Hip Hip Hippocrates!!

So things are going well. Today was once again extremely busy and I am very tired right now. It is amazing how much energy I have yet I am so out of shape. I have been attending classes such as yoga and pool aerobics and have been stuggling to get through them. I actually only spent 5 minutes on the eliptical trainer today and had to quit. I remember when I could just jump on at any time for at least 30min. However, I find it funny that I can only last 5 minutes on the eliptical but I could shop for 8 hours straight without a break. Very interesting.

Today we had two lectures one was on why we should buy organic. It was actually pretty boring because it is all of the reasons we already know. Of course we should buy organic but there always seems to be something that gets in the way. I won't go on about this subject because I think it is a no brainer. Next time you go to the grocery store remember you deserve the best and just suck up the extra cost. Your body is well worth it.

We then had a class on kitchen techniques. Well if I thought raw was complicated before, I was right. You have to be extremely organized and you have to be thinking about what you want to eat 3 days from now. Everything takes prep. I thought I would be good with at least nuts for a snack but oh no, you have to soak them and then dehydrate them to make them pure. Being vegetarian is not enough on this program. I also found out more of my favorite foods are big
no no's. Such as black beans, any kind of vineager, wine, cashews, peanuts and of course cheese. They even have a big article about soy products and how they are genetically minipulated and are not good for you at all. I kow what you are thinking right now because I am thinking the same thing........what's left? Well there are a lot of options but it requires some creativity. At the end of the lecture he made us some taco meat out of walnuts. I couldn't beleive it, it was awesome. Who wants to come over for taco's when I get home becaue I think I will be making those ever night. : }

After all of this I was feeling a bit defeated and wondered how I was going to make this work in my everyday life. Then there was a lecture from a previous attendee that came here to talk about her story. She was diagnosed with sarcoma in her leg and basically after three opinions the docters told her that she would have to have her leg amputated or she would die. This was not an option for her so she came here to Hippocrates instead. She cured herself of cancer twelve years ago and still has both legs. Thank god because this 81 year old needs both legs for her ballroom dancing classes!! Very inspiring. After hearing something like that you tell yourself, "I can do this!!"

It isn't easy being green. Love ya,

Kristine

P.S. Still no spell check......I count on that my spelling is nicht ser gut!

SHHHHHHHH ittttttttt

First things first. I sucked at silent day!! I made it until about 6pm and at that point I was starting to get depressed. My roomate Jane, who is hysterical, and was also participating in silent day walked into our room and I tell her that I was done and I didn't enjoy it at all. Her reply was, "I didn't like it either, it made everyone else that much more annoying." So of course we have been talking non stop since. I will say that I learned one thing and that is that I love to connect with people. Not that I didn't already know that but for me the experience isn't as complete without getting other peoples input. Now when I told Ryan I was participating in silent day he replied, "That sounds like my dream day." So when he arrives I will let him try the silent thing and we will see if maybe he has a different reaction. So to sum it up, it isn't for everyone.

I feel like I am learning so much here. I am in lectures for 3-4 hours a day and I can not possably pass it all on. I have decided to continue to share my experience with everyone but I am going to have a list of books that I recommend at the end of my stay if anyone is serious in jumping on the raw band wagon. My favorite point today was if a steak is so full of protein how do you think the cow became protein, by eating a steak? Hello, they eat raw leafy greens or they should anyway. Who knows what they are eating these days.

I also had a consultation with a stress pshycologist here. It is part of the program. We meet with him for a half hour and then we meet again for an hour session. He told me that at the beginning of the next session I had to tell him what my three biggest wishes are for myself. This immediatley makes me cry. It has been a long time since I felt like I could even think about my future. Being here makes me really believe I have a future. I have always talked about my cancer in a positive way and I have tried not to let it get me down but I was never quite sure how I was going to be able to achieve my goal of being cancer free. Now I see that it is very possible. So many people before me have come here with cancers just as bad as mine and have walked out changed and living healthy lifestyles. I am not going to say it is going to be easy. I was actually craving some french fries tonight. Thank god I don't have a car here or I would probably be at Wendy's right now. YIKES!!

