My Dad is Dying

What a morbid title, no?  But there it is.  I mentioned a couple days ago that my dad was diagnosed with stage IV cancer a few months ago and given a 6 month prognosis.  He has upper bowel cancer and bone cancer-both of which are absolutely inoperable.  Did you know the bible specifically talks about bone cancer? 

Proverbs 12:4 says: A worthy wife is a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful woman is like cancer in his bones.

I had read that a dozen times, at least, before dad developed bone cancer, but I guess it never hit me like it does now.  They say bone cancer is the most painful cancer to endure.  It eats you from the inside out.  There is nothing you can do for it except take chemotherapy, which kills ALL of your cells, good and bad and attempt to radiate the tumors that grow.  I don't really have much else to say about that verse, I just thought it was interesting to note.  I have certainly tried harder to be a worthy, biblical wife since I read it and the full weight of it hit me, though!

Moving on.  Upper bowel cancer...how does something like that happen?  Listen, I'm no MD.  I'm no nutritionist.  But I have done a lot of research and I do know my family history.  I know that dad is diabetic (type 1) and it wasn't caught until he was in his late 20's.  I know that he's got Celiac Disease that wasn't diagnosed until just a few years ago.  Both of those things to me say that his body was done so much damage before things were discovered that the good cells in his upper bowel just can't even stand up to fight.  How much food was digested in those years that was intolerable for his system?  How bad must the celia in his digestive tract must have been damaged by all that gluten?  None of these diagnoses come as a surprise to me, really.

But they do devastate me.  Added to the fact that other family members have auto-immune diseases, and that some have already died of cancer, this is heavy on my heart.  Not just because of the family members it takes from my life, but because there is a very real genetic risk factor for me.  Me me me, this is NOT about me, but it does spur me to action.

Action is difficult because I was the self-proclaimed "french fry freak" as a kid.  I don't think I ate anything but french fries, chicken nuggets and frozen corn for years.  Oh wait, and Kraft mac n cheese, but I digress.  It wasn't until I was in high school that I started to give a rip about nutrition and by then my taste buds were so in tune with starches and junk that I just couldn't choke down anything else.  In college I was getting massive purple bruises on my legs, seemingly for no reason and when I went to the pharmacist and showed him he said, "Vitamin K deficiency."  I asked what pill I could buy and he laughed and told me the only real source was in green veggies.  I asked if canned green beans counted and he said, "No."  I resolved that I would just have bruises on my legs then.

Oh.  What a stubborn girl.  HA!

Thankfully my taste buds have changed a bit and having kids has softened me (you mean I have to *model* good eating habits??) and I've done a lot of training and learning to hide things.  Point being-if I can do it, SO CAN YOU. 

On Monday, Allan and I are starting a 15 day reboot.  This will mean 5 days of eating a plant based diet, 5 days of just juicing and 5 more days of plant based eating.  I am not looking forward to this, but I know I need to detox.  Our bodies were DESIGNED to heal!  They were created to keep us disease free!  We have these amazing vessels that are temples and it's our responsibility to keep them clean and whole or we will suffer physical consequences. 

I will try to keep this updated as to our progress during this time.  For now I will cut it short and share some links to videos we have watched that inspire us.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead This man healed himself of auto immune diseases and lost 100 lbs by juicing.  His story is inspiring, don't be scared by the title.  This is where the idea of a "reboot" is introduced.

The Gerson Miracle This man prescribed juicing to patients with auto-immune diseases and cancer in the late 1800's and early 1900's.  They were healed.  Today his daughter runs the clinics and is in her 80's with exceeding health. 

We also love King Corn, Food, Inc and Fast Food Nation.  Forks over Knives is good.

As you watch those, come to your own conclusions, but we believe God gave us dominion over the animals and plants and gave them to us for food.  Therefore we believe that animal products are good for people to eat, when they are actually raised the way God intended for them to be raised.  That's why we drink raw-milk and eat pastured animals.  We also try to stay away from GMOs (genetically modified organisms) for the same reason, really.  I really do hope and pray you take time to watch some of those movies over the next week or so and see how it changes your thoughts on food.

Please also join me in praying for my dad's healing.  I have heard case after case of complete healing from cancers like his.  I know it can happen for him, too.  All for the glory of God! Amen.