The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995
With permission from the Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
Planetary Health; Summer 2000*
With permission from the Editor: Alex Jack
Macrobiotics Today; 43, #3, May/June, 2003**
Used by permission of the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation,
PO Box 3998, Chico,
CA 95927-3998
800-232-2372 or 530-566-9765;
www.gomf.macrobiotic.net
Cancer
Against All Odds: The Norman Arnold Story. Full Story
Battling Cancer: Carter Breland. Full Story
Recovery From Colon Cancer: Margaret Mundy's Story. Full Story
Recover from Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rachel Hill. Full Story
Holistic Healing: Treating the Whole Person By Sarilu Kemp. Full Story
The Spouse May Survive, Too: By Barbara Witlin . Full Story
Embracing Health: By Sheldon Rice*. Full Story
Cancer in a Macrobiotic Counselor**: By Ginat Rice. Full Story
Heart Ailment
Reversing Heart Disease: Dean Ornish, M.D. Full Story
Multiple Sclerosis
Cathy Rodrigue's Inspiring Story. Full Story
Infertility
Diet and its Effect On Infertility: Tami O'Briens's Story. Full Story
Overcoming Infertility: By Ruth Camp. Full Story
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
My Victory Over Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: By Gary Lloyd. Full Story
Arthritis
How I Healed Arthritis on The Macrobiotic Path: By Jane Quincannon. Full Story
Chronic Sore Throat
My Macrobiotic Indiscretion: By Benjamin Spock. Full Story
Allergies
It's hard to be sexy with sinus: Jeffery Arpan. Full Story
Against All Odds: The Norman Arnold Story The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
Nine years ago Norman Arnold was diagnosed as having one of the most intractable of all malignancies: cancer of the pancreas with metastasis to the liver. At the age of fifty-two, Arnold was told by his physicians that he had perhaps four to nine months to live. Studies had shown that the mean life expectancy for those with pancreatic cancer is five months.
Today Norman Arnold is well. According to numerous computed tomography (CT) scans, blood, ultrasound, and liver tests, he is completely free of cancer. His physicians are at a loss to explain his recovery. Indeed, Arnold abandoned conventional cancer therapies for alternative methods, including a macrobiotic diet.
On July 28, 1982, Norman Arnold entered the operating room at Providence Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, expecting to undergo routine gallbladder surgery. During the operation his surgeon, Dr. Dan Davis, discovered a large tumor on the head of his pancreas. He also found a smaller tumor in one of the lymph nodes and three cancerous lesions on Norman's liver. Apparently the primary site of the cancer was the lymph nodes, with metastasis to the other locations. The tumor was biopsied and sent to pathology where it was diagnosed as adenocarcinoma, a highly virulent form of cancer. Davis realized that Norman was beyond remedial surgery. He removed his gallbladder and closed Arnold's abdomen.
Following surgery, Norman and his wife, Gerry Sue, were told flatly that there was no cure for Norman's disease, nor was there any hope of recovery. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most devastating of all malignancies; it is thoroughly intractable to standard chemotherapy protocols and patients do not live long following diagnosis.
A lifelong resident of Columbia, South Carolina, Arnold is one of the state's leading businessmen and philanthropists. He has served on numerous local and statewide boards in medical care, job training programs, and other community service councils. In short, he was not accustomed to taking bad news passively.
He investigated all the medical and alternative cancer therapies, including interferon, hyperthermia treatment, radiation therapy, and a variety of experimental drugs. He subscribed to medical journals, newsletters, and computer information services. He searched the medical literature for every possible alternative to death. He also had the help of several physician-friends who assisted him in gathering research.
Of this varied and uncertain list of alternatives, two emerged to provide some hope. The first was macrobiotics, a diet and philosophy based on ancient principles developed in China some 2500 years ago. The second was an experimental cancer treatment called monoclonal antibodies.
Norman was introduced to macrobiotics while still in the hospital recovering from the exploratory surgery that discovered his cancer. As he lay in his bed, still reeling from the devastating news, someone gave him a copy of the August 1982 issue of Life Magazine. In it was an excerpt from a forthcoming book entitled, Recalled By Life, the story of a medical doctor's use of a macrobiotic diet to successfully treat his own cancer.
The macrobiotic diet is composed chiefly of whole grains, land and sea vegetables, beans, fish, and fruit. The diet is low in fat and cholesterol and rich in all essential nutrients, including fiber. The philosophy includes the age-old concept of yin and yang, the ancient view that two opposite forces combine to create all phenomena. It is through balancing these two primordial forces that health is achieved.
Norman investigated macrobiotics and discovered that there were numerous accounts of people using the diet and lifestyle to overcome cancer. He was dubious, but intrigued. Arnold decided to have a friend, attorney John Rainey, investigate the claims. Rainey went through the files of the Kushi Institute and East West Foundation - both macrobiotic educational institutions located in Boston. He also searched the records of an Illinois medical doctor who used macrobiotics in his practice to help numerous people recover from serious illnesses, including cancer. Rainey then personally visited each person on record as having successfully dealt with cancer through the use of macrobiotics. Remarkably, the lawyer discovered that the vast majority of the claims were true; these people had in fact been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had used macrobiotics as their principal means of treatment.
Meanwhile, Norman's cousin, Dr. Charles Banov, an allergist and immunologist, was searching for medical treatments that might be of help to Norman. Banov soon discovered a highly experimental approach called monoclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are proteins produced by the immune systems of mice to fight the type of cancer being dealt with by a human patient. The method works by injecting blood from the human patient into a mouse; the mouse creates an immune response, which doctors hope will be effective against the particular kind of cancer effecting the human patient. Once the immune system of the mouse has responded against the cancer, scientists extract the mouse antibodies and inject them into the patient in an attempt to stimulate the patient's immune system to produce an effective antibody against the malignancy.
In 1982, monoclonal antibodies had not been shown to be effective against any type of malignancy. (Monoclonal antibodies remain an unproven therapy against cancer to this day. No study has proven that they are effective in the treatment of cancer.)
Norman decided to use both the macrobiotic diet and the antibodies. In August 1982, Gerry Sue, their three sons, and Norman began the macrobiotic diet. A month later Norman was given an injection of the monoclonal antibodies, which were produced by scientists at Wistar Institute of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a branch of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. There would be only one injection. He would simply have to wait to see what effect the antibodies had, if any. Arnold would not stop there. He intended to employ any treatment that offered the least bit of hope with the minimum of side effects.
At the Vince Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown, Dr. Philip Schein was studying a combination of chemotherapy drugs against pancreatic cancer. Schein is regarded as one of the two leading figures in pancreatic he research in the United States and among a handful of leading specialists in the world. That September, Norman began taking the chemotherapy protocol under Schein's direction.
Arnold underwent five treatments of chemotherapy. The effects of the drugs were devastating: weight loss, chronic fatigue, muscle wasting, nausea, and total loss of body hair. His weight dropped from 160 to 112 pounds. At times he became despondent. By the time fall arrived, he wondered what good the chemotherapy might be doing for him and why he was even subjecting himself to such treatment.
Norman, Gerry Sue, and their three boys went to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving, 1982. There, amidst the natural beauty of the island and his family’s love, Norman continued to question the use of chemotherapy for his disease. Dr. Schein had made it clear that the chemotherapy was not at a cure; it wasn't even a guarantee of a few more months. Nevertheless, Schein wanted Norman to take the chemotherapy as long as he was able. The doctor had hoped that by continually bombarding the cancer, the drugs might slow the growth of the tumor and extend Norman's life. But what sort of life did the chemotherapy offer? Norman was wasting away. One of the most to painful experiences for Norman was seeing the pity in the faces of his friends. It wasn't just sadness people were communicating; virtually everyone he knew believed he was far beyond hope.
"I'd rather die in some more dignified way than have my sons remember me like this," Arnold said.
At the same time the macrobiotic approach had begun to appeal to him. Norman had long been fascinated by nutrition, though his previous interest he focused exclusively on vitamin therapy. But the macrobiotic idea that diet and lifestyle were the leading factors in both the onset and recovery of disease struck a deep chord in him. On that Thanksgiving holiday, Norman decided to quit the chemotherapy and commit himself exclusively to the macrobiotic regime. Meanwhile, he continued searching for answers.
In November, Gerry Sue and Norman attended a five-day seminar at the Simonton Clinic in Dallas, Texas, famous for its successful use of mental imagery in the treatment of cancer. Under the direction of Stephanie Simonton, wife of the clinic's founder, Dr. O. Carl Simonton, Norman and Gerry Sue learned of the importance of the mind in the maintenance and enhancement of the immune system.
Mental imagery became a fundamental part of Norman's daily health of routine. Among the images he used was the picture of his tumor being eroded by his blood, now strengthened thanks to his macrobiotic regimen.
Norman was guided through the uncertainty and conflicting data by men, one a medical doctor, the other a philosopher and teacher of macrobiotics. The medical doctor was Charles Banov, Norman's cousin boyhood friend. The macrobiotic teacher was Michio Kushi, a man of insight and wisdom who used the methods of Eastern philosophy medicine to help restore Norman's health. These two men represented best of West and East, modern and traditional medicine.
Kushi's ideas were particularly challenging. The macrobiotic philosophy maintained that the typical American diet, rich in fat, cholesterol, sugar refined grains, and chemicals, provided an onslaught of poisons that, once inside the body, accumulated into masses. These accumulated toxins prevented adequate blood flow to organs and tissues, suffocating any forming cells. A variety of illnesses began to manifest as a result, including h disease, diabetes, and arthritis. By depriving tissues of oxygen and, at same time, polluting the cellular environment with toxins, the daily diet affected the DNA, or genetic material, of cells. Once the DNA was altered cells often began to multiply out of control, thus becoming cancerous.
Kushi maintained, however, that by eating a diet that is free of these toxins, and at the same time rich in nutrients, the body can throw off accumulated poisons and restore balance and health. This "throwing of" waste was typically referred to in macrobiotics as "discharging."
Once he began the diet, Norman indeed began to discharge. He lost weight and suffered a variety of passing cold symptoms. One of the most frightening of all was that his tongue turned black. He awoke one morn opened his mouth to brush his teeth, and noticed that his tongue had turned black. Gerry Sue was aghast. She called Michio in a panic. Kushi calmly reassured her that Norman's tongue would regain its normal color and that it was a good sign. Norman's system was deeply cleansing itself. In fact the tongue's normal color did return, but the experience was terrifying.
Gerry Sue was regularly calling Michio to say that Norman was steadily losing weight. Kushi reassured her each time that eventually Norman's weight would stabilize and he would even regain a few pounds once he reached optimal weight. This, too, came to pass.
Following his diagnosis of cancer, Norman had a CT scan performed that clearly detected the cancerous tumors on his pancreas and liver. But in months that followed, Norman felt stronger, more vital, and more alive than he had felt in many years. There was no doubt in his mind that the diet was having a profound effect on every aspect of his life: mental clarity improved; energy greatly increased; his weight stabilized and reached an optimum level.
On June 24, 1983, just nine months after he was diagnosed and began the macrobiotic diet, Norman had another CT scan performed, this one showed only the faint presence of the tumors. They had clearly begun to shrink.
On December 21, 1983, another CT scan was unequivocal: All clear! The test revealed no presence of cancer. Numerous other examinations follow including blood, ultrasound, and liver tests, all of which showed no sign cancer anywhere in Norman's body. His doctors were baffled. Norman was triumphant.
On his sixtieth birthday in January, 1990, Norman climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, whose peak stands at 19,600 feet above sea level. He continues to be an avid tennis and scuba diver.
Norman Arnold remains in excellent health. His doctors remain at a loss to explain his recovery.
Source: The Norman Arnold Story: Conquering Cancer of the Pancreas by Tom Monte. Article from Cancer-Free 30 Who Triumphed Over Cancer Naturally, Compiled by the East-West Foundation with Ann Fawcett and Cynthia Smith.
