Don't get angry...get better!

Hello fam and friends!

It's almost 8 o'clock and mom and I are looking out at a beautiful sunny morning. We have breakfast at 8, which generally consists of OJ, oatmeal and raisins/prunes/apricots/bananas and a slice of rye bread. Delicious! Companions can have plain yogurt, brown sugar in their oatmeal and coffee, but I'm trying to stick as close to what mom's eating since I can definitely use some detoxing too!

The last few days have been great. On Friday I attended a yoga class and it was wonderful. Mom was really tired, so she rested in our room while I learned some good exercises and poses for lymphedema, back pain and arthritis pain in knees and ankles. We ended the session with an "Om Shanti" chant. Shanti means peace and it was definitely peaceful as we repeated the words in unison for about two minutes. Overall, a great way to spend an hour!

Later in the afternoon we went to a cooking class. We learned how to make the special soup that Gerson patients eat for lunch and dinner every day. The ingredients are garlic, tomato, parsley, potato, celery and celery root. It is a bit bland and hard to get used to at first, but I've started to really enjoy it! Most of our communal meals are spent sharing successful soup flavoring experiements. Dick, the husband of a lovely lady named Nancy who also has breast cancer, likes homemade salsa and apple cider vinegar in his soup. Mom puts onions and peppers in hers and I am a big fan of lemon juice and fresh minced garlic. Yum! (Although I have been walking around here like a fire-breathing dragon!)

During the cooking class we also learned how to make a delicous roasted wild rice, cookies and sorbet. The cookies are really yummy and don't have any sugar or flour in them. Mom and I are excited to try these new healthy recipes when we get home.  Auntie Buckles, Amy and Gram - I'm probably going to need some help in my kitchen!!

This weekend we also learned how to give B12/liver extract shots and we went over all of mom's supplements and learned exactly what they do in her body. It was really interesting and helpful to know which pill does what and why she is responding so well to this treatment.

Yesterday I ventured off of the property in search of a new pair of flip flops. Mom was having a bit of a flare up, so she rested by the pool while I struck out with a fabulous patient companion duo.  Hee Moon and Christina arrived on Friday and are a hoot! Hee has thyroid cancer and brought her sister-in-law, Christina, as her companion. They are really silly and goofy and I love them. Christina grew up in Argentina, so she speaks fluent Spanish and proved to be a very useful interpreter during our adventure. We searched for the store and ended up going "2 more blocks" about 7 times! Eventually we reached the store and I found a pair of "mucho grande" flip flops. We decided to grab a taxi back to the clinic - it was quite an adventure!

Mom found out this morning that she has had such a healing response that she is down to just one dressing a day for her wounds. This is amazing considering the shape she was in when she got here - the shape she's been in the last few years, actually. It is totally frustrating that in 6 days she has visibly healed more than she has in the past two years. It is awful that she had to suffer so much when she could have been using the dressing techniques here to ease her pain and discomfort. We plan to share some Tijuanian techniques with the Dana Farber staff when we return! We were pretty sad and angry yesterday as we chatted about how long she has been in pain. While speaking with her Doctor about the situation, mom became visibly upset. Her Doctor looked at her and said, "Teresa, dear, don't get angry. Get better." Needless to say, those words have become our mantra and they have had a very calming and healing effect on us. We figure if that Doctor can stand to see "terminal" patients come to his clinic and be healed time and time again - for 26 years - we can bear our frustration too. We just need to focus our energy on HEALING!

Mom is still doing great, but is getting a little homesick, so keep the comments and emails coming. They make her so happy! A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to my Auntie Becky (mom's sister) and cousin Amy for their super special care package. They sent a bag of letters, cards and special messages along with us - enough to last the entire trip! We've been opening 1 or 2 a day and they are amazing, ranging from insprational quotes and bible verses, to crazy messages, pictures and family jokes. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. These special messages have been some of the best parts of this trip. WE LOVE YOU!

OK, that's all for now. I've got to keep my patient on schedule!

Much love,
k