What to do if you have cancer?

This list details some helpful things you can do to deal with the panic factor that comes when diagnosed with cancer. Engrain these thoughts in your heart and mind; they will help you understand the situation you are in and will empower you to make a choice.
Some thoughts for cancer patients:

• Do not take your doctor’s diagnosis as a voodoo curse. Think of all the hundreds—and maybe thousands—of people who have been given a certain amount of time to live and have contradicted the doctor’s diagnosis by beating the cancer and living cancer-free beyond their doctor’s allotted time.
• Decide whether you are going to beat the cancer or whether you will let it beat you. You have a choice to make.
• Remember that your body works to keep you healthy and that you just need to provide the opportunity. Cancer did not fall out of the sky and attack you—you harbored it by lifestyle. Avoid blame, and just get prepared to make some changes.
• Remember that you are in control. Stay focused. We all have inherent intelligence when it comes to nutrition and nature’s laws. If you are getting advice from a natural health practitioner that doesn’t make sense to you, do not follow it; seek someone else. (Word-of-mouth referrals are usually the best.)
• Do not jump from practitioner to practitioner—you will confuse yourself. Find a good holistic nutritionist or herbalist and a good medical doctor, and use their skills and caring to help you heal yourself. Sometimes your medical doctor will be open and willing to write a prescription to see your natural health care provider. This prescription might help you get reimbursed by your medical insurance for your natural health care.
• Your body is constantly being rebuilt, cell by cell. In fact, you have a whole new body every seven years. Give your body what it needs to start rebuilding the good cells today!
• If you are spiritually connected (or want to be), pray. God answers prayers; pray for the right help to come to you, and pray that you will recognize it when it does.
• ➤ Read inspiring books by people who have fought cancer naturally and won:
• Sir Jason Winters Story: From Deadly Cancer to Perfect Health by Benjamin Roth Smythe and Jason Winters, 1997

• Beating Cancer with Nutrition: Clinically Proven and Easy-to-Follow Strategies to Dramatically Improve Quality and Quantity of Life by Patrick Quillin and Noreen Quillin (Contributor), 1998

• You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay, 1987
• Remember that attitude is 90 percent of anything. Enhance your attitude of gratitude for the good things you have in your life.
• Have faith. Don’t worry about money, time, or anything else. Focus on healing yourself, and the universe will provide you with what you need.
• Be open to learning a whole bunch about yourself in a short period of time. Old thought patterns that do not serve you will be busted up during your true healing process. Many times we realize we are harboring negative emotions that fester as a cancer in the body. This is your opportunity to make your peace with yourself and others.

All these things might sound naive, but, this is how most people overcome any potentially life-threatening disease. Once you are on the other side of the battle, you will be a whole new person—literally cell by cell!

Cancer Answer: Some Philosophical Support

The greatest challenge I have in working with anyone who has had cancer is the panic factor. Most people who find out they have cancer are, understandably, in shock. On top of that, the medical treatments are usually initiated immediately, which can also put someone in a state of shock or trauma. When I see people who decide to investigate natural therapies, I see them bombarded with information from helpful friends and family members suggesting what they should and shouldn’t do. They’re routinely offered all sorts of suggestions for some miracle remedy or therapy. As if you weren’t already in a state of shock, this overwhelming information—mixed with the urgency factor that cancer brings because of its typical aggressive nature—can put a person over the top, so to speak. Motivated by fear, a person may jump from practitioner to practitioner, each one offering a different program, contradicting each other, and making the patient feel lost and helpless. Stop! I’ll try to take away some of that panic by explaining a few things that I believe will help you see cancer a little differently and empower you to truly help yourself.

First of all, you are in charge of your body. If you are diagnosed with cancer, go home, sit down, and think. Do not panic immediately (yeah, sure). Realize that you were not born with this disease—you walked into it by doing something over a long period of time, or perhaps not doing something over a long period of time. In most cases, it is very possible to walk back out of the disease by figuring out what those things were and then correcting them. That’s not to say that the walk will be a walk in the park, of course, and it’s not to say that surgery won’t be required in many cases, but surgery is not the total answer to a cancer-free rest of your life. In other words, consider more than just surgery to treat cancer.
You need to understand how you wound up with cancer in the first place—and then don’t repeat your mistakes. Remember that you are in control of the choices that you make. You can choose health, or you can choose to do things that have negative consequences.