So, I received a package today and I felt like it was Christmas morning. I feel a bit like a kid away at summer camp. Everyone around me was so jealous that I had received a box. So a big thank-you to Jackie. You made my day! I am not trying to guilt the rest of you into sending me packages. Especially after my plea for mail. Seriously I love the blog postings just as much. O.K. almost as much. hee hee!! Hope to TALK to all of you soon!

Kristine

Hippocrates
Attn: Kristine Becker
1443 Palmdale Court
West Palm Beach, Fl. 33411

P.S. The spell check is not working. Sorry. : (

Rah Rah Raw!!

O.K. There is a line for the computer so this is going to have to be a fast entry. Let me tell you what a day at Hippocrates is like:

8:00 first shot of wheat grass

9:00 Cucumber juice or green juice. It is actually quite tasty!

11:00 Another green drink

12:30 Lunch. All living greens. Lots of sprouts and vegetables. We do use a little olive oil and they have some pretty good raw dressings. Usually they will have a fun side dish. Yesterday was sushi and today was zucchini that spiraled like pasta with a yummy sauce.

4:00 Another Green Juice

5:30 2ND shot of wheat grass

6:00 Dinner. A similar but smaller portion then lunch.

Then water or tea the rest of the evening. The amazing part is that I hardly ever feel hungry. The day is full with all kinds of classes. From lectures to yoga. Everything has been very interesting so far. I am leaving so much out right now!!

Tomorrow is silent day. YES SILENT!! As you all know that is going to be very hard for me but I am up for the challenge. My friends Mike and Windy call me Captain Jibber Jabber. How fitting!! With that being said I will have a lot more time to write tomorrow so until then.

Sending Big Green Love,

Kristine

Frightened or Enlightened?

Thank-you so much for all of the comments. I got so excited tonight when I opened up the blog and had so many responses. It makes me feel like I am still connected to the outside world. It is amazing here but we are definitely in our own little paradise. They encourage you to not use your cell phones while you are here so I am pretty much just checking messages and returning any necessary calls. Other then that I was going to include the address to Hippocrates because I can receive mail here. I am not sure why but I think it would be really cool to get real mail.

So tonight we had a lecture about why we came to Hippocrates and the speaker Andy said that most of us were here because we are either frightened or enlightened. I loved that. Of course I am one of the frightened ones but I am not alone. I would say almost 60% of the people here are in my same boat. As much as I am committed to sticking to this raw diet, I relate to the people who would never go raw even more. I never thought anything was wrong with my diet. To be honest I thought I was pretty healthy. They told us to try and go raw a week or two before we arrived. Let me just say that I had pasta, pizza and wine the night before I arrived. OOPS!!

I am actually pretty happy that I waited to go raw because I had it all wrong! First of all I am supposed to stay away from fruit completely. It is extremely high in sugar. Now I knew this but I thought it was a healthy sugar. I mean it isn't a candy bar or anything. I also was eating a bunch of carrots and even had carrot juice. Big NO NO!! Carrot juice along with beets are also full of sugars. So many things I am not supposed to eat. Good thing I was eating french fries instead. (just kidding)

Today's biggest lesson was about protein. We have heard so many times that we need protein for a healthy diet. I can not tell you how many times people have asked me where I was going to be getting my protein from if I wasn't eating any meat or dairy. It ends up that the protein coming from meat is a complete myth. Don't get me wrong, there is protein in meat but there is more in live green foods then any steak you could serve. Their point was that there are so many mammals on this earth that only eat leafy greens and survive with plenty of protein. Like the 2000 pound cows that we eat on a regular basis. If they were left to their own devices they would just graze and eat grasses. I was taught today that one 2 ounce shot of wheat grass is equal to 5 pounds of vegetables. WOW!

