My beliefs on healing and health have been shaped and formed by many great and brave people who have come before me and even some who are my contemporaries.  As Isaac Newton once stated, "I stand on the shoulders of giants."

Natural healing has been practiced since the creation of man, long before the 1700's or 1800's when "modern medicine" began to make its mark in American history.  The ideas I have learned and have tried to put into practice to heal my AA are those which were used hundreds and hundreds of years ago (before modern medicine was concocted) and still appear to work today.  The concept is simple--clear the body of infirmities, and provide it with the fuel it needs to rebuild.  The "real healing" is done by the body in its time.  The added beauty of the natural healing approach is that there are no adverse side effects, no worry of compromising other body parts, no drug dependency, and it's free.  Well, almost--the added expense would be any extra charge for "organic" food.  (Unless you have a green thumb and can grow your own organic produce.)  The natural approach may or may not be the quickest form of healing, but there are certain paths in life that we "have" to travel to get to the other side.

Good luck on your path!
 

WHY I CHOSE AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO HEALING MY AA INSTEAD OF CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE

Before I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, I never seriously gave my health a second thought.  It was my husband who would show surprise at what I could devour and not feel the slightest hesitation or remorse.  I loved to eat, and I still can't think of anything I didn't like to eat.  I welcomed a quarter pounder with cheese, french fries and a coke, just as much as a pricey meal at the Ritz Carlton.  Of course, I loved to eat out and try any new place that popped up.  In retrospect, I did have some health problems that I would just ignore and live with not realizing that what I ate and how I lived could improve those conditions.  In October of 1999, I was forced to see the reality of my health condition as I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. This time, my condition wasn't just living with a rash, an occasional feeling of bloatedness, chronic tiredness, or sleepless nights.  This time I was faced with life and death.  I could no longer hide my physical ailments because I could no longer function my life without a face mask, extreme fatigue, danger of spontaneous bleeding, a double lumen catheter hanging out of my arm, and a seemingly never ending need for blood transfusions.  Now, I couldn't just take a nap or a sleeping pill to feel better.  I had to make decisions--Do I take Anti-thymocyte Globulin or a bone marrow transplant?

As the doctors filed into my hospital room, my mind was reeling--What in the world is happening to me?  Memories started to surface that I had long ago forgotten. I was in high school and one of my classmate's sister had been undergoing chemotherapy.  To this day I don't completely know her whole history, but I remember what I saw.  When she had come home from the hospital and was finally able to return to school, she was completely unrecognizable.  What, I thought, had she been through?  Still, those memories make me want to cry because even after all the suffering she had endured, she died near that New Year.

"No."  I heard myself saying, "No, I won't have chemotherapy. Is that the treatment?--Chemotheraphy?"  I saw one of the doctors move closer to the door and look out.  I didn't quite understand, but one of the doctors was from the bone marrow transplant unit.  There was quiet. . . another doctor said, "There are treatments for your condition, but a bone marrow transplant is the only cure."  I guess there wasn't much more to say, or I couldn't hear them talking to me anymore.  My consciousness only remembers one doctor left in the room saying, "It's only hard for the donor to give marrow, but it's easy for the recipient.  You'll get the marrow just like a blood transfusion."

Left to myself again, I had to think.  I couldn't stop thinking.  I didn't understand anything.  I didn't know how to read the blood values, I didn't know anything about the drugs, or why my condition was so serious.  Do I have any other choices?  Then I thought, Brian. . . God had blessed me with my best friend, Brian.  I've always had hobbies and loved to explore, and Brian always joined me in that.  If I wanted to work on ceramics, Brian would find the supplies.  If I wanted to make my own glazes, Brian would find out the recipes.  If I wanted to learn to make yarn, Brian would find where I could get the fleece from the sheep.  Brian. . .   Brian, I thought, will help me understand.

It was the biggest research project I ever gave to Brian, and I am glad to say that he didn't let me down.  He learned to read the blood values, he found out what the treatments were, what options I was being given, what the statistics were, and whether there was any other choice for me.  I read and listened, read and listened, read and listened until I finally understood my condition.  As our research continued, I remembered my auntie.  She had died undergoing chemotherapy.  I called a co-worker who was out from work undergoing chemotherapy.  His wife answered the phone and told me never to take chemo, her husband has been severely damaged by it.  (He died shortly thereafter.)  I even have a distant aunt whose sister died undergoing chemo at the very same hospital I was being treated.  The chemo had made her so weak that she broke her back trying to use the restroom.  I remembered hearing years ago of one of my mom's cousins who had breast cancer.  She underwent chemo too and got so weak that she broke her leg just getting up.  She also died not long after.  I never thought about it, but I know of more stories of people I know of personally that I never paid close attention to until now.  Now, it became clear to me, taking the medical "treatment of choice" for my AA was gambling with my life.  Do I trust the medical profession with my life?  I think not.   Now, I felt, now I can make a decision.  It was not an easy decision because what I chose went against what everyone else would have done--what was acceptable to do.  Also, the choice I made was taking me to uncharted territory.  We could find "no one" with AA who would or had refused the conventional treatment.  Nor could we ask anyone to do such a thing.  The decision I made was to strengthen my immune system naturally.  I had read story after story of people recovering from debilitating, even life-threatening diseases using a natural approach.  Conditions that were so severe, that the medical community had thrown up their hands and given them up as hopeless cases, but had been cured through natural means.  I decided I was going to be one of those success stories.  (The Lord willing.)  I thought I would heal my immune system naturally or die naturally.  But, whatever God had in store for me, I would not knowingly poison myself with drugs and then beg God to heal me.

I had finally made my decision, but that was just the first hurdle.  (And believe me that was a big hurdle which appears to have a series of hurdles I still have to jump every now and then.)  What natural treatment should I pursue?  There are so many "natural" treatments all claiming varying degrees of success.  I knew that whatever I chose had to be serious because aroma therapy alone, I knew, would just not cut it.  My AA was just too severe.  I had originally started out with one program and have since continued to modify it based on what results I was seeing.  I believe that as the healing process continues, I will also continue adjusting my diet and lifestyle.  Even now, my regimen is not as intense as it was in the beginning;  however I have adopted better eating habits and have a better understanding of what is real food and what is crap.  I feel like l can think more clearly than I have ever thought before.  I have learned many things during this illness that has opened my eyes to this world that we live in.  I see life with new eyes and have more freedom.