My mother was a lifelong believer in natural cures. Although
we had a family doctor, she was suspicious of doctors all her
life. Much of that suspicion was the result of claims by the quacks
she consulted with. They always warned of "conspiracy by
the medical community to suppress their revolutionary treatments".
Also, she was consistently told that "traditional medicine"
treatments would prevent the "natural" cures from working,
so it was never recommended that one try the natural cures
as a mere "supplement" to a doctor's care. Also, natural
methods were intertwined with religious beliefs. My mother's family
was closely associated with a little known religion whose founder
was a chiropractor. They were taught that nature (God) provided
answers to every ill, and that doctors, medicine, manufactured
supplements, chemicals of any kind, etc. are created by people
who do not have the proper faith. They are trying to "play
God" or replace God or even defy God by leading people astray.
As children, we were given regular doses of cod liver oil, vitamin
C (rose hips are the only reliable type), and other supplements.
Earaches were treated with garlic, colds with extra vitamin C
dissolved in Jello water, sore throats with cayenne pepper wraps,
and headaches with vitamin A. If one complained of any symptoms
in my grandmother's presence, she would ask, "When did you
last have an enema?" I was in my late teenage years before
I ever had an aspirin. I was staying with a friend and had a headache.
Her mother offered me an aspirin, which I guiltily accepted. I
was amazed at how quickly and effectively it worked! From then
on, I began to question whether the "natural" methods
were all that great.
We were taken to the doctor only for such things as stitches,
wart removal (when the wart did not respond to rubbing with a
burnt broom straw), and illnesses that stubbornly refused to respond
to the natural treatment. Even then, the written prescriptions
were nearly always discarded rather than taken to a pharmacy to
be filled. I have a vague recollection of the whole family being
taken to receive polio vaccine on a sugar cube, but my brothers
and sisters and I did not ever receive other vaccines. For school
registrations or summer camp applications, my mother would fill
in the sections verifying the required immunizations with bogus
dates and then sign the form with "Dr. G. Card" (her
maiden name). Antibiotics (which translates to "against life")
were considered one of the worst inventions of modern medicine.
And glucose given in IV's were proof that doctors have no understanding
of real nutrition. Sugar is "white death" and to deliberately
pump it into the veins shows ignorance at best and evil at worst.
Though my mother gave birth to all 7 children in the hospital,
in her later years she did not even trust doctors and hospitals
for that purpose. She tried once to convince my sister to have
her baby at home using a mid-wife.
At the age of 49, my father, who had never been sick a day in
his life, experienced sudden numbness on his entire left side.
He was taken to the doctor and a CT scan was done. Unfortunately,
the exam showed him to have a rather large brain tumor. My mother
reluctantly agreed to allow a biopsy, which proved the tumor to
be malignant and inoperable. The doctors advised immediate treatment
with chemotherapy and radiation. To our dismay, my parents decided
not to heed that advice. My mother was advised by family members
and other associates of a natural cancer treatment that promised
"miraculous results". Of course, as is typical, she
was advised that the chemotherapy would destroy the healing powers
of the natural cure, so they had to choose one or the other. My
father was treated at home with a diet mostly consisting of raw
fruits (fresh pineapple in particular), and daily coffee enemas.
His condition rapidly deteriorated and he died 3 weeks from the
date of his first symptom. Our old family doctor came to our home
and signed the death certificate. He consoled the family by saying
that the tumor must have been so far advanced that the chemotherapy
would not have been able to help. My father's death was a huge
blow to those family members who expected the miraculous cure.
But in the weeks and months following his death, my mother found
"research" that implied that the very act of taking
the biopsy "exposed the tumor to open air" which spurred
the tumor to unnaturally fast growth. From then on, my mother
always said she should never have allowed the biopsy to be done.
It was the sole cause of the tumor's rapid growth and the thing
that kept the coffee enemas from being able to work properly.
My mother battled weight all her life. At one point, she was under
the care of some "alternative care doctor" who put her
on a diet. First she eliminated all sugars and refined flours
from her diet (she had been a vegetarian for many years already).
