The C-Word: Essiac Tea

In the past few years, people often call or email me to talk a friend or family member who has just discovered he/she has cancer of one kind or another.

I tell them my story and give them tips about what they can do to heal naturally, as well as what they might do in conjunction with chemo.

Burdock root has anti-tumor properties

I've been impressed that people who take the information and run with it, have incredible results. Cancer recedes, diabetes disappears, aggressive tumors turn benign. Even if it is a few years' since their cancer was treated, changing their diets, breathing, exercising and taking supplements has changed their lives. They are energetic and vibrant, their skin glows, they are optimistic and active.

Usually, almost everyone I talk to gets really excited about the options available to them. There are so many ways to heal cancer these days - and heal it in a way that overhauls your life for the better - that people come away feeling relieved and positive about the challenge.

Unfortunately, three-quarters of the people I advise, then go to the hospital and get frightened.

Their doctors say things like, "Well, if you take these supplements, we can't help you.."

Or, as they said to a friend, "If you want to risk your life like that, go ahead, because we can't guarantee the results of alternative treatment."

So remember: Healing cancer, even more than almost any other disease, IS possible - but it's uncertain, no matter which method. All of our bodies are different and react differently. All of our minds and souls have different lessons to learn. Whether you choose the traditional route or the naturopathic one or a combination, THERE IS NO GUARANTEE. Just because the doctor/healer says they have success with one method or another, doesn't mean it will work on you.

For instance, if you have a virus and a doctor mistakenly prescribes you antibiotics and you get even sicker and end up in the hospital, you don't get anything back from the doctor.

There is no money-back guarantee on healing.

And worse, there is no health-back guarantee. This is even scarier when you are dealing with your kids.

So here's the other thing, YOU live in your body. You know it better than anyone else and you have for years. See what you feel comfortable with. Try one thing and see if it makes you feel better. There is nothing wrong with testing the experiences and listening to your body.

If it's your kid - remember, this child lived IN your body - you were there from his/her earliest moments. No one knows your child better than you do.

My recommendation - cancer is systemic - so never stick to any single therapy. You need to heal, mind, body and soul. If it makes you feel better to follow an oncologist's orders, do that. But also try the dietary changes and supplements. Try hypnotherapy, try polarity, try Brennan healing. Try acupuncture, infrared heat and vitamin therapy. Try intravenous glutathione, meditation, and Chinese medicine.

See what makes you feel like you are healing.

Recently, I discovered Essaic tea. 

It's a brewed herbal mixture that was created by a Native American tribe called the Ojibwa that uses local plant roots, bark and leaves to kill cancer and also normalize diabetes and HIV.  It started being used in mainstream healing by a nurse called Rene Caisse in Canada. She had such success with using it to heal the bottom-the-barrel cancer cases that it exploded.

Since I've been studying herbal medicine and Chinese medicine, I cross-referenced the four main ingredients with my textbooks and what I've learned. I also put in hours with my biology textbooks and reading testimonials and research online.

I should add that it has a tumultuous history with the mainstream - and even slightly alternative - medical establishment. Andrew Weil, for instance, says you should avoid it. But he also says that the formula was never passed on correctly by Rene Caisse. Apparently, Caisse refused to divulge her ingredients to the drug companies because she believed the product should be cheap and free and readily available. She did give it to Memorial Sloan Kettering, and interestingly, there are studies on their websites regarding certain ingredients, but from what I've read, she got angry at the way they handled it (they froze the herbs, making them much weaker) and took it all back.

That said, there are so many testimonials most people have bought a jar of vitamins on Amazon with fewer good reviews. And you can buy it on Amazon as capsules, pre-made liquid and dried herbs. It is also sold under the name Flor-Essence with the addition of kelp (good for the thyroid), red clover (builds iron and strength), watercress (purifies the blood, tones the kidneys and reduces inflammation) and blessed thistle (strengthens and tones the liver).

I suggest making it yourself as the pre-made versions are more expensive and, since they are not as fresh, they might not be as effective.

