Simplification... The Name of the Game!
So here's an update on the last few weeks...
If you remember, back on Thanksgiving I decided to switch to juicing. That's still the case. We go up to Orem and Spanish Fork once a week to buy produce. We go to WinCo, Costco, and Good Earth to buy our produce. We go to three different places because we're trying to get the healthiest food we can. Each place carries some organic version of the fruits and vegetables we need, so we spread things around. It takes about 5 hours each round trip to get everything we need. It's not too bad. Every other week we have to exchange the kids in Payson with their dad, so we just get our shopping done then. The other weeks we go up on the weekend or Kim will go up on a week day that she has off. Along with the juicing, I still have some potatoes and toast in the evenings to help me with food.
The juicing is still going well, but we are having to make some changes. We've also made some other changes to the daily protocol. For a while there, several people were volunteering ideas and suggestions to us to try as far as treatments go. We loved it. We'd research the idea and jump on board. But it got to where I was doing all sorts of various forms of treatment and it started to become a little cumbersome. Also, there wasn't really any method to the madness. It was just do this and do that. Needless to say, I was having to type up schedules to help me remember what the heck I was supposed to do when.
Well... One of the suggestions that was brought to our attention was this White Sage Clinic in Wales, UT. It's run by two brothers who practice kinesiology. I had never heard of kinesiology before, but we decided to give it a try. Kim has done energy work in the past and we've heard a lot of good things about it, so we thought we'd give it a try. I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but it was sure a strange experience! I sat down in a chair when we first got there and one brother sat to my right and the other brother sat to his right. So we were sitting in a half circle, with one brother to my right and the other across from me. The way this supposedly works is that energy enters the body from the left and leaves the body from the right, which is why the one brother was seated to my right.
The way this works is the brother to my right presses his right pointer finger and thumb together. The brother sitting across from me would ask my body questions and then try and pull the two fingers apart. If my body agreed with the question it was asked, then my body would give off enough energy for the fingers to stay together. If my body didn't agree, insufficient energy is released to keep the fingers together and they are broken apart. Now, I've been pretty open to a lot of the alternative treatment ideas, but this was a little strange to me. However, as the first session progressed, these two brothers were able to identify issues with my body that we had not disclosed to them. Issues pertaining to the location of tumors, which systems in my body were clean and which had cancer in them. It was really quite remarkable. I also felt very at peace while I was there, as did Kim, and I felt the Spirit a few times.
Another aspect of this visit was that I took ALL of the treatments and supplements I had been using. They asked my body if the supplements were working or not. Many of the supplements he told me I needed to stop taking because they weren't helping the cause. Some he said were good, just not at the moment. Others he said I needed to continue taking, but he adjusted the dosage. One of the treatments that he said was really helping was the tonic from Mexico, along with some herbal supplements the clinic in Mexico prescribed me. That was a relief and further assurance to me. When we initially made our decision to go to this clinic in Mexico, we prayed, fasted, and went to the temple for guidance and we both felt good about going. I was pleased to have further confirmation of that choice.
Additionally, these two brothers said that because I have stage 4 cancer, they needed to see me regularly. One of the brothers said that it would be negligent on their part to not keep tabs on me. I felt relieved at that. It has been nice to sit down with someone on a weekly basis and go over how I'm doing and update my protocol. On another positive note, both times that I have gone they have both indicated that my energy is extremely well and that the juicing is really helping my body. Last time they said that of all the people with stage 4 cancer, I likely have the best chance of beating it. That comment stemmed from my energy, how I look, what my body is telling them, etc. All very positive and reassuring.
So back to simplifying... Because this clinic in Wales removed a lot of items from my treatment, it greatly simplified what I had to do on a daily basis. They did prescribe me some pills and powders to take, which I think have been helping. My daily regimen consists of the tonic, lemon oil, pills, and powders. I take all of these items twice a day. However, the last week has been rather difficult. Some of these powders they gave me smell and taste disgusting. On top of that, they don't mix in water very well. Needless to say, it got to where I would become extremely nauseous just thinking about drinking them. And then when it came to actually drinking them it was even more difficult. So, we ended up getting a pilling machine so I could put the powders into pills. That has made things SO much easier. Along with simplifying, we've heard a lot of great stuff about a ton of fruits and vegetables. We'd juice them all and I'd drink it. Well... Some of the veggies and fruits ruin the taste of the juice. It got to where it was difficult for me to drink and my gag reflex was starting to kick in on a daily basis. We decided that just because everything has benefits to it, doesn't mean I need to incorporate it if it's going to make daily life miserable. I still need to be invested in what's going on with my treatments. So... We are still experimenting with fruit and veggie combinations to get me something that is at least slightly enjoyable. Scaling back and simplifying I think will still allow me to fill my body with nutrients and cancer fighting agents while still being mentally engaged and positive.