Herbal Remedies for Common Ailments

Bad Breath (Halitosis)
Best Single Herb: Liquid chlorophyll
Best Combinations: Liquid chlorophyll, spearmint
Other Helpful Supplements: Activated charcoal; food enzymes; zinc Possible Causes: Sour stomach; constipation; gum disease (gingivitis)
Complementary Help: Dental check-up; peppermint oil; extra liquids; bowel
Cleansing

Bites and Stings
Best Single Herb: Black cohosh
Best Combinations: Black cohosh; alfalfa, marshmallow, plantain, horsetail,
oatstraw, wheat grass, hops; blessed thistle, pleurisy root, skullcap, yerba santa
Other Helpful Supplements: Activated charcoal; pantothenic acid; vitamin C
Possible Causes: Sweet-smelling blood from sugar consumption
Complementary Help: Using a compress made from charcoal and aloe vera to draw
out poisons; taking a charcoal bath; placing ice on the area to control spread and
swelling; removing the stinger; preventing stings through external use of essential
oil of citronella to keep mosquitoes and flies away

Bladder Infection (Cystitis)
Best Single Herb: Cranberries
Best Combinations: Cranberry and buchu root; golden seal; uva ursi; cornsilk
Other Helpful Supplements: Acidophilus
Possible Causes: Constipation; improper toilet habits; not emptying the bladder
when you have the urge; unresolved anger and frustration
Complementary Help: Bowel cleansing; tea tree oil applied to entrance of the
Urethra

Blood Pressure, High
Best Single Herb: Garlic
Best Combinations: Hawthorne, capsicum, garlic; cornsilk (kidney support); chamomile (to calm nerves); milk thistle or dandelion (for liver)
Other Helpful Supplements: CoQ10, trace mineral supplement; vitamin C; Omega-3
fatty acids; B-complex vitamins with extra niacin
Possible Causes: Stress; high cholesterol or hardening of arteries; abuse of caffeine;
mineral imbalance; kidney problems; constipation
Complementary Help: Stress management; bowel cleansing; drinking more water

Blood Pressure, Low
Best Single Herb: Capsicum
Best Combinations: Ginkgo and hawthorn; kelp (if thyroid-related); licorice root
Other Helpful Supplements: Trace minerals
Possible Causes: Glandular imbalance; thyroid problems; weak heart
Complementary Help: Physical exercise; deep-breathing exercises

Bronchitis
Best Single Herb: Fenugreek
Best Combinations: Fenugreek and thyme; lobelia; mullein
Other Helpful Supplements: Beta carotene; magnesium; zinc; vitamin E
Possible Causes: Pollution; constipation
Complementary Help: Cleanse bowel; avoid dairy, wheat, fruit juices, and other
sugary foods and drinks; use an onion-and-honey compress; diffuse eucalyptus oil
in the room

Burns, Minor
Best Single Herb: Aloe vera
Best Combinations: Slippery elm; aloe vera (whole leaf is best)
Other Helpful Supplements: Vitamins A, E, and C; zinc
Possible Causes: Lack of attention to self or care for well-being; distracted manner
Complementary Help: External applications: honey; pure vanilla extract; essential
oil of lavender; vitamin E capsule, punctured and squeezed onto area

Dr. Jensen’s Honey Facial

1. Wash your face.
2. Lay a hot washcloth on your face to open up pores.
3. Splash your face with cold water to close pores and increase circulation.
4. Apply raw honey to your face.
5. Let the honey cool down a bit, and gently pat the honey all over your face and neck.
6. Rinse.
7. Splash your face with cold water and pat dry.

Your skin will look renewed and glowing!

Other Great Home Remedies for Your Skin

Always protect your skin from sun exposure with sunscreens and hats to keep sun off your face when outside. Air pollution is causing our earth’s atmosphere to break down, which also breaks down our protection from the sun’s damaging rays. Honey has been used as a beauty aid applied to the skin.
Honey (as well as pure vanilla) is also useful as an external application for burns—if nothing else, you will smell edible! Vitamin E oil can be used externally to prevent scarring from burns; a capsule may be punctured with a needle and squeezed onto the burnt or scarred area.

Aloe Vera: Nice to See You!

