Yesterday was Day One of the Gerson Therapy. William is feeling good but it is crazy intense. Seriously. It's like having another job and you all know we have time for that.
To give you an idea of his day, it starts with a 6 am coffee enema and from there he is juicing every hour, plus three meals of freshly prepared salad, veggies, and fruit, and four more coffee enemas throughout the day, the last one being at 10 pm. This is no joke people.
Today's blog is just the "what" of the Gerson Therapy or as some of you might be thinking "what the hell":-) Hopefully tomorrow I can go more into the "why".
We also had our follow up appointment at the JGB Cancer Center this morning with Dr. Miller. William explained that we spent a weekend praying, reading and thinking about the decision to do chemo or not to do chemo and did not take the decision lightly and that we came to the conclusion not to do chemo. Dr. Miller said "First, I believe in prayer. Second, it is very reasonable for you not to do chemo." Dr. Miller explained that among melanoma patients, William is in the "low risk" category. This was a huge relief and I think the first time we have heard the words "low risk" in two months! He suggested William have a PET scan every 6 months for the next two years to closely monitor any changes in his body.
Many of you have been asking what we need and how you can help us. We are so grateful for your generosity and desire to serve us! We do have needs; more than I think we realized or assumed we would. I'll lay them out here. We are looking forward to the day we can serve ya'll too!
First and foremost, we need prayer. Not in a cliche "prayer first" way but in a real we believe God hears and answers prayer way. God has power over death and disease, he is sovereign and has designed this
trial for us. He is using it to grow our dependence on him through prayer and we hope the same for all of you. Pray for our strength and perseverance during the therapy and that Williams body would become a place cancer does NOT want to be. Pray that we would draw near to Him and rest in His peace.
Second, we are going through a LOT of fruits and veggies! Carrots, apples, oranges, and potatoes are the top four (in that order). We are anticipating that Williams food and food for juicing will cost about $700 a month. It would be awesome if folks could grab an extra bag of carrots or such when already out doing normal shopping. All of Williams food needs to be ORGANIC. If you have any connections with local farmers that would also be great; let us know that too. We'll be going through a bunch of greens also with all the salads we'll be eating.
The medical bills from the surgeries, MRI, and PET scan have started rolling in as well. We are blessed by SBTS's great insurance but still have an out of pocket expense of about $3,000. If you feel led to contribute in that way please do.
William is supposed to be taking it easy (no exercise or strenuous activity; walking only) for the time being so we are in need of some volunteers to cut our grass. It will probably only need to be done once more for the year. Let us know if you are willing to help in that way.
A random item we are needing is a hot plate, the kind you plug in to an outlet. I'm sure I can find one online but haven't had a chance to look quite yet.
That's all for now. There are a lot of thoughts rolling around in my head that I'd love to get out but finding the time for that is challenging. Hopefully more to come soon!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Don't Waste Your Cancer
I realize that having a blog means that those of you following it sort of expect regular updates... We've been busy this past weekend preparing for today - the day William starts the Gerson Therapy. So, I'm simply going to post a link to an article written by John Piper that has been amazingly encouraging to us and a wonderful reminder the sovereignty of God. William came across it and we both keep it open in our safari app so we can reference it often. You can replace the word "cancer" with just about any other trial: job loss, homelessness, adultery, death of a family member, bankruptcy, etc. We hope you find it as encouraging as we do.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/resources/dont-waste-your-cancer
I will post an update tonight on how day one went. I'll also include a list of "needs" that we'll have during this time. Many of you have been asking and we are so blessed to be loved by you all!
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/resources/dont-waste-your-cancer
I will post an update tonight on how day one went. I'll also include a list of "needs" that we'll have during this time. Many of you have been asking and we are so blessed to be loved by you all!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
entering blog world
We are entering a new world of blogging here. Welcome. As we said in the email thank you so much to everyone who helped purchase Williams new juicer! He's very excited to get started on his new Gerson diet (more on that later).
