"We've got the old Julie back!"

Here's another update about my mom! She is doing great at the clinic and the few that have got to talk with her have said "Sounds like the old Julie!" She's hopeful and seems really excited to get home and implement all that she is learning. Just like some one with an allergy or diabetes, she knows that this diet is going to be her new way of life.

Carrie has been our main connection with my mom and Bob, and she says it best:

I spoke with Mom today and she's sounding better than ever! After she got back from Iowa City, it really seemed as though all hope was gone, she'd planned her funeral and that we had very little time left with her. She's been at the Gerson Institute almost 6 days now and she sounds so full of hope its almost as if she might just get a 2nd chance at life. All of her vices are gone (alcohol, cigarrettes, etc) and although she's not completely enjoying the diet (vegan with only organic fruits, veggies and carrot juice on the hour) along with the body detox, you can tell she's starting to feel better as her spunk is back and it's now driving her crazy that the dr's just want her to rest when she feels as though she wants to be up doing things again.

There are only 10 patients with their companions allowed at one time and they've gotten to meet people from Korea, Alaska, other parts of the US and Canada, but are becoming friends with another couple from Michigan, where the wife also has Skin Cancer Melanoma. She's an RN nurse apparently at a hospital in Michigan and watched too many people in similar instances die from the chemo/radiation and chose this route instead. Her case is of course not as advanced as Mom's is, but her choice in treatments is inspiring. Today she also gets to meet Charlotte Gerson (photo to the right), the founder of the institute whose father developed the therapy that has helped so many become cancer free. She sounded really excited to get to sit down and talk with her today. As Charlotte says at 88 years old "the only way to prove the nay-sayers wrong is to continue to out live them" :)

There was one minor setback in that they tried to give her an anti-inflammatory hoping to help reduce the swelling/tumors in her eye and apparently she's allergic to it as they ended up having to visit the ER. She was initially concerned going to a Mexican hospital, but she said you wouldn't believe it. She wanted to take a picture to show us, as she said it was cleaner, nicer and a better experience than any she's ever had in the US. She was in and out in a half hour. They did an x-ray of her heart and lungs and said they were all clear and everything's looking good. Although the skin cancerous lesions are on the muscles surrounding the organs, it doesn't seem as though they're impacting the functionality of those organs.

They expect her to have her first healing response in the next few days where the dead cancer cells will be expelled from her body. She could have a fever/nausea during that time as the toxins build up and release, but it's all a good sign.

Again, thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers, though this is going to be a journey with a lot of ups and downs, it seems as though things are getting "brighter by the day", so THANKS!

Here are a few links if you are interested in learning more about the Baja NutriCare Institute and the Gerson Therapy

http://www.bajanutricare.com/index.htm

http://www.gerson.org/