After a few weeks, she eliminated all carbohydrates. Each step
eliminated another food, until all she was eating was raw vegetables
(and only certain vegetables at that). She became weak. She had
"brown outs" when she stood suddenly. Her eyes and skin
began to take on a yellow shade. The practioner she was seeing
became concerned and did something very rare for most quacks.
He actually told her that she needed to stop the diet and seek
care from an internist. However, my mother had experienced weight
loss on this diet and didn't feel that a medical doctor would
understand her concerns, so she simply changed one quack for another.
Incidentally, she didn't have any trouble finding one who didn't
recommend care by an internist. The new practioner however, was
not able to reverse the damage that had already been done. After
several weeks under his care, her skin was bright yellow and her
eyes looked like some Hollywood special effect. At that point,
he felt she needed care from a "real expert" and referred
her to another local clinic run by a naturopath.
My mother was pleased to be referred because she had read several
books written by this "doctor." I was very concerned
for my mother's health at this point and completely skeptical
of this quack, and as she was too weak to even drive herself to
the clinic, I offered to accompany her. This clinic was actually
a single exam room at the back of a health food store. There were
shelves of vitamins and supplements and a juice counter. There
was a rack of books written by the naturopath, which someone had
gone through with a black marker to blot out the "N.D."
after his name. (Our state had recently passed legislation outlawing
the use of credentials that were not the result of actual degrees
by accredited institutions.) My mother was given a form to complete
before her consultation. The top of the form had a statement for
the patient to sign which said, "I certify that I am not
an investigator or informant for any news, government or medical
bureau and that information obtained from this consultation will
not be used for prosecution of this clinic, its owners or employees."
The bottom of the form had another disclaimer which read, "I
understand that [the doctor] is not a medical doctor and that
anything said during the course of my visit is conversation only
and cannot be construed as medical advice." My mother read
and signed the form without hesitation. I asked if those disclaimers
(especially the first one) didn't make her a little nervous. She
explained that naturopaths were forced to protect themselves because
of unfair persecution and prosecution by the medical establishment
who are threatened by their knowledge. Because she understood
the need for him to protect himself legally, she had no problems
about signing the statements.
After we were taken into the exam room, the "doctor"
came in and instructed Mother to lie face down on the table. He
began by massaging her feet gently occasionally asking if this
spot or that felt tender. I watched then as he dug both thumbnails
deeply into the balls of her feet and asked, "Is this uncomfortable?"
When she affirmed that it was, he said, "That indicates the
problem would be with your liver." I was astonished! The
pressure he applied would have been uncomfortable no matter what
spot it was on, and the bright color of her skin and eyes made
liver problems obvious to anybody, with or without a degree! He
then prescribed a long list of supplements and tinctures, which
could be conveniently purchased right there in his store. He also
told her that she was to drink green juice for every meal. Green
juice is a concoction invented by the naturopath himself and made
right there in his juice bar. Basically, it consists of cucumbers,
parsley, kale, cabbage and any other green vegetable. The exact
mixture is known only to himself and has to be made fresh daily,
so that it is necessary to return to his store frequently.
As we left the clinic, I asked my mother if she would please come
with me to the hospital and have blood drawn for a liver function
test. I work for a doctor and I knew she would willingly give
the order. She asked what a liver function test would tell. I
said that the levels of various things found in the blood would
tell the extent and the type of liver dysfunction we were dealing
with. She smiled and said she didn't think it was necessary to
do that. She felt that her liver had been "overloaded with
toxins" most of her life, and that her recent diet changes
had caused the liver to "dump" these toxins into her
blood. Her only problem was that the liver was cleansing too fast.
She was sure that a liver function test would show lots of high
levels of toxins in her blood, but this didn't mean the liver
was not functioning. It meant the liver was functioning a little
too well at the moment. And she trusted what she had been told.