The ingredients are as follows:

Burdock root - which has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to address a multitude of illnesses, amongst them, diabetes, gout, wrinkles (aging skin), measles and hypoglycemia. It has anti-tumor effects and is used in India and Russia in cancer treatments. It's also been used to cure fibroids. Burdock root is the main ingredient in Essaic tea. It's a pretty common weed that grows along roadsides in the U.S. and Canada.




Slippery Elm (inner bark) - you might recognize this name from natural sore throat and cough remedies. It coats the throat, esophagus and even bowels when ingested, which makes it great for mitigating the effects of chemo and/or radiation on your mucus membranes. When applied topically, it calms and soothes irritation on the skin as well. While, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering, it doesn't have anti-tumor effects, it does have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities. Its mucillagenous (slippery, right?) qualities make it especially good for coating the stomach in IBS. People even eat it as a highly-digestible food. The trees grow in the Northern U.S. and Canada.



Sheep Sorrell - this grows wild all over North America, in fields and meadows. It's an astringent and a diuretic with a tangy, lemony taste. Traditionally, it's been used to treat fevers, scurvy and diarrhea, but it's also nice as a salad green. In Essaic tea, it's an anti-tumor agent, as well as an anti-bacterial. Kids like to chew on it, calling it sour grass. It should be taken in small quantities - and it's proportions are quite small in the essaic mixture.

Turkey or Indian Rhubarb - this plant has been used in herbal remedies for over 2,000 years.
It has both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. In Essaic tea, it's used for its anthroquinones, emodin and rhein, which have tumor killing capacities. Anthroquinones are also good for strengthening the lungs, especially after chemotherapy or radiation. Finally, it's said that the tea can be used for controlling menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.

It seems incredible. If you have any health issues that affect the pancreas or liver, from diabetes to hepatitus to HIV or cancer, you should try this tea. Some people, like Flor-Essence, add additional herbs but these are the four main ones.

(The tedious part is making the tea. This isn't the kind where you buy a teabag and put it in a cup with hot water. It is actually a herbal extract or tincture, so it is boiled for quite a long time. Then strained and reduced again. Then you have to sterilize and fill a bottle with the thick, dark substance and keep it in the fridge. The advantage is that it lasts for several weeks that way and you only take a tiny amount in the morning and the evening, ideally on an empty stomach.)

Think about it this way, if you have a horrible sinus infection and you go to the doctor for antibiotics, you are probably still going to drink chicken soup, take a ton of vitamin c and maybe a hot toddy and/or watch some funny movies on netflix.

The doctor will tell you that all these other things won't make any difference. But, if you really want to get well fast, you'll decide that you want to put in the extra effort.

Along with meditating and speaking gently to your body and your cancer, it's worth it to use every piece of soul and body strengthening weapons reinforcements in your arsenal.

Just know that if you want to be well, listen to your body. Love it. Put in the time to treat yourself with love and respect. Who knows what miracles you could make happen?

thank you to thich nhat hanh for reminding us

The C-Word: How to Cure Your Cancer in 30 Days

this is the title of a book by ty bollinger. actually, it's "the 31-day cancer cure."

despite the confidence of the title and the fact that they sell it hard online and that ty bollinger is a committed christian and uses those metaphors in his work, it actually has some very useful advice.

the question remains - can you cure your cancer in a month?

i would say, yes. with some qualifiers:

1. it depends on how far your cancer has advanced.
2. it depends on how much chemo and/or radiation you've had already.
3. it depends on how much you are willing to commit to resolving it.

people who have cancer call me about once a week with questions about what i did and how i did it.
so i add with my own qualifiers - 1. i had a cancer that has a very high "cure" rate. 2. i did do fourteen weeks of traditional chemotherapy (though my experience made me believe that if my cancer were to return, i would never step into an oncology ward again). 3. the symptoms - very heavy bleeding - made it easy to discover i had cancer, however, i had an extremely aggressive and fast-moving cancer and i (like lots of busy mothers) ignored the hemorrhaging for six months.

i also swam laps - 3/4 of a mile - daily, until the last month, and did pilates every other day so it IS possible to be sick and not really realize it.

personally, i recommend the book - not as the be-all and end-all - but because it addresses the physical parts of healing cancer very well.

bollinger begins with the idea of the "de-tox" - i recommend this to EVERYONE who has cancer or any kind of degenerative illness - and then, re-building your strength.

