Fruits and Nuts

We couldn't have chosen a better place to be for cancer treatment during the winter. We have been enjoying the balmy spring-type weather here in Phoenix for most of our stay. There have been a couple of cold spells, but the kids didn't realize it was considered cold and they ran around outside barefoot. The desert nights are always chilly, but the weather during the day is beautiful.

Last Saturday we picked oranges and grapefruits at a friend's house, and have been enjoying making fresh juice since then. The kids hardly recognized the juice as the same stuff we normally buy in frozen concentrate. I use lemons regularly in my green juice, and we've been blessed with huge lemons from trees around here too. The treatment center has several pecan trees that are dropping nuts all over the yard, so I've been picking up pecans too. And do you have any idea how much better pecans are straight off the tree than the nuts you can buy in bins or bags? There is simply no comparison. I took a small bag of nuts into the treatment center one day and several of us patients cracked them and shared the meat around. It was the first time most of the folks there had tasted a truly fresh pecan.

We were invited to an interesting potluck dinner last week - all raw, vegan, non-processed food. It was hosted by a family who goes to the church we've been attending since we've been down here. I was having a hard time imagining a smorgasbord of raw food. It was difficult to visualize people walking around with plates piled high with carrot sticks and tomato slices. To my surprise, there must have been about 70 people there, and the array of food was lavish - wraps, fruit salads, nut salads, green salads, cold soups, dips, crackers, and wonderful desserts. Our plates really were heaped, and it looked every bit like a normal potluck. My favorite was a chocolate-strawberry pie, which I shouldn't have eaten since it wasn't IPT day, and my blood sugar wasn't lowered. I only had a small piece, and it was worth the step out of the boundaries. I truly enjoyed almost everything I tried that evening. I even contributed a raw apple pie which I made myself with only a little help from a recipe. (Recipes are only suggestions.) It was a very positive raw food experience.

I have been enjoying my food so much more lately. Thanks to all of you who prayed about that. I made my first cheese sauce out of cashews, garlic, lemon, and a little bit of red bell pepper last night, and tonight I enjoyed it on sprouted grain tortillas with red bell peppers, tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, onions, and (cooked) marinara sauce. It tasted very much like a little pizza, especially after I warmed it somewhat in the oven. Oh, well...it started out raw, anyway.

My white blood cells have been behaving wonderfully, and it's been nearly two weeks since I've needed a Neupagen shot. The counts are falling, and I will need a shot again by next Monday probably, but I'm doing so very much better than I was.

My tumor markers fell this week to 119. We are praying that that number will plummet into the normal range very quickly (30 or below) so that we can all go home. We'd sure appreciate your praying about that too. It's been so encouraging to us to see how the Lord has answered your prayers for us. In case you have wondered, getting the tumor markers into the normal range is really only the beginning of this battle, but it is a very significant part. The challenge is to keep the tumors from growing again once they have been destroyed. That is what the strict diet is expected to help with, as well as a period of maintenance treatments.