Battling Cancer: Carter Breland
On November 29, 1983, I underwent major surgery for malignant melanoma for the fourth time in ten years. The next day my solemn faced surgeon informed me that my cancer had spread and was now in my right lung, chest wall and diaphragm. He said that the cancer had "broken out like a rash" and could not be surgically removed. I was sure both of us thought I had received my death sentence.
After my surgeon left the room, my mind raced. I had many reasons for wanting to live. I was fortunate in possessing a wonderful family - my wife, Nancy Jo, and three children - Ben, Mark and Nancy Lynn. My career as Director of Personnel at Lexington County School District two was also very rewarding. Yet, at age 46, it appeared that my existence would soon end. Would I live six months, a year? Ben had recently graduated from Clemson. Would I live to see Mark and Nancy Lynn graduate from high school in June? I thought of all the things I would miss - watching my children become self sufficient adults, becoming a father-in-law and grandfather. Painful memories of the deaths of my mother and her two sisters also came to mind. All three of them had died of cancer, and I recalled how much they had suffered in the months before they died. Was this what I, too, must endure?
The love of my family and friends sustained me through time after I received the surgeon's report. Nancy Jo, in particular was a pillar of strength. Our faith in God consoled us and gave us could he a solution to my problem.
We thought that perhaps my oncologist at Duke, where I had taken immunotherapy treatments, might be able to offer some new and promising procedure. On December 22, he told me that he could only recommend chemotherapy and that it would provide no long-term improvement in my condition. At best, there would be a thirty percent chance of short-term benefit. I left Duke that afternoon with no hope of recovery.
The next day I was at home alone while my family was out Christmas shopping, and I prayed that God would show me a way to get well. Somehow, deep within my being, I was convinced that there was to recover, if only I knew what to do.
I decided to try the chemotherapy treatments, and they were administered on four consecutive days during the first week in January. I look back on that week as a nightmare. I despised what those chemicals did to me, and I told Nancy Jo that I did not plan to continue chemotherapy and that I would not take treatments scheduled for mid-February.
Then on January 11th and 12th, 1984, three friends came to me independently of one another with information on the Macrobiotic diet and its ability to fight cancer. I had never heard of the diet, but I felt that it might be the answer to my prayers. After reading two books on the subject, I was sure that it was. For the first time I read something about cancer that made sense. I learned that this disease which was methodically destroying my body was not "bad luck," but was probably the result of many years of poor food choices. I became convinced that it wasn't too late to turn things around. I decided to take full responsibility for my health and stop relying on others for something that was clearly my job.
A conference with June Johnson, a Columbia teacher of macrobiotic cooking, began my journey toward healing. June prescribed a common-sense regimen of grains, vegetables, beans and sea vegetables, and I followed it to the letter. Later I had consultations with macrobiotic counselors Michio Kushi in April and Marcia Halpern in July, which further refined the diet to my individual needs.
Was it difficult to change the eating habits of a lifetime? You bet it was. Was it worth it? You decide after hearing the rest of the story.
In the months following my introduction to the diet, my spare time was spent reading macrobiotic literature; and Nancy Jo studied one cookbook after another. It was an especially difficult time for Nancy Jo. Not only was she worried about me and learning a new method of cooking, but her father was dying with Alzheimer's disease, and she was teaching all day. She got up at 4:45 a.m. and prepared breakfast as well as lunch to go for me. After teaching, she would return to the kitchen every evening to cook dinner. We spent almost every weekend at her parents' home 75 miles away, but Nancy Jo always made sure that macrobiotic fare was provided for me. I will always be grateful for the sacrifices my wife made to help me regain my health.
After fourteen months of strict adherence to the diet, the cancer appeared to be gone. X-rays and blood tests revealed no disease. My weight went from 165 pounds in January 1984 to 118 pounds in October, but I felt great and was running three miles several times each week. I was so thin I had difficulty casting a shadow and began shopping for clothes in the boys' department. In June of 1985, I began to gain weight and by October was a solid 135 pounds.
Gradually I began to like the food and find it just as pleasing as any food I've ever eaten. There are also other benefits of the diet. I feel good every day and have a great deal of energy. I am able to run 15-20 miles a week and work a full schedule. I haven't taken a prescription drug since January 1984; and all of my other medical problems including severe sinusitis, allergies, and hives have disappeared.
As I write this, more than nine years have passed since my last surgery. I look forward to the prospect of becoming a grandfather in April. My life is a miracle for which I thank God every day.
One of my greatest joys is sharing my recovery story in the belief that it may help someone else to get well. Macrobiotics gave me something else in addition to providing a method I could use to cure myself. It gave me hope that I could recover when medical science offered none. Sometimes hope is the greatest gift of all.
Carter Breland is a retired school administrator, having worked over thirty years as a teacher, elementary school principal, and Director of Personnel in the school of South Carolina. He is married and has three children. Carter is part owner of "14 Carrot Whole Foods" on Sunset Boulevard in West Columbia. He enjoys sharing his knowledge about macrobiotics with interested customers.
Recovery From Colon Cancer: Margaret Mundy
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpa
Between 1984 and 1987 Margaret Mundy underwent one tragedy after another. The first catastrophe occurred in the fall of 1984 when Margaret's husband, Harold, had a heart attack. Harold was a supervisor for Diebold, Inc., which installs bank vaults, and his job was strenuous. Unfortunately his heart did not recover and he suffered a series of six more attacks before having by-pass surgery. Obviously he could not continue on his physically demanding job and was forced to retire. It was several months before the paperwork on Harold's pension was processed. Margaret's job at the Department of Corrections provided the family's only income this time. In addition to Harold and herself, two of their six children were still living at home.
In the midst of this stressful period in 1985, Margaret learned that her twenty-five year old son, who lived in Atlanta, was also seriously ill. Trips to Atlanta had to be sandwiched into her busy schedule, but managed to see her son frequently. Then in May of 1987, he died of pneumonia, Margaret was grief-stricken, but knew she had to remain strong for Harold and her other children. In September of 1987, Margaret began vomiting so violently that she had to be taken to the emergency room at Lexington Medical Center. The internist on duty told her that there was some sort of blockage and asked for her medical history. She recalled that she had a vaginal hysterectomy because of a diagnosis of cervical cancer years before .The internist theorized that scar tissue from the hysterectomy had grow and was now blocking her colon. He hospitalized Margaret and ordered x-rays and other tests which confirmed his diagnosis. Margaret's only option was surgery, and she began a harrowing ordeal.The surgeon scheduled Margaret's operation for September still recovering from that procedure when the surgeon informed her that he had not been able to remove all of the scar tissue and that she needed further surgery. Margaret had a second operation and then a third in a three-week period. After the third surgery, the doctor told her that he had removed a cancerous tumor from her colon. He also stated that she would need both radiation treatment and chemotherapy.
Margaret was so weakened by the surgery and the mental strain she had experienced that she barely weighed ninety pounds. The medical bills from her month-long stay in the hospital were piling up and she knew she must somehow return to work. Yet radiation and chemotherapy did not seem to her to be the right path to follow. In her present frail health the cure might indeed prove worse than the disease. Margaret took stock of her situation. Her husband was in poor health and she had lost a son; yet she wanted to survive. Her husband was alive and there were five other she loved. She was not going to give up. At this point she recalled her heritage.
"The women in my family have always been very strong," Margaret, states, "My mother and grandmother were able not only to overcome many obstacles in their lives, but to help others, too." She knew the memory of these women would serve as an example for her to follow and help to cheer her in moments of depression.
Although her attitude toward her disease was now more positive, she was still at loss as to just what she should do to take charge of her healing. It was her friend and hairstylist, Janie Beville, who suggested the macrobiotic diet. Janie’s mother had been cured of colon cancer through use of the diet, and when Janie explained it to Margaret, it made sense to her. Putting food into your body must be better for it than assaulting it with and chemotherapy. She decided to make an appointment for a consultation with Marcia Halpern, then Director of the Macrobiotic Center of South Carolina.
The consultation left Margaret feeling confident that she could make a complete recovery from her cancer. She admitted to herself that she had caused her own illness "through her past life-style and eating habits" and was determined to change them.
The first few macrobiotic meals she concocted were very unappetizing, but Margaret began reading all the information about macrobiotics (including cookbooks) she could find. She also enrolled in cooking classes taught by Marcia. These classes were a revelation to Margaret. Macrobiotic cooking could be delicious. The meals she made at home improved and Harold (formerly a meat, potatoes, and chocolate dessert man) began to enjoy them, too.
Margaret had always liked cooking ever since her mother taught her how to prepare food on the family wood stove as a pre-teen. Now that she had learned something about macrobiotic recipes, she began to enjoy cooking as ever. Marcia appreciated Margaret's enthusiasm and asked her to assist in both the cooking classes and in making meals for the macrobiotic community.
Time passed quickly for Margaret during these months and she realized a year had gone by since her cancer surgery. She returned to her physician's office and was given several tests for cancer. All of these tests were negative. Margaret was not surprised because she felt better than she had in years. She believed the diet was working for her and that she did not have to fear the return of her cancer.
Helping Marcia with the cooking classes and macrobiotic meals was still a priority Margaret. "I was grateful to macrobiotics and wanted to help at better and feel well," she says.
When Margaret had been working with Marcia for three years; Marcia made a suggestion to her. The number of meals Marcia was preparing for macrobiotic community had increased greatly. These meals needed to serve two kinds of patrons - those on a healing diet and those who were in good health and could enjoy greater variety in their food. Marcia felt it was too difficult to make two different meals each time she cooked; yet clearly, two different meals were necessary. She proposed that Margaret start her own cooking service to prepare the healing meals while she, Marcia, would provide a wider macrobiotic menu.
Margaret accepted Marcia's suggestion eagerly. She had retired from her job at the Department of Corrections and would have ample time to supervise a cooking service. Harold, who had now become a good macrobiotic cook himself, was happy to help; and Margaret's friend, Pam Crachiola agreed to assist. Marcia gave the business a boost by aiding Margaret in designing a flyer as well as by referring Margaret's service to many people on the healthy diet.
Today, almost eight years since her cancer surgery, Margaret enjoys excellent health. Although she has had several physical examinations this time, her doctor has found no trace of cancer. Margaret believes that macrobiotic diet is the primary cause of her well being, but also credits colonic cleansing, acupuncture, and shiatsu massage with contributing to her physical improvement.
Margaret states that, "I am grateful to Marcia Halpern and the macrobiotic community for the love, care and support I have received. appreciate the opportunity to cook for others and to teach them for themselves."
Recovery From Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Rachel Hill
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
I first became concerned about my health in May, 1991. There was an odd feeling of heaviness in my left breast. Could it be cancer? It must be something else. Surely I couldn't have cancer. I had always taken good care of myself-kept my weight under control, never smoked, had regular check-ups, took vitamins. There was no history of cancer in my family and my mother was 86 at the time. True, I had undergone major surgery less than three years before-a complete hysterectomy; but I was taking estrogen, and except for an occasional migraine, I felt fine.
The heavy feeling in my breast persisted and I decided to schedule a mammogram. The mammogram, which I had in June, showed that my breast was normal. Apparently, I had worried about nothing. Then, in July, the breast began to redden. In spite of the mammogram results, something was not normal.
We had been planning a family vacation at the beach. My daughter, Michelle, who lives in Kansas, had not been home in a year. She would be visiting us on the first of August; and my husband, Brent, had made arrangements for the three of us to go to Hilton Head, along with our older daughter, Vicki, and her family (husband, Lyndon, and children, Mike and Holly. We all love the beach, and I was looking forward to this time of family togetherness. I decided to try to forget my worries about my health for a few days.
We had a wonderful time and returned to Columbia on Saturday, August 3rd, my 52nd birthday. Brent, Vicki and Michelle had planned a surprise party for me. Brent's family, as well as mine, and my co-workers at the Lexington Medical Center were all there to help me celebrate and to visit with Michelle. It was great fun.
