 |
Before
therapy, and older than her years. |
When
I learned-in 1972-that I had cancer of the breast, groin, stomach, pancreas,
and liver, I immediately started to research the physical causes of
the disease. But—since I maintain that most illnesses stem from
psychological sources—the emotional causes concerned me even more.
I
also knew that the effects of nutrition on cancer would be of prime
importance to me . . . since I had—20 years earlier—used
nutrition therapy as a self-cure for an extreme case of hemorrhaging
and edema.
In
fact, I've never believed in the treatment of symptoms instead of causes,
and I had decided years before that—if I ever had cancer—I
would not submit to the brutal surgical, radiation, and chemotherapy
treatments I had watched a close friend endure.
My friend had first gone through a complete mastectomy, then had both
of her healthy ovaries removed to prevent the production of
female hormones. She suffered through a long series of cobalt treatments
and became horribly ill from the side effects of chemotherapy . . .
only to eventually die of lung cancer.
THE CANCER PERSONALITY
When
I had to face my own illness, I finally acknowledged that I
fell into a category known as "the cancer personality''. I had
first heard of this "type" of person through Dr. O. Carl Simonton,
a young radiologist from Fort Worth, Texas,
Dr. Simonton wanted to help cancer patients
with something more than radiation, and he developed a biofeedback system
that employs the power of the mind to change the body's processes. (Biofeedback
works ... it is widely used in many applications today.) But, when the
doctor taught this technique to his patients, he discovered that it
also put them in direct contact with feelings that had been
repressed for years, and that the cancer victims who faced and worked
out these negative emotions were the ones who eventually recovered.
With that knowledge, the radiologist began to prescribe private and
group psychotherapy for his patients.
There
are (according to Dr. Simonton) three main attributes of the cancer
personality: First, the person has a poor self-image . . . his or her
identity is bound up in seeking the approval of others. Second, the
typical cancer victim-even before the onset of disease—feels
sorry for him-or herself, because that person is apt to be living in
latent despair. And, finally, the "cancer type" is unable
to forgive and forget, and is, therefore, unlikely to have long-term
successful relationships.
The
theory is that there's a core of helplessness and hopelessness at the
center of every cancer personality. And all of these subconscious,
negative feelings have to be discovered, dissipated, and reprogrammed
into positive feelings of self-worth . . . into the ability to laugh
at oneself and one's predicaments . . . and into learning to love—despite
weaknesses and mistakes—both oneself and others.
Experts
in the field—including the late Dr. Gotthard Booth, a New York
City psychiatrist—believe that "overcoming cancer is overcoming
despair". Dr. Booth's research showed that a cancer-prone person
often experiences this latent anguish because of a childhood devoid
of a nurturing relationship with one or both parents. The person never
learned to trust, and—consequently—developed a personality
that felt secure only when in control of life's situations. When such
a man or woman loses control of a main goal (whether that goal involves
spouse, child, or career), all the buried despair and helplessness rise
to the surface . . . and the cancer process begins.
HELPLESSNESS TO SELF-CONFIDENCE
The
more I studied the cancer personality, the more I identified with it.
And, within six weeks of the discovery of my illness, I finally tapped
the core of my personal problem and was completely inundated by waves
of overwhelming helplessness. I realized then that I had felt this way
all of my life, but that—like many other cancer personalities—I'd
covered these emotions with a great show of self-sufficiency. If I hadn't
repressed such feelings. I probably wouldn't have been able to get out
of bed in the morning . . . much less cope with life.
It
took a lot of hard work to reprogram my emotions. I spent 10 to 15 minutes
three times a day telling myself that I was no longer a child at the
mercy of sick, neurotic parents . . . that I was an adult now and capable
of taking care of myself. I even made a cassette tape, on which I said
things like: "You can do anything you want to do, you are strong,
you are intelligent," etc. . . . and I listened to it every day.
The
therapy which enabled me to uncover the blocked emotions is called "Psychosynthesis",
and the treatment has many techniques . . . not only to put patients
in touch with their repressed feelings, but also to reprogram
those feelings and restructure and integrate the personality. And, from
the time I made my "breakthrough", I've progressed rapidly
in emotional health.
I
also used biofeedback for almost a year ... as a means to reactivate
my immune mechanism. Space doesn't permit a detailed discussion of that
technique except to describe what I did three times every day:
First,
I would picture—with my creative imagination—a light in
the form of white, bulletlike radiation going to the cancer sites and
killing the cancer cells. Then, I would "see" the white corpuscles
rush over, pick up the dead cancer cells, and carry them out of the
body through the waste system . . . just the way the immune mechanism
is supposed to work (but doesn't) in the cancer patient.
DETOXIFICATION WITH DIET
Meanwhile,
for my physical treatment, I was led to a book by Dr. William D. Kelley
called One Answer to Cancer (available for $3.25 postpaid from
the International Association of Cancer Victims, 7740 West Manchester.
Suite 110. Playa del Rey. California 90291). This volume taught me that
the first thing I had to do was detoxify my body ... in order to get
rid of the poisons that had accumulated for years while I ate the wrong
foods. (In addition, the cancer itself throws a lot of toxins into the
bloodstream.) I eliminated these poisons with juices, fasting, coffee
enemas, saunas, deep breathing, massage, and exercise.
I
became a vegetarian and swore off meat, poultry, fish, and dairy products
with the exception of yogurt. In addition, I stopped eating all processed
and refined foods, and I also cut out caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol,
soft drinks, white sugar, white flour, and any products made with the
last two items.
