Week 44: A new regime ... and new table

10 Feb 2012

 Sorry for the extended silence on the blog front. I seem to have been fully occupied just trying to get on top of my new raw-food-and-supplements regime (although I did find the space to finish my table - see above - and to start on a new furniture-making project...more on that later). 

As reported on the last entry, I started out on the new approach - as recommended by Xandria Williams - almost a month ago. I won't pretend it's been easy -- nor particularly cheap. However I am feeling pretty well on it and I do feel very optimistic that it will work. So much so that - with I'm happy to say the blessing of my oncologist - I have decided not to go for the second-line of drug treatment that was on offer. On researching this, I found that it only prolonged survival rates by a few months on average anyway. So, for now, I prefer to keep off the drugs and put every effort into the complementary and natural approach.

So I have managed to keep up with the 80% raw food diet. We bought a new, super-duper Korean juicer which does a brilliant, if rather slow, job of squeezing all the goodness out of vegetables, nuts etc. So that's the starting point for each day as I'm supposed to drink a litre of vegetable juice daily.

As I'm not allowed grains or cereals (so no bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals) I have a muesli made from nuts and seeds with a diluted Budwig Mix (goats yogurt and flax oil whizzed up in a liquidiser). With a bit of vanilla essence and Xylitol (sugar substitute) it's really very good. Other meals are made up of raw vegetables and salads, nuts and seeds, red berries, and a little bit of lightly grilled fish or chicken. It sounds more limiting than you think but we're now getting into all sorts of interesting and innovative raw food recipes, helped by the purchase of a food hydrator which 'cooks' food very slowly in a way that preserves its raw nutritional qualities.  I should say straight away that I would not have managed all this without, Chrissy, who has been brilliant and who is also doing the diet with me, which is noble in the extreme. Any good raw food recipes you may have are very welcome! I'm particularly pleased with my efforts at making Xandria's raw carrot cake.

On top of this I have to take about 130 different supplement capsules a day (I'm getting good at swallowing multiple capsules at a time or I'd be glugging water all day long) and countless powders. This was overwhelming at first. It's also heavy on the pocket. But I now have a little tray (like a DIY holder for multiple screw types) so I can dispense my daily supplements for several days ahead. This is also really helpful for when I am travelling, otherwise I would have to take a wheelbarrow load of capsule bottles and tubs with me.

On top of all this I am also supposed to have baths in bicarbonate soda (to alkalise the body) and twice daily coffee enemas -  oh dear, yes! - to clear the toxins. I won't go into the details of the latter but, once I'd got used to it, it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. It all takes up a lot of time though.

Anyway, amid all this I managed to finish the table I was making. The legs are from sycamore and the top is American Cherry. I'm really pleased with it and it's been great fun thanks to the wonderful teaching of the master furniture-maker, Tom Kealy, down in Buckland St. Mary, Somerset. 

 The next project is a large spice rack, to my own design (and Chrissy's specifications). Rather satisfyingly this is going to come out of a single slice from the trunk of an American Cherry tree which, thanks to Tom, I was able to start working on from scratch. The idea of starting with something that still looks like a tree trunk and ending with a finished item really appeals. 

Meanwhile I am still cycling a fair bit and have been asked to join part of a new charity cycle ride aimed at raising awareness of the need for services for people who would like to keep active and/or make lifestyle changes in the course of dealing with cancer so they can maintain their quality of life and aid their recovery. This is such a close fit with what I am trying to do myself that I was really pleased to hear about it. I'll be saying much more about it soon, but take a look at Theride.org.uk yourself. It's a fantastic idea from a very energetic person, Reka Pataky. Any support you can offer her would be fantastic. I won't be up to doing the whole ride but hope to do a few sections. As  I say, more on this later. 

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