After all, the naturopath's own son had once been diagnosed with
liver cancer. When traditional medicine gave up on him, the naturopath
invented green juice, which saved his son's life. (Or so he said.)
Besides, a hospital would just want to give her antibiotics and
IVs. She was just finally cleansing her liver and wasn't about
to let them put glucose in her. I tried to tell her that labs
don't provided treatment and that she always had the right to
say no if anyone did recommend treatment. "No," she
said, "I don't have insurance so I wouldn't have any way
of paying for lab tests. Incidently, she had just spent approximately
$75 for the consultation and treatment recommendations.
For the next couple of weeks, her conditioned actually worsened.
She vomited soon after taking any nourishment and was unable to
get out of bed for many days. But she faithfully followed all
of the recommendations, enduring green juice, a complicated regimen
of supplements, and an occasional enema. Gradually, she improved,
and many weeks after beginning the treatment, she got better.
She maintained that the naturopath had saved her life. I always
felt that she got better in spite of his care, not because of
it.
Several years later, my mother became ill again. This time, she
experienced some respiratory problems, lack of energy and some
vomiting. She had been spreading some wood chips the day before
and felt like she had inhaled some dust or something. Over the
next year-and-a-half, she continued to have problems. The respiratory
troubles lessened some, but she continued with dizziness, lack
of energy and vomiting. She consulted a number of naturopathic
"healers". Each time she found a new one, she felt confident
that they knew the answer to her problems. She would experience
a period of improvement, only to relapse a short time later. She
was told that there must have been sycamore in the wood chips
that she had worked in, and that sycamore is very dangerous, causing
severe respiratory symptoms. She lost a lot of weight in the process,
but her appearance was terrible. After several months and a lot
of nagging, we were thrilled when she told us she had finally
broken down and scheduled an appointment with a doctor. Unfortunately,
it turned out that the doctor was a chiropractor. Her symptoms
eased for a time, then came back worse. By this time, she was
not only vomiting daily, she was spitting up a lot of mucus. She
kept a cup or tissues nearby all the time and feared leaving the
house because of the constant spitting up of mucus.
A referral from a health store employee led her to a consultation
with a new clinic. This practioner placed magnets all over her
body and informed her that her kidneys appeared to be her weakest
area. She went weekly for some type of "electro-magnetic"
therapy. Again, she improved for a time, then got much worse.
During this time, in addition to treatments from various practioners,
she was going to a clinic weekly (sometimes 2-3 times weekly)
for "high colonics", at approximately $20 per session.
She was not having regular bowel movements at home, so when a
few days went by without one, she would go for another of these
"power enemas".
About 15 months into her illness, she heard of a clinic in Reno
that was run by a medical doctor who used on;y "natural"
treatments. However, as she was making preparations to travel
there, her sister heard a radio interview about a clinic in Las
Vegas. The radio show was peppered with anecdotes about people
who were miraculously healed after the medical community had given
up on them. At the last minute, she changed her travel plans and
went to Las Vegas instead. This "healer" worked by moving
his hands over the body (never actually coming into contact) and
going into some type of trance. Normally, treatments are scheduled
in advance and several days or weeks apart, but he was willing
to make an exception and fit my mother in to be able to be treated
every day until she was healed. After the 2nd or 3rd treatment,
she suddenly felt a "breakthough". She said she felt
something "like a flood gate opening", and immediately
felt better. He told her she would need just a few more treatments
to be healed completely. However, during one of the next treatments,
the healer began talking to her and trying to explain his healing
powers. He kept emphasizing that it was not based in any religious
faith. Something about that upset or frightened her and she could
not go back. She packed her bags and returned to Salt Lake. At
that point, she was too weak to endure a car ride home, so she
flew. She required wheelchair assistance to even get off the plane.
Once again, she told us that she was now ready to seek care "from
a real doctor". However, again she would not see an M.D.