It was an extremely busy day from 8am until 10pm. Pretty much non stop learning. I am looking forward to maybe a little bit of a slower schedule tomorrow. Sending you big green love from Florida,

Kristine

Hippocrates Day 1

My friends Leigh and Jason drove me to Hippocrates today. Jason was last here 16 years ago when he suffered so badly from Chronic Fatigue that he was in a wheelchair and slept over 20 hours a day. He and Leigh had talked about coming here for years. Finally he returned, only to find that he would have liked to stay longer then 2 hours. There is something very special about this place. It is very peaceful and embracing.

I personally have had a very emotional day. I am not sure why but I have been fighting back tears all day. I have been holding it together but it is weird that all of a sudden I have become extremely emotional. Maybe I feel like I am letting down my guard. Sometimes I feel like a cancer spokes person. I want people to see that you can have cancer and still be happy and laugh and not let it take over your life. Here I have zoned in on my goal and it brings having cancer to the surface. No lunches out, movies, boutique shopping. Nothing to distract me from this very real disease. Tonight we sat around in a circle and had to introduce ourselves and explain why we decided to come to Hippocrates. When it was my turn to speak, I let everyone in on my stage IV cancer and what the last year of my life was like. I was surprised to hear my voice crack. The women running tonight's session had explained that yes you came here to learn about living raw foods but what you didn't plan on is the emotional and spiritual journey that you all have signed up for. I am already beginning to understand what she meant by that.

So I had pretty much two big salads today and some water. The salads consisted of mostly sprouts. They tasted pretty good. I was surprised to find out no vinegar. I guess they consider that as bad as alcohol around here. I am sure I will learn more when I attend the classes. Tomorrow is avocado day. I can hardly wait!!

RAW-some

Here I go!! I leave tomorrow for Florida and the beginning of my three week stay at Hippocrates. I plan on blogging everyday if possible. However, they only have one community computer so I will have to see how that goes. I am getting really excited about going raw. I am sure it will be another crazy experience.

Ryan is joining me on my second week and will be staying for one week. He is nervous about the free colonic that they offer. You can trade it in for a massage if you don't feel comfortable with the colonic. He says that the massage sounds more relaxing. I will be trying the colonic and will try and describe it as delicately as possible.

I hope to hear from everyone while I am there. I am sure I will make a couple friends but that actually worries Ryan more then anything. He thinks he is going to show up and I will be wearing a dress made of hemp and signing kumbaya with all my new hippy wheat grass drinking friends. Crazier things have happened. Peace, Love, and Save the Whales!!

Kristine

Friends, Friends and more Friends!

Ryan always makes fun of me because I make friends everywhere I go. I have made friends in one day Excel classes and more friends traveling and I have even made a friend on an airplane. So it would only be fitting that I would make friends during cancer. I have not made many because I was not really in to going to support groups. I have never felt like getting together with a bunch of cancer patients and hearing each others sad stories. Maybe that is not what it would be like but in my mind I saw a bunch of bald, crying and desperate people feeling sorry for themselves. Not my cup of tea.

The first friend I made was after my second round of chemo. I was in for my follow up appointment and was waiting for a shot of some sort when I started talking to this girl named Andrea. She was in for her first round of chemo. We are about the same age which you don't see very often. As we were talking, of course she asks me what kind of cancer I have and I tell her. I then ask her. She tells me she has IBC breast cancer. (Which is a very aggressive and rare form of breast cancer.) We start giving more details about our situations to find out that we are both stage IV and both have extremely aggressive cancers. We then start comparing chemo treatments. I have to go 4 times a week with follow up treatments at home in the evenings and weekends and she tells me that she only comes once every three weeks. I was very surprised. I assumed that she had not received all of the details. Andrea then asked the chemo nurse to make sure and she confirmed her schedule. I then say, " How can you come only once every three weeks and my chemo lasts a full week." She then replies, "Well that is probably because they want to save you more then they want to save me." We both start cracking up and I knew right then and there that I had just made my first cancer friend. Since that day we have seen each other go through major operations. (She had a double mastectomy 6 weeks after my heart surgery.) She unfortunately did not receive the break I have and her cancer has all ready come back. She now goes to chemo once a week for at least the next year. I have been lucky enough to have met her family and friends and like me she has lots of great support. I wanted to tell you all about her because she has an amazing blog and I love to read it. Unlike me she is extremely good at keeping up with her postings. She also has six amazing kids that I have been lucky enough to meet. If you get a chance check out the site at www.punkrockmommy.org

