“You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”
I recently read this quote somewhere, and it speaks volumes to our journey!
Prior to Kicker’s Leukemia diagnosis on December 4th, 2013, I had only met one other person whose child had beat cancer. From my perspective, it was totally unheard of, and if anything, cancer was a death sentence, especially for children.
Seriously, have you seen the heartbreaking St. Jude’s commercials…you know, the ones that have all of those images of bald, sad looking children with tearful parents looking hopeless? I always hated those commercials and never could watch the whole thing because it was too upsetting. But that was my perspective of children with cancer…always lying in hospital beds and pushing around their IV poles. In fact, if you had told me that kids with cancer could still play, could still laugh, could still jump on trampolines, could still go swimming or could still cry from scrapped up knees, I probably wouldn’t have been able to comprehend it.
Now please, don’t get me wrong. I do fully understand that some of these precious children are so sick that they are in their beds and monitored 24/7…and that breaks my heart! I am also very aware that kids die from Leukemia! In fact, over 2,000 kids die every year from cancer. However, the minute I learned of Kicker’s diagnosis, a unique strength came into play. And not for one second did I ever believe he would not win this fight because if I let my thoughts go there for even a second, that strength would have crumbled!
My only choice…to choose strength.
And when I now look at all of the things kids with cancer CAN do and the reality that many of them who are so incredibly sick are still smiling in between the heartache, are still going to the oncology floor playroom in between treatments and are still playing video games with their roommate after procedures, I am speechless! These kids are beasts and their cancer diagnosis does not have to equal hopelessness!
Even with the deep moments of sadness and hopelessness, it isn’t just a bald headed child starring out of a hospital window and looking helpless. In fact, much of the time, childhood cancer is a picture of hope and fight!
As a primary caregiver in my son’s fight against Leukemia, I am very aware of how absolutely essential it is to maintain strength!
It would be so much easier and require so much less strength to simply give into everything the doctors have said, not do any of my own research, and not keep Kicker on a nutrient dense, real food diet. It would have been so much easier to just throw in the towel on daily fighting him to take all of his supplements and do all of his detox remedies! But what would have happened? Because looking back, I am convinced that my not giving up and continuing to ask God for strength…every!damn!morning!…allowed my son to heal and not just fight cancer, but to also thrive while he was fighting!
My only choice…to choose strength.
Sadly from what I have seen, many of our cancer kids do not receive the appropriate tools to fight this disease with adequate physical strength. By constantly pumping their fragile little bodies with medicine and toxic drugs, their bodies never build back up and the overload breaks them down.
Think about this for a minute…when a tumor breaks down, dead tumor waste is released into the body and needs to be eliminated. Yet, I have never met an Oncologist who advises their patients to detox the dead cancer cells out. So, wouldn’t it make sense that this is part of the reason that many cancers come back?!
Yes, our bodies do have the ability to naturally detox through urine, waste and sweat, but when someone is pumping the body full of toxic medications and killing toxic cancer cells, the bodies natural ability to detox is not nearly enough! Therefore, I personally believe that one of the most important parts of treating cancer is detox, and from my experience in dealing with conventional medicine, there is absolutely NO incorporation of this into a treatment protocol.
It is also the reason that I, as a holistic nutritionist, immediately employed my own knowledge and the knowledge from a team of alternative physicians to put together a protocol outside of conventional treatment to best support his body during this process. I wanted to help ensure that he had the strength to fight like a beast and to give him the best quality of life after the 3.5 years of treatment!
Here are 4 of the detox therapies we used with Kicker:
They are the reason why I believe he experienced no side effects from the toxic drugs he received!
Castor Oil Pack Detox
The castor bean (Oleum Ricini) is known principally as a cathartic (strong laxative). By placing a pack over the abdomen with applied heat, the lymphatic circulation absorbs the oil and provides a soothing, cleansing and nutritive treatment.
Use:
The Castor Oil Pack is specific for detox. It is very effective in the use of non-cancerous uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts. Other conditions which seem to respond well include headaches, liver disorders, constipation, intestinal disorders, gallbladder inflammation or stones, conditions with poor elimination, nighttime urinary frequency and inflamed joints. Do not use during pregnancy, heavy menstrual flow or when internal bleeding is present.
(The liver is on the right side of the body, beneath the breast and down to the bottom of the rib cage.)
Materials Needed:
- Castor Oil
- A sheet of plastic (a garbage bag is fine)
- 36” x 18” piece of cotton flannel
- Hot water bottle or heating pad
procedure:
- Rub a generous amount of castor oil over the skin on top of the liver area, both on the front and on the back.
- Place the cotton flannel over the covered area. Then, wrap in plastic to hold the cloth in place.
- Place heating pad or hot water bottle on top. Lay on your right side for a minimum of 45 minutes. You may even fall asleep and wear the pack all night. If using a heating pad, unplug it before falling asleep.
- For maximum effectiveness, apply the pack as often as possible. A minimum of 4 consecutive days per week for at least 4-6 weeks is best. Daily use provides the most beneficial effects. Kicker holds the Castor Oil Pack for at least 20 minutes (the length of a cartoon). During his treatment, he did it 5 nights a week.