After Michelle flew back to Kansas, I decided to see my gynecologist as soon as possible. I stopped by his office after work on August 6, and he told me that he did not think my problem was serious, but he suggested that I consult a surgeon to relieve my anxiety.
The surgeon also didn't think I had anything to worry about, but recommended a biopsy to be sure. The day after the biopsy I was alarmed to see him in my office at the Pastoral Care Department of Lexington Medical Center. He had just received the pathologist's report and the news was bad. I had been diagnosed as having a disease called "infiltrating duct carcinoma of the breast with involvement of skin lymphatics," or inflammatory breast cancer. Did that mean my cancer was more serious than a lump, which could easily be removed with surgery? Apparently so. The cancer might, in fact have already spread from my breast into some other part of my body.
I was devastated. When I went home, Brent and I cried together called our daughters and my mother and sister, Priscilla, all of whom very loving and supportive.
A few days later I had a bone scan with chest x-rays and blood to discover the extent of the cancer. Thank God it was confined to my breast. My surgeon and oncologist both told me to stop taking Estrogen at this time. Strangely enough, my migraines disappeared when I discontinued Estrogen. I have often wondered if the Estrogen both caused the headaches and accelerated the cancer.
The oncologist told me that the medical treatment for my type of cancer is six months of chemotherapy every three weeks, followed by six weeks of radiation, and then a mastectomy. My translation of this treatment was, "first they put poison into my system, then they burn me, then they cut me." I knew I did not wish to deal with my cancer in such a radical way.
Nutrition had been an interest of mine for about ten years, and I ate well. I included lots of salads in my diet, and I took vitamins regularly. But two of my favorite foods were pizza and ice cream with a topping of peanut butter. Now I realized I needed to learn more about nutrition. I knew some people who had recovered from cancer by eating a macrobiotic diet. One of them, Carter Breland, had been diagnosed with melanoma given only months to live. Carter had not only recovered from his cancer by eating macrobiotically, but was still cancer-free several years later. I called him and he suggested I have a consultation with Marcia Halpern, who was then Director of the South Carolina Macrobiotic Center. Marcia helped me to get started on the diet and also advised me to make an appointment with a medical doctor who would be at a macrobiotic camp in Brevard, North Carolina. This doctor recommended that I stay on the diet, but that I also have the medical treatment.
My oncologist and I planned my chemotherapy for Friday afternoons at Lexington Medical Center, which enabled me to work half a day, have the chemo, and then go home. I could recover over the weekend and be ready to go back to work on Monday. My treatments left me nauseated and I lost my hair, but I still managed to work every day.
I remained on the macrobiotic diet until late November, when I lost all taste for food so I quit eating macrobiotically until I completed the chemo. In March I resumed the diet and on May 4, I began the first of 40 radiation treatments. I still continued to work every day and was never hospitalized.
By the time I had completed the radiation treatments, the redness on my breast was gone and all other tests were normal. I told my oncologist that I did not want to have the surgery and she agreed. My ordeal was over.
In October of 1992 I spent the week at the Kushi Institute in Beckett, Massachusetts where I had a consultation with Michio Kushi. He pronounced me 95% cured.
I still see my oncologist for periodic check-ups. She was skeptical of the macrobiotic approach to curing cancer when I first discussed it with her early in my treatment, but was open to learning more about the diet. Inflammatory Breast cancer is usually fatal within two to five years after diagnosis even with treatment, and I think my oncologist was ready to agree to anything that gave me hope. My improvement has amazed her, however, and she has now read several books on macrobiotics. When my last check-up (which included a bone scan and blood tests) showed no evidence of cancer, my oncologist told me she planned to write up my case history for publication in a medical journal when I reach the five year anniversary of my diagnosis.
In addition to the diet and medical check-ups, I'm also exploring other areas of healing such as visualization, meditation, and shiatsu massage. I'm concentrating on making this cancer a part of my past.
Rachel Hill is a Columbia native who is grateful to God for the macro food that has been such an important tool for her healing. She enjoys letting others know there is always hope in every situation.
Holistic Healing: Treating the Whole Person By Sarilu Kemp, R.N., M.S.N.
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
The ". . . art of (traditional) healing could be summed up in the formula:
Find the microbe and kill it."
- G.B. Shaw
Traditional Western medicine looks for a specific treatment for a specific disease, while holistic healing seeks to treat the whole person, not the disease. It is concerned with the whole person and encourages individuals to be responsible for their health and well-being. Holistic health then encompasses the total person - mind, body, spirit and environment.
I learned the healing powers of this comprehensive approach when, in 1980, I was diagnosed with cancer. I underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, but made no attempt to change my approach to life. It wasn't until 1984, when the cancer we thought had been destroyed came back to jolt me, that I realized I was a "tumor-maker" and had to make major changes if I wanted to survive.
Like many cancer patients, I found great wisdom in a book by the Simonton’s titled, Getting Well Again. The first step in regaining the motivation to conquer cancer, the authors emphasize, is to set goals. But these goals must be realistic and specific and expressed positively. Set a deadline. Seek goals that you can attain on your own. Finally, write your goals so you can focus clearly on them. Chart your progress. You will be amazed at your success.
In addition to the importance of setting goals, I learned to accept and appreciate how psychological stress influences the brain and diminishes our immune system. These destructive changes, along with genetic factors and nutritional deficiencies, often lead to illnesses whose sudden emergence then baffles us.
In order to reverse disease we must drop old habits and learn new healthy ones. I discovered that I had to reduce stress. Some approaches that worked for me include visualization and imagery, massage, progressive relaxation, humor, a macrobiotic diet, and exercise.
I would strongly recommend two relaxation techniques that have helped me: Progressive Relaxation and the Relaxation Response. The first technique involves tensing and relaxing the muscles. Lie on your back with arms at your side, palms up. Breathe deeply, hold, then exhale while thinking of the word, "relax." Then tighten muscles in the face, hold for five seconds, and relax. Progressively move to other muscle groups, tightening and relaxing them. End with your toes. Then lie still, breathe slowly and imagine a peaceful scene.
The Relaxation Response technique was developed by Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School. Sit in a comfortable position with eyes closed and relax all muscles. Breathe through your nose while repeating a word that does not stimulate other thoughts, such as the word, "one." Sit in this way for about 20 minutes while keeping out all extraneous thoughts.
I usually relax while also listening to one of the audiotapes by Dr. Emmett Miller. I use tapes, too, when doing Yoga, another great way to reduce muscle tension and increase flexibility. I use a tape by Ruth Bender.
Massage is also a wonderful way to relieve stress. The pressure-point technique (Shiatsu) was a lifesaver for me. Also, since I retain a lot of tension in the neck and shoulders, I practice self-massage there. Simply grasp the opposite shoulder with your fingers, pressing as you progress to the neck. When you feel a tender spot, press hard until the pain diminishes.
Imagery and visualization are two relaxation techniques that are of confused. Imagery uses any of the five senses - for example, thinking of a lemon and being able to imagine the taste is usually accompanied by increased salivation. Visualization involves the use of mental pictures, which are visual only. I often take "trips" to the lake where I sit on the dock and relax for ten minutes.
Humor and a macrobiotic diet are also crucial assets. Norman Cousins has written eloquently of his use of humor in recovering from collagen disease and a heart attack. Both Anatomy of an Illness and The Healing Heart have become classic.
I began eating macrobiotically on December 26, 1984 and later took cooking lessons from Marcia Halpern. Six months later I saw Marcia for a consultation. She fine-tuned my diet to address any specific needs. On my own I was eating too much animal protein and not enough whole grains. If I had to do it over, my first step would be to get a consultation.
Even so, my chest x-rays and blood work have been negative since 1990.The changes I have made have become a part of me. Every day I the God for good health and for the people who helped me along the way.
A life-threatening illness can serve a useful purpose. Be glad you have, an illness. It can energize you to make healthy changes in your life that enrich you beyond belief. Set goals, learn to relax, change your eating habits and then live, love, enjoy!
Sarilu Kemp retired in June of 1988 from the S.C. Department of Mental Health. She is teaching nursing part-time at Midlands Technical College She received her nursing diploma from the S.C. Baptist Hospital, bachelor degree from the USC College of Nursing and her master's from the Medical College of Georgia with a major in psychiatric/mental health nursing. Sarilu and her husband, Henry, have four children and six grandchildren.
The Spouse May Survive, Too: By Barbara Witlin
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
It is no pleasure to work hours every day only to serve your husband food he hates. My darling Roy was a meat and sweets eater who has been macrobiotic since a diagnosis of metastasized prostate cancer two years ago. Our initial macrobiotic counselor, Marcia Halpern, first told him about the menu he would try to follow for at least the next two years. Roy has always been a tough guy - not the gentle, introspective type one normally associates with vegetarianism. An airplane crash put an end to dreams of an Air Force career and a heart condition ended scuba and shark hunting with a knife. He smoked and drank to great extent and only a strong constitution prevented his early demise. Foods were fatty, salty, rich and sweet - no vegetables or grains except bread. His approach to the cancer, as to other life problems, was through logic and self-control. He denied having a soul. (I don't believe it because he is an artist whose paintings have spiritual beauty.)
It was my idea to try macrobiotics. Roy had quit alcohol in 1985 after pancreatitis and had stopped a 2 1/2 pack a day cigarette habit in 1987. At the time of the cancer diagnosis in 1989, he was sucking on sugarless all day to ease addictive cravings.
The East-West Institute directed us to Marcia Halpern in Columbia. When I called her, I told her that my husband had terminal cancer. ; "I don't consider prostate cancer terminal." I asked if someone could be macrobiotic while eating 25 sorbitol candies a day. Marcia, with her New York style directness, told me to call back when we got serious.
Roy's prostate specific antigen was 152. Normal is under 4. A bone scan showed metastasis to the spine and ribs. Prognosis from three doctors "about three years to live." This news had come at the worst possible time. I was sick and helpless with severe multiple chemical sensitivities. Perhaps it was also the best time for the news. I was totally dependent on him and he was determined to grasp any straw if it meant not leaving me alone and sick. We made an appointment with Marcia. We were serious!
Marcia was a gem! She was able to help Roy enormously. Since I was allergic to all grains, soy and fermented foods, she couldn't solve my problems. I didn't think anyone could. Later, Lino Stanchich, macrobiotic counselor, amazed us with his insights. Pre-Lino, I would go to bed every night hungry or sick because of food allergies or chemical exposures. Gradually he expanded my diet, enhanced my nutrition and wellness. He also intuitively worked to find the right balance for Roy's food according to his individual physical and psychological makeup. We have both under his care.
The macrobiotic journey has been very difficult for us. We cannot eat the same foods because of my allergies, while Roy constantly strains to stay macrobiotic. It is a battle for me, too. I easily become over anxious and rigid about what he eats. I am learning (painfully) that I must relax or it won't work.
Roy has been hospitalized ten times in two years for vascular and bone surgeries, heart attack, congestive heart failure and double viral pneumonia. He wears a back brace and has constant pain. Perhaps all those things shouldn't have happened to him while on a macro diet, but he has had the strength to recover from every trauma. His cancer tests are rising, but still in normal range and all appear to be under control. His strength intrigues his physicians who have become curious about his "crazy diet."
If you asked Roy, he would probably tell you he's stayed on the diet (with some modifications) through will powers. He might add that love for me has been his reason to try. My respect for the power of foods to change both health and state of mind keeps growing as I learn more. We have both had to become less compulsive - I, in my rigidity, and Roy, in his desire to cheat and binge. I know my better balanced diet makes me less anxious. Is that balance also helping Roy to be increasingly more compliant? Or, does he do it with will power and the motivation of love? "All of the above," is my opinion. We may not yet have any miraculous cures, but we are making miraculous progress!
Barbara Witlin is an artist and art psychotherapist. Roy is also an artist and retired clinical psychologist. They live in Surnmerville, South Carolina painting and writing articles on the environment for various publications.