We had a great 24 hours away last weekend. (Thank You to the Noltemeyers and Deebs for the wonderful cabin and piece of paradise!) It was great to have time to reflect and just be in Gods creation. (I almost didn't know what to do with myself without any kids climbing on me or needing my attention) While we didn't come to any new or different conclusions concerning Williams treatment, we did get to spend time alone together and in Gods word. It was desperately needed. It was only the third night without kids in the last 2 years!
And now the word you have all been waiting for: William has decided not to do the chemo. Logically speaking, there are two reasons for this. First, William is currently "cancer free". There is a good chance he will not remain this way, according to the doctors, but right now there is no known cancer in his body. If it comes back, his immune system will need to be in tip-top shape to fight it. Chemo will destroy his immune system, leaving him defenseless. Second, the rate of success in treating melanoma with chemo is poor, really poor, and hellish to boot.
What he will be doing is the "Gerson Therapy". http://www.gerson.org/ Simply put "The Gerson Therapy is a safe, natural treatment developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920’s that uses organic foods, juicing, coffee enemas, detoxification and natural supplements to activate the body’s ability to heal itself. Over the past 60 years, thousands of people have used the Gerson Therapy to recover from so-called “incurable” diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and arthritis."
William was first introduced to the Gerson Therapy 8 years ago when the brother of one of his coworkers was using it to treat the same melanoma that William has. At the time, William knew only that the brother had cancer, not what kind. Last month, when we first found out that William was diagnosed with melanoma, a good friend of ours who has Lyme's disease sent us a care package. We didn't know what he was sending until we opened the package and found the book "Healing the Gerson Way". The more we read about the Gerson Therapy the more it made sense and William realized the divine nature in which he was introduced to it so many years ago. Nothing surprises our God.
It's getting late so we'll have to post more on the Gerson Diet later. We (I say we because we'll all be eating differently) will be starting on Sunday.
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
We had a great 24 hours away last weekend. (Thank You to the Noltemeyers and Deebs for the wonderful cabin and piece of paradise!) It was great to have time to reflect and just be in Gods creation. (I almost didn't know what to do with myself without any kids climbing on me or needing my attention) While we didn't come to any new or different conclusions concerning Williams treatment, we did get to spend time alone together and in Gods word. It was desperately needed. It was only the third night without kids in the last 2 years!
And now the word you have all been waiting for: William has decided not to do the chemo. Logically speaking, there are two reasons for this. First, William is currently "cancer free". There is a good chance he will not remain this way, according to the doctors, but right now there is no known cancer in his body. If it comes back, his immune system will need to be in tip-top shape to fight it. Chemo will destroy his immune system, leaving him defenseless. Second, the rate of success in treating melanoma with chemo is poor, really poor, and hellish to boot.
What he will be doing is the "Gerson Therapy". http://www.gerson.org/ Simply put "The Gerson Therapy is a safe, natural treatment developed by Dr. Max Gerson in the 1920’s that uses organic foods, juicing, coffee enemas, detoxification and natural supplements to activate the body’s ability to heal itself. Over the past 60 years, thousands of people have used the Gerson Therapy to recover from so-called “incurable” diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and arthritis."
William was first introduced to the Gerson Therapy 8 years ago when the brother of one of his coworkers was using it to treat the same melanoma that William has. At the time, William knew only that the brother had cancer, not what kind. Last month, when we first found out that William was diagnosed with melanoma, a good friend of ours who has Lyme's disease sent us a care package. We didn't know what he was sending until we opened the package and found the book "Healing the Gerson Way". The more we read about the Gerson Therapy the more it made sense and William realized the divine nature in which he was introduced to it so many years ago. Nothing surprises our God.
It's getting late so we'll have to post more on the Gerson Diet later. We (I say we because we'll all be eating differently) will be starting on Sunday.
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
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