Official first day!

Today Pops did the coffee enema, got a shot, took his supplements, drank his juices, and ate what he was supposed to! We have officially started the entire Gershon diet!! Pretty exciting!!! :) It was a lot of hard work today. It took about an hour to juice, press and pump-n-seal then it took a pretty long time to make the coffee for the enemas. Mary came out yesterday and really helped my mom figure out the schedule for Pops' supplements, which in itself took most of the the night last night. She also helped a ton today w/ the juicing and making the coffee. We like totally wish she could live with us! It would definitely take a lot of burden off my mom. But I guess right now God has me here with my mom, bringing us closer to each other and Him while we take care of my dad. So that's everything. He is doing the full-fledged diet...finally!
Still haven't heard from the surgeon in Nashville. Pops is still trying to figure out if he thinks the surgery will even work. Please pray that God will show him what His will is in all of this. 

Result of Nashville/food

The trip to Nashville and the consult went fine. The doctor's schedule is booked for the next six weeks so the surgery will have to wait but the doctor said that should be ok. We will hear from the nurse this week to know the date for the surgery.

We heard from someone that the best way to make ice cream is to put frozen fruit in the juicer. I tried it and put frozen bananas, strawberries, and pineapple in the juicer and it was amazing!! Everybody loved it! I decided it would make a good treat for my dad since he hasn't really had anything "good" in a while now. So I cut up some of his organic apples and peeled a couple organic bananas and froze them. The next day I ran them through the juicer and he loved it! It was something different for his taste buds. 

Florida/Nashville/Food...

I'm very terrible about keeping you updated on the latest; I'm sorry. :( Life has been busy and hectic lately and I haven't had more than a few minutes on the computer to check my email. Anyway, here it is...
The guy at the proton therapy place in Florida said the proton therapy wouldn't work for Pops. He recommended having surgery done. So Pops has an appointment to talk to a surgeon in Nashville this Friday at 9am. From there they are going to set an appointment for the surgery if that's what we decided is best.
Practically everything we ordered for Pops came in. The juicer, half of the supplements, the bread, the pump-n-seal, the juice press, a food mill, and the enema kit. We are still waiting for the coffee and the other half of the supplements. Every morning my mom, my brother, and I juice and press enough carrots and apples for nine fresh juices then refrigerate them. Every other day we make a Hippocrates soup. The soup contains all fresh and organic vegetables: 1/2 a leek, 1 onion, 2 potatoes, 3 tomatoes, a handful of parsley, 3 or 4 stalks of celery, and some thyme. We cut it all up, add 1 quart of water, boil it then let it simmer for 2 hours. After it is all done, we run it through the food mill then put it in the fridge until serving. Pops has to have two full bowls of this soup a day, one at lunch and the other at dinner. Before we serve him a bowl, we squeeze one clove of fresh, organic garlic into it.

Before the soup is boiled...

After the soup is cooked and run through the food mill. (it is supposed to be very easy to digest)

Here are a few pictures of the juicing/pressing process...

The pulp before pressing...

The pulp wrapped in the pressing cloth...

Pumping the press to make juice with a 2 ton jack...

The juice...

The pressed pulp...

So, I'll do my best to blog again after the visit to Nashville. But that is it for today. :)

Trip to Florida

My parents are leaving tomorrow morning around eight to go to Jacksonville, Florida where Pops is going to go to a four hour consult at the proton place. They are going to be going over Pops' blood work and different tests to see how and if they can work with him. The consult is Wednesday morning at seven and they will be home sometime Thursday. Right now my mom is preparing organic foods for them to eat on the way there, there, and on the way home. It is very hard to go on a trip with only organic fruits and veges to snack on. This will be very different for Pops because he is the king of junk food snacking especially during road trips. This diet is really changing him.

Here is a couple pictures I took tonight of some of Pops' food...

Totally fresh, organic salad!!!

  

                          

Homemade salad dressing

Ordering...

