The Nutritional Challenge

And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

–Genesis 1:29

Dear Family and Friends,

What would we do without Internet and Amazon.com to help give us answers!  As soon as we got settled into Mountainville and could set up our laptops, we ordered a ton of reading material to help us get quickly educated on brain cancer, chemo, radiation, nutrition and herbal medicine and healing of cancer.  We settled down with Bea’s dogs at our feet and started reading aloud and discussing what we were reading.  Having no background in the subject, the beginning days were frustrating trying to make sense of everything.  Now, slowly, some of it is starting to make sense.  At least we don’t feel so helpless, and now we can start doing something to move forward positively (in the nutritional sense of the term). 

A week ago the words in Genesis 1:29 didn’t have much meaning; now after much reading in search of how to fight Kelly’s brain cancer, we can read the words and understand.  The nutritional material we have been reading repeatedly claims we don’t have to go far to find the miracle healer, right outside of our door is our green world of nature and it provides all the nutrients needed to sustain life.  Eat a diet rich in GREENS and HERBS, and you will feed your body properly and help it have a strong immune system to protect you from disease and also fight disease.  Our plant world has all the secrets to curing and sustaining life.  The challenge is eating the right foods.  This does not mean that chemo and radiation aren’t needed to combat Kelly’s cancer, it just means that eating healthy and staying away from foods that tumor cells thrive on can help greatly.

A  new diet regime is now our immediate focus.  It means

·  We toss the chips and dips, candy, pastries, can food, etc. 

·  We bring aboard a juicer and all organic veggies, herbs, fruits, grains, nuts and natural goat milk yogurt.

·  We learn which veggies and greens should be cooked and which are best eaten raw. 

·  Some fruit are heavy in sugar, we need to substitute these for others that have higher nutritional value and are ranked lower on the glycemic index.

·  We need to eat less meat and get our protein from other more nurturing sources like nuts and beans, dark legumes, organic fruits, fish, and free range organic eggs, etc. 

·  We need to read the labels on foods so we make educated decisions about our food intake.

·  We need to eat organic foods and foods that are not heavily pumped with hormones and pesticides. 

·  And we must be careful to stay away from eating chicken, unless we know that they are “gallina de patio” and have had a lot of sunshine.  Chickens raised in coops are given growth hormones and it’s believed that cancer feeds off of hormones.  But for now, we are staying away from chicken altogether

One of Ani and Thomson’s friends, Andrew Brodhead, visited in Panama with us for 3 months.  You may have met him, he’s a photographer.  Andrew’s parents own an organic food store in Savannah, Georgia called Brighter Day (http://www.brighterdayfoods.com/).  Andrew’s father is a Certified Nutritionist who specializes in natural foods and medicines.  For the past week we have been in close contact with him, as he has guided us in selecting some naturopathic medicines to complement Kelly’s new diet; these medicines will begin to act as natural cancer fighting agents as well as immune system boosters.  Also, Kelly talked with Alan Furmanski on the phone (thanks to a phone call that Rochelle Harrari made…thank you so much Rochelle!!!).  Alan is a close friend of her brother.  He sent Kelly some information on the juices that he drank when he was fighting brain cancer.  Kelly has already started her regime of herbal supplements and natural organic juices to help boost her immune system before she begins radiation and chemo.  Once we know more about the plan of action for her chemo and radiation, her natural nutritionsits will work with the oncology and radiation departments to coordinate a balance between the two medical worlds.

We now await the visit this Friday with Dr. Posner at Sloan Kettering.

Bueno, saludos a todos.!  Take care and keep connected.  And yes, please, keep those prayers rolling!

Big hug,

Mari