A day in the life...

... of a beautiful and young woman who was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer when she was only 22 years old. I found Jess Ainscough and learned of her story while I was searching for information to put on the Raw Generation website.

I was so inspired by her drive to find a way other than traditional cancer therapies to treat her cancer. Her doctor's originally told her she would have to amputate her arm at her shoulder, which she obviously didn't want to do. She chose to do chemotherapy to try to get rid of the cancer, which it initially did, but the cancer came back.

This time she and her mom did research and found the Gerson Institute. The Gerson Therapy is a very strict regimen that includes fresh pressed juices 13 times a day, coffee enemas several times a day, a strict diet, plenty of rest, relaxation, and meditation. But it works for many people. I had heard of the Gerson Therapy before, unfortunately though not in time to help my grandmothers.

Jess describes a day in the life of a Gerson person:

          October 13th, 2011

On Sunday I will hit my 18 months of Gerson mark. I have been counting down to this day ever since I first stepped foot into the Gerson clinic on 15th April 2010, thinking it would signify the end of my Gerson journey. However, after speaking with Charlotte Gerson and my Gerson doctor I’ve decided to keep going with the therapy for another six months, making it two years in total. This is how long the Therapy usually is, and I want to do it properly so that I never have to do the whole thing again. As much as I’ve loved this journey, once will definitely be enough.

The good news though is that on Sunday I’m able to reduce the program from 13 juices each day to nine, and my enemas will drop from four a day to three. I’m so excited!! That means I’ll be able to go out in the afternoons for a couple of hours without juice. I’ll also be able to sit through a whole movie without having to pause it several times to make juice. Oh, happy day.

Because my winding down day is so close, I wanted to share what every day of the Gerson Therapy has been like so far. This is pretty much how my days have played out for the past 18 months.

6am: My alarm wakes me up. It’s one of those retro battery operated ones with the bells on top, so it scares the crap out of me every morning. Probably not the most peaceful way to start the day, but I use it because it’s not good to sleep with a digital alarm beside your head, and also it doesn’t have a snooze function. Once I’m up I walk bleary eyed to the bathroom, wash my face and roll out my yoga mat and towels for my first coffee enema of the day. I always read something inspiring while I’m doing my enema, to get me into a good frame of mind for the day. At the moment it’s The Greatness Guide Book 2 by Robin Sharma for the second time.

6.30am: Enema done! Now it’s time for five minutes of dry body brushing before jumping in the shower. I make sure I shower before the rest of the house wakes up and starts turning on taps. If there is water running anywhere else in the house while I’m in the shower I will get scorched.

6.45am: I walk upstairs and into the meditation room for half an hour of Zen time, saying good morning and giving my little pug girl Edie a bum scratch on my way.

7.15am: Dad’s finished preparing breakfast, so I sit down at the table to a glass of fresh orange juice (juice #1) and rolled oats with raw honey, sultanas, kiwi fruit and stewed apple. Every. Single. Morning. Lucky I love oats. Even after 18 months of this, it’s still my favourite meal.

7.45am: Dad’s been busy in the kitchen all morning, so he’s already washed and laid out all of the produce for our daily juices. To say thank you, I make him a big green smoothie while he fires up the Norwalk and starts making the first green juices (juice #2) for the day for mum and I.

8am: I drink my green juice before heading down to my room/office to start work for the day. I check my emails, upload the day’s blog, prepare the newsletter, post blasts to Facebook and Twitter, and then answer whatever emails and blog comments I’ve received overnight.

9am: Go back upstairs to drink my carrot and apple juice (juice #3) and then another carrot and apple juice (juice #4). Once that’s done, it’s back down to the computer to write blog posts, write book, or speak with clients.

10am: Make and drink juice #5 – plain carrot. Then it’s time for the second enema for the day.

11am: Make and drink juice #6 – green. Once I’ve finished cleaning the juicer I help Mum prepare lunch. She does the salad, potatoes and pumpkin while I chop the veggies for the hot pot. After that we go and lie outside to soak up some vitamin D and get 15-20 minutes of sun.

12noon: Drink juice #7 – carrot and apple. Turn the TV on to watch Ellen dancing through her studio audience – my absolute favourite part of Gerson Therapy has been being able to watch The Ellen DeGeneres Show every day while we eat lunch. We sit down to Hippocrates Soup, a big plate of salad with roast pumpkin, a baked potato and some cooked veggies.

1pm: Make and drink green juice (juice #8). Go back downstairs to answer emails and do more writing.

2pm: Drink carrot juice (juice #9). Enema time again! Roll out the yoga mat for enema number three.

3pm: Make and drink another carrot juice (juice #10). Sit back in front of the computer to do more work – scold myself for allowing Facebook to suck away so much time that before I know it an hour’s gone past and I’m looking through a stranger’s photo album with absolutely no recollection of how I ended up there.

4pm: Make and drink a carrot and apple juice (juice #11). Either take Edie for a walk, do yoga or jump on the mini trampoline.

5pm: Drink another carrot and apple juice (juice #12). I usually have a client session now, so I chat to them or I do more writing, or I meditate.

6pm: Finally, last juice for the day! I make and drink a green juice (juice #13). Then it’s back downstairs, roll out the mat again and do my fourth enema for the day.

7pm: Say hello to Tallon who is now home and usually knocks on the bathroom door while I’m doing my enema (even though/because he knows I hate it). Chat to him for a bit before we are called upstairs for dinner.

7.15pm: We all sit down for family dinner around the table (facing the TV). Again we have Hippocrates Soup, a big plate of salad, a baked potato and some cooked veggies. Dad and Tallon add meat. Edie is in the background whimpering, scratching at our legs for more food, or perched at her own chair at the table.

8.30pm: After clean up is done we make peppermint teas and all go in different directions of the house. Tallon and I either watch TV or lie in bed and read. We turn all of the lights out and just have lamps and Himalayan Salt lamps on to prepare for sleep time.

10pm: I’m asleep, or willing myself to be asleep so that I get my standard eight hours.

Even though my mum is also on Gerson Therapy for her breast cancer, her days looks a little different to mine. Before she started Gerson, she was my carer and now she still manages to fit in the making of soup, boiling coffee for enemas and doing our mammoth grocery shops. Luckily my dad now stays home most mornings to help her out. I’m planning on posting a day in her life soon to give you an idea of what her role involves.

Positive affirmation for the day: The choices I make today will determine the life I lead tomorrow.

           Jess's Website

It is a lot of work. It is a lot of money. But at least it produces spectacular results that no only don't involve poisonous chemicals, but you are actually healthier after going through it. It really makes you think how ridiculous chemo and radiation are. Yes they help some people live, but they are poisonous. And a lot of the times the cancer comes back due to the fact that the patients did nothing to change their lifestyle.

I am a firm believer that cancer and other diseases like heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's etc are all lifestyle diseases. Too much stress, drinking, smoking, eating nutritionally devoid foods are ending millions of people's lives short- young and old.

We are all guilty of doing things we know are bad for us (including myself), but all it takes is making a couple changes here and there and suddenly you will realize all of those small changes are really adding up! If you had asked me 2 years ago if I would be eating nothing but raw fruits and vegetables I would have looked at you like you were speaking Greek. I didn't do it over night. I made small changes along the way and here I am.

The moral of this long story is that no one can predict if and when we will get a grim diagnosis. But there are steps we can take every day to improve our health. And if you or I do get that awful diagnosis just know that there are options other than chemo, radiation, and surgery.

For more information visit The Gerson Insititute.

I also wrote:
Alternative Cancer Therapies
The War on Cancer: Focusing on the Wrong Things