The Precious Human Life

A week before Chang passed on, a mutual girlfriend made a remark that he must have been very disappointed at the outcome of his therapies, in particular the Gerson Therapy. That Chang put himself through such a tasteless Gersons Therapy diet yet it failed to shrink the tumours. 

It struck me then how very different we human beings view the same situation. Probably, because I had never heard Chang express his disappointment that I never saw it in such a light.  So, what is your point of view? Do you think that the Gerson Therapy was a failure?

In the early days, he was a very staunch supporter of the Gerson Therapy and was hopeful especially after the first few months when he saw some results. However, he also said that the Gerson Therapy would take between one and half to two years to work.After that, he would have to look into other alternative therapies. At that time, he combined the Gerson Therapy with TCM herbs from CA Care and urine therapy. But as I recall, he started looking shortly after he came back from Mexico. He went into LDN, which threw his sleep cycle out of whack, fungicide therapy and snake grass which caused alot of phlegm and he was coughing blood.

While he must have been disappointed (as anyone would) that the Gerson Therapy did not manage to cure his cancer, I dont think he was ever disappointed with the Gerson Therapy per se. In fact, he promoted it everywhere he went. 

Some quarters say the Gerson Therapy is outdated. He used to say that from reading the write-ups, this therapy and that therapy seems so effective but he has not met one single real life person who attests to a cure. I said, "Mr Chang, as a person who has done marketing and sales before, you should know that they will advertise successful cases but how many are unsuccessful, we wouldn't know." He said "There are so many therapies out there. Which to choose?" I reasoned that because we are different and have different body types and inclinations, different therapies work for different people. The tough part is choosing the right one.

The Gerson Therapy can be quite a regimented therapy with its 13 juices a day, no oil, no salt, no sugar and lots of potatoes and little rice with up to 6 coffee enemas a day.  And he was doing all the marketing, washing vegetables, cutting carrots, juicing, boiling coffee, etc alone. Not to mention, writing this blog and doing all the reading and research as well. He really did put himself through alot. Who has his kind of motivation and determination?  In a way, he was very fortunate that he had all along been a very healthy and strong man. He still had alot of energy and he could run around and was very independent.

I told my girlfriend that as yet, there is no known cure for cancer. What the Gerson Therapy did for him, as Chang himself said was to control the growth of the tumours. In cancer, having a therapy that is able to control tumour growth is very, very good already. It gave him the extra few years of life. But Chang was out to carve a path to cure himself so he combined various therapies.

I used to tell him that he had just switched jobs from IT consultant to alternative health therapist. Still a workhorse. He was also a perfectionist. In the early days, he followed the manual almost to a tee. Scouring the organic shops for brown rice mee hoon with zero sodium (salt) in it. Squeezing water from vegetables before juicing because he insisted that the Gerson Therapy does not allow water. Over time, he learned to take some shortcuts and to be more relaxed with the therapy. 

Chang told me that had it not been for cancer, he would have travelled to Singapore to work and focused on earning money. Cancer stopped him in his tracks to reflect on his life. I felt that his cancer journey was a learning curve for him in many ways. In his pre-cancer days, he would not have spent his money on organic foodstuff or drank vegetable juices.

Lets not take for granted the life we have. When we come close to losing it, see how hard we fight to keep it. We are willing to travel the world to find a cure, for that "extra" few years, days or even minutes of life, for that one extra breath.  Realise how precious our human life is.

Wake up each morning to see each new day as an  "extra" time or "bonus" time. The journey of our life really is to hold that precious time in our hands and use it wisely.  What is it that stirs our heart? What is it that gives life meaning? Know that we have the power to change our lives and live differently. Look through our "bucket" list and do what we long to accomplish in this lifetime. Most importantly, say what we mean to say to our loved ones. Don't wait.