Gerson's Therapy

**gunnyl** · 01-16-2012, 03:27 PM

Does anybody know of any Wegeners patient who has completed any alternative therapies? I have been reading a lot about Dr. Max Gerson as well as Robert Morse N.D. and am interested if any Wegeners Patients have been successful in getting off meds altogether using a nutrient based plan.

**delorisdoe** · 01-16-2012, 03:37 PM

I read a book by wendy shanker called "are you my guru?" she tried everything you could ever imagine. some things helped but in the end she had to give in and go back on the drugs or die. Some of the other things she tried did help but they would not have kept her alive.

**Sangye** · 01-16-2012, 03:51 PM

Originally Posted by gunnyl

Does anybody know of any Wegeners patient who has completed any alternative therapies? I have been reading a lot about Dr. Max Gerson as well as Robert Morse N.D. and am interested if any Wegeners Patients have been successful in getting off meds altogether using a nutrient based plan.

No, but I know of two people who nearly died trying to treat Wegs using holistic treatments-- me and another member who I'll let tell his/her own story. I didn't know I had Wegs and treated my symptoms holistically for a year before I wound up being admitted into the ICU with massive lung hemorrhage that had started 3 months prior. I was nearly dead. It was the result of a severe case of pig-headedness on my part. My holistic docs had begged me to see an MD for the mystery symptoms, but I was convinced they had nothing to offer.

This doesn't mean you can't use some holistic therapies and treatments as part of your overall care. But any holistic doc who treats a Weggie must understand that it is NOT like most other AI diseases. There is no research at all--not even a case study-- on Wegs being treated holistically.

I am very familiar with Dr Gerson's excellent work and am a huge supporter of it. However, it cannot treat Wegs. The diet and juicing aspects are great--not gonna hurt you. But I would not recommend the detoxification regimes (eg coffee enemas) for Weggies. Ironically I followed the Gerson plan for many years before getting Wegs.

About a year ago I emailed the Gerson Institute to ask about a child I knew with cancer. The doctor who answered happened to be one I knew back in Arizona! She had heard about my diagnosis through fellow holistic docs and told me her own mother had died from Wegener's. I have no idea if she attempted to use the Gerson therapy, though. I doubt it. Dr Gerson and his daughter Charlotte (who has run the clinic in the years since his death) had very strict qualification standards for using the treatment.

**gunnyl** · 01-16-2012, 04:22 PM

Sangye, as always; you prove to be a wealth of knowledge!

Al · 01-16-2012, 05:23 PM

Gunny, I get asked this a lot, by well-meaning friends who a) "hate doctors", or 2) are under the assumption that all you have to do to avoid getting sick is to take care of yourself; i.e. if you do get sick (or injured) it is because to were not taking enough of supplement x, or broccoli, or whatever. This is both too simplistic and often totally wrong and unfair. First, people who eat and live well do get hideous diseases, just like the slovens. Secondly, very few of the really bad diseases respond to simply living better. There is, for example, no known cure for WG, nor is any "cure" conceivable in our lifetimes. (In 1968 I broke my thumb off. The bone was reset, but the orthopedic surgeon pointed out to me that it would likely become arthritic in 25 years or so. "But don't worry." he said, "by that time they'll have a cure for arthritis." Hah!) The best anyone can do, now, is manage the symptoms. Better diets, better nutrition, and better ways of living may help, but they will not do the heavy lifting.

Al

**Sangye** · 01-17-2012, 05:07 AM

In this thread and this one, I discussed some more info about using holistic treatments/therapies/supplements along with the medical treatment for Wegs, as well as how to get a holistic doctor on the same page as you.

Unfortunately I'm my usual long-winded self in those threads-- a tendency I've been trying to curb the past couple years. Jack was and is my main role model. He could say everything in a couple of lines.

**Thakator** · 01-17-2012, 05:18 AM

Nice posts, Sangye.

**Nancy-S** · 01-17-2012, 05:32 AM

One year ago my friends 2-year-old-daughter was dx with stage 4 neuroblastoma. This is a rare horrific cancer. After the first few rounds of chemo/radiation, she sought help from a hollistic Dr. with the intension of putting off the rest of her chemo. Her decision was challenged in court and ultimately was required to proceed with convensional medicine.

What she has found is a good combination of both. They call the natural stuff "complimentary" treatments. Its been recognized by her current docs, mainly because her survival so far has been miraculous. But she must, for the safety of her child, always discuss her alternative treatments with the docs at Sloan Kettering hospital in NYC. and vice versa.

I plan on pursuing hollistc therapy. But I DO NOT have Wegs and am currently not on medication.