The doctor she planned to see was a D.O. I asked around at work
and was reassured that D.O.s are not necessarily quacks, but they
are medically trained doctors who just try to use more natural
treatments wherever possible. I decided to attend the first appointment
with my mother. In the waiting room, a lady chatted with me about
how the doctor had saved her life. I was hopeful. During the appointment,
he listened to her describe the illness. His exam was more like
a doctor's exam, listening to her heart and respirations, checking
pulses and reflexes and palpating her abdomen. He ordered blood
work and x-rays, and advised her to eat a wider variety of foods,
including even chicken and fish (she had been a vegetarian for
many years). He scheduled a follow-up appointment to review the
lab and x-ray findings. I was so relieved. Then he recommended
that she carefully track everything she ate, and the pattern of
symptoms in relation to eating and other activities. To aid her
in this task, he recommended she purchase a computer program.
Many software programs could be used. However, he just happened
to have one on hand, for the low, low price of $75.00. She readily
agreed to purchase it. On our way out, we passed a large room.
It was wall-to-wall recliners filled with patients receiving some
bright yellow liquid by IV. The sign said "Chelation Therapy,"
and there was the little old lady I had chatted with in the waiting
room. I had never heard of chelation, but immediately worried
about the legitimacy of this new doctor. When I returned to work,
I asked the doctors I work for what chelation is. They both shrugged
their shoulders.
The next day was Thanksgiving and my mother felt well enough to
sit at the table. She even ate turkey, the first meat she'd had
in over 20 years. But by that evening, she was vomiting and again
felt very weak. Two days later, each time she sat up or tried
to get out of bed, she would pass out. When she told my sister
she felt it was time to give up and allow herself to die, I felt
I had to take immediate action. After some pretty strong words
from me, with my sister nodding in agreement, we finally got her
to agree to go to the hospital.
By the time my mother finally went to the hospital, she had been
ill for one-and-a-half years, and had lost more than 150 lbs.
On arrival in the ER, her blood pressure was low enough to scare
everyone involved. She also vomited what looked like bile and
blood. She was admitted to the hospital. She required IV rehydration,
7 units of blood, and cardiac monitoring. The following day, an
endoscopy was done which showed a very large ulcer completely
obstructing her pylorus. The doctor could not even pass the slender
tube of the scope through that area. She was found to be positive
for helicobacter pylori infection. After a 5-day hospital stay,
she was able to get up and walk, had much better energy and coloring,
and was eating without vomiting. She had gained 12 lbs. since
her admission, all due to the rehydration. She said she felt foolish
that she had suffered so much for so long over something as simple
and common as an ulcer, and even said she wished she'd gone to
a doctor much sooner. She agreed to take the prescribed medications
and return in a month for follow-up endoscopy. Her only complaint
was a small bedsore at the base of her spine.
Before we returned for the follow-up endoscopy, she returned to
the osteopath's office. He gave her an herbal supplement to take
along with the prescription drugs. He told her he thought the
doctor would be amazed at how low her helicobacter pylori level
would be after taking this supplement. However, on follow-up endoscopy,
the ulcer did not appear much smaller at all after 30 days of
treatment. The endoscopy doctor recommended doubling the dose
of Prevacid she was taking. She was very disappointed with the
findings. Even though she looked and felt better than she had
in years, she felt like she must not be making any progress. When
she reported the finding to the osteopath, he recommended stopping
the Prevacid completely and doubling the herbal supplement instead,
which advice my mother followed.
Her health deteriorated rapidly from that point. The bedsore she
had developed continued to bother her. She also broke out in a
rash. Although the rash appeared in several areas of the arms
and legs, the fact that it also occurred near her IV site make
her fear she had picked up an infection while she was in the hospital.
She left to stay with her sister so she could have help making
her vegetable juices that were the mainstay of her diet. One afternoon,
my aunt called me to say she was very concerned about my mother.
I stated that she needed to go back to the doctor if she was having
trouble again. My aunt said, "she won't even think of that.
They gave her this infection." Skeptical and tired of their
"playing doctor", I drove over to see what was going
on with my mother.
When I arrived, I found my mother too weak to even sit up in bed.
