to be this way. One of the fears is inserting the tube into the anus. Even if this step can be overcome, the next fear is that if you inject fluid into the anus, it will eject in seconds. Cleaning up then is a mess. Well, inserting the little tube into the anus is not difficult and can be made easy if the patient calms down and apply a little KY gel on the tip of the tube.

While in Mexico, I learned that they use another connecting tube (see picture, even smaller size) to make the insertion very easy. For beginners, I do not recommend full strength coffee (i.e. 32 oz or 1 liter). Start of with half strength coffee (16 oz of coffee solution and 16oz of water or better still camomile tea). Then add two tablespoons of potassium solution into the the enema. Find a comfortable padded place near the toilet to do the enema. If your are still afraid the solution would come out, find a big plastic bag and cover the butt to collect any droppings. Overtime, reduce the potassium solution and also increase the coffee strength. Possibly within a week, doing coffee enema becomes second nature.

One of the weakness of coffee enema is that it does not discriminate between toxins and nutrients in the gut. Everything is expelled. Hence the standard guide is that every coffee enema taken must be supplemented with 3 cups of juices. Some women have reported weakness of the legs and loss of energy after an enema. In such a case, talk to the therapist with a view of reducing the number of enemas. Slowly build up over time. It is important the patient continues to eat and take juices in the meantime. I would also propose the patient take zeolite detox in such cases to replace some of the enemas (eg. two or three enemas + zeolite detox). Of course, talk to the therapist first because zeolite detox is not part of the Gerson therapy. I borrowed it from the Budwig protocol.

This is my realisation on the cardinal rule of Gerson therapy:
Eat permitted foods and drink juices every waking hour to nourish the body and prevent the body from deteriorating.

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammasambuddhassa
Homage to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One

Dedication
May all beings be free from danger
May all beings be free from mental sufferings
May all beings be free from physical sufferings
May all beings be well and happy always.

I would like to wish all my Buddhist friends and Buddhist devotees world over:

Happy Wesak Day!

Buddha Image inside Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India











Today, I will take a break from blogging.

Nostalgic Days

Some excellent pictures-now very rare! Brings back what meant to Malayans then.

Malayan Police in 1950s

Johor Customs in 1950s

Muar Ferry in 1955

Malayan Communist Party in Jungle

British and Gurkhas Soldiers

Burning fire crackers during Chinese New Year

It's just cost 5 cents for a bowl of noodle in the 1960s.

Dakota planes of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

British Soldiers on patrol

Tiring Weekend

In my search for the kombucha culture, I was very fortunate to have met Mike Lim (miclim7@streamyx.com) yesterday evening. He was one of the kombucha growers that was featured in a Culture Club article by Allan Koay of The Star in July 2010. After the article was published, there was quite some interest with readers asking for the kombucha culture. He started growing kombucha in year 2000 and his starter was obtained from Germany. He has since given to people from all over Malaysia and the world. He has also given me permission to publish his name and contact so that people interested in kombucha growing can contact him for the starter. He gives away the culture for free and also takes time to explain how to grow the kombucha culture. Growing kombucha is not difficult(except for the initial preparation) and is very cheap and easy to maintain. With kombucha, I think I will stop buying apple cider vinegar in future and use kombucha vinegar instead. If you keep the kombucha tea for about 3 weeks, it will taste like apple vinegar.

Fungicide Therapy Trial - Day 20 Update
Yesterday, I spend most of the day time sleeping. To catch up some sleep that I have been losing the past week. Of course, I could not catch back my sleep but it did help. I think I must have slept too much during the daytime, I only managed to sleep in the wee hours of the morning and this morning I woke up at 10.30am! Well, I have never woke up so late before. Still I am feeling a bit tired. A late start for me means I will also end my day late because of the number of juices that I must drink. But I feel so much better now as compared to on Saturday.

My coughing has stabilised. My family doctor has requested I take a blood test and if necessary blood transfusion as he believe I may be short of blood. I will take the blood test but will resist the blood transfusion, at least for the time being. I think my paleness was due to my lack of sleep and also the excess loss of blood due to coughing last week.

I am also planning to take a x-ray on my chest and back area as well as an ultrasound on my kidney. I plan to take another CT scan possibly at the end of the year. The reason why I am taking an x-ray on my chest is just to get an impression of the lung tumors.

Short Memories

Yesterday, after 7 continuous days of not been able to sleep, I finally succumb to fatigue. I did have pockets of sleep here and there but most of the nights, I am awake. So I watch some very boring movies in the hope to fall asleep but it did not help. I immediately suspended my pH rebalancing therapy for the time being.

As a precaution, I visited my family doctor and got some relaxant just in case I need it. I took a relaxant pill and then sleep like a baby. Today, I am back on my feet.

I incorporated my zeolite detox into the coffee enema program last Friday. On Saturday morning, I felt very week and it must have been the work of the zeolite I took on Friday. This is expected detox reaction and I should feel much better in the next few days. My enema discharge is now not only smelly, but has a fishy smell too.

Conventional Cancer Therapy
The money spend on cancer research is soaring each year and yet the cure that has been promised are still no where in sight. Every now and then, we hear of discoveries of potential cures. Our hearts are filled with hope when the researches describes their new findings. Many people have short memories and I would like to reproduce some statistics to remind them of the benefits that we have received from the billions that has been spent on cancer research over the last 50 years.