Embracing Health: By Sheldon Rice
Reprinted with permission from "Planetary Health" #2, Summer, 2000 (Editor, Alex Jack)
In the early 1980s the world of health and diet was opened up to me. To supplement our income, my ex-wife and I began distributing health products. My personal lifestyle up until that point entailed eating anything and everything even resembling food as long as there was plenty of it. I suffered from Jewish Mother Syndrome: "Eat, eat, if you love me." I was a dutiful child, and I ate. I entered a roller coaster of dieting and bingeing that left me bloated and frustrated. Fortunately, my strong constitution enabled me to escape many of the illnesses of my peers. Aside from a chronic bladder imbalance, I considered myself relatively healthy.
A client sent me an article that described a miraculous recovery of terminal cancer through macrobiotics of Doctor Anthony Satillaro. This strange diet had made the difference for him where conventional medicine had failed. I was fascinated as I recalled similar testimonials attributed to nutritional supplements. A connection between cancer and diet seemed logical. Not having cancer myself, I considered the issue personally irrelevant.
About a year later I responded to a local health food store flyer and tasted my first macrobiotic meal. I fell in love with the food, its effect and the philosophical concept supporting it. Several of the dinner guests made the food management sound manageable. Seeking a pastime related to my growing awareness of health, I decided to take up macrobiotic cooking.
I applied myself seriously from the start. At a health consultation with a macrobiotic counselor I was surprised to learn how "yang" I was. It sounded ominous even if I did not understand it. I was informed that most of my digestive organs were malfunctioning—so much for alleged good health. I followed the dietary recommendations closely and noticed physical and mental changes almost immediately. My thinking became clearer and I began to lose weight.
Unexpectedly, my weight loss became rapid and uncontrollable despite chronic overeating. I began discharging foul odors from my mouth and body. My skin color rotated through cycles of brown and yellow. Sexual energy vanished. Instead of feeling discouraged, however, I enjoyed renewed surges of energy.
In eighteen months my weight plummeted from 175 to 105 pounds. My clothes hung on me like a scarecrow. Friends passing me on the street didn’t recognize me. Along with the weight, my muscular system deteriorated. To climb steps, I had to grab my slacks and dig my elbows into my sides to lift my legs. I could not pick up my eight year-old daughter.
I had great pain and difficulty urinating and ultimately became incontinent. I had to wear diapers to bed. I developed deep tingling sensations on my left side. Two toes on my left foot turned black, and urination became nearly impossible. I finally agreed to consult a doctor. He immediately hospitalized me when he determined that my bladder was about five times its normal size. The surgeon ordered routine diagnostic tests before operating. A CAT scan showed a deep-seated growth between my bladder and spine. Michio Kushi, as well as my macrobiotic counselor and an oncologist who later saw my scans confirmed that the growth was malignant. Michio later affirmed that the cancer may well have spread significantly had I not started eating well when I did.
The scheduled biopsy and probable chemotherapy treatment frightened me more than death itself. The morning before my scheduled biopsy, I discharged myself from the hospital. I was confident that I would cure myself without allopathic interference. Thus began my long hard road to recovery with macrobiotics. I did not disclose the nature of my illness to my mother, sister or any of my three daughters. It was the only way to avoid their unwanted pity and well-meaning pressure to seek the conventional medical treatment that I abandoned.
During the following four years I prepared all my own food with little family support. Fortunately my job entailed little stress, leaving me time the time I needed to focus on my healing. But my wife and I clashed openly over my macrobiotic habits and their "negative" influence on the kids.
I underwent regular shiatsu treatments in Manhattan. My Japanese therapist encouraged me, adjusted my diet and explained the many bodily transitions taking place. I discharged sugar for about a year and a half—longer than she had ever seen—with ugly wart-like discolorations on my forearms. I was nearly deaf for weeks until accumulated mucus slowly drained out of my head. For over a year the skin on my hands was dry and cracked around the nails and joints. The resulting infections took months to heal. Worst of all was the cold that racked my body, particularly my hands and feet. I couldn’t bear air-conditioning, something hard to avoid in the summer.
In 1990 I separated from my wife and relocated to Jerusalem. I had a final CAT scan before I left that confirmed what I already knew—I was well. The tumor was completely gone. I soon regained enough weight to look and feel human again. I believe my key to recovery was proper mastication, an art that actually required lessons. I chewed every lunch and dinner for an entire hour over a two-year period. Sometimes I would fall asleep mid-bite. I attribute my health to this incredible chewing, along with moderation in food quantity, eating only the food recommended for me, and a relentless will to live.
About seven years into my macrobiotic practice I went through a spiritual awakening that lifted me to levels of joy and peace I never knew possible. I was able to put aside all the anger and pain of my unhappy childhood and marriage, and approach higher levels of consciousness in my daily life.
In 1995 Sheldon met and married Ginat, a macrobiotic teacher and shiatsu practitioner. She was co-owner of Satori Macrobiotic Restaurant in Boston for nearly half of the twenty-five years she has practiced macrobiotics. Today, we share a wonderful life, helping many people through the comprehensive macrobiotic services we offer in Jerusalem.
Cancer in a Macrobiotic Counselor: By Ginat Rice
Macrobiotics Today 43, #3, May/June, 2003
Cancer is a scary word. It's something that happens to someone else, particularly when one is a veteran macrobiotic counselor advising other people how to deal with serious illnesses. Yet it happened to me after twenty years of dedicated macrobiotic practice at the height of my counseling career.
I am the middle daughter of Texan Jews with Eastern European roots. I was raised first in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later in the suburbs of New Jersey as my father advanced his career as a professor of law. We ate according to the conventions of the times with animal protein at every meal, plenty of dairy products and eggs, and sweet desserts. Our southern roots inclined us towards fried chicken and potato salad picnics, and our Jewish heritage contributed chicken soup and pot roast.
In 1973 at age 21 I joined a group of Americans immigrating to a new kibbutz outpost on the Golan Heights of northern Israel. I had just completed a bachelor's degree in Hebraic Studies at Rutgers University. I was ready to exchange my dabbling in Orthodox Judaism for Israeli citizenship. To get better acquainted as a group, we took short US trips. A lanky New Yorker nicknamed Jackson joined three of us on a visit to "The Farm," a self-styled commune in Tennessee. Since Jackson was vegetarian, we all became vegetarians for the duration of the trip to show our solidarity. This was the last time I ever ate meat and became the beginning of food consciousness in my life.
Standard kibbutz vegetarian fare favored raw or fried nightshade vegetables, eggs and dairy food. Always experimental, I delighted in strange gastronomic combinations there such as eggs with bananas, and fried tomatoes with yogurt.
I enjoyed the experience of kibbutz living, but missed the stimulation of city life. After two years I returned to the US to pursue a Master's degree in International Administration at the Experiment in International Living in Brattleboro, Vermont. This was an inspiring program that brought me back to Israel once again for an internship with overseas students at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I again ate institutional fare not much different than kibbutz food. I especially enjoyed blended concoctions of raw eggs, black strap molasses, brewer's yeast, unpasteurized milk, wheat germ, and other health food store staples. I took multiple-vitamins with copious amounts of orange juice and milk.
By 1980 I was experiencing frequent head colds and congestion. A naturalist doctor advised me to give up dairy food, a surprising challenge. Before long I noticed that I was getting fewer colds.
An evening lecture at an adult education center in Jerusalem shortly thereafter revealed the world of macrobiotics to me. I immediately began to practice this logical and ordered way of living. I joined Jerusalem's fledgling Macrobiotic Center of Israel where we studied principles and taught each other to cook. A visiting macrobiotic couple from Paris, Richard and Isa Gombin, exposed us to new worlds of understanding. "Concepts," taught Richard, "make the mundane interesting. With your new compass of yin and yang, everything takes on meaning." I jumped at an invitation to accompany them to Paris for further study. Their mentoring set my direction for life. A side trip down the coast of Morocco followed, along with a fateful romance with a young man from Alsace who fell in love with me, with Judaism and with macrobiotics. He changed his name, his diet, his religion and his country before we parted ways.
As my diet improved I became healthier on many levels. I re-experienced the pain of an old wound from a kibbutz bicycle accident, and healed it. Stars in the sky became brighter as my vision improved. I discharged copious amounts of mucus from my nose and throat for months. My watched my moods improve and calmness replace previous eruptive behavior patterns. I began to develop a sense of faith that I had never learned as a child. It was a good beginning.
In 1982 I resigned my position with the Save the Children Foundation in Jerusalem to pursue formal macrobiotic study at the Kushi Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts. After completing their three levels of instruction I was invited to scribe for Michio Kushi in his health consultations. I joined the Kushi Institute's cook referral service, traveling to several States to teach and cook for ill clients. I embarked as well on a lifelong study of shiatsu massage. Ultimately I accepted a position as head chef at L'Odeon (later Satori) Natural Foods Restaurant, in Allston, MA, becoming manager and then co-owner. Throughout this time I ate a standard macrobiotic diet based on whole grains and vegetables, with the addition of desserts, sauces, and creative food combinations.
Restaurant work can be stressful, and this was compounded by a codependent relationship that took three years of self-help programs to recognize and heal. Selling the restaurant after ten years, I took on the administration of a transitional foods restaurant project. The concept was to offer the American public an introduction to natural eating with mock versions of their favorite fare. Unfortunately the project never got off the ground.
In 1995, lacking clear direction, I returned to Jerusalem to complete a teaching certificate in English as a Second Language. Almost immediately I met and married Sheldon Rice, a long-term macrobiotic practitioner. We developed a home-based macrobiotic consulting service offering health advice, private and group cooking lessons, live-in facilities, a bed and breakfast, gourmet dinners, take-out meals, and courses in macrobiotic principles, shiatsu, reflexology, diagnosis, and healing. I dedicated myself to my clients and worked long hours. My first thought upon waking was usually concern about my working day. I wanted every class to be perfect, my students to be pleased and my work successful. Later I came to visualize that time as feeling pushed up against a wall.
In April 1999 I was surprised to feel a small lump on my right breast. At first I ignored it, but when it began to hurt I arranged for a medical examination. A palpation and mammogram proved inconclusive to the examining surgeon who was unaware of a familial history of breast cancer that includes my sister, uncle and several cousins. I was so sure that I couldn't have cancer that it never occurred to me to reveal this aspect of my medical history. My macrobiotic counselor, Rik Vermuyten, raised no red flags.
Nevertheless, I simplified my diet considerably. Gone were the gourmet feasts and luscious desserts. We ate simple macrobiotic fare in silence in order to concentrate on our chewing. That experience was unfortunately misdirected. I did not understand that my condition was energetically too contracted (yang), and that I needed to lighten up my food and my emotions. I still kept up my strenuous routine of teaching and cooking, and had an overly serious outlook on life.
Nine months later I returned to the surgeon and radiologist for a checkup in anticipation of Rik's next visit. The films showed a whopping thirty percent growth in the size of the tumor. The examining surgeon was alarmed by fluid discharging from my nipple, and immediately performed a painful needle biopsy. Although this test was inconclusive, a second surgeon concurred with the cancer diagnosis and recommended immediate surgery.
Rik's extensive examination of my face, eyes, tongue, arms and feet two weeks later confirmed that conclusion. He explained that cancer is caused by stagnating energy in the body. In my case, liver energy was particularly sluggish. I was naturally attracted to contracting foods such as stews and baked goods by my inherently yang natal energy. They also served as a counter balance to years of sugar as a child. I then sought excessive sweets in a misdirected effort to gastronomically relax the subsequent tightness in my nervous system.
Resentment, anger and impatience were emotional warning signs that I did not heed. Such deep psychological changes require slow and steady self-reflection. My cancer, on the other hand, was progressing rapidly, and needed to be halted or slowed to give me time for such changes. Rik concurred with the need for surgery so I could open up physically until I had more time to do so spiritually. He recommended chemotherapy for the initial shock it gives the body, and cautioned against the drug tamoxifin.
