MP 8

Matt: My bonus-mother-in-law (Annie’s dad’s wife) recently walked a path from cancer diagnosis to healing using diet and naturopathic treatments after surgical intervention. Part of her journey involved meeting with a naturopathic, integrative oncologist and finding alternative treatments that have known healing abilities. During my two weeks of waiting for a treatment plan from the conventional oncologist, I set an appointment with the same naturopathic doctor to get his opinion. Annie joined me for this appointment and has been an extremely helpful note taker and second set of ears through these new experiences.

The meeting on 1/20/2020 was an hour long, but felt brief. I was given a list of helpful supplements, but even the naturopathic doctor couldn’t give a specific plan of action without the completion of the genetic testing. I left feeling frustrated that I still didn’t have a complete plan, but thankful for some guidance on diet and supplements. The supplements I now take include curcumin (extract from turmeric), a mushroom complex including turkey tail mushroom, fish oil, magnolia bark extract, vitamin E, vitamin D, melatonin, digestive enzymes, and CBD.

For this blog post I’d like to walk through the protocols I’ve adopted and share what I’m learning about healing that many in the Western medicine community have been dismissive about for so many people. This is not a treatise against doctors, nor modern medicine. I simply find it astounding how consistently these doctors have discouraged cancer patients, myself included, from using natural foods, supplements, or even repurposed drugs, as part of a holistic treatment plan. The explanation always seems to be some version of ‘Well, that’s not supported by clinical testing, so don’t do it’.

The forces driving this institutional thinking are the ones financing clinical studies that lead to drugs which can be patented. Healing can come from said patented drugs, however, very few situations in life have only one single solution. The presence of just one survivor who has foregone conventional Western treatments but experienced positive results using diet or alternative treatments should warrant extensive research on what made that person well. What I’m coming to find out is that there are likely untold thousands who have done just that. In short, I’ve learned to replace a doctors-could-never-be-wrong view with a healthy objectivity.

I am thankful to my bonus-mother-in-law for pointing me to the wonderful resources published by cancer-survivor Chris Wark and chrisbeatcancer.com. Chris had colon cancer in 2004 and rejected recommended chemo and radiation following a major surgery. The day after my initial diagnosis, I adopted the same 90 day raw vegan diet that Chris recommends. Part of the daily regimen is ~64oz of juice made from carrots, beets, celery, lemon, apple, ginger, turmeric root, and raw garlic.

Breakfasts consist of steel cut oats with organic berries, walnuts, flaxseed meal, flax oil, and cinnamon. For lunch I typically snack on almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, dried coconut pieces, dried fruit, and cashews. For dinner I make a large ‘salad’ consisting of dark leafy greens, liquid aminos, nutritional yeast, hemp heart seeds, boiled chickpeas, avocado, mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, or other raw organic chopped vegetables, seeds and nuts.

The diet is time consuming to prepare, and time consuming to eat. However, my body has adjusted well and the juice is actually kinda tasty. After the 90 day period I will start adding back in cooked veggies and more exciting flavors.

Admittedly, it may be impatience or insecurity that led me to seek out what else I could be doing to reverse my condition. I was also eager for a safe, effective treatment that would pass through the body’s main defense for the central nervous system: the blood brain barrier. This is an area I’m still learning about, but many medicines are prevented from reaching the brain by the body’s own cells that line blood vessels and lymphatic vessels.

A week or so after beginning the raw vegan diet, I came across the blog of Joe Tippens at mycancerstory.rocks. This is another survivor story that frankly sounds crazy and the medical world writes off as anecdotal. In a nutshell, Joe and dozens of other people he writes about, have repurposed canine anti-parasite medicine in order to treat a variety of cancer types after conventional treatments failed them. What I began calling the ‘dog medicine’ has miraculously reversed brain cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and many others. The medicine is over-the-counter and safe for human consumption. The stories are anecdotal, but represent real lives that experienced healing from alternative methods.

These are some of the steps I’ve taken in faith as I actively wait with expectation for total healing from my good Father. I stand against the fatalistic view that cancer patients are powerless. I stand against the common Christian view in America that God causes sickness in order to teach/punish us and that our response should be merely passive acceptance. I stand for receiving in faith and belief, “…the hope of His calling, the wealth of His inheritance, and the incomparable greatness of His power…” manifested in total healing through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:18-19, paraphrase mine). These are truths I am learning to walk in and my understanding and application of them have been shaped by Andrew Wommack’s podcasts, and his book You’ve Already Got It.