"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food..."~Hippocrates

For those of you who do not know, I am in Sedona, Arizona, implementing the Gerson therapy for healing cancer into my lifestyle. You may ask, "Why Gerson?" or maybe you're even asking, "What is Gerson anyway?" I have been reading Charlotte Gerson's book for the second time since I've been here, and the entire protocol is beginning to come together in my mind. The Gerson Institute has two clinics in the world. One is in Tijuana, Mexico, and the other is in Hungary. As far as I know, the lodge where I am staying is one of the only clinics in the states that offers a similar protocol to Gerson.

The Gerson Therapy, founded by Dr. Max Gerson in the 20s, implements several various aspects:

• Flooding the body and systems with up to 15 lbs of fresh fruits and vegetables in the form of freshly squeezed juice up to 13 times per day. I, personally, drink 10 juices per day. I drink 1 orange in the morning, 4 carrot / apple juices, and 4 green juices. This equals lots of fruits and veggies and LOTS of nutrition. Along with the juice, three vegan meals are eaten per day which includes a tossed salad, Hippocrates soup (which I'll explain and give the recipe later), a potato dish of some sort and another vegetable dish of some sort. The food does not contain any seasoning or salt. The point of the dietary side of Gerson is to oxidize your cells (because cancer cannot live where there is oxygen) and replace salt with potassium. The more salt your body retains, the more swollen your cells become, leaving room for cancer to grow and multiply. 
• Detoxify your body systems and cells with coffee enemas. I'm not going into great detail, but there is scientific evidence that the caffeine in coffee in a powerful detoxifying agent when flushed through the liver. Your system flushes through your liver every 3 minutes (and actually your liver completely breaks down and rebuilds itself every 3 months), so the longer the coffee stays in there the better. Gerson encourages up to 5 coffee enemas per day, but that would be a very harsh detoxification process. Most people that have had chemotherapy or any other toxic therapy usually only perform 2-3 per day. This cleanses the system of toxins not only from the food we eat but also from the chemicals in everyday products such as hair dye, cleansing and hygiene products, secondhand smoke, flouride / chlorine in water, and other chemicals and pollutants we come in contact with on a day to day basis. 
• The last major aspect (and by no means is this a definitive list) of Gerson is a strict regimine of supplements. Every day I take 1 selenium, 9 wobenzyme, 12 pancreatin, 12 beef liver extract, 3 acidoll, 3 CoQ10, 3 Kava Kava, magnesium, and a b12 / liver extract injection (which I now give myself...I'm getting brave) :) I also get weekly high dose vitamin C and PolyMVA IVs. All of these supplements (others have to take even more...many take Niacin) work together to bring your bodily systems to an alkaline state where your cells are oxidized and not only can cancer not grow, but your body actually begins healing itself by breaking down and eliminating tumors. So your body actually begins healing itself from the inside out. 

So that's the main outline of the therapy. I will go into more detail later and explain the supplements. I don't want to bore you with all the gory details....enough is enough, right???

If you would like to do some more reading or research, here's a link to the Gerson website...

www.gerson.com

www.sedonawellnessretreat.com

Also, it would be helpful to read any of the Gerson books. The Beautiful Truth or Dying to Know the Truth is a good place to start!

love, love, love to all of you....

xoxo, 

lori jo

:) Sedona, Juice, and New Friends

Yay! I figured out how to upload pictures of my first few days! I just finished Day #4 of the Gerson therapy. I explained my protocol in my last post, but I thought some pics would be nice!

The infamous juice bar to which we make 10 trips per day. My friend Joanne makes 13 trips! Let me tell ya, by 6 pm I'm ready for my last green juice! But it seems like every morning I'm also ready for a fresh new day to begin. They feed us very well here...we have beautiful, delicious gourmet vegan meals. Unfortunately after all the juice we drink, we can very seldom eat all of our food!