I hesitated at first to reveal my condition to the Jerusalem macrobiotic community. I projected their condemnation, as if my illness proved me or macrobiotics failures in some way. Gradually I came to understand that there are no guarantees in life, and that I could accept this condition that I had created and change it. I understood that macrobiotics-great life--includes whatever form of medicine suits the current need. My operation actually seemed to unite the Jerusalem macrobiotic community. The phone rang constantly with local and international support. By week's end our bedroom looked like a flower shop. The outpouring of love and kindness of our friends, clients and family was heart warming. So many people who we helped in the past were returning all that they had received and more.
The mastectomy revealed the cancer to be confined to the breast with no apparent growth beyond the chest cavity. Two lymph nodes were involved. I began the chemotherapy protocol of four sessions administered at three weeks intervals. It was a terrible experience of dehydration and debility that entailed emergency hospitalization for intravenous transfusions three times. The oncologist admitted that he might have overdosed the treatment, and that it was based on statistical averages rather than my specific needs. He cut down the individual dosage and added a fifth session.
Even though I was awash in the world of hospitals and doctors, I saw medical intervention as adjunct to true healing. I took personal responsibility for my illness and was determined to focus on my own emotional and mental needs. I admitted deeply held anger, impatience, and guilt feelings. Facing these psychological issues required professional guidance, and I was open to any and all programs. In between chemotherapy treatments I began to release accumulated anger and fear with a superb healer.
I worked next with an osteopath specializing in mind-body therapy twice weekly for a five month period to re-experience old emotions. I began yoga classes with an inspiring teacher and friend. I took advantage of the hospital psychiatric services, but was put off by the staff psychiatrist. His method was classically Freudian with none of the compassion and personal warmth I needed. I struggled with my sense of failure at quitting his aloof treatments until I realized that saying no to him was actually a sign of strength. I frequently turned for reassurance to a friend who is a clinical psychologist. I joined a prosperity workshop to tackle my problematic relationship with money. I organized a four-session anger workshop at our house and joined a meditation group. I practiced healing visualizations that addressed deeply rooted resentment and lack of self-love by feeling myself merge into universal consciousness. These self-help therapies and workshops eased my anxiety about the cause and healing of my disease. They represent the most profound expression of macrobiotics and the one that I had insufficiently developed, that is, spiritual growth. Healthy macrobiotic living supports both body and soul. There is no separation between them. My healing naturally had to address both of these areas of imbalance, twin aspects of my condition.
One of my most rewarding healing experiences involved a workshop based on the teachings of Louise Hay. I found it empowering and reassuring that I was indeed making changes and could affect my own future. This ten-session course was scheduled to begin just at the time of my fourth chemotherapy session. I struggled to decide whether to interrupt the psychological advances I was making to continue with the dreaded treatment. Only two more rounds remained to complete the protocol, yet I doubted my ability to survive them. There was also a lingering doubt in my mind as to their value. I knew that my body was not used to such an onslaught of chemicals and toxins, and that my delicate constitution was less able to withstand such abuse than the average person on whom the dosage was based. I suffered great personal anxiety in the face of heavy medical and family pressure to continue.
With the help of my macrobiotic counselor I was able to understand this conundrum: If I felt I needed more chemotherapy, then I did; if I sensed that I did not need any more, then I didn't. I made the brave decision to take charge of my own healing, listening to my own body regardless of protocol, pressure or personal fear. I was glad I had used chemotherapy to jolt my system out of its chaotic growth pattern, and now was ready to begin deeper healing. My combined efforts made noticeable changes in my behavior patterns. I was controlling my anger and impatience more than ever before, and my moods were no longer changing cyclically as they had been.
As I healed on all levels, our countdown toward my husband Sheldon's retirement brought our dream trip in a motor home across the United States ever closer. We had been longing to travel together by motor home since we had met, and now our incentive to get away from work pressures to live a quiet, easy-going life was even greater. We arrived to New York in mid-October of 2000 and began to explore this vast continent. It was the perfect antidote to my life of stress and performance. What could be better than roaming the back roads of a beautiful country in our little cocoon, eating simply and loving each other?
Phiya Kushi highlights four factors to successful macrobiotic practice: 1) A supportive social/cultural environment; 2) Harmony with one's natural surroundings; 3) "Feedback," or self assessment; and 4) Food, comprising preparation, eating habits, selection, and proportion according to principles of yin and yang. In my case, my social environment (1) was greatly supportive. However my lifestyle was not harmonious (2). I had a tendency to over-work, failing to set personal boundaries. My contact with the natural surroundings was usually limited to weekends. I also lacked a sense of self (3), an awareness of my personal needs in order to make adjustments for my condition. It never occurred to me that my impatience and occasional bursts of anger were signals of deep imbalance. I considered myself immune to serious illness because I was "macrobiotic."
It wasn't until I resumed study with Michio Kushi that I could appreciate the role food (4) had played in creating my cancerous condition. While my food was excellently prepared, I did not always chew well, and sometimes ate late meals or snacked before bed. Quality and variety, so taken for granted in the US, are limited in Israel. Israel does not offer the hard, leafy green plants such as collards and kale that could have relaxed my body and mind. More than anything, my main shortcoming was proportion. Each week I prepared gourmet fare both in cooking classes and sit-down feasts. These lavish meals consisted of seven to ten tempting and calorific dishes incorporating elaborate concoctions, multiple sauces, dressings and desserts, always using macrobiotic ingredients. Daily take-out meals were often similar feasts. I ordered whole-wheat flour, grain-based sweeteners and rice beverage by the case. Breads, cakes and cookies were my specialties. Michio emphasized the stagnating, yang effect of these hard, dry baked flour products. Although in general breast cancer can be considered a yin imbalance, in my case the opposite was true. My cancer was a manifestation of overriding tightness in my diet as well as my lifestyle. It's position on the right lower breast and it's hardness and tenacity indicated a yang illness. Kombu seaweed and cabbage compresses that Rik recommended during the initial nine months did nothing to melt this stubborn malignancy.
I was scared, and questioned my ability to recover and remain well. I had missed both physical and psychological warning signs and I didn't trust my self-diagnostic abilities. I had casually ignored tell tale red markings in my sclera, irregular pulses and painful points on my feet during reflexology treatments. Especially at the beginning of my recovery I experienced great fear and anxiety. This was right after the massive infusion of chemicals and drugs into a body that had not tasted an aspirin in twenty years. My kidneys and liver were sufficiently poisoned by chemotherapy that food could do little to mitigate its effects. The emotions corresponding to these organs are fear and anger, respectively. It was a difficult period as I dealt with these emotions. It took over a year to release my fears and tensions.
As we traveled I began to eat more simply, cutting back on oil, salt and complex dishes. I began to sense just how contracted and complicated I had been. I incorporated sorely needed lighter dishes into my diet with a wide range of vegetables, especially greens such as kale, collards and softer leaves such as mustard and dandelion. Slowly I regained my confidence that I could understand both the cause and the cure for the condition I had created. Certainly the possibility of recurrence always lurks in the shadows, and fate cannot be discounted as reason for illness. I don't rule out the role of karma, meaning cause and effect from this and possibly other lifetimes. Perhaps I sought this experience of illness on a subconscious or pre-life level. Maybe illness is a sign of spiritual readiness to face a difficult challenge. Genes might be contributory, though I don't hold them solely responsible.
Our extensive travels became the perfect opportunity to reconnect with nature and spend more time outdoors, walking and hiking. I renewed my focus on daily life habits such as proper chewing, body scrubs, and do-in stretches. I also began to explore conceptual issues of life and health with new macrobiotic friends. Seeking out macrobiotic practitioners wherever we went, I gradually developed a set of questions that became a vehicle for deeply meaningful exchange, personal insight and new camaraderie. I began to expand my understanding of the causes of illness and the paths to healing. Many practitioners I talked to agreed with Michio's "food first" focus. Equally as many others looked toward emotional issues as the primary cause of dis-ease and in turn the determinate of our food choices. After much deliberation, I see the importance of both mind and food, and the unimportance of choosing a prime cause. I understand my own illness as a clear combination of both factors, each one influencing the other.
Judy Waxman, my first cooking teacher as I began my macrobiotic journey in 1982, explained, " Health is a combination of self reflection and right action, with food as its foundation. A change in our mental orientation by understanding the Order of the Universe produces a profound shift on all levels." This is the power of the body and of the mind. In my view, to the degree that I can conceive health, I am well. To the degree that I can know God, I am whole. This, for me, defines macrobiotics.
My experience of illness and recovery entailed hardship and personal growth. I understand my dis-ease as a reflection of my life choices, and a powerful new opening. I discovered friends who I thought were only clients and acquaintances, and found their expressed love and support uplifting beyond my dreams. I lost my arrogance about my invincibility, and my magical thinking that it can't happen to me. I realized that I am entitled to be ill-even to the point of serious discharge--just like anyone else and no longer have to be better than they are. My empathy for sick people soared now that I have spent time on their side of the fence. I recognized deep emotional trauma and resentment that I would never have admitted.
Great suffering indeed enables great benefit. Today Ginat has had no apparent symptoms of disease. Her energy is vibrant, her sleep trouble-free and her mood consistently upbeat. She feels better than she has ever felt before, even before she became ill. Ginat is happier than she has ever been and truly grateful for the opportunity to change life patterns. Knowing herself better than ever before, she uses food, thought, breath and movement to create the experiences she desires. Ginat affirms the macrobiotic lifestyle as the best possible means to a happy and healthy life, and her own ability to follow its teachings to create her own personal health and happiness.
Reversing Heart Disease: Dean Ornish, M.D.
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
A three-year study conducted by a team of doctors led by Dean Ornish, M.D., has demonstrated that lifestyle changes can not only arrest but also actually reverse the ravages of heart disease. The main components of the program followed by study participants were a low-fat diet, stress management techniques and exercise.
Patients with severe heart disease were randomly divided into two groups. One group followed Dr. Ornish's. program, while the patients in the other group were asked to follow their doctors' advice: to make some dietary changes (eat less red meat, more fish and chicken, margarine instead of butter, and no more than three eggs per week), to exercise moderately and to quit smoking. Both groups were tested at the beginning of the study and at yearly intervals for three years.
After only one year, the majority (82%) of the patients who followed Dr. Ornish's program showed some measurable average reversal of their coronary artery blockages. In contrast, the majority of the heart patients in the comparison group who were following their doctors' advice became measurably worse during the same interval. These results were confirmed by subsequent yearly testing. The study group continued to improve, the comparison group continued to worsen. On the basis of this data, Dr. Ornish concluded that ". . . for people who have heart disease, conventional recommendations for changing lifestyle may not go far enough."
At the core of the Ornish program for reversing heart disease is the diet followed by the patients in the study, which Dr. Ornish has named the Reversal Diet. The difference between this diet and the typical American Diet can be summarized as follows:
TYPICAL AMERICAN DIET
40% to 50% fat (mostly saturated)
25% to 35% carbohydrate
25% protein
400 to 500 milligrams cholesterol per day
REVERSAL DIET
10% fat (mostly polyunsaturated or monounsaturated)
70% to 75% carbohydrate
15% to 20% protein
5 milligrams cholesterol per day
In making this comparison, two things became clear. First, the Reversal Diet consists primarily of complex carbohydrates, also known as starches. Vegetarian foods in their natural form are primarily complex carbohydrates, for example, grains, beans, vegetables, fruits and so on. Complex carbohydrates are very filling. In contrast, simple carbohydrates such as alcohol, honey and sugar are "empty" calories - that is, calories without any nutritional value - so it's easy to eat a lot of calories without being aware of it.
Because of this principle, the Reversal Diet limits (but does not eliminate the use of sugar and alcohol. Sugar is not strongly linked with coronary heart disease; the real culprits are saturated fats and cholesterol, but sugar is often found in combination with foods that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol (i.e. cake, ice cream).