As some of you may know, I've dealt with arm pain in my left arm. The pain sort of moves depending on the day, but it ranges from my left collar bone all the way to my left wrist. It ranges from a dull ache to sharp pains depending on what I'm doing. Well... The pain started to get really quite bad. It was to the point that I was miserable all day. I resisted taking pain relievers in order to avoid putting toxins in my system. We met with the guys in Wales a couple weeks ago and they said it's caused by autoimmune issues and they prescribed me a couple of things for pain and the autoimmune issue. For the most part, since adding those supplements to my regimen, the pain has been reduced and tolerable. However, there were a few nights where the pain became a little too much and I was getting maybe 3-4 hours of restless sleep. I reached out to some of the FB support groups for help. One of them said that niacin, aspirin, and vitamin C are used to help with pain. I found those took the edge off, but didn't quite eliminate the pain. A few nights ago I started taking 400 mg of ibuprofen just before bed. I've had 3 of my better nights of sleep over the last few months after doing that. As much as I don't want to put stuff like that in my body, I need my sleep and decided that getting a solid nights rest was more important than a small amount of pills.
These past few days I've taken a break from the juicing to just enjoy some normal food. Mentally, that's a little challenging, but it's also been a nice break. It was nice to not have to take the juicer and 20 pounds of produce up to Salt Lake over the weekend and to just relax for a few days. Today is the last day of "free" food and we'll be ending it with pizza...naturally. Then it's back to the daily juice grind for a few months. It will be good to get back on that routine.
Finally, last night Kim and I counted my bumps. At night time, Kim helps to put this salve on my bumps that is supposed to help fight them. Any guesses on the number? It's gotten quite high in recent weeks. I am now up to 70 bumps! That's pretty crazy. I was at one tiny bump 3.5 months ago and now I'm up to 70. The majority are on my back and chest. In fact, we took some pictures after we put the salve on last night. Everywhere that you see a green spot on my body is a cancer tumor. Only one of them I am pretty sure isn't. There are a few bumps not shown. I have five bumps on my lower body. We decided to skip pictures of the legs and just do my upper body. Of the 70, I think 68 are cancerous. Obviously I can't be sure of that, but that's my guess. The guys at the clinic in Wales seem to think that after about 6 months on their treatment plan I should start to see some progress. Also... Just a note about the pictures. I haven't been able to work out since May...so please don't pass judgment haha Thank you in advance!
We still maintain hope for what the future brings. I still believe this experience is just a bump in the road and that I will wake up cancer free some day in the not so distant future. The bumps spreading is what caused me to put the brakes on coaching and some other items, simply because I realized it was a bit more serious than I had anticipated. However, I love the story of the prophet Elisha in the Bible. As he and his servant arose one morning, the servant discovered that they were surrounded by a large army of chariots, horses, and soldiers. In a panic, the servant asked Elisha what they should do. "And [Elisha] answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then prays to have his servant's eyes opened. After the servant's eyes are opened so that he could see to the other side of the veil, he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire ready to fight to protect them. If we focus solely on our individual strength, we will surely become discouraged. If we neglect to remember that Heavenly powers are on our side, we will surely become discouraged. I know in whom I have trusted. I know that there are angels and powers from Heaven on the other side that are helping me and strengthening me. I know that the powers of God and Heaven are greater than the powers of any disease on this Earth. I have been promised in priesthood blessings that my life will be preserved. I move forward each day with faith and hope because of those blessings and the knowledge that I have of ministering angels and enabling powers from Heaven.
