Maybe I should start with the common question. What is the Gerson Therapy? I will answer this question by quoting straight from their website at http://gerson.org/gerpress/the-gerson-therapy/.

"The Gerson Therapy is a natural treatment that activates the body’s extraordinary ability to heal itself through an organic, vegetarian diet, raw juices, coffee enemas and natural supplements.

With its whole-body approach to healing, the Gerson Therapy naturally reactivates your body’s magnificent ability to heal itself – with no damaging side effects. This a powerful, natural treatment boosts the body’s own immune system to heal cancer, arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and many other degenerative diseases. Dr. Max Gerson developed the Gerson Therapy in the 1930s, initially as a treatment for his own debilitating migraines, and eventually as a treatment for degenerative diseases such as skin tuberculosis, diabetes and, most famously (and recently), cancer.

The Gerson Therapy‘s all-encompassing nature sets it apart from most other treatment methods. The Gerson Therapy effectively treats a wide range of different ailments because it restores the body’s incredible ability to heal itself. Rather than treating only the symptoms of a particular disease, the Gerson Therapy treats the causes of most degenerative diseases: toxicity and nutritional deficiency.

An abundance of nutrients from copious amounts of fresh, organic juices are consumed every day, providing your body with a super-dose of enzymes, minerals and nutrients. These substances then break down diseased tissue in the body, while coffee enemas aid in eliminating toxins from the liver.

Throughout our lives our bodies are being filled with a variety of carcinogens and toxic pollutants. These toxins reach us through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the medicines we take and the water we drink. The Gerson Therapy’s intensive detoxification regimen eliminates these toxins from the body, so that true healing can begin."

Once again, the above information and more was taken directly from the Gerson Website at: http://gerson.org/gerpress/the-gerson-therapy/

Mom and I packed and headed to San Diego to visit the Gerson Clinic in Mexico on May 8, 2013. We stayed the night in San Diego with a cousin and her sweet family. It was good to connect with them. We were up early the next morning to meet our shuttle to Tijuana.

We were to meet the shuttle at a local hotel where another couple were staying and also catch a ride to the clinic. The shuttle driver was named Jay and he was a hoot. He was very personable and funny. We got to the clinic in one piece and without a hitch.

Clinica Nutricion Y Vida

The facility was beautiful and I can see why they chose this location for healing. Anyhow, I kept a journal of sort of my stay there, and here's what I had to say in the moment. (TMI disclosure and warning: If you are squeamish when speaking about bowel movements or other bodily functions, please refrain from reading the following. This may be Too Much Information for you!)

Barb and Warren

Day 1 May 9, 2013

We came to the clinic on the shuttle with another patient (Barbara) and her companion/husband (Warren). Jay (the man that runs the shuttle) was speaking about coincidences in his work with Gerson, and it was funny we found one of our own as patients. Barb was born and raised in Boise and now resides in St. George, UT. It was too funny!

When we got here we settled in right away. Soon after this we met with the doctor (Dr. Pedro Cervantes Macchetto). He went through my medical history extensively and then based on this gave me a schedule for my enemas, juices, and supplements. 10 juices to start and then 3 enemas a day to be started right away. He was very thorough. He even prescribed rest. In his words, "**Rest is super duper super important**". He is a very funny man and seems passionate about what he does.

I had my first enema right before lunch. Not so bad, but some cramping. Glad it is so close to the bathroom. Seems easy enough. We will have to perfect it if I need to start doing this by myself at home or even possibly work.

We have meals at 8am, 1pm, and 6pm. The food is wonderful. Lots of veggies prepared in a multitude of different ways. I can't wait to learn their techniques. Lots of fruit as well. Yay! Missed my fruit.

Our first meal was lunch, and everyone is soooo wonderful! Very welcoming and happy to see new comers. I feel a connection with them all. I feel so blessed. This is where I need to be for sure.

Excited for next week. Charlotte Gerson will be here on Wednesday and give us a lecture. She seems like a fun woman. Our shuttle driver described her as "honest to a fault". Excited for this as this is what we need.