Epsom Salt/Baking Soda Bath
The sulfates in epsom salt help flush toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances. Your skin is a highly porous membrane. Therefore, adding the right minerals to your bathwater triggers a process called reverse osmosis. This actually pulls salt out of your body and harmful toxins along with it. The baking soda helps with ridding the body of chemicals from food, drugs, radiation exposure, etc.
Materials Needed:
Procedure:
- Add 2 cups epsom salt and 1 cup of baking soda to very warm bath water. Let dissolve for 5 minutes.
- During treatment, we did these at least 4 days a week.
Nebulize Glutathione
We purchased a nebulizer, and our Osteopath put together a ‘cocktail’ of detox nutrients that stimulate glutathione, which is a very important antioxidant because its job is to prevent damage to cells.
As Dr. Mark Hyman states, “(Glutathione) is the most important molecule you need to stay healthy and prevent disease,” and although our body does produce it’s own glutathione, it becomes incapable of producing the necessary amount of glutathione when the liver is burdened with toxins from medicine, environmental toxins, radiation, etc. Therefore, it is even more important when detoxing for cancer!
For more on the importance on glutathione and how to ensure you are not deficient, read this, and contact your holistic physician or work with an alternative pharmacy, such as this one.
Green Juice
Yield 4 servings
This green juice is one of our favorite green juice recipe and an important detoxification routine. It assists in the rapid removal of metabolic wastes from the body and the rebuilding of damaged tissues. Juicing also helps to clear the kidneys of toxins and contributes to the proper digestion of food.
Ingredients
- 1 apple (to sweeten)
- 1 orange
- 2 stalks of celery
- 1 cucumber
- 1 carrot
- 1 bunch of parsley
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 8 beet greens
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green cabbage
- 1 lemon
- 1/2 bulb of ginger
Notes
- Here's a juicer I recommend.
- It is very important that all produce is organically grown.
- I do not recommend powdered greens. Most are preserved and not in the most nutrient dense state.
- It will last refrigerated for about 3 days. However, you can also freeze it jars and then thaw it on the counter.
- Feel free to add some healthy fat, gelatin, or raw liver to get even more healthy nutrients.
- During treatment, Kicker drank this at least 4-6 days a week.
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Hi, my son Moses is starting round 2 for ALL on Wednesday. I’ve already purchased everything for the castor oil packs and epsom salt baths. I have a few questions about the green juice…how much does this make? Moses also has Down Syndrome and just had a G-tube put in last week (he was aspirating liquids and food due to being so weak), and I REALLY want him to have the benefits of this juice, but we are working on building up to him taking more volume through his G-tube. It seems like the recipe for the juice would make a lot! Also, we are inpatient (have been since he got his DX on July 11th) and due to new national protocols for kids with ALL and down syndrome, we will be inpatient for the remainder of round 2….which is 56 days. Trying to think of how I can make the juice and give it to him. Could I make a batch and refrigerate for a few days?
Thanks so much!!
Excellent article! If only I had this information four years ago when my daughter (3 at the time) was dx. We stumbled through treatment on white bread and milk. Thankfully she is powerful and strong and I see now that her leukemia diagnosis was a BIG wake up call for us to get off processed foods and adopt a traditional foods way of life. That has spilled over into my view on personal products and cleaning process. So much can be accomplished with vinegar, baking soda and peroxide we have stopped buying the toxic cleaning supplies and bath/beauty products. Message received: we are awake now!
How long can the green juice be stored?
Hi, thank you for the great information here. It really eases us in a time that feels so powerless and overwhelming. I am trying to purchase the nebulizer above to begin the gluthiasone tx, however the linked page cannot be found on Amazon. It is overwhelming trying to find one that is decent and efficient. Do you have a product name for this one listed above or any idea of one compatable to it? Looking more for the mouth piece or tube as the face “mask” the past 3 years creates so much angst for our little cancer fighter here. TIA! Looking forward to hearing from you.
Hi Kari – I’m so sorry about that. I actually don’t remember the brand name we used, but I would suggest just getting the one that has the best reviews on Amazon. 🙂 Thanks and many prayers for you all!
Hi Season,
I purchased the castor oil you recommended from Home Health to use for my husband who has cirrhosis and liver cancer. I’ve since read that you should only use organic castor oil in glass bottles. Do you trust this brand or should I replace with organic in a glass bottle?
Can we use the castor oil detox during chemo ? My uncle is on an oral chemo for two weeks and IV chemo every 21 days. With one week break.
Hi. My 80 year old dad was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He did his first treatment Friday 2 December. Since he has become rather frail since July, they are starting him with Brentuximab Vedotin, a milder chemo. In 3 weeks they’ll do another treatment, and then they’ll switch to regular chemo when he is strong enough. Your protocol looks great! However, he can’t do baths at all, so would a foot bath be good? Thank you!
I’m so sorry to hear all that you and your dad are going through! And yes, foot baths are a good alternative if you’re not able to do a bath.
Hi. Thank you for the information. How much of the following, internally prior to chemo treatment and with how many ounces of water-> “Peppermint, Ginger and DigestZen Essential Oils topically and internally 30 minutes before chemotherapy is administered or prior to surgery.” Thank you