I invite and encourage everyone to seek out the comforting peace and the enabling and transformative powers of the Atonement. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real and if we cling to His word and to His love for us, we will all surely be okay. Not only that, but I testify we will have the strength and courage to face any and all trials and opposition in this life with a brightness of hope and a zeal for life. God is good. I testify that He lives and that He loves each one of us. That is my witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you remember, back on Thanksgiving I decided to switch to juicing. That's still the case. We go up to Orem and Spanish Fork once a week to buy produce. We go to WinCo, Costco, and Good Earth to buy our produce. We go to three different places because we're trying to get the healthiest food we can. Each place carries some organic version of the fruits and vegetables we need, so we spread things around. It takes about 5 hours each round trip to get everything we need. It's not too bad. Every other week we have to exchange the kids in Payson with their dad, so we just get our shopping done then. The other weeks we go up on the weekend or Kim will go up on a week day that she has off. Along with the juicing, I still have some potatoes and toast in the evenings to help me with food.
The juicing is still going well, but we are having to make some changes. We've also made some other changes to the daily protocol. For a while there, several people were volunteering ideas and suggestions to us to try as far as treatments go. We loved it. We'd research the idea and jump on board. But it got to where I was doing all sorts of various forms of treatment and it started to become a little cumbersome. Also, there wasn't really any method to the madness. It was just do this and do that. Needless to say, I was having to type up schedules to help me remember what the heck I was supposed to do when.
Well... One of the suggestions that was brought to our attention was this White Sage Clinic in Wales, UT. It's run by two brothers who practice kinesiology. I had never heard of kinesiology before, but we decided to give it a try. Kim has done energy work in the past and we've heard a lot of good things about it, so we thought we'd give it a try. I'll be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but it was sure a strange experience! I sat down in a chair when we first got there and one brother sat to my right and the other brother sat to his right. So we were sitting in a half circle, with one brother to my right and the other across from me. The way this supposedly works is that energy enters the body from the left and leaves the body from the right, which is why the one brother was seated to my right.
The way this works is the brother to my right presses his right pointer finger and thumb together. The brother sitting across from me would ask my body questions and then try and pull the two fingers apart. If my body agreed with the question it was asked, then my body would give off enough energy for the fingers to stay together. If my body didn't agree, insufficient energy is released to keep the fingers together and they are broken apart. Now, I've been pretty open to a lot of the alternative treatment ideas, but this was a little strange to me. However, as the first session progressed, these two brothers were able to identify issues with my body that we had not disclosed to them. Issues pertaining to the location of tumors, which systems in my body were clean and which had cancer in them. It was really quite remarkable. I also felt very at peace while I was there, as did Kim, and I felt the Spirit a few times.
Another aspect of this visit was that I took ALL of the treatments and supplements I had been using. They asked my body if the supplements were working or not. Many of the supplements he told me I needed to stop taking because they weren't helping the cause. Some he said were good, just not at the moment. Others he said I needed to continue taking, but he adjusted the dosage. One of the treatments that he said was really helping was the tonic from Mexico, along with some herbal supplements the clinic in Mexico prescribed me. That was a relief and further assurance to me. When we initially made our decision to go to this clinic in Mexico, we prayed, fasted, and went to the temple for guidance and we both felt good about going. I was pleased to have further confirmation of that choice.
Additionally, these two brothers said that because I have stage 4 cancer, they needed to see me regularly. One of the brothers said that it would be negligent on their part to not keep tabs on me. I felt relieved at that. It has been nice to sit down with someone on a weekly basis and go over how I'm doing and update my protocol. On another positive note, both times that I have gone they have both indicated that my energy is extremely well and that the juicing is really helping my body. Last time they said that of all the people with stage 4 cancer, I likely have the best chance of beating it. That comment stemmed from my energy, how I look, what my body is telling them, etc. All very positive and reassuring.
So back to simplifying... Because this clinic in Wales removed a lot of items from my treatment, it greatly simplified what I had to do on a daily basis. They did prescribe me some pills and powders to take, which I think have been helping. My daily regimen consists of the tonic, lemon oil, pills, and powders. I take all of these items twice a day. However, the last week has been rather difficult. Some of these powders they gave me smell and taste disgusting. On top of that, they don't mix in water very well. Needless to say, it got to where I would become extremely nauseous just thinking about drinking them. And then when it came to actually drinking them it was even more difficult. So, we ended up getting a pilling machine so I could put the powders into pills. That has made things SO much easier. Along with simplifying, we've heard a lot of great stuff about a ton of fruits and vegetables. We'd juice them all and I'd drink it. Well... Some of the veggies and fruits ruin the taste of the juice. It got to where it was difficult for me to drink and my gag reflex was starting to kick in on a daily basis. We decided that just because everything has benefits to it, doesn't mean I need to incorporate it if it's going to make daily life miserable. I still need to be invested in what's going on with my treatments. So... We are still experimenting with fruit and veggie combinations to get me something that is at least slightly enjoyable. Scaling back and simplifying I think will still allow me to fill my body with nutrients and cancer fighting agents while still being mentally engaged and positive.