Second, the Reversal Diet has somewhat less protein than the typical American diet. All of us have been taught the importance of getting enough protein, often equating it with good nutrition. Dr. Ornish states, however, that in the United States, most people (rich or poor) eat too much protein - at least twice as much as they need. Too much protein, like too little protein, can be harmful. Animals that are fed high-protein diets die sooner than animals given the same number of calories but with less protein. Excess protein can lead to bone demineralization and osteoporosis. In animal studies, even a low-fat diet that is high in protein can promote the formation of coronary artery blockages.
Protein is formed from building blocks called amino acids. There twenty-two different kinds, of amino acids which can combine to form billions of varieties of proteins. The human body can make thirteen of these protein building blocks, while the other nine must be supplied by the diet. Plant foods provide the same amino acids that animal foods do. The protein that comes from eating a T-bone steak is exactly the same quality as the protein that comes from a meal of rice and beans. But when you eat a steak, you're also consuming excessive fat and cholesterol.
Unlike animal products, no single plant source contains all of the essential amino acids, but amino acid requirements can be met by eating a variety of foods. A meal of rice and beans provides a complete protein, no different from the protein found in eggs or meat.
According to Dr. Ornish, you don't have to be a scientist or nutritionist to combine foods properly. His rule is: just eat any grains and any legumes sometime during the day. The ideal proportion is two-thirds grains and one-third legumes.
Here are some examples of a complete protein:
rice with beans * tacos with beans
tofu with rice * pasta a fagioli (pasta and beans)
Hopping John (black-eyed peas and rice)
Boston baked beans and brown bread
The Reversal Diet is vegetarian because cholesterol is only found animal products, including meats, poultry, fish, and dairy. Vegetarian foods are cholesterol free and, with rare exceptions, are low in saturated fat
What can you eat on the Reveral Diet? Here are some examples:
ANIMAL PRODUCTS
egg whites, non-fat milk or yogurt (1 cup per day)
WHOLE GRAINS
amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, corn, millet, oats, quinoa, rice, rye, sorghum, wheat.
LEGUMES
azuki beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, brown beans, chick-peas (garbanzos), Great Northern beans, kidney beans, lentils, mung beans, navy beans, peas, pinto beans, red Mexican beans, soybeans (includes miso, tempeh and tofu), split peas
VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
All vegetables and fruits except avacodos, coconuts and olives.
BEVERAGES
club soda, fruit juices (all kinds), grain coffees, herbal teas, mineral water, vegetable juices (all kinds)
No oils (except in very small quantities), nuts, seeds, chocolate or other cocoa products are permitted on the Reversal Diet.
This diet may seem restrictive to some, but as Dr. Ornish points out: "Halfway measures aren't enough to reverse coronary heart disease for the majority of people. Most of the people in the control groups of our research were eating a 30% fat 'low-fat, low-cholesterol' diet along the guidelines of the American Heart Association or National Cholesterol Education Project - less red meat, more fish, chicken with the skin removed, etc. - yet the majority of these patients got worse, not better."
For those who do not have heart disease but wish to prevent it, Dr. Ornish has one cardinal rule: keep your cholesterol level below 150. If your cholesterol level is above that, start restricting your daily fat intake by eliminating such high fat foods as meats, ice cream, butter, eggs, nuts, cheese and oils. Moderate dietary changes will be enough to bring cholesterol levels down for some people, whereas others will find that more comprehensive changes are required.
In addition to the Reversal Diet, the patients in the Ornish study also learned a variety of stress management techniques, meditation, visualization, and progressive relaxation practices. These techniques were included in the study because Dr. Ornish believes they address one of the fundamental problems, which predisposes an individual to illness - isolation from one's feelings and inner self.
Another personal difficulty addressed by the Ornish study was isolation from others as a root cause of stress leading to heart disease. In order to decrease isolation, the participants in the study formed a support group, which met twice a week. At these meetings group members were taught, communication skills and discussed their progress with the program as well as current problems.
Exercise was another lifestyle change made by the patients in the study. Walking was chosen as the preferred form of exercise because it provided health benefits along with the lowest risk of injury or sudden cardiac death. The study members were asked to walk for thirty minutes every day or for an hour every other day.
Because the Ornish study included so many lifestyle changes, it is impossible to assess the relative contribution of each component of the program. That is, it is unknown how much an individual's improvement was to the changes in diet, how much because of the stress management techniques, how much due to group support, and so on. Whatever the proportional merit of each factor, however, the end result is that the patients in the study reversed their condition and demonstrated that there viable alternatives to drugs and surgery in the battle against heart disease.
This article was based on Dr. Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease, New York: Random House, 1990. In his book Dr. Ornish states: "This program is an adjunct to, not a substitute for, conventional medical therapy. If you have a coronary heart disease or other health problems please consult your physician before beginning this program."
"The Rice Paper" wishes to thank Dr. Ornish for permission to use excerpts from his book.
Multiple Sclerosis and Macrobiotics: Cathy Rodrigue's Inspiring Story as told to Doris Crim
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
Thursday, March 15, 1990 should have been a normal workday for Cathy Rodrigue, but the twenty-nine year old teacher knew something was wrong as soon as she awakened. She felt pain in her shoulders and neck and a tingling in her hands and feet. Since she had recently had the flu, she tried to convince herself that her symptoms were due to a mild relapse, but the numbness in her hands and feet worried her.
Cathy managed to get through the day, but the simplest tasks had suddenly become exceedingly difficult. Usually she loved her job as a teacher of hearing impaired children in Lexington District 5. She had been inspired by Helen Keller as a child and knew several people with hearing problems as she grew up. A desire to help such individuals motivated her to major in speech pathology at St. Mary's Dominican College in her native New Orleans, and she had been teaching in District 5 since September of 1988.
The pain and numbness became worse in the days that followed and even the slightest movement required enormous effort. "I felt like I was trying to walk through deep drifts of sand," Cathy recalls. On Monday she stayed home from work and asked a friend to drive her to the emergency room at Providence Hospital. The doctor there was mystified by Cathy's condition, and recommended she see a neurologist.
That night she lay awake unable to sleep. Her breathing was labored and she felt she couldn't get enough air. It took effort to even blink her eyes. Cathy had always been active and she knew she didn't want to live if she had to be physically dependent on others. Her spiritual faith had been a source of strength to her since childhood, however, and it came to her aid now. She prayed throughout the sleepless hours and by early morning she felt she had received an answer. Somehow there would be a solution to her pain and weakness. It might be some time before she discovered it, but she felt certain that it would be possible for her to heal.
The visit to the neurologist provided some information. After examining Cathy, the doctor told her she had one of the demyelinating diseases, most probably Multiple Sclerosis (M.S.), but that she could not be accurately diagnosed until she had a second attack. The cause of M.S. is unknown and the only treatments are steroid injections and a form of chemotherapy. Since these treatments are reserved for those patients who have suffered more physical impairment than Cathy had, the neurologist could prescribe nothing for her except rest.
Cathy will always be grateful for the care her friends provided in the weeks that followed. They not only prepared food for her, dressed her and drove her to and from work, but managed to keep her feeling cheerful.
During this period, Cathy was also supported by her belief in the power of will and prayer, which had been instilled in her by her parents.
As Cathy improved, she began to gather information about M.S. It is, she discovered, a chronic disease of the central nervous system which affects 250,000 Americans, generally attacking young adults. There is a substance called myelin which surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in our bodies, and if this substance is damaged, the nerve impulses are interrupted and distorted.
In people suffering from M.S., the myelin is attacked and stripped from the nerve fibers like insulation from electric wiring. Scar tissue then forms over the affected area, but the nerve function is permanently impaired. Some people are fortunate and only have one such attack, resulting in minimal damage, but the usual pattern the disease follows is one of repeated attacks and remissions over a period of time, which result in increasing damage to the nervous system.
Cathy hoped that she would be one of the lucky ones who experience only a single attack, but in June, 1992, she had a second one. She returned to the neurologist, who now confirmed that she had M.S.
Since the school year was over, Cathy planned to return to New Orleans to visit her family. She found the journey exhausting. By the time she reached New Orleans she was unable to walk and had to be transported across the airport in a wheelchair. While in New Orleans, she sought a second medical opinion and was examined by another neurologist. He confirmed the diagnosis of her Columbia doctor and agreed that she had M.S.
Although Cathy was naturally upset by the second attack, she remembered her night of prayer in March. Somehow, somewhere there must be an answer - a way to help herself.
Cathy had been interested in nutrition for some time and wondered if there might be a nutritional approach which would help her to heal. Back in Columbia, she mentioned this idea to her friends, Tami and Dee O'Brien. The 0'Briens believed that their own medical problems had been solved by the macrobiotic diet and suggested that Cathy visit Marcia Halpern, founder of the Macrobiotic Center of South Carolina' and a senior macrobiotic consultant. Cathy tried macrobiotic food for the first time at a lunch prepared by Marcia and liked it. She decided to give the macrobiotic diet a three-month trial and had a consultation with Marcia in order to develop an appropriate dietary regimen.
During the three-month trial period, Cathy augmented the diet with various types of therapy. She had regular shiatsu and Swedish massage sessions as well as chiropractic, reiki (therapeutic touch) and acupuncture treatments. At the end of the three months, she knew she wished to continue the macrobiotic diet because she felt much stronger and had suffered no further M.S. attacks.
Shortly before Christmas, 1990, Cathy was invited to join the University of South Carolina Choir on a tour of Spain by the choir director, Dr. Larry Wyatt, whom she had known in New Orleans when he served as director of the New Orleans Symphony Chorus. She had some doubts about her ability to keep up with the rigorous schedule the choir had planned,but she loved to sing and decided to make the trip. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences of her life, and Cathy realized that she wished to develop her singing further. She knew that the US Music offered scholarships in voice. After winning one of these scholarships the following spring, she resolved that she would leave her teaching job at the end of the school year. Though she still enjoyed teaching, between the job and her recovery from M.S., she felt drained. Taking voice courses at U.S.C. seemed the best way to replenish her energies.
The courses in voice have led to courses in modern dance as well as membership in the U.S.C. Concert Choir. Cathy also works as a waitress - certainly a physically demanding schedule for one who has been diagnosed with M.S. However, Cathy now feels as well as she has ever felt in her life. She also has a greater appreciation of the fact that she is healthy and that she can move with ease. It has now been almost three years since her last M.S. attack and Cathy continues the macrobiotic diet for vitality, although she does not consider herself "cured" and regards healing as "a lifelong journey."
"If I had been given the opportunity to choose, I wouldn’t have wanted to have M.S." she states, "but I do think I have learned from it and grown stronger because of it. I am no longer afraid that my symptoms will return. Instead I am filled with a sense of well-being and I feel confident and joyful."
Doris Crim has been Macrobiotic for almost five years since undergoing cancer surgery. She has four children and five grandchildren.
Diet and its Effect On Infertility: Tami O'Briens's Story as told to Doris Crim
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
When my husband, Dee, and I decided that we wanted a baby after six years of marriage, our situation was ideal in many ways. We were the right age (in our late twenties) to enjoy a family and our financial future seemed secure. Dee is an environmental geologist and had recently started a business specializing in environmental cleanups of contaminated soil and ground water. It was doing very well, and I wanted to become a full-time mother and homemaker.
Dee and I met on a blind date when we were both students at Carolina and were married nine months later. Soon afterwards we moved to Oxford, Mississippi so Dee could attend graduate school at the University of Mississippi. I worked at a series of jobs while Dee was in grad school and continued to work after he received his masters in geology and we returned to Columbia. Dee worked for the Department of Health and Environmental Control for three years before opening his own business. Now Dee and I could look forward to spending more time together as well as having both time and energy to devote to a child.