(Charlotte Gerson is the founder of the Gerson Institute and the daughter of Dr. Max Gerson who first came up with the Gerson therapy.)

Day 2, May 10

Rise and shine at 6am. Vitals done first, and then coffee enema at 7am. I had to have blood drawn today as I forgot to fast yesterday morning. Oh well.

Lovely breakfast with fun people again, and then I stayed in the courtyard and chatted with a few. Everyone brings a story and their own experiences. Such an encouraging group and so supportive!

They offer yoga on Fridays, but I went back to the room and skipped yoga. I was so exhausted. :/. Rest is really needed especially after a double mastectomy!

Dr. Cervantes came to find us and go over our blood results with us. That was fast. Here they are. Not bad.

The enemas aren't so bad. The trick is to occupy your mind with something else. Keep your smart phone in hand and browse the Internet or something! Cramping seems a bit less today.

A new patient arrived today. Her name if Fatima, but she goes by Pat. She is Filipino She is an RN and she too has breast cancer. She caught it very early. Just a lumpectomy was performed, and I think she kept all of her lymph nodes. She came with her sister Violeta.

Me, Violeta, Mom, and Fatima

I watched an excellent movie/documentary today called "Dying to Have Known". It was so well done and gave me lots of hope. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!

My sweet cousin Brandi made a beautiful poster for the Race for the Cure run/walk. She is awesome and this touches me very much. I am so lucky to have so much support and love from so many different people.

Day 3, May 11

Coffee enemas aren't so bad when watching funny YouTube videos. Laughing helps you through it for sure! Mom said that she read somewhere that 15 minutes of laughing is comparable to 2 hrs of sleep. I need to laugh more because sleep is sometimes hard to get. Plus it makes you feel so good.

We had a lecture by Dr. Cervantes today about the Gerson diet in general. He went through the juices, the supplements, and the enemas in detail. He also touched on castor oil orally and rectally as well. I am not to do castor oil until I have healed more from my surgery. It can be very powerful. He also spoke on castor oil topically for pain. Clay packs were talked about as well. It is very good on swelling and lymph edema, etc. again it should not be used until I have healed a bit more as it is know to pull the toxins out of the skin and loosen the healed areas.

A couple other fun things he mentioned was that people who eat this type of diet have much nicer skin. He said that some age spots and disappear altogether. He also mentioned that you begin to feel old hurts. He said this happens because your body remembers the hurts, and it is trying to heal it better and fix the old hurts. I don't know about the old hurts yet, but I am feeling much more tender at my new surgical site, and I'm wondering if that means I'm healing wicker than I was before. Who knows.

He also made a point to tell us that at first when your body is detoxing, you may have rashes and acne and a very potent smell. He said that Often times when you detox it will come through your skin, and that is why they recommend you not wear any lotions, deodorants or other beauty products that could prevent the detoxing and cause clogged pores to boot.

Dr. Cervantes Macchetto doing his presentation. This is the point where he does his Elvis impression. ;)

A new patient arrived today from Australia. She is quite young and has melanoma. She has a 14 yr. old, a 16 yr. old, and an 18 yr. old. She is brave to come here. This will give her hope and heal what others have told her is unhealable. Melanoma has a good success rate here since it is untreatable with chemo. Melanoma patients haven't been poisoned first by the chemo and then sent here as a last try at life.

Angie and her "mum" Val

Day 4, May 12

It is very hard to sleep here with the weird noises and back aches, etc. I took two Valerian root herbal pills last night to help with sleep, but it didn't seem to help much. I finally got in the recliner in our room and was able to sleep a bit better there. I think I'll try a castor oil pack on my back tonight to see if it will help.

It is Mother's Day today. Lucky to be here with my mom. We walked to the beach with a couple others today, and that was nice. It was very foggy, so you couldn't see very far. I will have to go again and hopefully it will be nicer.

Me and Mom on the beach

I got to know Angie (the patient from Australia) and her mother a bit better today. They are very nice and are a great addition here. She has a lot to offer and bring to the group.

