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| Photo courtesy of Mary Reyes Photography |
I will have to break up this post into two parts, this is a long chapter. I was in Spain for 6 weeks. I apologize if this get text heavy.
At this point, we haven't told the kids. School is almost over, we had planned on going to Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland for the summer, my daughter's pitching in a visit to Vancouver too. As I packed my bags for Malaga, I told them Mom needs to get her lungs fixed so there will be a change of plans as far as summer and that they will be joining me instead in Malaga, and then we'll stay in Marbella for the rest of the summer, see more of Spain from there. My sister in law came down to London as soon as she found out I had cancer to offer any help she can and just to be there for me, she's offered to look after my kids while we're in Spain, she's got kids too so I am forever grateful.
It was late at night when we arrived in Spain. This is the first time I'm going to be away from the kids this long. I was missing them but I was not worried, I know they were in very capable loving hands. Finding the taxi stand, I soon realize I will have to squeeze out the little Spanish I know. "Donde a la Señora", meaning, Where to Madame? the taxi driver asked, I answered in English and he said "huh?" so I go "Para dos personas" (for two people), then I showed the Spanish address of the hotel we're staying for the night. Feeling the hot breeze and the sweat on my back, I also realised I did not pack the right clothes, so much for someone who used to be a travel writer and packing advisor, clearly I'm not in the right frame of mind, hilarious.
We were told to report to the clinic at 9:30 am. The Johanna Budwig Protocol was a highly recommended treatment for advanced lung cancer. I searched online for a centre that promotes this and that's how I found this place. We were greeted with warm hugs and kisses by the staff(nurses) and two doctors. Bound booklets were handed out containing all relevant information about our stay, the whole protocol, tips, resources, recipes. Then we were led into a waiting room equipped with medical gadgets we can operate ourselves while waiting for our individual treatments such as the Rife machine. Patients were allowed one companion. We introduced ourselves. There were 6 pairs. A university professor from New York, she's Jewish, she has breast cancer, there with her friend, Then the couple from Malaysia, Muslims, the husband has neck cancer, he's a university professor as well, his wife came with him. From Devon UK, Jehovah's witnesses, she had breast cancer, there with her husband. From Israel came a couple, the husband has pancreatic cancer, he was a businessman, his wife was there for him. Then a young lady from Melbourne joined in with her mom, they're catholics, she has brain cancer. The age range is from late 20's to late 50's, very young. I mentioned the different backgrounds to show how cancer has become a worldwide epidemic. We came from all over the world with one goal, fight this disease. From the get go, we knew we were with a good group. We compared notes, assisted each other in any way we could during treatment times, we even went out to catch some Catalan Opera. This was a very knowledgeable group, very intelligent, no conversation was ever dull in that room. We learned a lot, it was a blessing to be in this batch. This day I was also introduced to a wheelchair, they gave me one to use while we're in Malaga as I was getting increasingly breathless everyday.
The first page of the handout gives you the recommended daily schedule, instructions, and routine for the diet as well as exercise. Following an initial consultation with three doctors, where only one spoke English, we were shown the treatments and the machines we'll be using. Here are some treatments I received.
Full Body Hyperthermia. They say cancer cells can't survive on extreme temperatures. This machine induces the body to reach that temperature and encourage apoptosis (cell death)
Hydrocolon therapy. It is a gentle infusion of warm, filtered water into the anal canal which safely cleanses the walls of the colon with no use of chemicals or stimulants. The procedure is painless, relaxing and effective cleansing the bowel.
Ozone Therapy. Cancer cells die when exposed to oxygen (cancer cells are anaerobic). There are many oxygen and ozone treatments, two of the best known and most effective "Stage IV" treatments - infusion bottle and ozone I.V. Ozone therapy using an infusion bottle involves removing part of the blood from the body, saturating this blood with oxygen (i.e. ozone - O3), then putting this oxygen rich blood back into the body. An ozone I.V. simply injects a fluid saturated with ozone into the blood. Both treatments work by getting oxygen into the body.
Regressive Psychotherapy. Anatheoresis is defined as a regressive psychotherapy with a perceptive component which considers the illness as a physical or psychic dysfunction with emotional causes. The therapy induces in the patient a simple but profound relaxation without administering drugs or using electronic components. It induces a non-ordinary state of mind called IARS. In this state of mind we can dive into our subconscious to find the emotional damages created in the past since our intrauterine period, our birthing and our childhood (between the age of 7 and 12 approximately). Thus we can establish a profound and analogical link between our past damages and our present physical and emotional dysfunctions. When we literally pull out these past negative events and bring them to the present, we clear them out through the understanding of the reason why we are suffering. This way a great discharge of our inner burden is set free, the causes of all symptomatology are dissolved and therefore the illness and its effects are eliminated.
This was one of the treatments that was beneficial to me. The Psychotherapist actually singled me out as the one he needs to spend more time with. He said the trigger of lung cancer is sadness. I have also read it's being scared of death, which I'm not. The whole experience was soul searching and emotionally draining, had to take headache pills after the sessions too. It was difficult to write and talk about life's issues but when you finally release and let go, it feels light.