1. eliminate sugars (and anything that turns into simple sugar) from your diet. that includes wheat, white rice, potatoes, most fruit, corn - i'm sure you know the drill. you might need to do this just until you are in remission, but i recommend one do it forever - with slight exception of fruit. you can start havng organic fruit once the cancer is resolved.

2. eliminate animal products - many sources say that a cancer diet should be low-protein AND low-carbohydrate, especially during chemo. i refer to william li's ted talk, can we eat to starve cancer? so bump up cruciferous vegetables. now almost everyone knows that broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage and daikon (japanese radish) are the enemy of cancer cells. i like to tell people the story of how i stopped eating sugar, wheat, dairy and animal products the day i was diagnosed (my brilliant brother had found the "cancer diet" online and printed it out and taped it to my fridge). in those two weeks, the size of my tumor shrank by half. this is before any chemotherapy or treatment of any kind.

i had ultrasounds in four different medical facilities before i came to memorial sloan kettering. my tumor was 4 cm and appeared to be expanding rapidly into the uterine wall.

when i got my first ultrasound at msk, my tumor was 2 cm.

my msk doctors said the rapid shrinking was the result of different kinds of ultrasound machines in the different hospitals. however, the other four places all had the same result. i find many cancer doctors feel like they have to cover their tracks.

3. eliminate ALL processed foods. if you have done the first two, you are probably forced to do this anyway. no artificial colors, sweetners, nothing that comes wrapped in cellophane, no MSG, nothing from a fastfood restaurant (where it is probably chemically-treated), no preservatives. if you can prepare your (organic) food at home - eat it fresh and quickly - you will always be better off.

4. ty bollinger - and many german doctors - suggest you address your teeth. first, like many naturopathic doctors, they suggest you get all your mercury fillings very carefully removed and replaced. mercury leaches out from the fillings and damages your immune system. people who do this report having headaches and colds disappear. next, there are a lot of illnesses lurking in the bacteria between your teeth and there is a theory that root canals - where a cavity exists inside your gum that is closed up and allows bacteria to hide and reproduce - can be the cause of everything from heart attacks to cancer. if you go to a holistic dentist, they can address the root canals as well as the mercury fillings using the proper materials so you are not exposed to the mercury. the idea is the stronger your immune system will be in order to fight the cancer. at the time, i did not have the finances to do this - and i still haven't but i have heard that it is a very important step.

5. the longer you've had cancer, the deeper its gone, and the longer you've had chemotherapy and/or radiation, the longer your healing process will be. simply put - and even doctors admit (like mine at memorial sloan kettering) - chemotherapy and radiation damage your "good" cells, your fast-growing cells (thus your hair falls out) and your immune system. most forms of natural healing work by activating your own immune system in order to fight the cancer. while you've been treating your cancer, you've been suppressing your body's own immune system.

if your cancer is quite deeply entrenched, or you have had a lot of allopathic treatment, i suggest you learn to be very patient with your body. if you've ever been pregnant, you remember that the day after your baby is born, you are horrified to see that you still look pregnant. my midwife used to say, ten months' up and ten months down. (it's sort of the same way you recover from a bad relationship).

ty bollinger suggests you start with a parasite cleanse. this takes about a week and can be done simultaneously with the liver and colon cleanse.

in my classes in naturopathy and chinese medicine, i've learned that almost all of us have parasites (some beneficial) - if you have ever eaten sushi, raw fruits and/or vegetables and/or almost anything prepared in a restaurant - you probably have some malicious ones too. it doesn't take a trip to somewhere exotic to have parasites and they are often not obvious.

the reason to kill the nasty parasites is to optimize your body's ability to utilize nutrients. it's not that hard as there are a number of kitchen plants and herbs that kill parasites, amongst the, ginger and garlic and oregano oil.

