AMY JOHNSON | SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI
It was May 2013, and I was curious about having a baby since I just turned 43, and the maternal clock was ticking loudly. While driving one day, I saw a billboard that said, “Fertility Partnership”, and I thought, ‘that sounds nice, I always wanted to have a partner to share the experience’. So I decided to make an appointment. Weirdly, the night before at 3AM, I was woken by a super sharp, knife-like pain in my right ovary. The next day I went to my appointment and the doctor told me to get up on the table to see what’s going on…then yelled out, “Whoa, what’s that?”. He said come back in two week and we will see if it grew.
Two weeks later we took another look and it was still there, and he said, “I am sending you to an oncologist!”. I had to think for a moment what that word meant… when my brain finally processed the word “cancer”, my whole world started to collapse. Here I had went into his office excited about the possibility of creating life, and now I had to save my own! I was really confused…before this moment I was so happy and healthy and I had created an amazing life, how is this even possible, I was the healthiest person all my friends and family knew!
It felt like I was moving in slow motion, although everyone wanted me to make a decision so fast! My former roommate had just received her PhD studying ovarian cancer and set up an appointment for me with her mentor at Washington University, Saint Louis. He was considered one of the best in the ovarian cancer field. When we met, he said he was 99% sure it would be benign since I was so “healthy” and felt so good. After signing the papers, which were revised to state they could only take my right ovary if they had to, I went into a 3-hour surgery. When I woke up, I was told, “You have clear cell carcinoma, a rare, aggressive cancer, and we don’t know what stage it is because you only let us take your right ovary.”
“I didn’t want just five more years; I wanted my whole life!”
The next two weeks were the hardest weeks of my life, deciding whether to get the recommended full hysterectomy or not. The fear started to build up when I started thinking about my long history of endometriosis, heavy painful periods, previous surgeries of suspect cells on my cervix, cysts still residing on my left ovary, all of my friends and family’s fear, and those dang statistics they read to you after the diagnosis. The air was thick.
I decided to do the full hysterectomy. When I woke up, I felt awful, and I knew immediately my body had been compromised, my light felt dim, and I needed help to heal and empower my body. I knew in my heart chemo was not the answer and would just make me feel worse and put my light out. I did not like the word remission, I wanted to heal and move on. I didn’t want just five more years; I wanted my whole life! I started looking into alternative options and the Gerson Therapy seemed to be the most intense, the most natural, and the most healing. I liked the idea of regenerating my liver and creating cellular rebirth.
I felt I needed to get to the licensed Gerson clinic in Mexico fast, so I applied and was accepted quickly, and now needed the funds to go. I did a GoFundMe which created more than enough to go!
At the Licensed Gerson Clinic in Mexico
The first week Charlotte Gerson arrived and spoke to us for four straight hours! She was so clear and strong with her words as she explained a totally different world to us that we were not aware of…everything started to become very clear. Everything I thought I knew wasn’t true, WOW! It’s so important to believe in your choice of healing, and the clinic plus Charlotte’s talk really helped my mind and body align. I was ALL IN and excited to see how my body would be empowered and get stronger little by little every day. What a gift to know that we can heal ourselves, it is the most important thing I have ever learned and I am so grateful for Dr. Max Gerson developing this amazing protocol.
My favorite times at the clinic were sitting together at dinner with everyone and sharing how we were feeling and how we were dealing with our new lifestyle. It really helped to connect and learn from others allowing the current circumstances not to feel so lonely.
Learning how to do coffee enemas was the biggest surprise for me out of everything. I was so amazed how easy it was and how great I felt right after. They also asked us to go outside twice a day and put our bare feet on the ground to be in touch with the natural earth below us. Such a simple, yet magnificent reminder how necessary it is to ground ourselves with the earth.
My mother slowly started to come on board with the protocol and it was so fascinating to see her beliefs breaking down and changing. She actually lost 25 pounds while she was there just eating the food, she even had to hold her pants up all the way back home!
“What a gift to know that we can heal ourselves. It is the most important thing I have ever learned.”
Two weeks flew by and we didn’t want to leave. We were concerned if we were going to be able to do this all on our own when we returned home. At the end of the first day, my mom and I collapsed on the kitchen floor exhausted, looked up at each other and said, “we did it!” I knew right then we needed to quickly get a lot of help over the next two years. I put an ad on CraigsList and hired help to come in six hours every day. Having this support really helped me to relax and gave me time to rest, which was so important. It was also really nice to have someone else there in my home. These women have since become very dear friends.
I would say the worst part of the Gerson Therapy for me were the castor oil enemas. Those were the toughest days, emotionally. I think that’s when I would detoxify the most since I would feel so nauseous and weak with all different kinds of emotions coming up. Anger would definitely surface so strongly that I would want to punch and kick in the bathroom door! Deep, deep sadness would come, but I wouldn’t let it stay long. I made up a game to survive called, “Flip It” – I would not let myself move another step until I replaced the depressive thought with something different that I loved. When I would finally think of something positive, I could feel my whole body relax. It was pretty magical.
My Advice
I just took it day-by-day without looking back or ahead; I had to totally be in the present moment. Now when I look back, those two years were magical. It was all about me slowing down and just being. I stayed at home and was never bored (and I am a huge traveler) and I did the therapy to a T. I never missed a juice, an enema, a supplement or a meal for two years. I planted a garden and loved watching it grow.
Life after the Gerson Therapy
7,122 Juices, 1,755 Coffee Breaks, 39,600 Supplements, 4,100 Pounds of Carrots, 4,014 Granny Smith Apples, 1,752 Potatoes, 876 Onions, and 756 Heads of Romaine Lettuce later….
Today I am super healthy, and I know I will be this way for as long as I am on this earth since I know how to live, eat and heal! I know what to do if I start to feel a little off, and I feel so in my power knowing how to take care of myself. I feel like I just came back from the spa every day, and I know when I feel better I make better choices! I don’t work as much, I spend most of my time in nature. I continue to eat organic, I have a juice every day, a “coffee break” once a week, sometimes more if I am feeling a little off. I watch my nervous system to make sure nothing revs up! I no longer take thyroid medication, the Hashimoto’s has healed and my endocrinologist said he never needs to see me again, (love that guy for saying that). I see the oncologist twice a year and we just talk about his experiences helping his son at their newly developed organic farm.
I have learned that stress (good or bad) is one of the largest contributors to dis-ease. I have sold and let go of everything that was causing stress in my life. I am in the process of changing the name of my fashion design company from KayOss to Klarity, which will also be the name of the book I am writing to help share this amazing wisdom. I have been speaking about the Gerson Therapy and my experience to help spread the word. I feel it’s important to let others know there are options besides what insurance covers and conventional doctors recommend.
Blessings to all of you on your healing journey, as we all learn how to love ourselves again!
XO,
Amy
We’re so grateful to Amy and all Gerson patients for sharing their inspirational stories. To share your Gerson story, fill out our testimonial form HERE.
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Written by: Amy Johnson
