My Treatment

THE ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT I USED FOR MY AA
Note: I have been continually refining my program. If I were to do it all over again, I probably would do some things differently, but I list below what I did. Please note that I think I stayed vegan too long. I have since learned that some meats and fats are important factors in maintaining a healthy body. Also, I believe that my green juices were more effective than the carrot juices. I'm currently not strictly using distilled water anymore either, and still need to do more research and experimentation with what type of water I should continue to use. The good news is that even though my program wasn't perfect, I was still able to become independent of transfusions. I'm still considering the idea that a recovery diet should be different from a maintainance diet.

1.    Complete dietary change.
        a.    All foods consumed were organic and unprocessed.
        b.    All meats and dairy were eliminated for two years.
        c.    All unhealthful foods such as hot dogs, soda, pizza, hydrogenated oil fried french fries, chips, etc. are eliminated.
        d.    Drank freshly juiced organic fruit and vegetable juices.
        e.    Increased my water intake.
        f.    Make sure at least 75% to 85% of food consumed is raw (uncooked, unprocessed).
2.    Get lots of fresh air. Try to sleep with my windows open.
3.    Get some sunshine on my skin each day.
4.    Try to sleep by 10:00 PM (9:00PM is probably better while very sick.)
5.    Try to reduce stress or learn to handle it better. I did this by reading the Bible. I found the Bible to have very many interesting stories as well as a lot of practical advice.
6.    Learn as much as possible about natural healing and some conventional medical therapies for comparison. Always know what's being given and done to you at the hospitals and doctor's office. Check all medications for side effects and warnings.
7.    Exercise. (Walking or rebounding on a trampoline)
8.    Time, patience, laughter, a good attitude, and time and patience, time and patience, karaoke and laugh. More time and patience.

My original diet to treat my AA was a vegan one (no meat or animal products), however, I have since then modified it. I was vegan for the first two years during which time I became independent of transfusions. But, I was hovering just barely above transfusion level, so with that situation along with the knowledge that I was low in B12, I started to add meat back into my diet. At first I added one fish meal a week. That actually helped boost my hemoglobin up from the 7's to the 9's yet I was still low in B12. Therefore, I added two more fish meals a week which boosted my hemoglobin up into the 11's. That was great, but my B12 was now below normal, so I started eating one meat meal each day. This time I included lamb, chicken, and calf liver along with fish. One month doing that was still not enough. I had to try adding B12 supplements too. Finally the B12 supplements combined with one meat meal a day has brought my B12 up into the normal range. This month, May 2002, it was at 338 with normal being between 211-911. My hemo wants my B12 to be at 400. I'll try to get it there, and we'll see if I have any more improvements with my counts.

July 5,2003 Update-I have discontinued B12 supplements since February of this year and have been relying soley on foods for my B12. My recent B12 test came back at 612 and 1050 respectively. The second test was a bit high, but I was told that B12 is water soluable and that being a little high shouldn't be a problem.

EXAMPLE MENU FOR A DAY

For an example of what one of my menus for a day looks like, click on a date below. My diet has been changing as time goes on, so I have left my sample menus with the date and will just add menus as I change.

January 2002
May 2002
April 2003

THE FOLLOWING ARE THINGS I'VE TRIED TO BUILD MY HEALTH, BUT ELIMINATED FROM MY ROUTINE:

1.    Chinese herbs
2.    Lots of supplements-The only supplement I use now is B12. I'm hoping to eventually eliminate the need for that. The B12 supplement I use is Bioactive-B12 (as methylcobalamin) 1mg by Enzymatic Therapy (www.enzy.com) I take one a day.
3.    EDTA chelation
4.    Lots and lots of sun (I noticed too much sun wiped me out, so I try to get it every day, but not as much.)
5.    Lots of water (I tried drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day, but find that I actually feel better at 2-4 glasses a day. Keep in mind I drink lots of vegetable and fruit juices.)
6.    Miso and tofu (There is too much controversy on the benefits of soy, so that's out too.)
7.    Visualization. (I could never get it right.)
8.    Fresh wheatgrass juice. (I broke out in a full body rash.)
9.    Dry skin brushing. (My skin rashes were aggravated by the brushing. Now that my skin is much better, I may try this again.)
10. As of July 1, 2002, I stopped using Barleygreen powder. I was satisfied with today's CBC (August 20, 2002) that I probably can do without the Barleygreen powder now.
11. As of August 20,2002 I started juicing only three times a day of two cups of juice instead of four times a day. Blood counts today, October 1, 2002, indicate that juicing three times a day is sufficient.
12. As of November 30, 2002, I stopped regular juicing. I do juice occasionally when priming up for a phlebotomy or if I just happen to feel like it. I started drinking one cup of raw goat milk a day.
13. I stopped taking my B12 supplements some time in February 2003.

ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS

(I am not a medical doctor. You assume all responsibility for the choices you make with your health.)

!. If you decide to do the natural plan, you must learn to take control of your health care, learn as much as you can about health, your condition, and any procedures (medical) that you will need. No one cares more about your body than you. I have found the local library to be a great source for books and videos.

2. If you can find a farmer's market (an open air street market where farmers sell directly to the public), you may be able to find organic produce at a cheaper price than at your local health foods market.

3. Not all vendors at farmer's markets are organic. If they are organic, they will have a sign which states that. Otherwise, it is questionable. Being an organic farmer requires special standards to be met, and therefore they will advertise they are organic quite readily, you need not ask.

4. Honey should be unheated. The label on the honey "must" read "unheated" otherwise it was most likely heated at a point which destroys all beneficial enzymes in the honey.

5. Salt should be sundried sea salt. Sundried sea salt contains all its natural minerals while regular table salt has been processed and devoid of all beneficial minerals.

6. Olive oil should be cold pressed organic olive oil.

7. Flaxseeds should not be cooked. Once flaxseeds have been ground, they go rancid quickly, so grind them fresh each time you want to use it. The small coffee grinders work well for grinding flaxseeds. I don't recommend buying flaxseed oil because they go rancid very quickly, and people have a tendency to over-do the flaxseed oil which can also cause an imbalance.

8. All dairy I have been using has been raw and unpasturized from organic or natural grassfed cows, goats, or sheep.

9. Eggs should come from free range chickens without antibiotics or hormones. I prefer the fertile eggs.

10. Pre-soak your grains over night before cooking.

11. When juicing, use a juicer, not a blender. I also use a fine mesh screen when juicing vegetables so that my juice is nice and smooth. I think it tastes better that way. It tastes more creamy instead of gritty or pukey.

12. I use the Champion Juicer. It's the middle of the road in price and doesn't create too much heat while juicing vegetables. The best juicers press the juices out of the vegetables without creating much heat that destroy enzymes. The Norwalk juicer is one such juicer but is quite costly. The Green Life or Green Power are also good juicers.

13. Get grounded when you can. Let your feet touch the earth as much as you can. The magnetic field of the earth also plays a part in our health. I use a grounding bed pad when sleeping.

14. If you are transfusion dependent, find out if your hospital is set up to accept designated blood donors. This is especially useful if you are dependent upon platelet transfusions. I was told early in my illness that I was already refractory to platelets, but fortunately, I found about 6 people I knew whose platelets were compatible with me. I was able to continue using their platelets for 18 months while still getting a good boost with their platelets. By a good boost, I mean that after a platelet transfusion, my platelet count was usually in the 70's or thereabouts, and lasted for about 7-12 days until I needed another transfusion.

15. If you want to use designated platelet donors, try to find a few people so that they can rotate. It was explained to me that in emergency situations, a platelet donor can actually donate every 72 hours, but for the donor's sake, it's best for them to wait at least every other week to give their veins time to heal. You want to protect your donors' veins too.

16. If you are on any antibiotics, the good bacteria in your digestive tract will be wiped out along with the bad bacteria. This leaves you susceptible to yeast infections. Also, your digestive tract needs the good bacteria to properly process the nutrients you put into your body. Therefore, I suggest that you supplement with some sort of probiotic such as acidophilus, bifidus, or yogurt with active cultures (no sugar additives) to repopulate your digestive tract with good bacteria. The yogurt should contain live acidophilus or bifidus or other yogurt bacteria. You can also use kefir with live cultures. See www.natren.com for more information on probiotics.

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