Laser therapy. The new techniques to apply laser via intravenous, intraarticular, interstitial or using optic fiber allow the laser beam to get to deep areas of the human body in sufficient concentrations and with high effectiveness. Along with red and infrared beams, we have available green and blue laser beams which do not have deep penetration levels. This was meant to boost your immune system.
Here's a link to the rest of the treatments available at this clinic. http://www.biomedicenter.com/
We had a good day 1, everyone seemed hopeful, I was feeling good. Maybe it's the sun. Accommodations for the two week programme is included in the fees, as well as your basic organic ingredients for the protocol, and supplements. We have travelled the world but we like travelling light. The first place we go to and I really enjoy is the local grocery store for supplies. Supermarkets give you a fascinating glimpse of people's lifestyles. Under the blazing sunshine, we head out to El Cortes Ingles Supermarket. This gave me a chance to learn how to manoeuvre the wheelchair too. I grew up on a lot of Spanish food, seeing all the familiar ingredients and scents sent me down memory lane, they even had that Spanish cologne and bath soap I used to love. Upon learning I have cancer, I went vegan overnight, so while browsing the aisles, I literally had to stop the wheelchair to stare and admire at the impressive selection of Spanish hams and chorizos, torture! Don't even ask me about the selection of pastries. I stay focused and pick up the organic vegetables and fruits we're meant to get. My husband picks up some fish, meat, Iberico ham, pickled chilis, and Spanish beer, lucky guy. The apartment was a two bedroom, two bath and well maintained circa 70s unit. It was clean enough, well furnished, but no air conditioning. This was late June so the electric fans were good enough with the windows open. In Malaga, a lot of the condos have this weird layout where you climb a set of stairs to get to the lift, what's the point, right? I'm reserving my energy so I make sure that when we come back to the apartment I commit to stay up there till the next day. Now, in Spain they have two hour siestas and they take that seriously. I can't manage the steps twice so we just use the siesta time to eat out which is a challenge in pork loving Malaga. I did eventually find a place that has good vegan paella, yum. The next days of the first week, after treatments, we went to the beach, saw Pablo Picasso's home and exhibit, walked down the quaint town and the promenade, listened to a live band. The food was amazing, according to my husband, I'm sure it was. There was an organic shop near the apartment too, they don't speak English but you should know your fruits and veg enough anyway. I marvelled at the selection they have, never thought I'd get excited over gigantic watermelons and the variety of squash they had. The first hot and lazy weekend there, we went to town for shopping, sampled the famous Malaga grilled sardines at the beach and then headed off to the beaches and more shopping in world famous Puerto Banus, wheelchair in tow. The last thing I would think of doing was go shopping, but I did not pack well and had to get more comfortable warm weather clothes, loved shopping here though. I'm on a strict diet but you cannot come to Spain without at least sampling the authentic tapas, they were so good.
The most important part of the programme is learning the Budwig protocol. This treatment was specifically designed for very advanced cancer patients who need to have an alternative cancer treatment which starts to become effective within days, not weeks or months. This protocol is based on a combination of two of the fastest acting alternative cancer treatments available. Both the Cellect protocol and the Budwig protocol are known to become effective very quickly, plus they avoid creating inflammation and swelling. In addition to the two main treatments (Cellect and Budwig) the protocol includes several other treatments which are very effective in getting rid of cancer cells, re-balancing the body (i.e. the "inner terrain") and eliminating toxins from the body. For more information on the protocol go here http://www.budwig-diet.co.uk/
By the end of week two we felt like I could benefit from more treatments so we booked two more weeks. My husband had to get back to the UK for business but my sister in law stepped in again to stay with me. The clinic recommended our teeth gets checked for amalgams, root canals, and mercury fillings. The husband and wife dental team were the sweetest, most pleasant couple. The heat was getting unbearable by this time so we moved to a hotel. I have lost a lot of weight and I'm beginning to question the sanity of my decision to go vegan overnight. I was getting more and more breathless too and I know those tumors are getting aggressive. My sister in law was going back and my husband, kids, and the dog were joining me. I cherish the time I've spent with her, we don't really get much time bonding because we're both unbelievably busy moms.
I learned a lot at the clinic. In retrospect though, I think the home programme is sufficient if it's the Budwig protocol you want. The information is all in the booklet. What you get at the clinic are the machines that were put together from researching what's available in alternative medicine, but it's not targeted and there's very little effort put into which ones work for which cancer and which ones may pose danger. Patients were noticing that it wasn't very sanitary, the nurses were sweet but we didn't see them practice expected clinical etiquette. I had to get off the Hyperthermia module when I couldn't breathe, and the oxygen they had didn't work, luckily I recovered from that. Over all what made it worthwhile is the exchange of advice and tips from the other patients, and the information on the booklet. My last day at the clinic, I brought the whole family, fresh from London.
