Healing from terminal colon cancer with natural therapies
My name is Allan Taylor and I live in Middlesbrough, UK with my wife whom I met at the age of 15. My eldest daughter died from conventionally treated cancer at the age of 49, as well as my mother. My own experience with cancer began in late 2010, when I visited my doctor to check out a painful lump in my stomach area. He prodded around but said I had nothing to worry about. But as time passed that lump grew harder and larger, so I decided to go for a second opinion. I was given another examination and once again I was reassured that all was well.
Six weeks later I was referred to the South Cleveland Hospital where I was given a colonoscopy (a camera investigation from my rear-end) and an endoscopy (a camera down my throat). Two biopsy samples were then sent for analysis and a few days later I was told the news that I had a large cancerous tumor in my colon located near my liver. There was no doubt about the diagnosis as I could see for myself in the images that this lesion was a whopper.
Surgery was arranged for September 28th 2011, but 4 days before the operation I collapsed with agonizing stomach pains. An ambulance was called and I was rushed to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and was put under the care of Dr Anil Reddy who decided to operate at once. Dr Reddy removed about nine inches of my colon and performed an ileostomy (a procedure that links the end of the small intestine to an opening in the abdomen). I really believe that I am only here today because of the skills of Dr Reddy and his team. Post surgically I was in a hell of a state and I spent the next seven days in the intensive care unit.
Chemotherapy was administered following my recovery from the surgery. The first week was problem-free, but from the second week on I felt nauseous most of the time. Then my toenails started to peel off and I developed large sore patches on the back of my hands. Diarrhea also became quite a problem and I began experiencing severe heart pains. After four months of suffering my oncologist took me off of the chemotherapy drugs because it had reduced my quality of life so significantly.
A follow-up scan indicated the presence of cancer in my peritoneum (the membrane that line the cavity of the abdomen and covers the abdominal organs). I also developed problems passing urine which required a visit to the A&E department where it was discovered that I also had some cancer in the prostate area as well. At this point my GP and I both received letters from my oncologist stating that my cancer was incurable and that he would continue to monitor me for any further developments. After witnessing what my mother and my beautiful daughter went through in their final months I had some idea of what was in store for me.
It was at this point that I started to explore natural cures. I had eight weeks before my next CT scan, so I spoke with the manager of my local health food shop who gave me information that might be helpful. I also spent a lot of time searching the internet where I discovered there are many natural therapies with good evidence that they could help clear me from the cancer. Some reports suggested that the cure rate from chemo was only 5% whilst natural remedies could be considerably higher.
I told my oncologist about my plan. He said that my regimen would do me no harm, but he couldn’t say whether it would do me any good either. My wife believed that conventional medicine was the only way to go but I decided that the natural therapies would either kill me or cure me. What did I have to lose in trying?
Allan’s Healing Regimen:
- I stopped eating red meat of any kind including processed meats, bacon, and soups that contained meat.
- I also cut out all dairy products
- I removed all refined sugars because sugar feeds cancer.
- I began buying organic vegetables (whenever possible)
- I ate 10 varied portions of organic vegetables every day in their raw form because cooking destroys the essential enzymes.
- I power-walked for half an hour twice per day. My aim was to increase the oxygen levels in my blood so that the cancer cells would die. I also purchased a treadmill so that I could exercise when the weather was not good.
- Alkaline water– I stopped drinking tap water because it is acidic and I bought bottled water from a nearby market that had a pH of 7.4. This is based on the work of Nobel prize winner Dr Otto Warburg, who discovered that when you increase the alkalinity in the body, then your oxygen levels will increase as well and oxygen causes the cancerous cells to die. Those who are interested can also purchase their own Alkaline Water Ionizer which makes it alkaline and charges it with negative ions.
- Barley grass powder– in the morning and evening, I drank a heaping teaspoon of Barley Grass Powder in a mug of warm water. This also helps the body to maintain an alkaline state, thus protecting against further cancer development.
- Selenium– I took a 200mcg tablet of Selenium twice per day to support my immune system. Chemo may kill cancer cells, but it also destroys our immune system which is vital for keeping cancer at bay. We all have cancer cells floating around our bodies, and as long as our immune system stays healthy, the cancer cells will be killed.
- Vitamin C- I took high doses of Vitamin C Tablets. The recommended dosage for vitamin C is 1000 mg/ day, but I started taking three of the 1000 mg tablets every morning, noon and at tea time for a total of 9 tablets, or 9,000 mg per day. Then I built myself up to eight tablets taken three times each day, making it a total of 24 / 1000 mg tablets. High doses of vitamin C can cause diarrhea, so I took Loperamide tablets that were prescribed by my doctor to counteract that side effect.
