As some of you already know, I had been treated for cancer. In February 2005 I found 2 large lumps on my neck that biopsies showed to be lymphnodes infected with squaamous skin cancer cells. I dragged my feet on mainstream treatment while I tried to get rid of them on my own with supplements and dietary changes. The main dietary changes I made were to eliminate sugar, which I knew I had overdone, and to juice vegetables, mainly carrots, which I had read online could have good results. At the suggestion of one of my DVD customers who recovered from cancer after making dietary changes she had learned from the Gerson Institute, I tried to juice and drink two to three lbs. of carrots everyday. I also added some oranges and apples, but later I heard that oranges negate carrots to some degree and vice versa and that apples have a lot of sugar, and eventually dropped them.

The initial results were encouraging. It seemed that my tumors were decreasing in mass for awhile, although the changes were small and gradual, and it was hard to be certain. By the time the doctors at County General wanted me to decide whether or not I was going to proceed with their treatments, they had also found a third tumor in my throat, which a biopsy showed was also malignant. They persuaded me that the cancer might metasticize further and in less accessible areas if I didn't proceed rapidly. The radiologist said I had a 30% chance of 5-year survival if I proceeded with radiation and chemo (at my request they skipped the surgery that they originally had suggested), and an "essentially zero percent" chance of 5-year survival if I didn't get (mainstream) treatment. With several young children, I decided to proceed with their treatment to "play it safe".

Without going into the details, the treatment and its side effects are all they say it is and much more. I lost almost 50 lbs. in 6 weeks, and came away with a lung infection that caused them to keep filling up with foam that was very hard to get rid of, and a stomach tube through my nose for several weeks afterwards because I couldn't swallow or drink anything without choking. To be honest, however, it was nice to lose the weight, although not nearly worth the agony that the chemo puts you through. Anyway, the tumors were fluctuated down and then up during treatment; afterward, they subsided and disappeared over the following 2 to 3 months. Although I continued juicing 2 to 3 lbs. of carrots almost everyday, there was no way to know whether it or the radiation and chemo treatments were responsible.

What happened next, however, appeared to be much less ambiguous. I had been warned by the chemo doctors (one in particular, that I also happened to run into at the post office), that recurrences were common and that I needed to keep checking in with them. To avoid this possibility I never quit trying to juice 2-3 lbs. of carrots every day, and managed to do so about 5 days a week on average. So it was a little surprising and disappointing when I noticed lumps forming under the skin on my upper chest about 2 months after the earlier tumors had disappeared. I kept up the juicing and added hot water bottles and heating pads, because I had heard that heat can cause tumors to dissipate when they are close to the skin. This seemed to help at first, but only slightly. I also started adding green "superfood" powder (dried leafy vegetables and seaweed) to the carrot juice. All in all, it was hard to tell that any of it was having any effect. The lumps fluctuated in size, but wouldn't leave.

After about 4 months of this, and when I was coming to a point of frustration with their intractability and apparent slight growth, I showed the lumps (there were now 10 of them in a small area about 3 inches below my left shoulder) to an RN at my church. I guess I had slipped into a degree of complacency because I was startled by the sharpness of her response. She said "Ralph, you better get those biopsied!" Well, I had read somewhere along the way that biopsies can spread tumors, so my anxiety level went up instantly, and my first response was to resolve to get more serious about my juicing to try to avoid getting more biopsies if I could. I immediately increased my juicing to 5 lbs. of carrots a day, which yields about a quart and a third, which I juiced into a 2 lb. yogurt container (I drink some through a straw while still juicing so it doesn't overflow). By Thursday I thought I could see some improvement, but I wasn't sure. By the following Sunday I was sure. My RN friend wasn't at church that day. By the following Sunday I was astounded by the change. When I saw her I said "Give me your hand." She did, and I placed it on the bumps. She said "Wow! What'd you do?" The lumps seemed to me to have gone down by over half, and her response indicated that it wasn't my imagination. In short, 9 of the 10 lumps completely disappeared over a 6 week period, and the last one, which had started out the largest, disappeared entirely by the end of the 8th week.

Four months later, I am still juicing 5 lbs. of carrots every day I can, which is usually five or six times a week. I had been warned that carrot juice has a lot of sugar and that high quantities of it can cause you to turn orange. So far neither has been a problem. I think that I had a slight color change at first, but now when I ask people they don't see any. As for the sugar, I can't explain it. I do believe that sugar can cause tumors to grow, but the dramatic disappearance of my 10 lumps suggests that either something else in the carrots offsets the sugar, or that unrefined sugar is not a problem. All I know is that going from juicing 2-3 lbs. to juicing 5 lbs. of carrots a day, and drinking the juice immediately, had an immediate impact on the 10 lumps on my chest that continued until they were gone. I should also mention that the last 10 lumps were small to begin with, each similar to the size and shape of a short grain of rice under the skin, which is probably why the changes were easily visible.

I know that one person's experience doesn't prove anything. Neither would I suggest that what worked for me would necessarily work for anyone else. But several people have asked me to share my experience with cancer, and last weekend, I heard that one of my former volunteers has it, so to avoid possible regrets later, I felt I needed to share my experience with my friends before it is too late for it to be of potential value to them.

Internet site reference: http://www.the-lovgrens.com/kevin/carrots_cancer.html