Breast Cancer: There is Hope!

These pictures with son and daughter and husband are from the Christmas present trip to NY that our kids gave us this year. We had so much fun! 

I sent the post below to someone who just got diagnosed with breast cancer who expressed feeling overwhelmed by it all, but then I thought maybe some of you might be interested to see how one alternative looks, too. It's called the Budwig Protocol, developed by Johanna Budwig, a well known scientist from Germany who had much success through nutrition.  I know you all won't want to read this long post, but if you or someone you love has breast cancer or other cancer, there is hope out there.

I also want to say that I'm so, so, so, so grateful that my sis sent the e-mails she sent out about alternatives-- I always glanced over them, thinking they were interesting but too far out, and besides, I wouldn't get cancer anyway. Tuh huh!

There are not enough words in the world to express my thanks and gratitude now.
Krista, you were right, and I love you for your courage and daring in this. . . you might be my baby sister biologically, but in this you are my BIG SIS, for sure!

Merry Christmas, all of you!

Juliana
The Leaven

To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."Lk.13:21 NAB

Hi, N____,

I was diagnosed with breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma, stage 2b, in August '12. I had heard of alternatives, and I heard that doing a lot of research would lead me to the right path for me. I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen after almost two months, but then, almost all of a sudden, sure enough, it did!

Started doing BP in Oct. Prior to finding the BP (BudwigProtocol-- flaxseedoil2@yahoogroups.com), I had started drinking a little over a gallon of (Kangen) water per day, as I read that often food cravings can really be thirst, dehydration.  By the second week of the water, I noticed I wasn't taking a nap any more, and I haven't since. I imagine getting plenty of pure water will help, even if it's not Kangen. I think drinking the water also helped make way for me to start adding the raw vegetables, along with getting the diagnosis that made a lifestyle change inescapable, unavoidable as far as I'm concerned.

Also, I still drink about four mugs of green tea per day.

Since a tablespoon of honey is allowed on BP, I did use that whole allowance at first, but sometimes I'm able to cut back on that. Making sure to have the afternoon dessert FOCC also really helps to satisfy the sweets need. A carrot/apple juice in the a.m.  also helps.

In the beginning, I always put 1/3 to 1/2 a banana in my FOCC, plus always raspberries or strawberries or blueberries (frozen,usually), plus the honey, AFTER making the cottage cheese/ flaxoil emulsion. Now sometimes I use Lakewood (not from concentrate) fruit juice in place of the honey when I have it, as recommended. With the freshly ground flaxseed, the a.m. and p.m. FOCC is my favorite part of the BP, and I've noticed others saying similar. At first, I added walnuts or almonds liberally, but since I need to lose weight,  I had to cut back on those. Now I eat a few. Brazil nuts are very good for us, but I usually eat only one or two per day of those.

I also buy an organic pineapple, as recommended, and I can get 2-3 days' juice from that. I usually enjoy a couple sips of it plain, but then I add 1-2 T ground flaxseeds to it. The seeds soften, so it's pretty easy to take, plus it gets more appealing as time goes by.

Once in awhile, I eat a date or two, though I don't know if this is a good idea or not. It might be too much sugar. I usually do this if I'm really cramped for time or if I'm around others who are eating sweets. Maybe someone else can comment.

I, too, felt VERY overwhelmed at first, probably for a good month. I was buying all kinds of grains, etc. and not using them because I didn't know what to do with them. Millet, aramanth, buckwheat, quinoa, brown rice.  Quinoa is easy to fix, and I liked to make Spanish Rice, so I just used my rice recipe to make that, making sure to rinse the quinoa in a strainer first, and not toasting it with oil, just adding the onion, garlic, red pepper, cumin, pink salt at the start. I guess you could saute on low heat in coconut oil. Once I started making Oleolux, I just started adding some of that after the cooking period, eliminating the need to saute but improving the overall taste.

Before I started doing as many raw green vegetable smoothies or raw green juice more often, I was needing more grains. I really like 1/3 c. buckwheat cooked in 2/3 c. water (or a little more) in the a.m. To that, I added Oleolux after cooking. I also have cooked the aramanth in the same ratio of grain to water. I like the chewy texture of it. Millet is similar.

