[Andrea Barnett Budin]

I recall when Dr. Gaynor first handed me my lists -- pages and pages -- subdivided into IMMUNE SYSTEM, DIGESTIVE HEALTH, blah, blah. Overwhelming. And ridiculous to think I could ever...

But my blood #s are always impeccable, despite a little cancer back in the day. I have read over the yrs on this site that this Sister or that Sister stopped taking their supplements. They didn't know why.

First of all, I knew why. It's a big damn pain the ass! You have to be rigid in your protocol. Well, when I was on all these meds for pain and whatever w/the hard chemo, and I was so sick, I had to be my own nurse. I would keep a list in the bathroom, on the vanity and write the day and date and the time I took each and every pill. I'd write the next time I needed to take whatever (for diarrhea or nausea and so on) -- and I'd carefully put a check mark next the one I had just actually taken and I'd turn the bottle upside down for good measure. I was meticulous. I kept a chart on ME.

I kept hydrated. I was very good. I couldn't eat but I'd crawl to the pantry and take a shaking handful of nuts and eat 1 handful, because you have to!

But I got to notice that the Sisters who stopped taking their supplements -- and I don't mean this as a scare tactic, just an observation -- I began to worry b/c those who stopped would soon and suddenly be in hospice and die.

So that served as incentive enough for me to stick with the program. These pills keep me alive and they keep me healthy and well!!!

A friend of mine was given her list from Dr. G. She told him -- okay, pick 10 -- any 10. And I'll take them. She has had 3 primary cancers. She takes 10. Every morning. She takes the AM pills and the PM pills in the AM. That's it. She has no tolerance for any more. That's her thing. Aside from the 3 cancers, she is still alive many yrs later. She will soon be 80.

So you must do what you're comfortable with.

It's a cost. It's a major bother. It's a project. I feel -- it's the least I can do. I am off chemo. I am miraculously still here. I do BELIEVE with all my heart that these pills have a profound effect on my health and well-being. And I do it all so by rote at this point, I cannot imagine what I would do without them. I THINK OF MY SUPPS AS MY LIFELINE.

Just as I do the meditation and the self talk thing and the guided imagery. I BELIEVE. I live open to LOVE, GRATITUDE, COMPASSION, GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT, GIVING GOD A REASON TO KEEP ME AROUND. I appreciate the smallest of things. Like having hair that won't blow away in a gust of wind. Like being able to breathe. Swear. I can walk and talk. Feed and bathe myself. I can type. Communicate. These are all great blessings.

A few mnths before my orig dx, the young rugged handsome actor who fell off his horse and became paralyzed from the neck down, whose name escapes me for a moment. It's in my book. I kept telling my husb that my 4th stage invasive lobular carcinoma could have so much worse. My husb would look at me as if I had lost my mind. I'd say I'M LUCKY...! He'd say, If you were lucky, you wouldn't have cancer.

No, my mother had Alzheimers and had lost her mind, become totally paralyzed. I KNEW well how blessed I was. And I know well now to appreciate all that has been given me. It impelled me on to a spiritual path I can see in retrospect I was unconsciously on all along, but after my dx I began to see the world in such intense colors. The chipped paint on the front door mid winter (when they couldn't fix it) that I saw every day several times a day as I came and went and annoyed the hell out of me -- no longer mattered. In the scheme of things, Who cares?

I did google each of the supps. I did need to understand why I was taking each one. You approach it in your own way. And please feel grateful for Dr. G's secret recipe to success. Don't abuse the honor. Share it with others. And follow it for all of the years of the long life it will grant you.

AHAH! Christopher Reeve...

Just saying..

Love,
Andi