6. after the parasite cleanse, the liver and colon cleanse to help strengthen your immune system and to clear out the toxins that are building up from the chemo and/or radiation.

again, i would recommend that everyone do a liver and colon cleanse, at least once a year. but if you are feeling very weak, these might be hard to do. this is hulda clark's version.

for a gentler liver cleanse, my teacher of herbalism, peeka trinkle, suggests this. for 48 hours, avoid ALL fats, sugars (including fruit, potatoes and alcohol), grains (wheat, rice, oats, barley, quinoa), caffeine and animal products (no meat or dairy), no medicine (not even aspirin or tylenol, which settles in the liver) - with NO CHEATING, not even a teensy bit. lots of well-meaning people say, "just a little bit won't hurt..." in this case, it will - don't do it.

drink at least three liters of water a day and as many fresh vegetables as you can eat. if you can handle it, drink a spoonful of organic apple cider vinegar in water every few hours.

this has been known to get homeless alcoholics to get over the alcohol sickness and dry up for a little while.

after a liver cleanse, you'll notice immediately that your skin is brighter, the whites of your eyes clearer and the bags under your eyes depuff or disappear entirely.

7. continue to eat a ketogenic diet.

8. since ty is a christian, he suggests you go to church. i suggest you increase your level of prayer and/or meditation, wherever you do it - church, mosque, synagogue, temple, forest or beach - to help you manage stress, tension and anxiety.

9. add anti-tumor supplements and foods to your diet - including large amounts of turmeric, quercetin, vitamin c (pure l-ascorbic acid), vitamin d3, bitter almonds, cesium chloride, potassium, essaic tea, co-Q 10 and polymva. (please note, i am not suggesting you rush out and fill your shopping cart. work with a good naturopath or natural pharmacist to get your dosage and brands. i recommend speaking to david restrepo at vitahealth in nyc, they deliver all over the country).

10. take probiotics in the morning and pancreatic enzymes with every meal.

11. make sure you get a lot of sleep, at least eight hours a day - if possible ten.

12. drink only purified water - chlorine and fluoride are carcinogens - you need to avoid them at all costs.

13. if you are strong enough to exercise, do it. walk, yoga, pilates, swim (in non-chlorinated water), bicycle, run or lift weights if you can. it doesn't have to be intense, but it reduces your chance of cancer by 50% and increases your chance of recovery.

in reference to my own exploration of alternative and complementary medicine, someone asked me how i figured out which things to do. how did i know which were scams? "how did you decide?"

i said, "i just did everything non-invasive that anyone suggested."

that's not completely true.

everything that i read or heard about or that was suggested to me, i investigated online and with friends to see if there was real back-up. i also checked if it had more than one source that recommended it. i cross-referenced with the crucial database www.cancertutor.com

how to cure your cancer in 31 days is somewhat similar in that its program addresses the physical cancer from every angle.

like bollinger, i agree, there is NO SINGLE CURE. it's not just acupuncture, hypnosis, getting enough vitamin d3 or juicing or even switching to a total raw diet if you don't address all the cleaning and strengthening - and even more so, if you don't address your mental and spiritual state.
anxiety, self-doubt and tension will take you down, my friend.

in the end, if you are strong and committed enough to actually follow all the recommendations in ty's book. i believe you WILL cure your physical cancer in a month or less.

however, the cancer could come back if you ignore your mind and your programming. personally, i'd recommend working with a good hypnotist and/or an energy healer to help calm your subconscious and improve your self-talk.

be well. you can do it. it just takes work and a real commitment.

The Crying Game: 9 North Moore vs Zach Vella (and Saif Sumaida)

"nothing is what it seems to be."  never play the crying game with a blogger.

talk about constantly shifting identities - the personality-types involved in multimillion dollar deals are the most bizarre in nyc.

admittedly, i'm one of the 99%. don't know lots of those people. except zach vella. 

last summer, zach's a friendly new neighbor i meet on the sidewalk. here's the email he sent me.

