Yvonne - 1990
The next time I endeavored to help a cancer patient was more than a decade later. For that interim decade I focused on my practice, did some writing on the subject of yoga and taught occasionally. The experiences of yogic living continued to deepen my knowledge and confidence in yoga. One of those experiences in particular brought me to a deeper understanding of the whole process of healing. That was the chainsaw incident. I learned much of the power of positive thinking and "belief" through that lesson, and that led me to realise more about helping others in their healing process.
In the early winter of 1990, actually at Christmas time my brother informed me that our mother was seriously ill in the hospital. She had been affected by cancer for a few years at that point, a type of breast cancer that erupted as an open sore on the surface of the skin. She was quite reserved about it, usually discussing it only with her doctor. This year it had spread to her lungs, seriously weakened her to the point where she could no longer walk, and now put her in the hospital.
Radiation and chemo therapy had done little to help her with the breast cancer Through family connections she went to see Dr. Michael Osborn of the Sloan Kettering Cancer Research Institute in New York and he arranged for surgery to be performed in Toronto.
This proved to be successful, however one year later (1990) she was again in the hospital dying of lung cancer. This is when my brother, who lived near her called and informed me of the situation. Her doctors had given her a maximum of 10 days to live, as her lungs were filling up with fluid secreted by the cancer cells.
At this point in her life, though 75 years old, she still wanted to spend a little more time on planet earth. So when she was offered an alternative method to rejuvenate her health by myself, she went for it. I took her out of the hospital and set up in her own apartment with a yogic treatment plan; this involved a de-toxification diet using many Chinese herbs and several sessions of deep breathing per day. Yvonne had been bed ridden for a couple of weeks at that point because she was too weak to do anything but go to the bathroom. However within five days of commencing this new treatment her lung capacity had increased dramatically, her energy and vitality had returned, and she was up and about living her daily life. This included daily walks in the mid-winter Okanagan; she even wanted to go skiing with her two sons. This spontaneous recovery shocked many people.
X-rays taken a couple of weeks later showed the cancer cells in her lungs had been reduced to dormant black spots.
To maintain her own health she was set up on a diet that had a vegetarian base, with very low sugar intake and a continued use of Chinese herbs. Her health continued to improve as she resumed her active social life and even went traveling to Hawaii. Every day her son Gene came for a visit and made sure that she was still on track with diet and a short period of deep breathing. This went along well for seven months until Gene had a motorcycle accident and ended up in a coma in the hospital, never to speak again. He died two years later in an extended care facility.
To Yvonne, this was devastating, and depressing. Her diet and breathing exercises went astray. We all know how depression can take your breath away. For reasons that are not clear she was given a chemo-therapy treatment about three or four months later and her health declined rapidly.
Towards the end of the year, I was informed that she was deteriorating rapidly so I came and took her out of the hospital once again. This time I took her back to live with my family in the West Kootenays. I suggested putting her back on the rejuvenating diet and breath therapy, and did so to an extent, but found her motivation lacking this time. When I spoke to her about it her response was," I think I want to go for my reward now." Having been a devout Catholic all her life and a zealous born again Christian in the last decade, she meant that she was ready to go to heaven now.
She died very peacefully, about two weeks after saying that.
Medical records have been denied by the medical association.
In spite of the fact that Yvonne eventually died, the results from the healing program were quite astounding. The cancer and its symptoms disappeared within a week or two. For a 75 year-old woman to step off her deathbed and accomplish this says a lot for her character and her faith, as well as for the effectiveness of the yoga program. This case also shows us that a follow up and maintenance program is required for continued health. Just as continual breathing is required for life, continual deep breathing is required for healthy life.
NEXT... The Creative Health Institute ( CHI ) In Victoria 1995
|