Breakfast everyday is oatmeal with our choice of fruit. It is delicious and very filling. We also add freshly made applesauce to give it a little extra sweetness...well, actually it's the only sweetness. :)

My favorite dinner so far...spaghetti squash. Also, we have Hippocrates soup (part of the therapy) with every lunch and dinner along with salad and some sort of potato. The chefs give cooking classes and recipes so that we can make these meals for ourselves when we return home.

When I return home in July, I will have to continue the therapy for 18 months to 2 years, and even then I will have to be careful. I am looking forward to the challenge and am very thankful that I can learn the delicious meal and juice recipes here. I may have to recruit some student help at school to prepare some juice for me during the day....and I just might share. :)

This photo was taken at the end of the drive to the Lodge. What a beautiful display of God's creation to wake up to each day. I am constantly reminded of His goodness here.

Below are a few of the new friends I've met. Didi and Joanne are both cancer patients and unfortunately going home soon. There will be new patients coming in next week. I have enjoyed getting to know new people and am thankful to have met them. It's amazing how close you can feel to those whom you have such a significant commonality with. I will definitely keep in touch with each of them and will miss them when they leave. :(

I do have a quick story to share...Dr. Susie (my homeopathic doctor) came to see me this afternoon. She shared that there was a man from India, 60 years old, with liver and pancreatic cancer here at the retreat 3 months ago. He has followed the protocol rigidly and emailed an update today...there is no more cancer in his liver, and his pancreas has only one small spot! How amazing and encouraging! God is good, and I KNOW he is going to perform a miracle and heal me also.

love, love, love to all of you...

xoxo,

lori jo

Finally an Update!

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to be here in beautiful Sedona. I have never experienced a more beautiful display of God's creation. I have been attempting to upload pictures, but for some reason my computer is not cooperating (the joys of technology), so I will have to rely on facebook and instagram for now.

 Today was my first full day on the Gerson therapy. I just finished my  tenth 8 oz. glass of juice for the day (which is equal to 12 lbs. of fruits and veggies). We also receive three full gourmet vegan meals a day...waaaayyyy too much! After all of that juice it's hard to eat anything! Everyday we have at least one activity...yoga, art therapy, nutritional class, etc. I'm looking forward to tomorrow where we will have a cooking class teaching us how to make vegan sauces.

There are currently three other patients here (all with cancer), and they have all taken me under their wings. They have all been here for a little while, so they're showing me the ropes. Also Doctor Susie is awesome...she is a homeopathic doctor, but she is also a medical doctor which is nice. I will be meeting with one of the doctors every day while I'm here for checkups.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying...I feel the presence of God here. I have only been here for two complete days, but I know the Lord directly led us to this place. I am so blessed to be here and have this opportunity, and I fully realize that I would not be here without the Lord's provisions. Learning proper nutrition and how to take care of this temple the Lord created is a privilege. My specific prayer request is that when I return, my oncologist will be amazed with my progress and other will see the goodness of God.

Well, I know that was a REALLY quick update, but I am will post more in the next day or two. I will also work on getting photos up....hopefully! Sending my love to all of you...

xoxo,

lori jo 

Today's the Day!

In about an hour, my husband and I will leave for the airport in Milwaukee and I will get on a plane (all by myself) to Sedona, Arizona, where I will begin a journey that I expect to be life-changing. For the next month, I will be a patient at Sedona Wellness Retreat (yes, all by myself) where I will begin a strict regimen of juicing, enemas, IV therapy, and vegan eating. The whole goal of this treatment is to detox, cleanse, and rid my body of cancer cells. (I will post more specifics about that later). 

I plan to use this time to get totally alone with my Heavenly Father and allow Him to do in my life and heart whatever He wishes. When diagnosed with a disease like cancer, it is sometimes hard to wrap your head around all the emotions that you experience. More than anything in my life, I want to be used by Him, and in order to allow that to happen, I must have peace in my heart. I must allow Him to quiet my soul and speak to me. 

I never planned to write a blog, but I am praying that somehow, maybe, it will help someone who is going through similar circumstances to stay strong in the fight. WE CAN DO THIS! Please pray for me as we go on this journey...and for my husband who will be home alone for a month! :/

~Lori Jo