- Notes regarding vitamin C: There are a couple of options you can try with vitamin C. One is to find the dose that triggers diarrhea and then back off a bit until it stops and continue with that dosage, or look for a Liposomal Vitamin C Product that does not cause diarrhea when taken in larger doses. The recommended dosage for those with an active cancer would be 8-10,000 mg taken in divided doses throughout the day. Read more about liposomal vitamin C therapy
- Curcumin- I also took Bio-available Curcumin Supplement which is a type that has published studies showing that it has 23 times better absorption rates than the standard curcumin extracts. According to cancer researcher, Bharat Aggarwal, a professor of cancer medicine at the Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, the incidence of the top four cancers in the US that include colon, breast, prostate and lung, are as much as 10 times lower in India where significant amounts of Turmeric are consumed daily. Prof Aggarwal says “We have not found a single cancer on which Curcumin does not work in suppressing the formation of tumors.” Curcumin acts as an antioxidant, killing off the body’s free radicals. It also blocks cancers from setting up their own blood vessels. I decided to add this therapy to my daily intake of natural compounds. I started with three capsules, one with each meal, building up to four capsules with each meal making a total of 12 capsules daily.
- Read more about high doses of curcumin for cancer
- Apricot kernels- The final, but perhaps the most significant item on my healing plan was to eat Bitter Apricot Kernels. I read that in Northern Pakistan there lives a group of people called the Hunzakuts, who are vegetarians and are one of the rare cultures of the world that are cancer-free. They eat about 40 apricots each day, and they always eat the kernels along with the fruits. There are four substances found within the kernels, two are glucose; one is benzaldahyde, and the other is hydrogen cyanide- the last 2 being poisonous. However the cyanide and the benzaldahyde are bonded within the other molecular formations, so they will not cause you harm. Cancer cells are not normal, and they contain an enzyme that healthy cells do not, which is beta-glucosidase. This enzyme is the unlocking enzyme for the cyanide and the benzaldahyde molecules, and releases them both directly at the site of cancer causing the cells to self-destruct. After learning how the substances enter the cancer cells and destroys them. I started eating 8 kernels each day and then built myself up to eating 54, (I ate 18 kernels at each meal time). I had no side effects from eating the kernels or the Curcumin.
- Read more about apricot kernels.
Allan’s cancer was healed
I felt on top of the world. I believed that I was cured even before I got the results from the scans that was taken 8 weeks later. So within two months of being on this natural regime, it brought me a cure, not death! My wife and I were over the moon and my oncologist shook my hand. I continue to have follow-up scans to prove that I remain cancer-free, and I also go back to the hospital so the trainee doctors can poke and prod me!
I still follow a modified version of my healing regime, which I reckon set me back about £32 ($48.00) a week while I was taking my full therapies, but now costs only pennies. I continue to eat about 24 apricot kernels every day, I take three Curcumin tablets daily, and I still eat a good plate of varied raw fruits and vegetables every day. I also continue to power-walk and drink the bottled water.
I really think that anybody can do what I did and I only wish that I had a better understanding of these natural therapies when my own daughter was so ill. At the time, we thought that we were living in a country that had the finest health care that anyone could have wished for… and if the National Health Service could not cure my daughter, then who could? Had I known then what I know now, perhaps she would still be with us today.
I did try to make contact with the organization Cancer Research UK, but was told that they were not interested in my story. I emailed them and was told that I would get a reply within 5 days but none has ever materialized. Two newspapers did reports about my story, and as a result I have been invited to talk on US radio. I would like to spread the word that there is another way through cancer. I’d like people to know how full of energy I am. I may have a scar on my stomach, but I feel like I am 21 years old again! I continue to keep busy by taking my two grandchildren to and from school every day, I recently laid my own carpet, repaired the car, fitted a new kitchen, painted the house inside and out, and am outside chopping down trees in my garden.
Update provided 7/25/13- Allan had a full body scan this week and the hospital confirmed that he remains cancer free.
Update provided on 10/25/18 – Allan writes, “I am in good health. Still working, just finished a kitchen and oak floor and working on fitting skirting boards. My order book is still full. My family are saying dad you have retire and start taking it easy.”
Thank you Allan for allowing me to share your amazing story of recovery. Allan shares this information faithfully with the hope that others may be helped from his experience.
Alkalinity = cellular oxygenation
Since Allan mentioned pH I will explain how to test it and why it is important.
Alkaline and Acid Ash – pH refers to “potential of hydrogen” and is a measurement of whether your body is in an acidic, balanced or alkaline state. The pH scale runs from 1-14, with 7 being in the middle (or neutral). Anything lower than 7 would be within the acidic range, anything above 7 is within the alkaline range. Acidic foods will add hydrogen molecules to the body, therefore making your body more acidic, alkaline foods will remove hydrogen molecules from the body, thus making you more alkaline.