As some of you may know, I've dealt with arm pain in my left arm. The pain sort of moves depending on the day, but it ranges from my left collar bone all the way to my left wrist. It ranges from a dull ache to sharp pains depending on what I'm doing. Well... The pain started to get really quite bad. It was to the point that I was miserable all day. I resisted taking pain relievers in order to avoid putting toxins in my system. We met with the guys in Wales a couple weeks ago and they said it's caused by autoimmune issues and they prescribed me a couple of things for pain and the autoimmune issue. For the most part, since adding those supplements to my regimen, the pain has been reduced and tolerable. However, there were a few nights where the pain became a little too much and I was getting maybe 3-4 hours of restless sleep. I reached out to some of the FB support groups for help. One of them said that niacin, aspirin, and vitamin C are used to help with pain. I found those took the edge off, but didn't quite eliminate the pain. A few nights ago I started taking 400 mg of ibuprofen just before bed. I've had 3 of my better nights of sleep over the last few months after doing that. As much as I don't want to put stuff like that in my body, I need my sleep and decided that getting a solid nights rest was more important than a small amount of pills.
These past few days I've taken a break from the juicing to just enjoy some normal food. Mentally, that's a little challenging, but it's also been a nice break. It was nice to not have to take the juicer and 20 pounds of produce up to Salt Lake over the weekend and to just relax for a few days. Today is the last day of "free" food and we'll be ending it with pizza...naturally. Then it's back to the daily juice grind for a few months. It will be good to get back on that routine.
Finally, last night Kim and I counted my bumps. At night time, Kim helps to put this salve on my bumps that is supposed to help fight them. Any guesses on the number? It's gotten quite high in recent weeks. I am now up to 70 bumps! That's pretty crazy. I was at one tiny bump 3.5 months ago and now I'm up to 70. The majority are on my back and chest. In fact, we took some pictures after we put the salve on last night. Everywhere that you see a green spot on my body is a cancer tumor. Only one of them I am pretty sure isn't. There are a few bumps not shown. I have five bumps on my lower body. We decided to skip pictures of the legs and just do my upper body. Of the 70, I think 68 are cancerous. Obviously I can't be sure of that, but that's my guess. The guys at the clinic in Wales seem to think that after about 6 months on their treatment plan I should start to see some progress. Also... Just a note about the pictures. I haven't been able to work out since May...so please don't pass judgment haha Thank you in advance!
We still maintain hope for what the future brings. I still believe this experience is just a bump in the road and that I will wake up cancer free some day in the not so distant future. The bumps spreading is what caused me to put the brakes on coaching and some other items, simply because I realized it was a bit more serious than I had anticipated. However, I love the story of the prophet Elisha in the Bible. As he and his servant arose one morning, the servant discovered that they were surrounded by a large army of chariots, horses, and soldiers. In a panic, the servant asked Elisha what they should do. "And [Elisha] answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then prays to have his servant's eyes opened. After the servant's eyes are opened so that he could see to the other side of the veil, he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire ready to fight to protect them. If we focus solely on our individual strength, we will surely become discouraged. If we neglect to remember that Heavenly powers are on our side, we will surely become discouraged. I know in whom I have trusted. I know that there are angels and powers from Heaven on the other side that are helping me and strengthening me. I know that the powers of God and Heaven are greater than the powers of any disease on this Earth. I have been promised in priesthood blessings that my life will be preserved. I move forward each day with faith and hope because of those blessings and the knowledge that I have of ministering angels and enabling powers from Heaven.
I invite and encourage everyone to seek out the comforting peace and the enabling and transformative powers of the Atonement. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real and if we cling to His word and to His love for us, we will all surely be okay. Not only that, but I testify we will have the strength and courage to face any and all trials and opposition in this life with a brightness of hope and a zeal for life. God is good. I testify that He lives and that He loves each one of us. That is my witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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