Since
cooking destroys the enzymes which we need so badly, I ate mostly raw
food, and drank gallons of fruit and vegetable juices. I ate apricot
kernels, too, because they contain B-17 (also known as laetrile or amygdalin)
. . . which has been shown to help cancer patients.
A typical day's physical regimen went like this.
Early
morning: one teaspoon of chia seeds which had been soaked overnight
in fresh grape juice. (These seeds were a staple of the Aztecs and are
still popular in Mexico and the American Southwest.)
Breakfast
(30 minutes later): raw cereal made of a combination of wheat berries,
buckwheat, rye, barley, oat groats, millet, sesame, brown rice, flax,
corn, alfalfa, lentils, mung beans, and almonds (I would grind three
or four table-spoons of this mixture, soak it in water overnight, and
add raisins or date sugar for flavor, but no milk). My breakfast also
included 16 apricot kernels, 16 almonds, and one tablespoon of acidophilus.
After
breakfast: coffee enema.
Mid-morning:
the juice of two oranges, one grapefruit, and one lemon ... in an equal
amount of water.
Before
lunch: swim at the club, sauna twice weekly, sunbathe when possible.
Lunch: fruit salad and yogurt
with ground sesame seeds and more almonds.
Afternoon: one quart of carrot
juice and one pint of celery juice.
Dinner: green salad with sunflower,
sesame, and pumpkin seeds . . . and whole grain toast spread with sesame-seed
butter.
My
food supplements—which were the same for all three meals—included
two hydrochloric acid tablets, two capsules of chelated minerals, two
potassium tablets, three kelp tablets, and 400 units of vitamin E before
each meal. Then after each meal I'd take 1,000 mg. of vitamin C, 20,000
mg. of vitamin A, 800 mg. of vitamin D, one high-potency vitamin B capsule,
six predigested protein tablets, two pancreatin (pancreatic enzymes)
tablets, and six dessicated liver tablets. (I became quite expert at
swallowing up to 10 pills at a gulp!) I also took two comfrey-pepsin
tablets between meals— an herb mixture which Dr. Kelley says clears
the mucus out of the small intestine—and extra pancreatin tablets
in midafternoon and between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m. ... so they could attack
the cancer when there was no protein to be digested.
I purchased a vegetable juicer, so I could
have my nectar fresh, and—in between juices—I drank herb
teas such as chaparral and red clover.
As
you can see, my diet was almost totally raw. For some ideas and inspiration,
I bought Raw Vegetable Juices by N.W. Walker (O'Sullivan, Woodside
& Co., 2218 East Magnolia, Phoenix, Arizona 85034) and John H. Tobe's
"No-Cook" Book (The Provoker Press, Lake-shore Road,
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2R 7C9), plus a couple other vegetarian
cookbooks.
After
the first 30 days on my diet, I cut the daily coffee enemas down to
twice weekly, and—after nine months—I felt so good that
I eliminated most of the food supplements. Now, I only take vitamins
C, E, B, A, and D.
When
I had been on this regimen for several months and most of my symptoms
had disappeared, I went to see a nutrition doctor and had some tests
run. They showed that—even though my blood was still in a toxic
condition—I was completely free of any malignancy.
That didn't really surprise me, for I had learned in my research that—if
you have 50"% use of your vital organs—you can recover from
cancer. And, according to Dr. Max Gerson and other cancer experts, it's
a fairly simple matter to get rid of a malignancy . . . but it takes
time, hard work, and lots of discipline to build the body back to health
and to reactivate the immune system.
 |
"Good
health is a constant responsibility." |
THE
LESSONS OF CANCER
I'm
actually grateful that I had this deadly disease, because of the tremendous
changes it made in my life.
First
of all, I feel better physically, emotionally, and mentally than I have
ever felt before. When I got rid of that core of helplessness, I found
it possible (at age 55) to launch a career in writing, lecturing, teaching,
and private counseling in Psychenutrition ... a wholistic approach that
combines therapy for the body, mind, and spirit. And, I now feel so
physically vibrant that I go to the beach every day, jog a mile, and
then swim in the ocean . . . summer and winter.
I've
also discovered that many folks have healed their cancer and
other killer diseases through nutrition and various unorthodox methods.
And, that there are dedicated, courageous doctors, professionals, and
laymen who work hard to get this information to the public.
There
are also organizations that aid people with cancer, and these groups
led me to the books that helped me. The International Association of
Cancer Victims, for example, has been working with cancer patients for
14 years and has a tremendous bibliography of information. The Association
also provides referrals to doctors who treat cancer by natural methods
. . . instead of the "usual" surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
And,
finally, the main thing that I've learned is that I'm responsible
for my health. (Good health is so simple really, if you take the responsibility
and do a little research.)
Today,
I put nothing but pure and nutritious food into my body and mind, because—to
add a little of my own to the famous quotation—"As a man
thinks and eats...so is he".
EDITOR'S
NOTE: If you would like more details on Dore's experience with cancer,
you can order her book—How I Healed My Cancer Holistically—directly
from the author, P.O. Box 3184, Manhattan Beach, California 90266 .
. . for $6.00 postpaid.
Additional
information on nutrition therapy for cancer can be found in "Can
Vitamins Really Cure Cancer?", MOTHER NO. 50, pages 88-89, and
"Dr. Harold W. Manner, The Man Who Cures Cancer", MOTHER NO.
54, pages 16-21,. (Back issues of this publication are available from
THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS®, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville,
North Carolina 28739, for $2.50 each plus $l. 00 shipping and handling
per order.)
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