Botanica WestHolistic Healing & Therapy from a Master Herbalist

I have been working in the alternative health field for over four years and personally seen many stories of courage, perseverance, faith and strong will.
Carolyn was one of these living testimonials. Her memorial service was this July. I met Carolyn over two years ago when dear friends paid to have her receive integrated treatment for her aggressive breast cancer that was only been maintained by chemo and radiation. She was stage four terminal when I met her. Her choice because of finances and insurance reasons she felt that it would be less of a burden on her family to do chemo and radiation. While going through endless conventional treatments with the help of natural medicine she still was able to maintain a childcare business and grew wheatgrass and kambucha mushrooms for health food stores. This woman could make anything grow. The alternative medicine integrated into her treatment improved the quality of her life.
Her battle was coming to an end approximately eight months ago that’s when she decided to go to Mexico to try to grasp onto a little more life before she left this earth. She wanted to control how she wanted to die and have a better quality of death. And she definitely didn’t want to die gasping for air. She had about a week to live according to the Mexican doctor’s estimate. She was slowly drowning in her own lung fluid. She cashed in her life insurance policy because there were things she wanted to do and see and why pay all that money for someone else to benefit after her death? It was her last hope. Amazingly she responded well to laetrile infusion to the lung, vitamin C flushes, mineral chelation and cobalt treatment. These alternative treatments helped her survive for eight more months of quality of life. Her cost out of pocket was a little over $10,000 which left the rest of her money for her enjoyment.
In her last months was able to visit family, friends and reconnect with her children. She traveled and visited many gardens and places that were denied her due to her illness. Till one day she was weary from her travels and within a couple of days died peacefully in the loving arms of her daughter. She died on her terms, with quality of death.
If she looked back she would have followed her intuition and would have gone totally holistic or integrated natural medicine in with her treatment. Money should have never been an issue. Having visually seen the higher success rate for her form of cancer being put into complete remission in Mexico made her realize she had other options unknown to her. A lesson learned a lot to late. But where does one go for answers and for alternative treatment. Research your options now while you’re well. Your own personal insurance policy. What about preventative medicine? Next months article, Where does one start to look for answers?

The time to start looking for alternative treatment is before you get cancer. And to start preventative medicine now! Every person I work with wait till the second opinion is in that they truly have the dreaded disease before they make any dietary and lifestyle changes. Why do we wait so long! Why do we row down the river of denial and ignore our body’s voices?
I went to Mexico and a local woman asked why so many Americans get cancer. A Mexican doctor had a good answer. In America people are hermetically sealed in toxic houses. All homes especially mobile homes are made of chemicals, formaldehyde, paints, plastics, glues, synthetic woods and vinyl flooring, While in Mexico the houses are made of concrete block, brick, stone, wood, metal and tile and are rarely carpeted.
In America we have pre-made high sugar/sodium/simple carbohydrate/hydrogenated fat/high calorie foods with preservatives and all our fresh vegetables and fruits have been coated with some shiny substance or gassed to ripen faster or a preservative that makes them stay fresh longer. So basically we eat dead food. Not to mention many of our foods are stored in toxic plastic containers.
Another thing Americans always do is go to doctors for every little ache and pain and cold or flu symptom that goes around and vaccinate ourselves up the ying yang. We also take tons of over the counter medications, antibiotics and pharmaceutical grade vitamins with artificial fillers and colorings. We clean and disinfect our body’s with chemical based body products killing our good bacteria and reclog our pores with make up, creams, lotions, and antiperspirants. I wonder why we even get embalmed since we’re so packed with preservatives!
Many alternative treatments require intense cleansing and dietary restrictions and sucking down some pretty disgusting swills. Other treatments may require intense supplementary treatments that may be a dietary challenge for those who hate to swallow pills. Integrated treatments may require intravenous treatment and various injections. Not one natural treatment is good for every sort of cancer. Lymphatic cancer and prostate cancer are two totally different body systems.
What is really important is that you understand how Alternative medicine works. The book everyone is reading natural cures they don’t want you to know about is a slightly fanatical but a pretty good gage of why there are not a lot of good alternative treatments here in this country. And the brave doctors that make the effort to put there reputation on the line to at least try some alternatives are very few and far between. There are so many Mexican clinics but which ones are legitimate? And the cost fluctuates so drastically. What type of treatment do you ask for? And is it safe to leave the country for alternative treatment?
There are so many good books and the easiest one to start with is the cancer battle plan. Its an easy read and its written in layman’s terms so its understandable. In our next article we will explain some alternative treatments and where to find them in the states and in Mexico. Be well and WELL INFORMED. Helene Gentili at Botanica West.