My cancer healing journey - Letters to the Editor

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, June, 2003

Editor:

In June of '97 the day after a walk in the Bellevue Greenbelt I experienced acute pain in my left leg and right side. Local medical diagnosis suggested that it was muscle strain due to the walk. Two weeks later, while in Montana visiting my summer home, the pain returned and while in the ER at the Kalispell Hospital, all the X-rays, and lab tests and poking about resulted in the diagnosis of a pinched sciatic nerve. The next morning the pain was totally gone so I was released; 36 hours later I was being driven to Bellevue's Overlake Hospital for diagnosis. After a full month of imaging and tests I was told I had aggressive growth Lymphoma, and if I did not start Chemotherapy I would be dead in 3 months or less. Because of my surprise and ignorance of cancer treatment I started chemotherapy the next day.

That same week I found a cancer support group led by the late Dr. Glen Warner. I launched into an intensive exploration of various cancer cures. By the time I had my second chemotherapy of six scheduled, I made the decision to quit because I was so sick and also one of the members of the support group had quit her chemotherapy and was feisty and thriving. The key to survival was an active and aggressive immune system which was the true healer of the disease that I allowed to develop in my body.

What Was the Therapy That I Adopted?

After much research of literature, Internet sources and consultation with open minded medical professionals, I adopted over the next month or so an integrated program of proven therapies which had been generally ignored by conventional allopathic medicine. These were combined with a broad range of nutritional supplements, minerals, lifestyle changes. Most important was a positive attitude - my willingness to change and take charge of my own fate. Exercise, meditation, music, QiGong, humor, and the recognition that our minds are far more powerful than we normally recognize.

First were some general dietary principles

1. No red meat

2. No fats, especially trans-fats, only flaxseed & cod liver oil

3. No dairy products (avoid commercial antibiotics, hormones)

4. Fresh juices from fruits & vegetables 32 oz daily (no tropical fruit, local fruit often less contaminated by handling & shipping)

5. No alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, or refined sugars

6. Meals mainly vegetables, grains, nuts, some fish & poultry

7. No processed or junk food & no soy products (later data)

8. Multiple vitamins, food supplements and anti-oxidants.

Specific Therapies

1. Vitamin C, 50,000 mg infusions weekly

2. Essiac Tea 2X daily, 1 hr before & after meals

3. Mushroom tea (5 types) 8oz 3X daily

4. Dr. Budwig's Blend of NF cottage cheese and Flaxseed oil 3X

5. Dr. Brandt's red grape therapy 1X

6. Dr. Vensel's puree of Asparagus 4 tbsp 3X daily

7. Oxygenated water (supersaturated)

8. Willard Water (catalytically altered to pass through intestinal wall easier than normal water, which enhances nutrient transfer)

9. Hydrazine sulphate for 4 wks (to starve cancer, but must not eat raisins, dairy products or take tranquilizers at the same time)

Adopted Life Style Patterns

1. Exercise, walking 30 minutes (build up as strength returned)

2. QiGong energy exercises and muscle movements

3. Meditation and Relaxation routines

4. Music and exposure to humor from books, audio & video

5. Enlisted support of friends and family members (use caution family members may insist that you use allopathic therapies only). By all means join an open-minded cancer support group.

6. Last but not least, aggressive detoxification by various means to rid blood, liver, lymphatic system, colon, of toxic residue.

Among useful supplements are:

Lecithin, Astragalus, COQ10, Selenium, Modified Citrus Pectin, MSM, B-Complex, B-12 shots, Marine Alginate, Assorted L-amino acids and those you select to fit into your own situation.

Why Did I Quit Chemotherapy?

I quit chemotherapy for the reason it made me too sick, it was destroying my immune system. I learned from my research that many qualified doctors: Moss, Levin, Abel and many others were convinced that it was not a valid method, despite the medical establishment and pharmaceutical industry's claim that chemo was the preferred treatment.

I learned later that Allen Levin, MD UCSF in his 1990 book The Healing of Cancer stated that chemotherapy does not eliminate breast, colon nor lung cancer.

Scientists at McGill Cancer Center questioned 118 lung cancer doctors as to whether they had faith in chemo: 67% would not use it on themselves. And 3/4 of these thought it was useless and too toxic.

A German, Dr. Ulrich Abel of the Heidelberg-Mannheim Institute spent years studying every major study and clinical trial on chemo reports from 350 medical centers worldwide. After several years of study Dr. Abel found that the overall world-wide "success" of chemotherapy was appalling. "There was simply no scientific evidence available anywhere that chemotherapy can extend in any appreciable way the lives of patients suffering from the most common organic cancer." He further stated that chemotherapy is a scientific wasteland and that 80% of the chemo administered throughout the world is worthless, (neither the doctor nor the patient is willing to give it up).