The next friend I made was in radiation. Her name is Valerie. To be fair my mom actually met her mom while we both were there for treatment. I later ran into them again and introduced myself. Valerie is also my age and she has a brain tumor. Our lives are so similar it is scary. We were both extremely independent people before cancer made us ask for help. It is a hard thing when you are used to being so independent to then need people to help you. I have become quite good at just saying, "thanks" and not feeling like I have to return the favor. The crazy part about Valerie is that she had brain surgery the first time around and they thought they got everything but as it turns out they did not. She has since had a second surgery and when they removed the tumor she lost most of her short term memory. Now she has to have 24 hour supervision. After running into her a few times at radiation we decided to get together for lunch. She then gave me her number and told me while laughing, "don't feel bad if I can't remember you tomorrow."

I guess the reason I am telling you about my new friends is that I want you to know that there are a lot of people like me out there that are just making the best of a bad situation. I think the one link that I have most in common with both Andrea and Valerie is that we have not lost our sense of humor. A lot of the time cancer pretty much sucks but sometimes it is pretty damn funny. I love to surround myself with people who can help me find the humor in all of this craziness.

Looking forward to 2008!

The holiday season was a blur and we hardly did anything. I am sure it is the same for all of you. It is a crazy time of year but it is always exciting to have a new year ahead. Leaving behind 2007 gives me some relief. I am not sure exactly why. It is amazing how just a change of dates can help you breath a little easier. It is a time for new beginnings and I am more ready then I have ever been to embrace my life. I feel like I have to make up for a whole year lost. However, I realize that although I lost time, I gained so much more. It is hard to put into words how this year has changed me. Having a life threatening disease makes you look through clearer eyes. Problems that would have consumed me before now seem silly and a waste of precious time. I wish I had the words to help you understand how I feel. Not that I would ever wish cancer on anyone, but I do wish you could know how special today and tomorrow really are. It is impossible to understand fully without knowing what it feels like to almost lose them. Anyway, to bring in the new year, I have two stories for you. One pretty amazing and one very funny.

As you all know, if you have been reading this blog, my girlfriends went on a maRAWthon to help send me to a raw food institute in Florida. They raised funds by e-mailing their friends and family and asking them to pass it on, and so forth. Well, to make a long story short, they received a donation from Sharon Stone. Yes, The Sharon Stone! It makes you realize how small the world really is. I can not thank my girlfriends enough for their selfless act of helping me in this journey to get well. I plan on blogging everyday from Florida so I can pass on the wealth of information I am learning. And who knows, maybe you too will go raw. Hey, maybe even Sharon Stone will read my blog and jump on the raw bandwagon... crazier things have happened! Thanks to everyone who donated... especially my new BFF Sharon!

The second story begins with me running very late to meet a friend. I got out of the shower and threw on my clothes. (Probably the same ones from the day before.) No time for make up or even to think, "do these shoes go with these pants." Blah blah blah... time to go!! I then turned to the place where my wig hangs every night -- on the very small head of a bronze replica of Degas' ballet dancer, the preferred place for my short red bob. However, not today. Where could my wig be? I always put it on the statue before bed. I ran around the house looking in every room, but I could not find it anywhere. Five minutes turned to ten and I started to get desperate. Then out of pure habit, as I do when anything is lost, I went to the couch and started to pull off the cushions. Low and behold, there it was behind the cushions. UNBELIEVABLE!! It was flattened out but still in decent shape. I gave it a fluff, throw it on and run out the door. I think I laughed all day. I never thought I would loose my wig in a couch. But, then again I never thought I would be wearing a wig! I guess you never really know what tomorrow holds.

Happy New Year and sending lots of love. I hope to see you all in 2008!