From: Zach Vella
Date: June 8, 2012 7:57:44 PM EDT
To: "'ameenameer@gmail.com'"

Good meeting you. If you are interested in speaking about your ground floor space please let me know.

Best,

Zach Vella
212 686 2500

after sandy, after his development floods my apartment, he's the invisible man. not returning my phone calls, emails, not even the notes i leave with his doorman when i see him encased in black spandex, heading off for a run.

a freezing winter morning, after i write a blogpost about what a nightmare my life is - he's bristling mad that i had dared to write about him.  i figure, he's on the million dollar listing on bravo, he isn't publicity-shy. (on the street, he keeps murmuring about a woman whose wall he put a nail through. he offered to repair the wall but she sued him for all this money and, of course, she lost everything. he looks at me pointedly as he says this, though i miss the implication.)

a month later, i get a phone call, "hey, it's zach!" like we are best friends and i've been expecting his call all day. "are you still interested in renting your place? i just wanted to let you know i spoke to the partners and we are serious."

april 2 (day AFTER april fool's day, when i should have been wiser), zach came to the storefront to talk about how bad he felt about everything that happened. he was so sorry, he really just wanted to help me. the chain of command being what it was, he couldn't pay me himself, but he would be willing to give me a personal loan, out of his own pocket, until the insurance paid for the repairs. (i had actually emailed him the claim denials of all three insurance companies already.)

then, he said he had an idea that would be great for both of us. the development company would rent the entire space for a year, do a renovation that would repair all the apartment damage and pay me upfront for the stuff i lost. then they could use my space as a sales office and model apartment for their new development.

i am blown away. a perfect solution. "that is so kind of you, i would happy to do that," i said. "just so i can figure out my kids and my adjust my schedule - what's your time frame for that?"

zach said, "a month, a month-and-a-half at most."

i changed my mind about him. he was trying to do his best in a difficult situation.

a couple of artists planned a show of paintings and sculptures in the storefront in may. we'd been discussing it since last year. i cancelled the show.

out of courtesy, i didn't write any more blogposts because i knew it made him uncomfortable. i would wait til it was resolved and write something kind. (though the one about zach got over 1500 hits).

our emails:
  
From: Ameena Meer [mailto:ameenameer@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 02, 2013 08:20 PM
To: Zach Vella
Subject: thank you

it was great talking to you tonight.

i really appreciate your taking the time to address the issue.

i'm looking at the options - can you give me an idea of what you think the rent would be for a space like this?

thanks again,
ameena

On Apr 3, 2013, at 8:51 AM, Zach Vella wrote:

I will ask our broker but I think you should ask a couple yourself so we you are comfortable with the number

april 17: i put my apartment on the market to give him a number to work with.

ok weird.

may: he finally contacted my broker. he was traveling in africa. obviously doing good works in the developing world, he just wanted to be sure i wasn't going to write anything about him. in the meantime, no further offer of the loan either.

june 6, i'm fed up. nice and patient isn't working. send him a text saying that if he doesn't want me to write about his presence in my life, he needs to get this over with. (don't want to talk because obviously he's only good for what he puts in writing - plus my life is insane.)

he accuses me of extortion.

at this point, i don't care what he thinks. also, i cannot remove my blog as it provides important information for people with cancer.

he says: send me the damages.

for the 10th time, i send him the list - it consists of the destroyed stuff, the plumbing and electrical repairs, and last year's bills for the mold clean-up (subtracting the cost of the upstairs) and the re-build. being a good neighbor, i don't ask him for relocation costs while the work is done.