When you ingest foods and liquids, the end product after digestion and assimilation of nutrients will result in either an acid or alkaline-forming effect. These end products are often referred to as an acid-ash or alkaline-ash, thus all foods and beverages can then be considered either alkaline or acidic based on the ash that is created following digestion.
Using the Acid/ Alkaline Food Chart- Most of the foods that people are eating today fall into the acid-forming category. One way to alter your pH score would be to stop your consumption of the standard American diet and start eating a diet rich in fresh organic fruits and vegetables, and by juicing a variety of raw leafy greens such as kale, chard, spinach, watercress, and wheatgrass, along with a variety of other vegetables, and by making nutritious smoothies with fruits and greens. In addition, you can drink plenty of spring water with fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice which will also leave behind an alkaline ash following digestion.
To maintain a healthy pH your goal is to eat 70 -80% alkaline foods. The chart below gives you an idea of where foods would land on the alkaline/acidic ash scale and gives you a numerical ranking. It should be noted that many of the foods listed as acidic forming are not appropriate to eat when following an anticancer diet. It is for informational purposes only.
How to test your pH
You can test your saliva pH levels using pH Test Strips that are made for saliva or urine. These can be purchased from health food stores or online, and can be used to give you a measure of what is going on inside of your body. The proper strip to purchase is a narrow or short range strip, which will measure from 5.0 to 9.5 or so.
To test the saliva: The first test of the day is immediately upon waking before eating or drinking anything, otherwise you must wait at least two hours after eating or drinking to ensure that the food that you have consumed does not alter your test results. First cleanse the mouth by filling it with saliva and then swallowing or spitting it out. Fill the mouth again with saliva and spit it onto a spoon, then place the test strip into the saliva for 10-15 seconds. The strip will change colors based on the results. Use the insert from the package to determine your results. You can perform this test 4 times per day to get a clearer picture of what is going on inside of your body. You may find that your pH fluctuates throughout the day, this is normal. Your goal is to register slightly more alkaline than acidic, around 7.2 to 7.4 for saliva, as it is at this level that oxygen is plentiful.
To test the urine: urine pH can be more difficult to read as your body is always dumping toxins. This is especially true if have adopted a healthier routine and these toxins will have an effect on your readings. Additionally, the body will release many more of these toxins with the morning urine, therefore it is normal for the urine pH to start out in the acidic range with the body becoming more alkaline as the day progresses due to the foods and supplements that you are consuming throughout the day.
If you have cancer -Those with cancer are generally very acidic, often registering around 5.5 or lower. If you are extremely acidic, you may not even be registering on the tape at all depending on how low the calibration of the strip is compared to your level of acidity. Additionally, it takes time to raise the pH from an acidic state to an alkaline range, sometimes taking several weeks before you even begin to register on the tape, and then up to 12 weeks before you can reach your goal of 7.2- 7.4.
It is at this level that oxygen is plentiful and cancer cells become inactive and begin to die. Once this level is reached, you must hold yourself there until the cancer is completely gone. Also, please be aware that you cannot return to your old habits of eating after having cancer. Read more about acid/ alkaline balance
Water with minerals
Your body needs a minimum of 50 ounces of water per 100 pounds of body weight per day in order to flush toxins out of the body and to stay well hydrated. Consider purchasing a water filtration system that will remove fluoride, chlorine, and other chemicals and metals that are found in municipal water supplies. A simple carbon filtration system will only remove chlorine so don’t assume that any filter will do the job well. You can find products online that will remove the harmful elements and leave the beneficial minerals intact, such as a Big Berkey Water Filtration System.
Recipes to make filtered water more alkaline:
Alkaline water #1 – take one gallon of water and add 1/2 tsp sea salt, the juice of 4 lemons or limes (and toss in the skins too), 1 tbsp of raw organic honey and drink this throughout the day. Sea salt contains 82 trace minerals which will enhance this water. The lemons and limes will create an alkaline ash following digestion.
Alkaline beverage #2 – wash 3 organic lemons or limes and quarter the. Then blend them up in 3 cups of filtered water. Strain/squeeze the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth and then store it in a mason jar in the fridge. To use, add 1/4 cup of this mixture into a glass of 8 oz filtered water. Drink this mixture 3 times per day. This will help with alkalinity and elimination of toxins.
Alkaline water #3- adding Christophers Original Formulas – Jurassic Green Powder, which consists of Organic Flash-Dried Juice Powder from Alfalfa, Barley & Non-Hybrid Wheat Grass to your drinking water.
Additional Resources:
Read about turmeric / curcumin for cancer
Read more about vitamin C therapy
Read more about apricot kernels
Read more about acid/ alkaline balance
Read more about making nutritious smoothies
Access the library of testimonials
Read another article about Allan
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