Her arms and face were covered with large red patches, which seemed
to be growing right before our eyes. Her blood pressure was too
low to register on my aunt's home-use monitor. Even worse, my
aunt rolled her to her side and pulled back the covers to show
me the bedsore. It was nearly 3 inches in diameter and the surrounding
tissue was black. There was a horrible, decaying smell coming
from it. Once again, we picked her up (she was as light and limp
as a rag doll) and took her to the hospital.
As soon as they saw the red splotches, the ER personnel moved
to isolate my mother in case it was infectious. They admitted
her almost immediately to the ICU. The doctors were at a loss
to know what to do for her first. They had to establish that the
bedsore had not perforated her bowel. They moved her into the
Burn Unit, hoping that the air-pillow beds there would alleviate
the discomfort of the bedsore and the patches all over her body.
They cut away the dead tissue around the bedsore, only to see
it immediately begin necrotizing again. A repeat endoscopy showed
that she now had multiple ulcers throughout her GI tract. The
fluid they drained from her lungs was tinged with blood. Almost
every system of her body was affected. She was placed on IV fluids
and IV antibiotics, and eventually, steroids. She had an oxygen
mask, but on her 2nd day in the hospital, she experienced respiratory
arrest, so the decision was made to place her on a ventilator.
She was very weak, but was completely compliant with all the doctors'
recommendations. By the 2nd day, all but one of my siblings had
arrived in town and the doctor in charge brought us all together
to explain the situation. Her condition was being attributed to
Henoch-Schonlein purpura, although his studies only showed a handful
of cases which presented in an adult this severely. All the previous
such cases had been fatal, but the most recent had been back in
the 1940's, when there were not any of today's medical treatments
available. He had consulted with many experts around the country
and they agreed the best course was to treat with high doses of
steroids. He certainly couldn't make any promises and said that
if it was going to work, we should see some improvement over the
next 24-48 hours. We were all in agreement with the doctor's recommendations.
Unfortunately, after a couple of hours on the ventilator, my mother
asked us to stop the treatments and remove to tube. We were all
distressed, because we wanted to wait the 24-48 hours to see if
the treatments would work, but none of us were able to convince
her to wait it out. A psychiatric consult was done so the hospital
staff could be assured that she understood what she was asking
for and the probable consequences of stopping the treatment. As
her children, we wanted to continue the treatment, but respected
her right to decide for herself. After about 12 hours on the ventilator,
the tube was removed. She almost immediately requested the IVs
be removed and she be allowed to go home. Again, we were frustrated
by her choices, but decided to honor her wishes. She was taken
home and died about 24 hours later.
Because of the premature termination of her treatment and further
studies, we will never really know what caused her illness, and
ultimately, her death. After a life of "brainwashing"
by multiple "natural healers", she was completely fearful
of all the treatments she was receiving. Antibiotics, glucose
and other IV fluids, blood transfusions, steroids, "artificial"
life support, high costs, and doctors making the decisions for
her care were all things she was taught to fear most, and in the
end, these were all that could be offered to try and save her.
I believe that the long illness prior to her final hospitalization
left her body and her immune system too weak to fight and that
her years of trust in various quacks left her fearful and even
paranoid of the medical care that could have saved her. I am often
angry that she was taken from us prematurely and I lay blame for
that on the practioners she trusted. In all her experience, only
one had the integrity to admit he couldn't help her and advise
her to seek medical care. My mother was driven by a desire to
do what was right, and these quacks turn medical care into a moral
issue. She was afraid of the doctors and their motives, and afraid
that trusting them showed moral weakness. I think the driving
force for these most of these quacks is money. They use fear and
deception, and other "mind games" to maintain their
hold on people. I am angry and frustrated at what they did to
my mother and my family, but more frustrated to know that they
are all still out there practicing and deceiving other people.
_____________________
Ms. Fowden, who resides in Sandy, Utah, hopes that posting her story will help others by showing how practitioners may keep on quacking even when their patient is dying from lack of appropriate care.