Now some statistics on a study of every randomized, controlled clinical trial from 1990 to 2004 in the US:

Cancer	Percent 5-year Survival
Bladder	00.0
Kidney	00.0
Melanoma	00.0
Multiple myeloma	00.0
Pancreas	00.0
Prostate	00.0
Soft tissue sarcoma	00.0
Unknown primary site	00.0
Uterus	00.1
Stomach	00.7
Colon	01.0
Breast	01.4
Head & Neck	01.9
Lung	02.0
Rectum	03.4
Brain	03.7
Esophagus	04.9
Ovary	08.9
Non-Hodgkin's lymp	10.5
Cervix	12.0
Testis	37.7
Hodgkin's disease	43.0

Source: Clinical Oncology (2004) 16: 549-560

As with so called new cures, I believe every cancer patient after reading the product brochure, would be willing to sell their houses and spent their entire fortune on the cure. A friend of my sister with stage 4 lung cancer just spent over RM390K (US$130K) on stem cells therapy in Japan three months ago. A few days back, she SMS me to ask if I have heard about the Sabah Snake Grass cure. So much for the stem cells therapy. Oh, I forgot to mentioned, she also spent a fortune on chemotherapy.

Just yesterday, a reader by the name of Nanay posted in my comments about another discovery by Japanese doctors about "Enzymes (macrophages) eating tumor cells". I am not saying this new therapy will not work, just that I am sure that these clinical trials would costs the patients hundred of thousand of dollars. Yet way back in 1967, Dr. William Donald Kelley, D.D.S., M.S. said in his ebook one answer to cancer that the tumor eating enzymes are produced by the pancreas and he provided detailed explanation about the pancreas and said "to protect the pancreas at all costs". This is the very organ which produces enzymes that kill tumor cells, so should we look elsewhere? How do you think healthy people keep cancer cells at bay? By the way Dr Kelley had pancreatic cancer, given two months to live but he cured himself. That's why I said we have short memories of forgetting the successes of the pioneers. Oh, I forgot to mentioned Dr Kelley's cure cannot be patented and only costs a few thousand dollars to follow.

America has the richest and most powerful cancer organisations (ACS and NCI) in the world. See how the money are spent on cancer research.

American Cancer Society: The World's Wealthiest "Nonprofit" Institution
In 1992, The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that the ACS was "more interested in accumulating wealth than in saving lives." Fund-raising appeals routinely stated that the ACS needed more funds to support its cancer programs, all the while holding more than $750 million in cash and real estate assets. A 1992 article in the Wall Street Journal, by Thomas DiLorenzo, professor of economics at Loyola College and veteran investigator of nonprofit organizations, revealed that the Texas affiliate of the ACS owned more than $11 million worth of assets in land and real estate, as well as more than 56 vehicles, including 11 Ford Crown Victorias for senior executives and 45 other cars assigned to staff members. Arizona's ACS chapter spent less than 10 percent of its funds on direct community cancer services. In California, the figure was 11 percent, and under 9 percent in Missouri.

Thus for every $1 spent on direct service, approximately $6.40 is spent on compensation and overhead. In all ten states, salaries and fringe benefits are by far the largest single budget items, a surprising fact in light of the characterization of the appeals, which stress an urgent and critical need for donations to provide cancer services.

Nationally, only 16 percent or less of all money raised is spent on direct services to cancer victims, like driving cancer patients from the hospital after chemotherapy and providing pain medication. The intimate association between the ACS and the cancer drug industry, with current annual sales of about $12 billion, is further illustrated by the unbridled aggression which the Society has directed at potential competitors of the industry.

ACS maintains a "Committee on Unproven Methods of Cancer Management" which periodically "reviews" unorthodox or alternative therapies. This Committee is comprised of "volunteer health care professionals," carefully selected proponents of orthodox, expensive, and usually toxic drugs patented by major pharmaceutical companies, and opponents of alternative or "unproven" therapies which are generally cheap, nonpatentable, and minimally toxic.

NCI’s budget for FY 2009 was $4.97 billion, excluding the additional $1.26 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds received by the Institute for spending in FY 2009 and FY 2010.

Overall, the NCI budget has been relatively flat in recent years. During the period from 2004 through 2009, NCI’s budget averaged $4.81 billion per year. In FY 2008, it was $4.83 billion; in FY 2007, it was $4.79 billion.

NCI Spending Each Year on Cancer Research

Cancer Type	2007 Spending (in millions)	2008 Spending (in millions)	2009 Spending (in millions)	2009 ARRA Spending (in millions)
Lung	$226.9	$247.6	$246.9	$48.0
Prostate	296.1	285.4	293.9	47.0
Breast	572.4	572.6	599.5	85.5
Colorectal	258.4	273.7	264.2	44.5
Bladder	19.8	24.1	25.9	2.8
Melanoma	97.7	110.8	103.7	17.6
Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma	113.0	122.6	130.9	14.0
Kidney	35.2	43.4	45.2	7.2
Leukemia	205.5	216.4	220.6	33.9
Pancreatic	73.3	87.3	89.7	10.7

50 over years have passed, where are the promised cures?