On Jun 10, 2013, at 11:17 AM, "Ameena Meer" wrote:

hi zach -

as per our conversation on saturday, here is the cost of the repairs.

as we spoke at the beginning of april, the flood happened in november of last year, i feel i've been quite patient.

i would appreciate some response within 24 hours.

i am forwarding you the same email my real estate sent you last week.

thank you,
ameena

On Jun 10, 2013, at 12:23 PM, Zach Vella wrote:

Received

24 hours x 4, no response.  i text again.

bizarrely, he forwards a release. it holds him and his company blameless for everything and i can never write about him or them again. the place for the number is left blank.

this morning, he calls the broker to tell him that his own basement flooded, it was cheap and easy to have it all repaired - my costs are way too high. zach offers me "a loan" for $14,000 - a little over a quarter of the cost of the damages. (in return, i have to delete my blog - which is usually used as an clearing house for alternative cancer information).

i should add that given this drama - my second major flood in two years - means that no insurance carrier will give me coverage for the next three years.

oh, one of the brokers on the million dollar listing is being investigated by the f.b.i. and had been photoshopping new kitchens and floors into his apartment listings.

oh so that's how it works.

want a writer to stop writing? you have to take off the costume.

UPDATE: for everyone who's asking. i decided to stop trying to mr. vella and his business to court. it wasn't worth the time, attention or the money. i sold my place and moved away from rat-infested tribeca. now it's his karma to live with. i wish him all the best.

The C-Word: Trust and Medicine

It seems to me that the biggest problem right now in the medical industry and the healing community is trust.

People don't trust doctors, what with all the news about kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies (check out the dollars for docs site to see if yours has), doctors working 24 hours a day because insurance companies squeeze their time (thus sometimes they make mistakes) and the horrible instances where the process goes wrong and a person gets hurt.

Every day, I seem to get another piece of direct mail/email with a headline like "WHAT DOCTORS AREN'T TELLING YOU" or " WHAT THE MEDICAL INDUSTRY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW..."

Doctors don't trust patients, because medicine is imperfect and they are humans and doing the best they can, and patients are likely to sue them if the insurance companies don't do it first.

In the complementary medicine community, energy healers, acupuncturists, homeopaths, naturopaths, massage therapists don't seem to trust each other and they really don't trust the allopathic doctors.

And average people don't know if they can trust the alternative medical practitioners because the government has cracked down so hard on them, they can barely hang a shingle, let alone help anyone in any way. I was talking to a friend who is a very sucessful hypnotist yesterday and I asked her what she says when people ask for a guarantee - like what if the treatment doesn't get them to quit smoking? (or whatever it is)

She said, "Does your doctor give you a guarantee? Does he guarantee the pencillin will work?"

And I thought about it and mumbled something about test results, but of course, we all know that about scientists falsifying research. 

Not only does my doctor NOT guarantee results. If something doesn't work or has horrid side-effects, I have to contact her and pay for all the different tests and other prescriptions that she guinea-pigs me on, along with all the subsequent appointments.

One thing I have discovered in being ill so many times is that one needs an arsenal of healers. Allopathic, regular doctors and internists and surgeons who can stitch one's face back together after a taxi accident

Energy healers who can help you re-gain your spirit. Acupuncturists who can make sure the systems are running properly. Nutritionists and naturopaths who can help you eat well enough that your wounds disappear. Homeopaths who can help with the swelling and the healing. Some good friends who can help you do some research and find a lawyer and make sure you don't miss the deadline to sue the taxi company (I did, you only have 30 days, but I questioned the litigious society we've created and the poor taxi driver looked terrified and sorrowful.)

Personally, on his or her own, I don't trust anyone. (Except myself and Universal Intelligence - and even that's a team).

I think, as humans, we need to stop expecting easy answers. There is no single way to address any challenge. And no one should expect perfect solutions from any one practitioner. We need a team, we need ourselves (because NOTHING will work unless you want it and believe it and are willing to put your own work in too).

And if our practioners don't feel safe with us - trust me, they are terrified - they can't really help us.

So drink your green juice. Stop eating sugar and white flour. Step away from the lawyers and spend a bit more time opening up to your healers - on all sides of the spectrum. Cut them some slack. Take some responsibility for yourself.

Feel better.

