Onion Cases
Categories: The Analysis of Disease States: Helping the Body RecoverSources: How And When To Be Your Own Doctor
All too many of my cases are what I privately refer to as onion
cases. By this I mean the opposite of a simple case. There are
multiple complaints. I call them onion cases because these people
get better in layers, like pealing an onion. As each skin comes off,
the next becomes visible. Sometimes when the patient overcomes an
existing complaint, another appears that was not there in the
beginning, probably this new one
earlier point in their life, one that had gone away. Onion cases
take a long time to completely heal, sometimes years. There
frequently are psychological aspects to the case that surface with
different physical problems. If I were not an effective psychologist
I could not succeed with most of them. The average medical doctor
probably considers onion cases to be hypochondriacs, but they
usually are not.
Almost always the first symptoms that demand attention are the most
life-threatening, like immune system failures, liver failures,
pancreatic failures, nervous system failures and heart failures.
With these eliminated, new complaints appear. Often these are
endocrine system imbalances or weak endocrine glands, anemias, mild
heart conditions. Then it gets down to eye or ear infections,
muscular or skeletal weaknesses, mild skin problems, sinusitis,
teeth problems; things that aren't serious but that do degrade the
quality of life. Each one of these layers also carries with it a
psychological component; each of these layers can take three to six
months to resolve.
I had a pretty good idea from the first visit that Daniel, not yet
30, was going to take some time to get well. He already had a
degenerative condition not usually seen until middle age--crippling
gout and arthritis. He had badly distorted joints, walked with
considerable pain, lacked a full range of movement, had enormous
fatigue and consequently, a well-justified depression. Daniel was
about to give up working as no longer possible, but he liked his
job. And he certainly needed it.
Daniel's analysis showed massive allergies to foods, a systemic
yeast and multiple virus infections and multiple organ weaknesses: a
life-threateningly weak immune system, weak pancreas, weak adrenals,
weak large intestine. Because he could hardly accept anything he
wasn't allergic to and because he could not afford to quit working
even for a few weeks (though he was about to be forced into complete
disability) I put him on a Bieler fast. This is a monodiet of fairly
substantial quantities of either well-cooked green beans or
well-cooked zucchini, the choice between these two foods depending
on the acid-base balance of the blood. (Henry Bieler, 1965) In
Daniel's case my choice was zucchini, one pint of plain zucchini
puree with a little kelp and garlic added (no salt, no butter, no
nothing else) every few hours. I also put him on heavy vitamin
support and protomorphogens for his desperate immune system. While
on the Bieler fast he did daily enemas at home. Had colonics been
available to him, Daniel couldn't have afforded them.
Within three weeks he was far more comfortable, had less pain, more
energy even though he was still eating nothing but zucchini, had
less swelling in his joints. During the first month he lost about
ten pounds and had been skinny to start with. I then added other
cooked nonstarchy vegetables to his diet and we continued the same
protomorphogen and supplement program for another month.
Once each month Daniel came to see me. Each time he had slightly
improved organ strength and was able to tolerate a few more foods.
By the third month he stopped losing weight because we added small
quantities of cooked rice and millet to his diet. However, to
continue his detox, I had him water fast one day a week, staying in
bed and resting all day. At the start and end of the fasting day he
also took an enema. He continued a weekly one-day fast for many
months. By the fourth month, his immune system testing stronger, a
new problem appeared. Daniel had intestinal parasites. So I also put
him on a six month program to eliminate those.
Daniel required monthly dietary adjustments because he quickly
became allergic if he ate very much of anything very often--broccoli
or rice for example. During this time he became aware of many
negative emotions associated with childhood, of young adult
frustrations and disappointments. He was really very angry about
many things in his life, even though he had for many years
maintained an invariably pleasant social veneer. But now he began
expressing some of these feelings to me and to his associates.
Daniel had an abusive girlfriend, but as he improved this
relationship became insufferable. So he broke off with this woman
and found a new relationship that was much more positive, one based
on mutual respect and admiration. There are frequently strong
connections between repressed anger and depository diseases like
arthritis and gout. Daniel could not permit himself to constantly be
made angry and still get well.
His next layer of symptoms did not appear until nearly eighteen
months after he had first come to see me. By this time he had good
energy, had returned to hiking and skiing, camping and canoeing. He
had worked as a printer but was now bootstrapping his own print shop
on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed. He had a good
romantic relationship. The parasites were gone; his gout and
arthritis was virtually gone; many of his food allergies were gone.
Now his body was demanding that its acid/base balance be adjusted
and he began to pay attention to the minor back problems he had all
along. Daniel had also developed a new problem--inflammation of the
eye. It was so severe that he went to an opthamologist seeking
immediate relief because he could hardly see. I put him on massive
doses of vitamin C and protomorphogens for the eye and we attacked
the other problems.
Now I still see Daniel every three months for minor dietary and
supplement adjustments. His emotional space is very positive. His
business is doing well. His love life is doing well. He has
developed no new problems and all the old ones are under control.
His organ systems, though better, will never tolerate many insults,
physical or mental, but if he lives within his limits, he has every
chance of a long and happy life.
Daniel has become a friend of mine by now and I like to see him but
I expect I won't see Daniel very much at all any more. He has
learned what he needs to know to take care of himself. This is a
typical onion case that resolved successfully. However this case
might not have worked out so well had Daniel not possessed a high
degree of personal integrity and bravery, had he not faced and
resolved his emotional conflicts. Fortunately, Daniel had always
conducted an ethical life, without dishonesty or a secret collection
of disreputable acts. Bodies are easy to fix; they are carbon oxygen
engines that work on chemistry and respond unfailingly to physical
measures. But the entity that runs the body is not so simple. The
thoughts and emotions of the spirit impinge on a body as powerfully
or more powerfully than all the vitamins, dietary reform or
protomorphogens I can provide. The mind, and the spirit behind that
mind, can make a body sick or can prevent it from getting well or
staying well despite everything I do.
More
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