Mom and I also had a great talk with the sweetest couple named Donna and Terry today. Terry was diagnosed with Mesothelioma and has an amazing life story to go with it. He was in the navy (where he contracted the disease), and they have lived all over the world. He also went to Harvard and got his business degree. Donna is equally amazing raising their children while Terry was out of town for the Navy.

Terry and Donna

Anyhow, they shared with us their inability to keep a pregnancy due to a heart shaped uterus. She had five pregnancies, but only two boys survived. They did adopt a little girl later. They shared their faith in God with us and it was amazing. What a great couple to learn from. They also do couples counseling through their church. Wow!

One thing that I have gotten from my diagnosis is an appreciation of God. With so many friends and family showing their love and support, I know I'm the luckiest girl around. I have a greater appreciation for God and all of his children. I also now know that I'm supposed to help others in some way. Maybe through my personal experience, and maybe in other ways as well.

Day 5, May 13

I seriously love all the patients and companions here right now. I am so blessed to be here with this great group of people. They are all so willing to share their experiences and help with problems. Angie's mom had an extra pair of ear plugs, so she gave to me! Yay!

Saw Dr. Cervantes today. He asked if I was having any troubles. Told him about my sleeping. Told him sitting up helps a bit and I slept better last night. He recommended castor oil as well for my back pain.

Rosa left today. She speaks mainly Spanish and lives in Southern California. She has inflammatory breast cancer. She had a left mastectomy, chemo, and radiation done. She is a sweet woman for sure. Very strong as well. She came down with her friend Maru. Both very sweet women. Even with the language barrier, there was a strong connection.

Me and Rosa

Mom has been very organized. She has collected the Information for all of the patients and companions so we can keep in touch. Yay! Love Mom!

I have officially gotten an invitation to go and visit Angie in Perth, Australia. I will do it one day too. First though I get myself healthy and through the next two years, and then we're off!

David the brother of Bruce (a patient with prostate cancer) said that he's going to come visit all of the patients he meets here. I think that would be so fun! I think I may just do the same thing.

David and Bruce

This seems to be such a wonderful place to heal from all Chronic illnesses. Such a good track record and especially with autoimmune diseases. It is amazing what food does for the body.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”― Hippocrates

Oh, I have officially moved from 10 drinks a day to 13 drinks a day. Also, I will have 4 coffee enemas instead of 3. That is exciting around here. The joke is to have more juice and more enemas. This just means you are getting healthy enough to heal at a faster rate.

Also, bring on the healing reactions. This just means a big response to the detox like lots of pain at the site of a tumor, etc. This is exciting for us because when your body starts to attack a tumor, the tumor will get inflamed and painful and then start to break down. It slowly dissolves, but it is painful, especially if it is in bone or a brain tumor, etc.

Day 6, May 14

The ear plugs did help a bit. I still woke to go to the bathroom, but seems I slept a bit more soundly. Just took some time to fall asleep again. The point is I did fall asleep again!

I walked to beach after breakfast today. Not quite so foggy today as on Mother's Day. Val came with us. She Is a sweet woman. We compared the names for plants the whole way there and back. The names can sometimes be so different from country to country. We also saw some very cool buildings. Very beautiful, but the sad thing is all of the trash and graffiti. Makes it look trashy when it could be so beautiful.

I feel quite full most of the time. It is hard to eat as much, so I try not to eat as much. The hot pack with castor oil is very relaxing too. Helps with the back pain.

Charlotte Gerson will be here tomorrow. I'm quite excited. It will be interesting to see what she is like in person. She seems highly intelligent and of such good health for 91 years old. Makes me wonder how long this spunky thing will be around to teach the world.

Today I heard that Angelina Jolie has gotten a double mastectomy because she tested positive for he BRAC-1 gene. Not sure how I feel about that. Did she do it for pure prevention? Did she do it to help those that created the test make money? Did she consider changing her life style before mutilating her body? Prevention is good. Just not sure about this type of prevention. In the end a person should do what they feel is right for them.