The C-Word: Help for Rosemary's Babies

7 am this morning, to the sounds of the drilling two inches outside my window, i was speaking to a friend whose beautiful two year-old daughter has acute lymphoblastic leukemia. 

and when i came home from dropping rara at school, i saw the ny times op-ed by michael mudd about the food industry. and it made me think about rosemary's baby, the idea of a man trading his unborn child for his career, for getting ahead in the world. 

isn't that where we are now? leukemia and other cancers skyrocket amongst children under 10 and corporations continue to make and sell products full of carcinogenic and harmful ingredients because "the consumer wants them."

    these are beautiful british twin girls, the one on the left has leukemia and her sister on the right does not. fortunately, they can help in understanding the DNA changes that might lead to leukemia.

we have sold our next generation to pesticide manufacturers, x-ray and microwave machine builders, pharmaceutical and junk food corporations, not to mention, the cosmetic industry.

in the meantime - if your child or any child you know - gets leukemia, here's some advice:

ONE i am sure you know - keep her as quiet and rested as possible. cancer patients needs tons of sleep. the more the better. just let her sleep and sleep and find a place where she can be quiet and undisturbed.

TWO cut out sugar from her diet. http://www.mercola.com/article/sugar/sugar_cancer.htm  for now, i would include fruit, or at least limit her fruit intake as much as you can, to just a little bit here and there. if she does want to have fruit, give her mangosteen, pineapple (very good for cleaning the blood, you just have to cut it carefully because it could burn her tongue if the chemo is affecting her mucus membranes), green apples, carrots. no sugar, no honey, no maple syrup and especially NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS! there's been a link between aspartame (nutrasweet) and leukemia, better not to use it. http://www.naturalnews.com/037772_aspartame_leukemia_lymphoma.html

no white rice, no wheat. cut back on carbs as much as you can because they turn into sugar in the body and cancer cells feed on sugar.

THREE increase broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussell sprouts, kale - all cruciferous vegetables in her diet. http://www.naturalnews.com/038363_sulforaphane_cruciferous_vegetables_leukemia.html 
if you can juice them, even better. if the juice feels too strong, you can add more cucumber and green apple. i make a juice every morning with three leaves of kale, two thick stalks of broccoli, one cucumber, three stalks of celery, a small bunch of coriander, half-a-lemon, and half-a green apple.

make sure the fruits and vegetables you juice are organic and washed clean. if you can get her to drink three or four big (16 oz) glasses of this a day, that's great. make it as fresh as you can and if she can't drink it all at one go, let her drink small amounts throughout the day. it means she will continue to get nutrients because sometimes the chemo can make it hard to eat and can give you sores in your mouth and throat. if she has too many sores in her mouth for the lemon, just leave it out and add more cucumber and/or aloe with is good for coating the mouth and stomach.

FOUR while she is having chemo, make sure she drinks a lot of water. i drank three liters a day but i am quite a lot bigger. the idea is to get all the noxious chemicals out of her body as fast as possible.

FIVE make her laugh. laughter strengthens your immune system. funny movies, jokes, toys. the more you can keep her laughing and cheerful (and i've heard she is a little sprite so she will be easy to entertain), the better.

SIX  zhikr - for both you and your baby. tasbih (or a rosary or mala, if one is christian, hindu or buddhist) is a magic charm and for calming and energy. just get a set and keep saying, "la illaha illala" on each bead. give a set to your baby to hold or wear around her neck - and tell her they will keep her safe and strong. when the stress is getting to you - or her - find a quiet place (even if it's just in your mind) to breathe slowly and deeply and keep doing the thusbee and concentrating on LOVE because that is what God is. all-embracing love, all-forgiving love, all-healing love.

breathing deeply for both you and her is very important because getting enough oxygen in your body can kill cancer cells - and for worried mamas, it can keep you from getting sick from the stress.

SEVEN gentle massage. chemo makes your body achy. loving massage can increase her blood circulation and energy. hold her, massage her. if she loses or doesn't have much hair, one's scalp is super-sensitive, it's nice to stroke and massage her head.

EIGHT i used to take a product called polymva. it's combination of b-vitamins and palladium. it is incredible at protecting your healthy cells from the chemo. i would giver 1 tbp in a glass of water four or five times a day. it looks horrid and it tastes like marmite with no salt, but one gets used it and it will give her energy to survive the chemo.  http://www.polymva.com unfortunately, it's quite expensive, but it is miraculous. i used to go through 5 bottles a month. 

