Tai Chi for the Mind and Body

Some of you might remember that before my diagnosis, Kaige and I had been learning the martial art of Kung Fu. I found a great little school nestled in the trees in nearby Clarksburg, Maryland. After a long day at the office and the typical several hour commute, it was a perfect way to let loose and also get some exercise. All of that ended when my doctor called me in to his office and told me that my disease had spread to my liver and recommended that I discontinue the sport. I was at my lowest when I went to visit my Shifu to tell him that I would no longer be able to participate.

Over the past year, we've tried to stay in contact and have spent a few afternoons walking through my Shifu's garden talking about life, energy and nature. I am inspired by my teacher as he and his wife are on a quest of becoming totally sustainable and living off their permaculture design and edible landscape. It nice to see their progress with every visit.

This week I have reached a new milestone in my therapy. I am once again back at the school, but this time I am learning the healing art of Tai Chi. I have been missing a spiritual and meditative element that I hope to find here. I'll start by taking one class every week but also incorporate a small window of time in my daily life for practice.

Maybe you're interested in joining me?

Body Balance Healing Arts
15211 Comus Rd.
Clarksburg Maryland, 20871
301-972-5644
http://www.taichikungfu.com/

By incorporating meditation along with my nutritional therapy, I intend to outlive my cancer. The body has an amazing natural ability to heal. It is a slow process that requires the proper healing conditions. Thank you for joining me in my journey.

A water dilema leads to a new project.

The heating element in my water distiller recently stopped working, forcing me to come up with a way to eliminate my dependence on a single water purification device and a corporate water supply company as a backup for my roughly 12 gallons per day water requirement. The grand plan consists of harvesting the rain water, running it through some type of water purification system and ultimately storing it for later consumption.

I decided to start this project on smaller scale and build a simple water irrigation system to water the recent landscaping around my backyard shed. Along with irrigating the water from falling on my firewood which sits directly under the roof on the back side of my shed, this project should also remove my need from hand carrying buckets of water to provide this essential element to my new leafy green friends.

The most time consuming part of this project turns out to be the installation of a gutter on the shed. I found and purchased a reasonably priced DIY vinyl gutter kit that was pretty much screw and snap into place. As long as my angle is correct, I can now control the flow of my newly harvested rain water.

After considering the numerous rain barrel options, I decided to go with one that offered a small, unsightly footprint. It's a big hallow plastic rock, and I decided to tie it in to the landscape. As the water is harvested and provides life to the single legged critters that it will feed, the hope is that the rock and shed will be hidden/ covered in green and other colorful plant life.

The threat of rain was there for the entire weekend, but besides a drop or two here or there, I managed to install the gutter in 30 minute intervals across a single weekend. As soon as I completed the installation and put all my tools away, the rain let loose. I was a little nervous that my gutter might crumble as the storm pounded down, but at the same time happy to see all that water gushing down the gutter and filling the 40 gallon reservoir.

The next morning I went out to check on things and was thrilled to see that my rock was completely full and my gutters were still *properly* hanging from the shed. I also noticed that there was water flowing through a soaker hose that I installed to the base of the rock. It was a success!

With step one complete, I've been able to play with and figure out how some of this rain water collection and stuff works. Now I need to go back and draw up some plans for a slightly larger system to try to collect even more rain from the roof of my house.

My #Gerson Healing Crisis Updates

This morning started out much like yesterday. My fever is gone but I still feel generally "icky." There was a fair amount of tossing and turning during the night, waking several times with night sweats. Even if this is not a full on healing reaction, it is definatley an immune response. Before cancer, I considered myself healthy because I was never sick. We now know it simply meant that I had an under performing immune system. If you have not been sick in a while, you might ask yourself why.

The entire purpose of my IL2 treatment was to put the body into immune response. It is simply amazing how drinking a few glasses of carrot juice a day has been more effective.

I anticipate my fever will return again this evening. I'll continue posting updates as we determine where my path of healing leads us.

Six Month Healing Reaction? #Gerson #Melanoma

I am experiencing what I believe is another healing reaction. Dr Gerson talks about a third very strong reaction at about the six month mark, which passed just a few weeks ago. For the past several days I've had weakness in my knees and soreness in my arms. A low grade fever was caught last night before bed, and then for much of the day today. This all started as the spring air brought in pollen. Crazy thing about it, I've never had seasonal allergies before.

I will closely monitor my fever and report any changes that I feel over the next few days. My disease progression followed by my stages of healing have all been textbook cases. This gives me great hope moving forward.

I am deeply saddened to report the loss of not one but two fellow melanoma soldiers. Clint Slatton and Marcus Stanley will forever remain in Amy's and my hearts and minds as we started our journeys at just about the same time.