Day 7, May 15

Charlotte Gerson was amazing. She came with her daughter Margaret (often called Peggy). Her daughter was amazing as well. Must run in the family.

Charlotte and Peggy (Photo taken from the Gerson Institute's Newsletter Healing News)

She truly was honest in every way. Not sure if I would call it honest to a fault, but others could interpret it that way. For a 91 year old woman she sure is bright and with it. She sure had a sense if humor too. She could make you laugh as well. She wasn't afraid to call you out on little things like hair dye, or make-up, or nail polish. She would give you her opinion, and then she would let you ponder the rest on your own. She was a very good speaker as well. I guess with as much experience as she has had with it it shouldn't be a surprise. We are definitely very lucky to have seen her. What a talented family.

Charlotte, Me, and Mom

Day 8, May 16

Today I had very little appetite, and I really didn't feel great. I felt bloated and irritable. I am told this is very common when you start the diet and that more cooked veggies will help. I much preferred to be in my room than out of it. Maybe that was me detoxing, who knows. I felt bad enough that I started to cry when on the phone with Nick. He told me how bad he had been eating and I chewed him out a bit and then he called me to make sure I was doing okay, which I wasn't...

Tomorrow I will start the castor oil enemas. This consists of some oral castor oil around 6:30 am with some oral coffee to chase it down. This is the only time oral coffee is allowed. Do the first enema like normal. Then around 11:30 am you get your coffee enema with added castor oil and ox bile powder (used to emulsify the castor oil). You are then to try to hold it, but it then states you will not be able to hold it...don't wait.

Day 9, May 17

I gave another blood and urine sample today. Maybe we will go over them with the doctor today or tomorrow. Hopefully they are showing good stuff.

The oral castor oil and coffee chase wasn't horrible, but I can tell they are doing their job. I have had some cramping, and I definitely want to be near a toilet. I had a tiny bowel movement. Now just waiting for the castor oil enema...

It wasn't as bad as everyone has said. Maybe a bit more cramping with the enema, but not much. Maybe next time it will be different. I guess I will be doing this every other day, so we will see what happens.

On another note, I started niacin yesterday. They held off for a while there since I had had surgery and it can cause bleeding. It's been just over three weeks now. Anyhow, I had a niacin flush and reaction with the itching at dinner. Of course David noticed. David and his stories...

Day 10, May 18

Maybe I can go for a walk today. Yesterday I didn't want to be too far from the toilet. The beach sounds nice today though.

We got the blood results back. It looks like there are slight improvements. it seems like my body responds well to the therapy as it should be.

It was a pretty typical day today. Dr. Cervantes did a presentation on diabetes and the Gerson Therapy today. Good information. He is a funny guy. He is a good person to have around for sure.

We did go for a walk. I was laying in bed right after my 3 pm juice getting ready to take a nap, and I just sat up and asked Mom if she wanted to go. She was game, so we left for about an hour. We walked to the beach took our sandals off, and went all the way to the wall that separates the US and Mexico. It was so nice. The sun was shining, and even though there were a lot of people out, it was amazing! The only bad thing, I'm pretty sure I got a sunburn on my face. I should have worn my hat...

The wall that separates Mexico and the U.S.

Some cool art at the beach

Tomorrow, more castor oil. Yay!

Day 11, May 19

So, I had my oral castor oil and coffee again this morning. Not horrible I suppose. I had my normal coffee enema afterwards. No worries. After breakfast I had a bit of cramping and a slightly loose stool. This is abnormal while doing enemas with Gerson to have any type or normal bowel movement. The enemas usually break it up and wash it out before you can have a normal bowel movement. Anyhow, that seems like the only abnormal part of the the castor oil treatment so far...

Since it is Sunday, Ted will do a service for us today. He is a companion for his wife Diane who has ovarian cancer and was pre-treated with chemotherapy. They were missionaries in Africa for years before Diane's diagnosis. So glad they have come. They came after Rosa left. They seem so amazing with their faith.

