Nine

A Day to Remember: A Day to Celebrate

Did you ever have a day when you didn't even realize you were standing under a black cloud until the sun came out? Today was such a day for me.

I returned from An Oasis of Healing three weeks ago, not really knowing if the cancer that sent me there had completely resolved or not. It was too soon for a PET scan, which would give the answer. Two weeks went by before I could have the scan. Then, after having it last week, I had to wait until today for the results. During that time I didn't think about it too much, because I knew that fretting and worrying wouldn't change the result, but would cause me unneeded anxiety. Today I finally got the answer, and the result was fabulous! NO SIGN OF CANCER ANYWHERE!

Thank you, God, for answering all those prayers from friends, fellow patients, relatives, and myself. Thank you, all of you, for taking a few moments to add me to your prayers, distant Reiki, and various other forms of good vibes. Thank you, dear friends, for coming to my home and giving me Reiki. That includes Dodie, who came often, Fran, Helen, Susan, and Jordan. If anybody else came (and I keep thinking someone did), please chalk it up to brain fog on my part. I'll probably remember in the middle of the night and feel very stupid!

A special thanks to Sheri Bade, a woman I've never met or even talked with, though I did try several times, who lent me her condo for my Phoenix stay of seven weeks. And thanks to Fran for setting that up for me.

The entire staff of An Oasis of Healing gets a huge thank you. Everyone there puts heart and soul into helping all the patients, becoming our friends and families during our time there.

I appreciate Dr. Lodi's dedication to each patient, and to taking his Hippocratic oath of "First, do no harm." very seriously. He stands out from the crowd of doctors who treat cancer because he is willing to help patients with therapies that work by aiming small doses of toxic drugs at the cancer, not spreading large doses of them throughout the body. Because of this, I sailed through the treatment with few side effects. Yes, I did lose most of my hair. OK, anybody else would have shaved off the little remaining, but I wanted to keep my head as warm as possible at night! But I didn't suffer from nausea or loss of appetite, or malnutrition. Indeed, I was far better nourished with each morning's smoothie than most Americans are with a whole day's worth of what they mistakenly think of as food!

The nurses - Michelle, Courtney, Susan, and Tommie (and oh, yes, the pregnant one who worked Fridays and Saturdays - sorry my name-recall-ability has gone blank on me!) worked so very hard, paying close attention to each of us and our needs and conditions, keeping up with everybody, noting changes small and large, administering treatments with kindness and caring.

In the kitchen, Colleen and her helping elf daily created tasty raw vegan meals with variety and originality, then taught us all many of the tricks of doing the same at home.

The supporting therapists all played most important roles, helping us release toxins, both physiological and psychological. They, too, came to be dear friends and helpers along the road to wellness. A special thanks to all of you who contributed your love, kindness and expertise to helping all of us heal.

And behind the scenes, in the offices, everybody's assistance made the journey run smoothly. I appreciate all of you and your contributions to this red-letter day!

All the other patients became dear friends who shared each others' ups and downs, joys, fears, and sorrows. I appreciate each one of you, for all are precious and unique and all are facing the frightening and often difficult task of eliminating cancer from their bodies.

Tomorrow I have a follow-up appointment by phone with Dr Brad Weeks on Whidbey Island, here in Washington, who did one IPT treatment last week, and who ordered the PET scan. I'll find out how best to continue following up, since we know that cancer may not show up on a scan, but can still be in the body in microscopic bits, waiting for the opportunity to reassert itself. He will help me keep that from happening.

One of the most important things Dr. Lodi teaches is how to stop making cancer. So I'll continue with my plant-based diet of mostly raw veggies and a few fruits, small amounts of nuts and seeds, as a way of keeping my body free of cancer in the future.

And I'll continue feeling grateful for all the wonderful people who contributed to this triumph of a healthy body over one with a very scary ailment.

Thanks for coming along with me on this journey of healing. I'll be back from time to time, and in the future I plan to write about others who have healed their bodies of cancer using alternative therapies. The world needs to know!