A new door opens
Bing. A What’s App message. It’s from my husband's cousin in London.
“Just saw this article on endometriosis. Isn’t that what you’ve got? Thought it might be interesting.”
I follow the link in the message. It takes me to an article that links endometriosis and cancer via something called “Warburg effect”. Scientists found out that the same cell changes that occur in a cancer cell, seem to also be happening in the case of endometriosis. I research Warburg effect and keep thinking about Dr. Johanna Budwig. Otto Warburg was a German scientist whose work German cell researcher and bio chemist Dr. Budwig was very familiar with. I read a lot of her books and articles when my dad was diagnosed with stage IV bowel cancer about ten years ago. Her cell research was ground breaking in the 1950s and 60s and I remember being in absolute awe of her work. It made such sense and I do believe her diet and healing approach helped my father survive cancer.
I figure that if the research paper I've just read is correct, then Warburg effect cell changes are the very first stage of endometriosis. If Budwig’s cancer protocol works at cell level, reversing these Warburg effect cell changes, then her approach should theoretically work for endometriosis.
I ring my mum and ask if she still has the Budwig books we read ten years ago. I would lie if I said I remembered any details about her protocol. We have a chat about what exactly she and my dad did. At this point, I also remember there is a clinic in Germany that treats people according to the Budwig protocol. I google it and send them an email. It's called the 3E Centre. Three E standing for the German words for nutrition (Ernaehrung), detoxification (Entgiftung) and Energy therapy (Energiearbeit).
I receive a reply within days. While they do treat people with other illnesses, 95% of their patients have cancer and they’ve never knowingly treated anyone with endometriosis, so they couldn’t say if their programme would work. If I did decide to book on the programme, it would be a 4 week residential stay at the centre, costing almost ten thousand Euros. My heart sinks.
The conversation in my head goes a bit like this:
“There is no way I can spend that much money on myself. Forget it. It’s too expensive. And it may not even work. They’ve never treated anyone with endometriosis.”
“What if it works though? I must admit, that I feel really excited. I think this is it. This might be what we’ve been waiting for.”
“You and your gut feeling. It’s ridiculous. How are you going to justify spending that much money? And besides, it’s a whole month in Germany. How is that going to work? I can’t just disappear for a month! What about my family?”
“At least talk to Richard about it! What have you got to lose? And after all, it’s your health. How can you put a price on that? What, you think your husband would rather see you suffering or dead than spend ten thousand Euros on you?”
“I don’t know. Let’s just wait. We’ve got the appointment in Huddersfield. Let’s see what comes of that and then make a decision.”
“Ok. But let’s start the Budwig diet now. That way I can at least get a first indication, if it does anything or not. Maybe it doesn’t work anyway, so I don’t need to even think about it.”
I find lots of information online and order several of Dr. Johanna Budwig's books, which I start reading immediately. The main thing seems to be cutting out any animal protein and sugar. I prefer vegetarian food anyway and we only eat a little chicken and fish occasionally, so I can't see this being a problem. The other main thing is eating the "Budwig Cream" every day, 100g for breakfast and 100g for lunch. This is a mixture of quark (similar to cottage cheese, i.e. naturally fat free, high in protein) and linseed oil. Here we go! The guinea pig stage has begun.
There is no rational explanation for how elated I feel. After all, I have no idea if this will work. But I feel an excitement inside that I haven't felt for a long time. Hope? An inner knowing? Whatever it is, I like it!
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