So today and yesterday my dad ordered our own juicer (hooray!!!!), a food mill (a grinder), a juice press (to squeeze the leftover juice out of the carrots and apples that the juicer didn't do), a case of flax oil, a vacuum sealer (to keep the juices fresh if we make them ahead of time), a couple loaves of bread (w/ only rye flour and no salt or fat), and some supplements. First off, we wouldn't have been able to get that stuff if he didn't borrow some money from my grandpa. The rest of the money we have goes towards food for my parents while they're in Florida for the proton treatment. They still don't have a date when they are going down there but my guess (probably not a very good one mind u...) would be sometime early or mid March.
We are still giving him lots of glasses of carrot/apple juice every hour during the day (or at least when he's home) and his diet has changed so drastically you wouldn't believe it!!! He is learning very quickly to control himself and his sweet tooth (BIG DEAL!!). Personally, I don't think I would be able to go on this diet by myself while everybody around me is munching down on tons of fatty, greasy, salty (this is starting to sound nasty!)....you get the point...all the food that is not good for you in the slightest but boy oh boy does it taste good!!! :)
I think that's it for today. Oh, my mom ordered a couple Gershon books and DVDs and they came in the other day so we are watching them and reading the books. One more thing, Pops is going to be starting his detox (i think) next week.

Getting started...

Yesterday was the official day one of Pop's drinking ten glasses of freshly juiced carrot/apple juices every hour. My mom said she felt like she was in the kitchen all day long! She told me that after I get over being sick making juices will be my job. I think I'd better become best friends with the kitchen and the juicer then. :) Pops has started a little of the diet but we don't have everything we need really. Today he took, I think six drinks but had a meeting tonight so I don't think he'll get in the other four today. We are excited to finally be getting started!! Don't know anything new about Florida yet. I will ask Pops tomorrow if he has heard any news.

The newest...

Ok, so sorry I haven't blogged in a while. There hasn't been anything new to say really until almost a week ago. Lately Pops has just been searching around trying to find different ways to cure his cancer. He came up with two ways and presented them to some people last Saturday. They decided that he is going to do the Gershon diet and Proton therapy. There are only seven clinics in the US that do Proton therapy. He called the one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but they won't take him because some reason or another. So he called the one in Jacksonville, Florida and they said they might take him he just has to send them some paper work first. So, if they agree to take him, my family will be going down there for about two and a half months starting sometime in the middle of February. That's all we know for now. I'll post next when we know for sure if they will take him and if we are going.
Oh yeah, right now Pops is slowly changing his diet to a more healthier one. He is still drinking his juices, maybe about three of four a day. When we go to Florida, if we go, he will be doing the whole nine yards of the Gershon diet! Please pray that he is able to change his diet, that God is able to bring Pops closer to Him through this all, and that my family is able to do everything we can to help him.

Pops a couple days ago...

Here is Pops three days ago with the beautiful Hawaiian mountains in the back round.

Pops in Hawaii!!

Pops is lovin' Hawaii right now!! Here is a picture of him a couple days ago.

Nothing to tell about. :(

Well, there hasn't really been anything happening with Pops to update you about. He just got back from a vacation to Florida for Thanksgiving where he junked out on yummy foods. He is fixing to go to Hawaii in two days. There is a Gerson institute there that him and his wife are going to visit. We should see what happens from that. He is still drinking his carrot/apple drinks every day and we are changing out diet more for him. I don't know yet what he plans to do concerning dieting or surgery, but we are going to make our diet healthier. When we get back from Hawaii we are going to start making all of our snacks and planning more healthy meals. We were doing that but everything got put on hold for the Holidays and vacations. :( I can't wait until we can start doing it again.
That's all for now. I'll let you know what comes of being in Hawaii. :)

Finally...the results...!!!

My dad went to the Urologist for an appointment at 3:30 this afternoon to find out what the results were for his scans. They were negative!!! The cancer hasn't spread to his bones. We are so happy!! I guess it was worth the waiting. Right now we are looking at all the options we can take to get rid of the cancer before it spreads. Most likely we are going with the healthy option. We still don't know exactly what it looks like.

Why do we have to wait??!!??....

Why is it that in everything we do we have to wait? Why can't things just happen with out the waiting? 

Right now my family is still waiting for the results of the CT and bone scan tests that were last Friday. Supposedly my dad has an appointment tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 to find out what the results were. I hate all the waiting in between!! Am I the only one? Why can't I just be okay with waiting? After all, it does seem like the story of my life. 

Well, I guess tomorrow we'll figure out what the results are and then I'll post it. For now I guess I'm going to do some more waiting! 

Update on scans

Pops went to get his scans done today. He has an appointment this Tuesday at 3:30pm, I think, to find out the results of the scans. I hate it that we have to wait to find out, but I am grateful that it is only until Tuesday not a week or more like all the rest.
I didn't get a chance to talk to Pops when he got home this afternoon about everything because he didn't get but a couple hours of sleep last night so he went right to bed. I hope to talk to him some time tomorrow.