NINE omega-3 fish oil is very important -especially for leukemia! make sure she is taking it. maybe very small capsules - sometimes they have it flavored for young kids. http://www.healthy-oil-planet.com/cod-liver-oil-cancer.html

make sure you get a reputable brand because fish oil goes rancid very easily. also, try to feed her fatty fishes, like salmon and mackerel.

i use blue pastures http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/CodLiverOil/index.cfm - apparently, fermented cod liver oil is even more effective than regular and this is better than nordic fish oils.

TEN if you don't live in a sunny place, make sure she is taking vitamin D. i take it in drops but it is nice as a cream which is how vitamin d enters your body in normal times. it's soothing and energizing.

ELEVEN of course, take turmeric and ginger. they help with inflammation, pain and nausea with no side effects.

LAST OF ALL - i recommend everything that you do for your baby, you do for yourself as well. please please look after yourself. it is emotionally draining to go through this. 

be gentle with yourself and  it will be easier to be gentle with your baby.

guns and roses

one of the singing amazons is looking at colleges. (phew! that went fast!)

why is it when the kids are little, time seems to move so slowly? with newborns, time feels frozen almost. you are keeping track of days and then weeks of life. and then they are toddlers and you count time in months. "she's 16 months' old," you say, because you're keeping track of developmental milestones and nervously awaiting the terrible twos.

and then all of sudden, they are rambunctious kids and you're organizing playdates and lessons and figuring out schools and how to entertain them while you're making dinner. (i used to feed rara and then put her in the stroller and make sasha and zarina push her up and down the hallway while i was cooking). or you're trying to figure out whether your neighbor can watch one who needs to come home while you're stuck at work (and working on remembering to pick up the supplies for a school diorama project). you count the minutes before bedtime, the hours you can sleep before you get up and start the whole delicious and exhausting and messy process all over again.

but when they hit 11 or 12, everything starts moving faster and faster. only a year til middle school, and then tutors and SATs and performances and school dances and teams and heartbreak and the next thing you know they are halfway through high school and you haven't unpacked the summer clothes from two years' ago. next, you blink, and the college applications are all in and you're in limbo, waiting to see what happens next.

amongst her choices is USC which is a good school for acting and performance. so i was talking to a fellow mum about it and she said, "it's a great school and, even though it's in a terrible neighborhood, the crime rate is going down. there were only four shootings on campus last year - but no one was killed."

i said, "FOUR shootings?! (let me add that teachers (and others) are now allowed to carry concealed weapons at schools and churches in north dakota.) who is giving students guns?"

the mum, who happened to be british and danish, shook her head.

school children and college students and movie goers and shopping mall shoppers are getting shot in peacetime u.s.

calls for gun control and new gun policies are all over twitter and facebook and whitehouse.gov but no one seems to have a clear plan or any idea what the 2nd amendment really meant.

a friend of mine, pia sen, a brilliant professor in birmingham, alabama, who raises the most beautiful flowers, is trying to fund a crucial study on gun violence, access to guns and gun policy. we have less than a month to help her. (click here to read about it).

click here to donate funds

but please do it soon. blink again, and your kids will be adults. we hope and pray.

2 amazons @ 9 North Moore St.

the amazons have started a rock band.

it was really a matter of time. when my third daughter was born, my friend hilton als gave a me a card that said, "congratulations, you have a girl group."

zarina started singing before she could really speak. i remember her, at a year-and-a-quarter, shaking her head back and forth on the changing table and making noises.

i said, "zarina, what's that?"

she looked at me and said, as most toddlers do, something unintelligible. i asked her a few more times before i understood what she was trying to say: "elmo song!"

rara started playing music on a box with rubber bands on it, we had to record a whole series of her songs. from there, she graduated to a ukelele and eventually, a guitar. despite being forced to take piano lessons in between, she returned to the guitar.

here they are - zarina and rara on vocals, rara on guitar.

the rest is, as they say, history...

note to zach vella and foundations group, real people live here.