As I have mentioned before, I decided to hit all of the nine radical remission factors.

One was herbs and supplements.

In the book, Radical Remission by Kelly A. Turner, Ph.D, she has a whole chapter dedicated to this piece of the remission puzzle. As luck would have it, one of my former student’s mother knew Annie Appleseed, and also knew how to get in touch with a well known and reputable Chinese Herbalist.

Being a teacher has put some amazing children and moms in my life, that’s for sure.

At first, Rob and I were very hesitant. Rob didn’t want me to contact this herbalist.

But after many mornings holding me in the shower as I sobbed about the “weeks, months, maybe a year or two” prognosis the first oncologist gave me,  he said…

“Call the herbalist”.

So I did.

I  am not going to publish his name. Others do, and that is their right and decision.

I’m going to explain why I  choose not to write it or say it out loud.

When I called the number, a man answered and asked in broken English, “Who gave you this number?” He seemed hurried, annoyed even, until I told him I had stage four with bone metastasis. He replied, “Bone metastasis? that’s my specialty!”

He then told me he would meet me in one week, to not eat a lot because he would assess my energy, and to bring cash or checks.

He also told me to meet him in a parking lot.

I  then called my friend and asked if this was for real, and I felt like this was going to be like a scene from a bad drug deal movie.

She reassured me that it was going to be fine, and gave me the phone number of Annie Appleseed.

I  spoke to Ann and she told me not only about how honest this man was, how helpful he has been, and how it would all work, she also told me about the Budwig protocol she eats, her conference and her foundation.

One week later Rob and I found ourselves in a parking lot by a dumpster calling him to come meet us. He appeared, got into the car, and said, “Drive.”

I kid you not.

We went to a public place, he looked over my records, and took some notes. Then he held my wrists and took my pulse using three fingers. He knew that I had been put on an anti-depressant without me telling him, and he said my life force was being suppressed, and that I would to heal while on them. I agreed, and told him I would get off of them. He told me to find joy in life, not drugs. I never felt comfortable about going on them in the first place, and I weaned myself off easily.

He looked at my tongue, then asked if I was warm or cold. Apparently, traditional Chinese medicine believes that all of the energies in the body must be balanced to each other in order for there to be good health. the Yin must be balanced with the Yan.Your body needs both, neither is good or bad. If one is stronger than the other, there must be a balance achieved for good health. he asked me what I  ate, and gave me a whole list of foods I  should and should not be eating. He also told me that “Life is for living”, and to enjoy the occasional red wine, (not white, as that is too “cold” for me).

Eventually, he said the words we were told he says to those he agrees to help.

“I will help you.”

Rob and I cried in this public place.

I’ll never forget his kindness when he said, “No cry, Keri. you be OK. My herbs very powerful, not poison…powerful. You be OK….Give me your credit card.”

So we did.

We took a leap of faith on a stranger we met in a parking lot and gave him cash and a credit card and prayed his herbs would be powerful.

We believe they were.

I  take the packets three times a day, and my blood work is always pretty good. My side effects have been minimal. He said he is also helping my bones stay strong.

I  believe him.

I believe Jesus put that little boy in my class the year before, so that his mother could put this man in my life.

So why the secrecy? Why the “Dr. Snuffleufugus” name?

I don’t care that his name has been published, and is on websites.

I  care about me, and the people I have since sent to him, as there are many.

He is a man who meets people in secret, and doesn’t have an office.

There is a website that is keeping track of all of the holistic doctors who are mysteriously dying, or disappearing. I  do not want this man to ever be on that list.

I want this man to live a long, long, long life.

I gave him the name “Dr. Snuffleufugus” because on Sesame Street, Big Bird had a friend no one ever saw but him. Big Bird met him in an alleyway, and this kind, quiet, unassuming friend brought joy to Big Bird.

Joy is important.

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”-Galatians 5:22-23

We must all find joy in life.

A wise Chinese man told me that once.

May we all find the joy we seek in life, in others, and in Christ.

In Jesus’s name, amen.

xoxo

Keri