EXTRA! EXTRA!

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it. My book is now available at this link on Amazon:

DYING TO LIVE: Running backwards through cancer, Lupus and chronic illness

To further entice you to buy the book, here is the printed Foreword written by one of the doctors who saved my life. Thank you!!

Arthur Fass, M.D. M.D., FACC, FACP

Director of Medicine,

Phelps Memorial Hospital

Sleepy Hollow, New York 

FOREWORD

It was a cold, mid-winter Sunday night. The day had passed uneventfully and I was enjoying a quiet day, coasting to completion of my weekend “on-call”.  Little did I realize that the events which were about to unfold would be among the most dramatic and unforgettable of my medical career.

I received a call from an ICU nurse. Over the years I had developed an implicit trust and confidence in the clinical skills and judgment of the ICU nursing staff. Being on the front lines, they have an uncanny ability to distinguish between the routine and the truly emergent. Most calls from the ICU nurses are of a controlled, routine nature. This was not such a call. The voice I heard was anguished, insistent: “We need you right away.” 

A young woman (much younger than the usual ICU patient) was brought to the ICU in critical condition and was deteriorating rapidly. The gravity of the situation was clear: the patient was having difficulty breathing, there was severe swelling of her face and neck, and her vital signs were fading. Making matters worse was the alarming realization that we had no idea what was causing the crisis. She was recently diagnosed with both Lupus and Hodgkin’s Disease and a surgical biopsy had been completed. How these diseases had led to this precarious situation was not at all obvious.

This scenario is the start of a medical drama which plays out over the following weeks and years. For Amy Crohn it was the middle of an agonizing nightmare which would bring her to the brink and back, revealing an unbending will to survive. 

In reliving Amy’s journey we witness all facets of the American health care system. We encounter a medical system capable of life-saving interventions, but which can also at times be impersonal and forbidding. We meet the most caring and dedicated health care professionals, and we also encounter those who are indifferent and detached. This is a compelling story told by a patient sometimes so sick and weak that her observations are reduced to dream-like impressions. 

Through Amy’s story we experience all facets of human emotion, the highs and lows of devastating medical illness are interwoven with memories of a troubled childhood, her joy of marriage and parenthood, ultimately the triumph of hope and determination.

Years after that dreadful mid-winter night when our paths first crossed, Amy appeared at my office for a visit. Before me stood a young woman appearing slightly frail and tentative, but her knowing smile reflected the amazing strength of the human spirit. 

"Free" Food

Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, cholesterol free, carbohydrates free, sugar free, peanut free, soy free, corn free, citrus free, additives free and I'm not even hung-ree!

Even though it hasn't been easy, I've stuck to this elimination diet prescribed by integrative/functional medicine physician Dalal Akoury, M.D. for seven days now as best I can. Yeah, I've cheated a bit but it's really, really hard not to indulge a craving, as you all know. Best of all, I've added a new natural sugar, quinoa, flax seed and sea salt, and a number of other foods and products I never would have tried.

I've learned a lot about genetically modified foods (bad) and organic and free-range meats (good) and find I'm eating a lot of rice  - white rice, rice milk, rice waffles, rice mozzarella cheese and even rice cakes. Yes, Delilah Jones of Imagine Publicity, I have found a brand of rice cakes that don't taste like paper towels!

I've also learned that purported healthy food is not necessarily good for you - even those found in a 'healthy' supermarket, grocery or supplements store. It's the food additives that are most hard to avoid. In Dr. Akoury's upcoming book, "Please Don't Eat the Donuts," she lists these additives and their consequences. YUK. I never want to eat 'un-healthy' again.

And I think that's the whole point of "Dr. Dolly's" elimination diet. Even though I am doing a 'toxic cleansing' for 10 days, I am also introducing myself to a wide variety of foods armed with educational materials (that I carry to the stores with me) to make the right choices. In my 16 years as a professional patient I can honestly say I have never had someone in the medical profession present this information to me in such a clear, concise and loving way. I am so glad I went ahead with my first intake appointment at AwareMed Health & Resource Center and didn't get scared.

I'm not going to launch into a lengthy discussion or reference any health food sources here because MY diet is tailored to MY specific needs. And I think that is key. Although Dr. Dolly will extol the virtues of the new food pyramid that puts fruits and veggies on the largest bottom tier rather than meats, there are so many other things to learn about what we put in our guts.

I will leave you with one final story: Years ago, post-chemotherapy treatment, I went to the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York for an Introductory Weekend. I went alone and roomed with a stranger - a first for me. And I went with wobbly legs, chemo brain, and an overall weakened immune system. But I needed to explore restorative health practices including foods, yoga, humor, etc. It was a life-changing experience and I was so proud to have done it all by myself.

One day, we did a session on food and it was obviously geared more towards those who have trouble with being overweight. However, the exercise (which I thought was quite foolish as we began) invited us to chew one raisin for at least 60 seconds; that is, not gulp them down in handfuls like we usually do. We experienced the sweetness, the tartness, the texture and learned how to appreciate a single item of food.

As we went around the circle describing what we'd learned from the exercise, surprisingly, I burst into tears! I realized then that I had been mortally afraid of food. You see, when you are diagnosed with cancer or Lupus or any other life-threatening illness, you are immediately bombarded with messages, information, and books about what kind of diet to eat to prevent or cure cancer. I tried some of Dr. Andrew Weil's stuff (even writing to him in desperation only to get a form letter in return) and a macrobiotic diet (miso soup for breakfast - UGH) and went to a naturo-pathic doctor leaving his office with hundreds of dollars of supplements that I couldn't swallow because my throat was so mangled from the emergency tracheotomy.

So a food imprint was born and I strove to get back to my fairly healthy diet where I ate everything in moderation. That worked until I was struck with gastroparesis a little over two years ago. Since it's time for a food revolution in my body, I am so glad to have a skilled healer to guide me correctly.

So, perhaps, you might start your own new food journey. You can start with one small raisin.

NOTE: I have been told that many of you are having trouble posting on my blog site. Please send me emails at ascrohn@gmail.com and I will be sure to post any comments you'd like. Thank you to those of you who have contacted me in one way or another and, once my website is complete, you will have another avenue to reach out to me. I love reading your comments!