I moved into a house with a large rambling garden in need of a lot of clearing. My neighbour was a grey-haired, retired bachelor named Joe. We shared a boundary fence with a gap in the middle through which we walked one Sunday morning. Joe offered to help me clear my patch. He would tell me which part of my garden should be cleared next, I would agree, and we would set to it. Joe was a great help and we fell into a regular Sunday pattern of working in my garden. Joe was […]
I only knew my paternal grandmother for three years. I met her during my time as a student at Imperial College. Even in that short time, I soon realised that she was a woman of strong will, overlain by a lot of light-hearted joking and optimism.
She was born on a Tuesday, met her future husband on a Tuesday, was engaged on a Tuesday and was married on a Tuesday. In fact, she had been married three times, each time on a Tuesday and each time it was to the same man.
My grandfather, a surgeon […]
I looked at my diary to see who the next client was and smiled. Betty and David. They were a young couple who had first come to see me nearly twenty years ago. As usual, once they were seated I asked them what I could do for them and what was wrong.
“Oh, nothing is wrong, at least not now.” Barbara opened the discussion, but David quickly spoke up.
“The problem is that there is cancer in several members of each of our families. We have two small children, and we want to do all we […]
At a recent Friday evening ‘client support party’ we had some interesting input. Two men were in the group who were there to support their wives, both of whom were dealing with advanced cancer.
As usual, everyone in the room shared their ‘story,’ unless they chose not to. They shared their experiences, how they had dealt with specific situations, what they had found helpful, sources of supplies, where to get the best services, the best brands of equipment, the best prices, and more. There is a huge amount to learn and share when your life […]
Elizabeth walked into my office looking despondent. She had come in a fortnight earlier saying she was desperate to lose weight. She had always been 63 Kg but in the past year of travelling around Europe, she had returned to Sydney nearly 7 Kg heavier.
“I’ve tried everything,” she said during her first consultation. “I was so sure that when I returned home and settled down, and back to work, I would lose it again. I never used to have any trouble staying at my usual weight, or even slightly under – and that is […]
We all know, or realise, that cancer is stressful. Having cancer is stressful. Knowing, supporting or being associated with someone with cancer is stressful. Less well known or emphasised is the enormous effect that stress can have both physically-chemically and emotionally-mentally in the development of cancer.
The majority of people with cancer have had an experience of unusual stress in the months or years prior to their diagnosis of cancer. For this reason, dealing with stress is an essential part of any recovery program.
In general, we deal with short-term acute stresses remarkably well. The stressor […]
Imagine for a moment that someone has bought a wonderful house, but one in which the garden is an untended wilderness filled with weeds, long grass, brambles, climbers and various shrubs and sapling. They want to restore it to a healthy garden. What do they do?
Option one is adopted by the amateur gardener. One who is keen to get started and sure of how to clear the ground. They don protective gloves, invest in a sharp pair of secateurs and cut back everything they can. They rush at it on the first free weekend and […]
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Margery Hughes was well-dressed, elegant, and obviously used to living a sophisticated lifestyle. She sat down in my office and started by asking me questions, taking control, something I assumed was her usual habit.
She had been unwell for some time, but with a variety of vague and seemingly disconnected symptoms. At one point she became frustrated at the way our discussion was going and did nothing to hide this from me. Clearly, she had little control over her emotions.
Eventually, I acquired a list of her problems. They included indigestion, bloating, passing wind and […]
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Dr John Beard, a distinguished embryologist, was born in 1858. He was educated at the University of London and completed his doctoral degree at the University of Frieberg in Germany. In the latter part of 1906, he received a nomination for the Nobel prize. In 1911, he published his subsequent work in a book entitled, ‘The Enzymatic Treatment of Cancer.’ It is a great shame that his ideas did not receive more attention at that time. With the current re-emerging interest in the Metabolic and Biochemical Theory of cancer and a more rational […]
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I frequently hear clients saying that it costs too much to eat organic foods and health foods. Tessa and her family proved this to be untrue, as have many other people both before and since, but not always so succinctly and precisely.
Tessa came to see me, with her husband, who was complaining of a number of mild but troublesome health problems. His doctor had done the usual tests, basic blood biochemistry and similar, and pronounced him well, possibly just tired from a heavy load at work, and suggested he take a short break. […]