This Mother’s Day, we wanted to share a story of healing that you helped make possible – combined, of course, with the amazing determination, courage and perseverance of Maria and her family.

In 2012, Maria had a traumatic surgery to remove a cancerous tumor surrounding her colon. Her doctors said she would die without chemotherapy and radiation. Maria had already experienced the devastating toxic effects of chemotherapy in her previous battle with breast cancer, twelve years earlier. She felt that, this time, there had to be a better way.

Fortunately, her family discovered the Gerson Therapy online, and she began to follow the Gerson Therapy at home.

Eight months later, on her 61st birthday, Maria wrote to tell us that she was celebrating her birthday with energy and joy – thanks to the Gerson Therapy. Maria shared with us the following birthday card from her daughter Michele:

Mommy,
I’m so grateful that I’m celebrating another birthday with you. This past year has been an emotional roller coaster. I told Travis it has been both the best and worst year of my life. The ups and downs have been dramatic.

You were horribly sick for the first 9 months of 2010, and then came the devastating diagnosis and [the Gerson Therapy] that gives us your life and your survival, but takes away so many of life’s little pleasures. Yet, you keeping chugging along, like the little engine that could, only with a little more sass and a whole lot more caliente.

You have so much strength, will power, and courage in that teeny tiny little Spanish vessel we call your body. I have to remind myself what you have been through, how far we have come since the surgery and all that followed since, lest I forget and take a single moment of peace and quiet with you for granted.

By the grace of God, and the spirit of Dr. Max Gerson, this topsy-turvy roller coaster ride spit us out onto a lake of serenity, where we can glide along peacefully, deciding which reality show to watch next. Where we can walk to dinner and I can hold your hand. You can’t order anything, but I can hold your hand, and that is what is most
important.

I know the therapy is redundant and routine, but I enjoy the certainty of it in a way that I could not have, prior to experiencing the uncertainties that filled the year that preceded it.

Thank God for Gerson, thank God for you, thank God for our peaceful days. Let’s fill your birthday and every day after with joy and laughter that our time together brings.

I love you,
Michele

However, Maria’s incredible story didn’t stop there. She has continued on the Gerson Therapy for two more years, and is doing well on her healing journey. Moreover, Maria has inspired her entire family – and many of their friends – to embrace an organic lifestyle. The benefits of this new lifestyle were astounding; her loved ones reported back that it had helped them with an array of health issues such as sleep problems and chronic pain.

However, as Michele’s letter illustrates, following the Gerson Therapy wasn’t without its challenges. Maria and her family were discouraged by the lack of options at restaurants and experienced a frustration many Gerson persons know well – how hard it can be to socialize and stick to the therapy.

Due to the intensity of the Gerson protocol and the hourly juices, a lot of patients find it difficult leave the house at all, let alone go out to restaurants. Even with the boom of health-minded restaurants and juice bars in the past few years, there are still only a few that can provide a truly Gerson Therapy-friendly meal.

When possible, we recommend preparing your Gerson meal and juice, packaging in non-toxic containers, and bringing it with you to a restaurant. Call ahead of time to explain your situation and request that they bring your Gerson meal out when everyone else’s food arrives.

Despite the challenges, Maria inspired her family and her community to take radical steps towards true healing.

This week, we celebrate the mothers and other women who have taught us what it means to live a healthy, caring and authentic life.

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Originally Posted May 2014