I also make Northern or white beans or black beans each week, or lentils are even quicker. I add onion, a few crushed garlic pods, carrots, peppers, cumin, a little sea salt, plus Oleolux after cooking. Very tasty. Soak beans overnight before cooking. Lentils only take about 30 min and don't need to be soaked. The other beans take several hours, but they do provide variety.

If I have 1 or 2 green smoothies a day (my fave is a handful of each: spinach, kale, parsley, and berries), made in a high speed blender such as Vitamix or Nutribullet (on sale for $99 at Dillards last week), I don't get as hungry or miss the sweets as much. Cucumber and celery are good to juice, too. Sometimes I have to cut back on the green juices, though, and I'm learning to sense when that is. I just cut back to 1 a day then. 

From memory, here's the Oleolux recipe. Hope a moderator will catch the error, if my memory fails.

1 med. onion, cut in half

10 pods garlic (I crush them slightly)

1/2 c. coconut oil

1 c. flax oil, chilled in the freezer while cooking first 3 ingredients.

Place onion and coconut oil in pan and heat to 100 degrees F. Cook for 15 min., till onion starts to brown, but keep temp. consistent.

Add garlic cloves and cook for only 3 minutes more. Strain this into the chilled flaxoil. I use a pint jar with a lid, so I can store it in the refrigerator, like butter. It keeps well, and it is so, so helpful to make dishes taste very satisfying. 

My favorite salad dressing:

Equal parts of fresh apple juice, flax oil, fresh lemon juice, and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Add pink salt, a crushed garlic pod or garlic powder, onion powder, parsley flakes, basil or paprika (spice according to taste). I make sure I have this in the refrigerator all the time, as it helps to make my daily salad much easier and more satisfying. I usually juice 2 granny smith apples, then add the other juices equally. Adding some avocado to the salad makes the salad dressing get kind of creamy and is more satisfying.

I steam a few red potatoes to slice over spinach, red onion, celery, etc. salad, which I eat almost every day. Sometimes add a few almonds and the 1-2 oz. cheese allowance, usually Gouda. Adding the potatoes makes the salad more substantial, satisfying. 

Steamed potatoes with Oleolux is excellent. Add a few steamed green beans, too sometimes.

Sometimes I mash the black beans and eat with an Ezekiel tortilla and the cheese allowance.

I try not to eat much bread, but sometimes I do eat a slice with cheese for a few days, till I sense I have to cut it out.

I go shopping for fresh vegetables about every three days, usually MWF. I wash and cut them on the alternate days. I'm learning what staples to keep constant, according to my own taste. Quinoa and buckwheat are two such.

I haven't become a fancy cook with the BP yet, but what I'm doing does keep me from being in a panic about the food, and I'm less anxious about looking at the recipes in the Files than in the beginning. My kitchen is getting more organized, too, and that helps a lot.

In August, I was ninety pounds overweight. I've lost almost 40 lbs. I'm losing more slowly since starting the BP in October, but I have never felt better in terms of energy. I think drinking the water is a big part of the ease of it, along with increasing the vegetable intake, with a few grains and beans,  plus knowing I HAVE to change my lifestyle if I want to survive. I also walk on a treadmill about four times a week, 2 miles. Take walks in sunshine more slowly, with the dog. The waves of fear that used to overcome me a couple times a week are far less frequent now, almost non-existent, even.

Meditative prayer on the Psalms or daily Scripture reading taken from my parish bulletin and journaling my guts to God is a daily essential, too. At first, I wanted to distance myself from Him, as I think I felt He had let me down, but I had to get past that. His grace is there, but I do have to come to Him often.

Reading posts on the site daily is essential to me, as I learn something new almost every day. Little by little, I'm reading more of the Files, articles on how and why FOCC works, for example. The Q&A explains a lot, too.

I'm learning to just do whatever I can each day, and each day has become more and more do-able, even joyful.

People are amazed that I actually look and feel better with cancer than I did before. There is much for which I'm grateful. Not being a slave to sugar cravings is definitely one of the biggest blessings!

You can do this, too! I pray that you can and will, especially since you have that 9 year old to love and to love you, N_____.

With a hug and a prayer,

Juliana
The Leaven

To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? “It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."Lk.13:21 NAB