The service was different from what I'm used to. We started off by singing a few different songs. I wasn't familiar with any of them. Ted and Diane seem to really get into them. Very motivating. Ted then gave his sermon . It was about finding the light in the dark. Basically finding out why we were given cancer as a gift. Very good.

Terry (a mesothelioma patient) then spoke about us all being here at this time to learn from one another. There is no doubt in my mind that he is right. Everyone here is so inspiring and encouraging. We are so blessed! Maybe this is our light in the dark or even just a part of the light in the dark.

The castor oil today wasn't horrible. There was one occasion after breakfast that I needed to use the toilet, but not horrible at all.

Day 12, May 20

Today Steve and Heather will leave. :(. So sad. Steve has prostate cancer that metastasized to some bone (we know in the hip bone at least). His sweet daughter Heather convinced him to come. She is amazing. He would be dead without her. They didn't want to take him at all because of the painful way the bone heals, but because another patient had to cancel, they allowed him to take his place. So glad we met them. They have made the experience amazing for sure.

We were all so sad for them to leave. They would have liked to stay longer, but it was not possible. To make them happy and wish them well, Rochelle decided to sing the Star Gas jingle as a send off. Then mom made her own verse with Rochelle's help. We all sang it and did a little dance. Steve had Terry read something for the whole group. He thanked us all for the experience, and he gave a special thanks for his daughter Heather. It was so beautiful and heartwarming.

Me, Mom, Steve, and Heather

We were all so sad to see them go, but we know he will get healthy now. They were meant to be here with the rest of us and to teach us something.

We get live music in the courtyard today! Yay!

The music was good. I think it lifted everyone's spirits. It was some jazzy blues type music. There was a saxophone, a keyboard, and some shakers? Anyhow, it was very nice.

Dinner was nice tonight. We all had a lot of fun visiting afterwards. I took a video of David's "niacin reaction" story he had at home with his wife. So funny! Mom wanted it to show to dad. Can't wait!

Such fun people for sure. I will miss them all when I go on Thursday, but will also be happy to be home.

Day 13, May 21

Day three of castor oil. I felt the cramping a bit more today during breakfast, but still not bad at all.

It was a pretty lazy day for sure. Mom went with a group of companions to Costco. I told her to look for a thermos, but Costco didn't have any thermos. Instead, they ended up going to another store to find some. They made it back after lunch, but they were a bit late.

We met with the rep for all the meds we take everyday. Thank goodness for Mom is all I can say. I'm truly blessed to have parents that support me in so many ways.

In two days I should be home with the boys again. I miss them and I'm ready to be home. This will be a very time intensive program, but I know that it will help. Dr. Cervantes recommends that I stay home for a minimum of three months, and that when I go back, I go back only part-time to start. We shall see...

Oh! We got another couple that took Heather and Steve's room. They are a beautiful couple from Nigeria. They speak English very well. The wife has breast cancer diagnosed in March. She has not had any treatment at all not even surgery. She is so brave!

Day 14, May 22

This is our last day here. I saw Dr. Cervantes and he will start me on some thyroid meds and an extra CO Q10 at each meal. He started me on a very small amount of thyroid to make sure that it doesn't affect me negatively.

I'm ready to go home, but I will miss all of the help that the staff provides for us. It will be a big adjustment for us, but it will be worth it. I will be healthy and whole and a great mom for my boys.

Day 15, May 23

Going home today! Bittersweet for sure. I will miss these people that have inspired me and shared their stories with me. I will miss the support and the unconditional love. I have found some forever friends for sure. I will be happy to see my boys though. All three of them.

Dr. Pedro Cervantes Macchetto, Me, and Mom

Most of our group minus a couple...

Magdalena the nurse at CNV is hilarious!

Me and Angie

Angie, Mom, Me, and Val

Me, Mom, Barb, and Warren

Me, Mom, Dilon (the brilliant biologist with his ridiculous good looks and his lion-like mane) and Emily (the equally brilliant Physician's Assistant)