There was only one problem: it was possible that I was infertile. I had been taking birth control pills for five years under the supervision of a gynecologist; but when I stopped using them, I did not menstruate. Since I was involved in a strenuous exercise program at the time, my gynecologist thought perhaps the exercise might be the cause of my infertility. I stopped exercising, but my period still did not start. By this time I had not menstruated for a full year, and my gynecologist prescribed a hormonal drug. This seemed to work, but it also produced some undesirable side effects. I felt bloated and moody; and although I didn't feel ill, I didn't feel really well either. Also, I only had a period when I took the drug. if 1 stopped the dosage, my period stopped, too. The gynecologist said that he did not know whether I was ovulating or not and suggested I consult an endocrinologist.
The endocrinologist prescribed a mild fertility drug. When this medication didn't work, he told me there was another stronger drug I could try. It would involve a series of shots and daily visits to the doctor's office to check my hormone levels. Not only would the procedure be time consuming, it was quite expensive. The endocrinologist could offer very little hope that it would solve my problem.
While I was debating whether or not to undergo this treatment, which seemed to offer the only frail hope I had of becoming pregnant, an alternative was presented to me. I had been working as an exercise instructor at The Firm, and the company's owner was making an exercise video. Several of the instructors were chosen to participate. We also were asked to lose a little weight before making the film, and the manager of the studio, Liz Guarnieri, suggested we try some macrobiotic food which would enable us to lose weight without losing muscle mass.
I signed up for a macrobiotic cooking class taught by Marcia Halpern a macrobiotic counselor here in South Carolina. Not only did I enjoy the food, I talked to a lot of people who believed the macrobiotic diet had cured them of various illnesses. Was it possible that a change in diet could work for me when hormone shots and fertility drugs hadn't? My skepticism began to fade as I recalled an unusual childhood experience.
Shortly before my seventh birthday, I began to go through puberty. My parents were alarmed and took me to a specialist in Augusta, Georgia. He said I was unusually sensitive to the hormones injected into chicken ant beef and that eating these meats was causing me to enter puberty prematurely. I stopped eating them and the problem was solved. What I ate made, a difference then - maybe it could make a difference now. I decided to make an appointment with Marcia for a macrobiotic consultation.
After I discussed my medical history in detail, Marcia told me she was sure the diet would correct my infertility. I had tried so many things ant been disappointed for so long that I could not help expressing doubts. Marcia got an empty picture frame and placed it on her desk. She looked at me and spoke firmly, "I'm going to keep the frame there so that we can put a picture of your baby in it after it's born. You are going to be pregnant within a year."
I was encouraged by Marcia's confidence and listened carefully as she outlined a diet designed for my specific needs. In addition to the diet, Marcia recommended ginger compresses applied to the ovaries and soaking in daikon leaf baths. As I left Marcia's, I decided I would follow the diet faithfully for a year. Marcia believed I would be pregnant within a year so that should be a fair trial of whether the diet would work for me.
After three months of macrobiotic eating, I began to menstruate. It was the first time in ten years that I had had a period without the help of medication. I was so excited I called several of my friends to tell them the good news. Now I knew that conceiving a child had become a real possibility.
Nine months later I learned I was pregnant. Marcia had been right. Dee and I would become parents at last. My pregnancy went well after I got over my morning sickness, and Dee and I decided to take the Lamaze classes offered by Baptist Hospital. The classes proved very helpful and our daughter was born on May 5, 1991, by means of natural childbirth after only six hours of labor. She was healthy and beautiful - Hannah Kathleen O'Brien.
Dee and I feel we were truly blessed by the birth of our child, but producing a healthy baby is only the beginning. It is essential to do everything possible to maintain our daughter's health. We continue to eat macrobiotically and feel it is necessary to provide Hannah with healthy food as well as plenty of love and security.
I incorporate macrobiotics in decisions about the treatment of illnesses. I do not disregard the medical approach, but I feel a need to consider a more holistic way of life. Macrobiotics influence every aspect of our daily live and I believe has been a healthy contribution to our general well-being .I know there are many challenges ahead for Hannah (non-macro birthday parties, school lunches, immunization regulations, etc.), but I think that with macrobiotics as a guide, along with common sense natural solutions, we'll all be just fine.
Tami O'Brien is the wife of Dee O'Brien and proud mother of Hannah Kathleen and her newborn son, DeForest. She is a full-time homemaker who enjoys macro-cooking and organic gardening and is an aerobics teacher at the Columbia Athletic Club.
Overcoming Infertility: By Ruth Camp
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
My humble story begins with a search for something, anything, to help my father who was dying of cancer. I stumbled across the macrobiotic diet. As I read, I passed along to my father all of my findings, excited that there might be some hope for him. However, each person must make his own peace with the treatment he undergoes and he chose conventional therapy.
As I read, though, I found macrobiotics would heal other diseases, and since I had been trying to have a baby for four years, I thought it be worth trying for myself. I, too, had chosen conventional therapy for infertility in the course of those four years. I underwent the standard battery of testing, and the final laparoscopy revealed endometriosis, which the doctor indicated could be the cause of my infertility. We proceeded with the drugs, and if infertility wasn't enough, I almost lost my mind as well. The drug therapy lasted six months, and two years later I still was not pregnant.
I had been told that if I didn't get pregnant within two years, surgery was the only thing left and I just couldn't face that. So I was delighted at the prospect of changing my diet. We were not big meat eaters, but we lived on rich cheeses, yogurt, eggs and sweets. I was so excited that I went from eating all those foods to a diet of whole grains, beans and sea vegetables in one day. I recommend a more gentle transition, especially for those who so lovingly support us, as my husband did. However, time was of the essence. I was thirty-six and the biological clock was ticking away.
After moving from Texas we contacted Marcia Halpern at the Macrobiotic Center of South Carolina. I became pregnant a short fifteen months after beginning the diet. I ate a strict healing diet and from what I remember now, I didn't vary even once. There was no joy to compare the jubilation I felt when at last I did conceive.
I proceeded through the pregnancy macrobiotically even though family and medical personnel had severe misgivings. Fortunately I had support from Marcia and macrobiotic friends when I let the misgivings of others worry me. I chose to eat fairly narrowly, maybe too narrowly, during the pregnancy due to recurring yeast infections and low blood sugar problems. But Trey, our baby boy, endured a very difficult birth and he was strong and healthy when he was born.
In the course of his two and a half year life we have struggled at times with the macrobiotic diet. For example, we discovered he was allergic to rice and the fermented products. But we have learned that one diet is not for all times and one must listen to the needs of each person and respond accordingly. Our diet still consists of grains, beans and sea vegetables. And Trey has had minimal colds and illnesses compared to other children I know.
In addition to the allergies, we have struggled because we have moved to an area where we are the only people we know who eat the way we do. With a baby, I have not had the time to give cooking classes and develop a support group as I have in the past. But this, too, has provided growth for us. We have dared to be different, and our friends are beginning to get used to us.
The most important thing to me is that each challenge we face provides a learning experience. I have recently miscarried a second baby. The grief is still with me but there were many things to learn. My life had become too busy and my husband's job too stressful. I have strengthened my diet, of course; but must importantly I realize that I have not the power to give and to take away life. There is a Higher Power orchestrating our lives, and my job is to be responsible for what I can do and to trust God for the rest.
A resident of Clemson, South Carolina, Ruth Camp is a successful mother who also enjoys artwork, music, and organic gardening with her family.
My Victory Over Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: By Gary Lloyd
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
When I went to work one day in May 1982, I had no idea the sore throat that started that day would develop into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I can remember the day very clearly. I was 38 years old, married, with two daughters who were about to start high school. Life seemed to be running along quite well. I felt healthy, but was under a good bit of stress at work as most people are. It all started with what my doctor diagnosed as strep throat, which turned into mononucleosis. After three months in bed, getting weaker by the day, I was admitted to the hospital for tests. The results of the tests ranged from possible leukemia to,” "We don't know," and I was sent home. I actually thought I was dying as I had lost a brother a few years before to leukemia.
Looking back now, the first seven years of my illness were the hardest to deal with because I didn't know what was wrong with me, nor did anyone else. Just taking a shower was an ordeal. I felt that everyone doubted I was even sick at all because my illness could not be diagnosed. It was hard on my family. My daughters couldn't understand why I just lay around the house all day and cried all the time. I lost all my friends and my personality changed dramatically. I didn't want to see anyone or talk to anyone. I was about as depressed as possible, but in my heart I knew there must be some physical cause for my problems.
One evening my wife and I were watching a show on television called P.M. Magazine. They were doing a special report about a mysterious illness called Yuppie Flu, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. They listed every symptom I had. I almost fell off the couch. My wife took me to North Carolina to see a doctor who ran the necessary tests. He told me, "I am sorry, but you have CFS. There is no cure." After hearing this, it was a relief to have a name for my illness, even though not much was known about it. I wasn’t crazy after all.
The list of symptoms is quite long. They are: low grade fever, sore the painful lymph nodes, voice weakness, muscle weakness, severe joint pain, insomnia, severe headaches, forgetfulness, irritability, confusion, difficulty thinking, inability to concentrate, depression, anxiety, personality changes, chills and night sweats, shortness of breath, dizziness and balance problems, irregular heart beat, diarrhea, low temperature, numbness in face or extremities, dry mouth, chest pains, allergies, sensitivities to odors, lightheadedness, feeling in a fog, and seizures. As you can see, this illness is much, much more than just being tired as the name, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, implies. It seems to target mainly women in their thirties and forties, but I know people from nine to ninety who have it. Where it comes from, no one knows. It has been theorized that a retro-virus attacks the immune system and devastates it. Unfortunately, many physicians are not familiar with CFS and have difficulty diagnosing it. Others still do not even know that the illness exists.
I was put on four or five medications and told to go home and do nothing but rest. Any type of stress only aggravated my symptoms. I can remember day after day just sitting and staring out the window feeling like my life was a total waste. I couldn't really enjoy anything. My emotions ranged from fear, anger, confusion and guilt. Words cannot describe how isolated I felt from everything and everybody.
During the Christmas holiday of '92, it seemed as if my prayers might be answered. A friend dropped by to give me a bottle of herbal energizer and said, "Try these, I think they will help you." The first day I took them my head seemed clearer than it had been in 11 years. I was actually able to think, and a few days later noticed my depression lifting. This began what was to be an incredible year for me - 1993. By February I felt I was strong enough to take a course in meditation. I had read about meditation and I thought a course in this subject would help me. After taking the course and practicing meditation for several weeks, I noticed good things starting to happen in my life. It was like Dr. Dyer said in his book, Real Magic, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." Well, boy, did I have some wonderful teachers!
I started with colonics and colon irrigations, and I also changed my diet completely to fresh fruits and vegetables and fresh juices. I began exercising by rebounding, walking and swimming. In May Linda Lybrand, who was giving me the colonics and who is a dear friend, introduced me to a wonderful lady by the name of Roxanne Hall, a psychic. Roxanne gave me the tools that I needed to learn to get well. The very next day I started reading the books and listening to the tapes she recommended. The first book I read was about a lady healing herself from cancer. When I realized how important the mind, body and spirit connection is, it was like a light flashing in my head. If my mind had something to do with causing my illness, then I could reverse the process and get well.
My relationship to God became stronger and stronger. I realized that God wants us to be healthy, happy and prosperous. I became obsessed with reading and learning how powerful our thoughts are in relation to good health. I changed my thought process. I started to learn to love myself. I forgave everyone in my life. I started to enjoy present moment happiness. I got back to nature, realizing for the first time how everything in nature is perfect, just the way God created it. I was introduced to a wonderful and gifted chiropractor, Dr. Tonine Gelardi. She gave me immediate relief from headaches and back pain. I could feel myself getting stronger from her adjustments. I visualized the way I could look when I was strong and healthy.
By the Fall of '93, I could start to see the things Roxanne had talked about. I was going to get well and be able to use the knowledge I had acquired to help many others learn how to accomplish the same result. In August Roxanne recommended that I see Dr. Robert Maddocks. What a neat guy. He started working with me and addressed some things that I wasn't consciously aware of. He helped me deal with some areas of the subconscious. I could feel definite improvement after each visit. In November he told me, "You really look good." He was thrilled with my improvement in four months time.