Scans

My dad called the doctor yesterday and found out that he has a bone and CT scan this Friday the 13th. We won't get the results until the following Tuesday. I'll let y'all know what they are then.

Pops' b-day party

We had a birthday party for Pops last night. All his girls and grandkids came out. We had loads of fun. We ate 

dinner which was Chicken Tetrazinni, one of Pops' favorites! My mom made him a peach pie, his ultimate fav 

dessert my sister Ariel made pumpkin pie, and my sister Ayala made Apple Betty. My family is all into fruit pies. Our parents were raised on that and raised us the same! After dinner my siblings and I did a skit for Pops. The 

skit was all about some of the funniest memories that Pops has of growing up, meeting my mom, and lost of other funny stories from work and war. I didn't get to take any pics of the skit because I was apart of it but a friend did 

so I will try to get them from her to put on here later. I did get pics of Pops' grandkids giving him gifts and singing him a song.

Grandkids singing REAL loud to Pops. Look at their mouths.

Pointing to Pops saying that he's the greatest!

                     Gifts to Pops

   Surprise! The boys had fun with this one!

          Pops is a very good sport!                

      This made the kids laugh! LOL!!

He had loads of fun...so did everybody else! We bought him a movie that his dad took him to watch when he was 10yrs old that he has been looking for for forever! It is called Tonka. We watched it with him. It was funny because at one point this horse jumps a small ditch and Pops said that he remembered it being a humongous ditch!

Well, I guess that's it for now. The doctor hasn't called with an appointment for Pops' tests yet. We are still waiting.

By the way...

Today is Pops' birthday!!!! Be sure to tell him Happy Birthday!!!!

Juicer

Pops is supposed to be drinking 13 8oz glasses of fresh veges juiced every day!! We haven't had a juicer to

do that but someone from the village is letting us borrow his. It is a Champion, which is supposed to do the best! My mom just got done juicing pops' first cup of carrot/apple juice.

My mom bought 25lbs of fresh organic carrots last night.

She is going to be using these for his drinks. :)

Pops with the final result!! Hey...I think he likes it!! :) Well...he said he will get used to it. :) :)

Looking for a healthier way of life...

We have recently been watching Food Matters and Food Inc to learn about what America does to our food and how bad it is for us. The movies have given us different things to eat and basically a different way of life. We have a movie called The Beautiful Truth that is coming in that will help us more. My dad is reading Gerson Therapy about how to cure cancer by eating the right foods and avoiding the rest. We are going to be totally changing our diet...I'm excited!! Ayala's family is moving in with mine in a few weeks and she is all for eating healthy and really wants to get our whole house buying only the freshest and healthiest foods!

We haven't heard from the doctor about when Pops' next appointment is. He said it would probably be around Friday, tomorrow. I'll update you when we find out.

Still waiting...

Well, we haven't heard anything new yet. We are waiting for the doctor's office to call my dad with an appointment for a CT scan and a bone scan. This way they can tell if the cancer has spread to his bones or not. We are praying that it hasn't! It is terrible not to know anything. All we can do is put it all in God's hands and know that He knows best.
Thank you everybody for your prays!
I'll blog next when we get a date for the appointment.

BTW-Pops' birthday is on the 6th of this month, just four days away. He will be 60 years old!!

A family's struggle

My dad's doctor called him this morning to tell him that he has prostate cancer. It really freaked my family out! All my sisters packed up and came out here today. Abby came as soon as she heard the news. My mom was reading the Bible yesterday and she felt like God spoke to her through Habakkuk 3:17-19, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He has made my feet like hinds' feet, and makes me walk on my high places." Abby was reading in My Utmost for His Highest today and found comfort in this verse: "We know that all things work together for good."
We all are learning to lean heavily on God and to trust Him that He knows best. It is very hard right now for all of us, so if you see us acting weird just know that we are going through some very hard things. This isn't something that everyone needs to freak about. Don't feel sorry for my dad and have a pity party for him. We are going to get some awesome things from the hand of God through this all. God is in ultimate control over all of our lives whether we like it or not. If we just cry out to Him He will draw near to us and give us the strength that we need to get through whatever we might be going through.

I know for me, it seems like my whole life is turning upside down. My best friend left for Africa yesterday for two months and today my dad finds out that he has cancer...what could be worse?!? I really need God now more then ever.
Please keep my family, especially my dad, in your prayers and hearts always. We will need all the help we can get from you all. Thanks for all your concerns.