The best remedy for burns of all types is aloe vera (Aloe vera). Aloe can be taken internally as well as externally to soothe and heal tissues. It contains special ingredients that work together when applied directly to burns to produce a pain-relieving effect. In addition, vitamin A feeds the skin, and vitamin E taken internally and also applied directly to skin can reduce scaring. Zinc helps in wound healing, and vitamin C strengthens collagen, which is helpful in all skin healing. Calendula (usually found added to a cream) has been helpful in soothing skin irritations when applied externally.

Burns: Now You’re Cookin’

Burns can result from chemicals, electrical accidents, or fire—including the fire from too much sun! For best results, take care of the burn immediately. Sometimes getting burned is a careless accident because you weren’t paying attention or were lackadaisical about safety. Burns can serve as a wake-up call to pay more attention to your wellbeing and make you more aware of your movements and actions.

Foods That Can Help or Hinder

When dealing with a condition involving an excess of mucus, such as bronchitis, it is wise to remember that sugary foods and dairy products cause excess mucus production in many people. If you are one of these people, avoiding those products until you are well again may aid your battle.
My most revered teacher, Dr. Bernard Jensen, says that carrot juice is one of the best foods to eliminate mucus from the body. It works great for me, and carrots are rich in beta carotene, which feeds the skin and soft tissues of the body, too. Drink your carrots!

Fenugreek: Nothing to Get Choked Up About

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) has been an excellent remedy for bronchitis because it not only kills infections and fights against viruses, but also works as an expectorant to help push mucus out of the body. For that reason, fenugreek is great for any type of mucus condition of the respiratory tract. Fenugreek works well with thyme to discharge mucus from the lungs and fight infections. Thyme is also thought to be good for the thymus, which is the seat of your immune system. In addition, lobelia and mullein can work to ease bronchial spasms and eliminate mucus and coughs. Beta carotene feeds lung tissue and will help boost your immune system and soothe lung tissue. Magnesium is helpful because it is a muscle relaxer to the body and can help lessen a coughing. Zinc boosts the immune system, and vitamin E may assist in the fight against bronchitis.

Bronchitis: Coughing Up a Solution

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the mucus membranes of the bronchi, tubes that branch off the trachea leading to the air sacs of the lungs. Symptoms include spastic mucus-filled coughs usually accompanied by a general sick feeling, a fever, and general lethargy. An airborne virus or bacteria causes bronchitis.
Bronchitis is generally caused by inhaling toxic vapors including cigarette smoke. A cold or other upper-respiratory infection can also lead to bronchitis. If you are prone to bronchitis, don’t smoke, avoid chemical exposure, smog, and traffic pollution and beware of breathing in cold, wet air (not an easy option for skiers, is it?). Keeping the bowel clear is always helpful when you are suffering from any type of respiratory congestion; make sure you are not constipated.
Use herbs to relieve constipation, or use an enema to fix this problem. Enemas work well for small children, too. Let me briefly explain how a clogged bowel can hinder your respiratory system functions. The lymphatic system is a small filtering system running alongside our arteries and veins and runs throughout the entire body. This filtering system will dump its excess waste materials into the bowel, but if the bowel is clogged, there is no room for the lymph to dump. Since it is overflowing, its waste materials will be squeezed back into your mucus membranes—creating more mucus and making you vulnerable to future infection. Cleaning the bowel will not only help when you have respiratory congestion of any kind, but will help prevent a problem in the first place.
Diffuse pure eucalyptus oil in your room to help with recovery and help protect others from the airborne viruses and bacteria.

Other Things You Probably Already Knew About Low Blood Pressure

Exercise will help get your blood moving and your heart pumping, which can have an effect on overall blood pressure. Deep-breathing exercises help to bring more oxygen into the blood stream and can help regulate many disorders of the body. Here’s a breathing exercise to try. This might make you dizzy, which is why I suggest you try it sitting down.
Breathing Exercise:

1. Sit up straight.
2. Breathe in through your nose, open up your throat to get more air, and concentrate on the air filling the bottom of your stomach first, then your abdomen, then your diaphragm, and, finally, the lungs, from the bottom up. (This full inhale should take approximately 8–12 seconds to complete.)
3. Hold this full breath for as long as you can.
4. Then push the air out of your body forcefully in three or four exhales; repeat.

Try this exercise, and take your blood pressure before and after to see if it makes a difference for you. I find it energizing and stimulating, especially when I have been at my computer writing all day!