In December Roxanne said I was about 90% well, but I needed to see a man by the name of Howard Wills, who could help me finish the job.I met with Howard, a healer, who is a wonderful, caring man. We worked on the emotional level and cleared some things out that I didn't realize were still there. It was an unforgettable experience. When I left Howard's home I knew I was well. That was two weeks before Christmas, 1993. It had been an incredible year for me.
If we can use our problems and illnesses as opportunities to think about how we can change our lives, we have power. Many people who come through serious illness say that it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to them because it gave them a chance to change their lives. Life is a gift, and we should cherish every moment. I know I certainly do.
Gary Lloyd resides with his wife, Pam, on Lake Murray in South Carolina. Gary says from this experience he has discovered his life's purpose - helping and serving others. Gary practices Foot Reflexology and enjoys helping and sharing alternative healing ideas.
How I Healed Arthritis on The Macrobiotic Path: By Jane Quincannon
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
The blue skies, crisp air and magnificent mountains of Colorado beckoned this North Carolina woman; so in 1980, I resigned from my teaching job, packed my hiking boots and down coat and flew off to Denver. I was ready for some fresh air and fresh insights - a sort -of Rocky Mountain natural high. I found it in Boulder, one of the most beautiful and friendly cities in America. It was great to be in the right place, at the right time, with freedom, friends and enough funds to live simply.
A real "health nut," I thought I was doing all the right things for my body. I ate lots of salads, fruits, cheese and yogurt and took lots of vitamin pills washed down with huge glasses of fruit juices and distilled water. Each day in restaurants I ate delicious vegetarian meals. Daily exercise included invigorating hikes in the hills of Boulder. My spirits were high and life was good, except for one thing. With all of my "right" way of living, I was beginning to develop arthritis.
My heels, hips, knees and feet hurt terribly and constantly. I also experienced intermittent pain in my wrists and fingers. I hobbled around feeling debilitated and frightened of the future. Would I have to endure this pain for the rest of my life? Would it get worse?
Whenever I see an advertisement for some over-the-counter medication, which supposedly relieves "the minor pain of arthritis," I become annoyed. Some arthritis sufferers may experience only "minor" pain, but many more suffer agonizing pain - pain that awakens them at night and keeps them awake in spite of Aspirin, Tylenol, Motrin, etc.
I decided to visit an orthopedic physician who confirmed that I did indeed have arthritis and wrote me a prescription for Cortisone. From his office, I went directly to a library and looked up the drug in the PDK (The Physician's Desk Reference). Listed in this book were four columns of the side effects of cortisone; the main one being bone loss. I realized that drugs were not the answer to my problem and began to read everything I could find about arthritis.
One piece of information I discovered worried me very much. It seemed that arthritis was, in many cases, a cyclic disease. That is, the pain I was now experiencing might go away, but would probably return. Joints affected by the disease could become swollen and inflamed - so swollen that I might not be able to use them at all. Even if one attack of the disease might go away leaving the joints only slightly damaged, another attack could occur and another until the joints were permanently deformed and had lost all flexibility.
Further research informed me that over 40 million Americans have reported cases of arthritis with an estimated equal number of unreported cases. That means 80 million people suffer from some form of arthritis spending 50 billion dollars each year on medical costs, drugs and treatments to alleviate the pain. Most books offered few insights into t: cause, only ways to "live with the pain."
I was soon to learn how the universe may sometimes give us a nudge down the right path. A friend invited me to her "back-to-the-earth" style wedding, where she served a vegetarian feast including brown rice and hummus. I had eaten brown rice occasionally, but the hummus (made of seasoned chickpeas) was both new and delicious. The next morning I felt terrific. My pain was noticeably diminished.
I racked my mind to discover why the pain was so much better. What had been different the day before? I wondered if it had been the food I had eaten at the wedding. Could food have that much to do with my arthritis pain? None of my doctors had ever discussed diet; yet eating those foods had made a difference. I believed my body was telling me something.
My next step was to locate a professional to guide me to a health diet. While visiting a local health food store, I asked the owner which local nutritionist he could recommend. I was directed to Lino Stanchich, macrobiotic educator and counselor. A specialist in natural food macrobiotic theory and Oriental philosophy, Mr. Stanchich (Lino to everyone) counseled in a Boulder clinic with two physicians and an acupuncturist. Several of my friends who had received counseling from Lino told me macrobiotic eating had improved their energy levels. But was I ready for macrobiotics?
The diet appeared to be healthy, but extreme. The notion of giving up all dairy foods seemed ridiculous. But perhaps the change was what I needed. My only alternative would be to continue down the path of more pain, pain-killers, drugs and surgery - ending in a wheelchair. And I didn’t want that! I made an appointment for a consultation with Lino.
At my first meeting with Lino, I was impressed by his friendly exuberance as well as by his vast knowledge of foods and their effects. He gave me practical information, useful methods, clear guidelines, and answered all of my health questions. Most importantly, he inspired me to begin take charge of my own health. I knew my recovery was up to me.
I went into my kitchen, a room I had previously used only for b1ending chilled fruit juice and powdered protein shakes. Using macrobiotics cookbooks and God's natural grains, beans and vegetables, I began prepare the foods that would heal me. It was difficult, but much easier than living with a lifetime of pain.
Feeling the need to learn more about macrobiotics than was contained in my cookbooks, I took classes at a local center. Macrobiotic cooking teachers were kind enough to allow me to assist in their cooking classes. I learned about the miraculous qualities of rice, millet (which I had never tasted), barley, and all the nutritionally powerful grains. Common vegetables such as onions and carrots and unfamiliar vegetables such as daikon and burdock became new medicinal treasures. I savored the rich taste of miso soup and sea vegetables, encouraged perhaps by my knowledge of their healing qualities. To me, a simple meal of soup, grains, beans and vegetables satisfied my taste buds and my very soul. I felt I had come home.
Through macrobiotics I learned fascinating facts about my body, its organs, systems, and functions. I knew I had kidneys, but had never given them a thought until now. I learned how these small yet vital organs are connected to the health of my bones and joints. Eureka! This was the answer. My dietary habits had depleted the minerals in my bones and the energy in my kidneys. The macrobiotic diet provided the high-mineral foods to revitalize my kidneys. Its low fat foods allowed my body to eliminate years of accumulation, creating a greater flow of blood and energy through my entire body.
Within one week my pain had totally gone. My energy increased. I breathed easier, slept more soundly and felt more hope and inner power than ever before. I got the message loud and clear. Macrobiotics was my solution. After twelve years, I continue practicing the macrobiotic way of life and continue to be free of arthritis. I am deeply grateful to each of my macrobiotic teachers for sharing their profound knowledge and wisdom and, with tireless dedication, for creating books, classes and institutes in which people learn the macrobiotic way of life.
Almost from the start I was asked to teach others. I discovered that, like myself, people are truly hungry for information to lead a healthy, balanced life. To teach macrobiotics is a great privilege and joy. When people ask me what I do, I am tempted to say, "I teach people to save their lives."
References: A Natural Approach to Arthritis by Michio Kushi and Cooking for Health Arthritis by Aveline Kushi
Jane Quincannon has been a teacher of macrobiotics for the past twelve years and has studied with the world's leading macrobiotic educators. She is presently on staff of The Kushi Institute in Becket, MA. Jane also produces educational videos and is a certified yoga instructor.
My Macrobiotic Indiscretion: By Benjamin Spock, M.D.
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
One day, Friday, August 13,1993, at the summer conference of the Kushi Institute at Green Mountain College in Vermont, I woke with a sore throat. I thought, as I always do at the start of a sore throat, runny nose or fresh cough, that I must avoid chilling or exhaustion which would make the infection worse!
I assumed, according to my Western medical training and practice I had picked up a virus because of some unknown factor of susceptibility. But later, when the infection had become worse, several of macrobiotic friends, including Chris Hassell, M.D., blamed, without hesitation, on Thursday, the day before my sore throat appeared, of eating, at lunch, dinner and after dinner, four pieces of pie.
On Friday I was able to take it easy and my sore throat became less noticeable. Michio Kushi made a house call and advised carrot juice. On saturday morning I had a stinging, running nose and took one sniff of 1/4 percent of neosynephrin to avoid having my nose interfere with my talk and answering session at 11 a.m. I wasn't feeling sick at that time. But that afternoon and evening my wife, Mary, tells me I developed a fever of 102 degrees, was groggy and uncooperative. Mr. Kushi advised an enema which was productive and kuzu tea and miso soup. My condition improved markedly
Sunday morning I felt almost well. My sore throat and runny nose were gone, and we decided to travel back to Camden since there woe facilities at the college.
I learned that it is dangerous for me, too, to violate my diet.
Dr. Spock, author of "Baby and Child Care, " celebrated his ninety day this year and, along with his wife, Mary Morgan, was a featured speaker at the Macrobiotic Summer Conference.
It's hard to be sexy with sinus: Jeffery Arpan
The Rice Paper: Healing Stories; Fall 1995; Editor: Luz Rodriguez Arpan
For most of my life I suffered from allergies. For most of my life everyone around me also suffered from MY allergies. I had the complete inventory of annoying symptoms/consequences, sneezes and wheezes, itchy, watery and bloodshot eyes, sore throat and swollen glands, a red, constantly running nose, and enough mucus to fill the Rose Bowl on a weekly basis. I looked like a mess. I was a mess. I looked miserable. I was miserable. I made everyone around me miserable.
During allergy seasons it was hard for me to be pleasant. It was hard to be cheerful. It was hard to be productive. It was hard to be sexy. It was contagious.
During my teens, at my family's and girlfriend's insistence, I went to my first of innumerable allergists. They looked with compassion at my puffy face and facial components, peered curiously down my swollen and reddened throat, listened intently to the mucus movements in my chest and head cavities, examined chemically and microscopically virtually every form of my bodily discharges. Then they'd conclude: "You seem to be suffering from allergies." No snot.
Next they'd insist on more scientific testing, and began referring to my condition as acute Rhinitis. (When I first heard this term, I saw nothing cute about looking like a rhinoceros. (The allergist and his not-so-lucky assistant would then paint a grid on my back and in each of the hundred or so little squares inject the essence of something I might be allergic to, such as different kinds of food, grasses, molds, dust, and my personal favorite, animal scurf. The results were always the same: in order, I was extremely allergic to indoor (not outdoor) dust, mold, cats and certain weeds and grasses, particularly ragweed and goldenrod. To my adolescent dismay, I was not allergic to green vegetables or liver. After having so many of these tests done and then redone every time I moved to a new location (from Illinois to Indiana to Georgia and to South Carolina), I began becoming allergic to allergists. They gave me shots and dispensed or prescribed expensive pills. They taught me how to give myself shots in the privacy of my own home and to inquire before going to someone's home if they had any cats. They commiserated with me, often fleeced me, and usually, in desperation, suggested that I move to the desert.
I tried to follow all their directions and take all their prescriptions; I even tried several times to kill my sister's cat. On the plus side, I was usually exempted from such duties as cleaning the fireplace or vacuuming, but yard work and playing and just being outside was unavoidable as were their allergic consequences.
In a good year, I was only mildly miserable from December throw February. In spring, when other young men's thoughts and fancies turn to pleasurable pursuits, mine turned to pollen. And so it would go, virtually unabated, through the sweltering dog days of summer and the mold a mildew of fall. Nothing impeded the virtually constant discharge of bodily fluids. As one of my favorite folk songs went, "You may think it's funny but it's (s)not."
As my suffering continued, so too did my disenchantment with allergists. I went "over-the-counter." Stock prices of the companies who made Dristan Contact, Sinutab, Allerest, and the OTC versions of the drugs that used be available only by prescription soared. None worked very well, very consistently. Some worked better in combination with others. But when they did occasionally stop the symptoms, they also stopped me dead in my tracks. (I'd fall asleep.) So either way I couldn't do much work or play, and the western world's approach to treatment couldn't stop the causes of my suffering.
Having paid off considerable amounts of k