I received such positive feedback after sharing my story (click here) that I thought it would be a good idea to share another part of it. It’s really very personal but I think that if it will help even one person it is worth it.
When I was twelve, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (where the colon became inflamed).
I was going through a particularly challenging time in my life, and it really affected my physical health, as we all know mind and body go together.
It started with me losing a lot of blood and after doing a blood test the doctor sent me to the hospital for further checks. After they did a colonoscopy, the doctor said diagnosed my condition as Colitis, and told us that it’s a long-term condition that people live with their entire lives.
I started to take steroids and many other medicines. I was hospitalized many times and every time the dose and the amount of the medicines were increased, but the inflammation kept spreading. In the meantime,
I tried special diets, went to many alternative therapies and tried different health approaches. The symptoms continued with regular bleeding, horrible diarrhoea and weakness all the time.
I remember that one of the therapists told me, how do you think you will heal yourself if you believe that this is an ongoing problem? That was a turning point in my mind and I started to believe that there is a cure; I just have to find it.
I continued to go to special alternative treatments and I believe that each and every one was a step that brought me nearer to finding the best approach. By this time I was married and had a little boy, but I was still on the lookout for my salvation.
While I had been trying various alternative treatments and all sorts of diets, I also started to go to a professional psychologist and we worked together to heal the emotional side of my issues; as I said the stomach problems started when I was going through other challenges in my life.
One day I was waiting for my regular appointment in the Gastro Clinic and there was a long queue of people that were waiting for their turn. I told myself in the meantime I can go to the nearby bookshop and come back later. I went to the bookshop and the books were organised on the shelves neatly like soldiers, but one book was a bit out of place, and I took it out.
I had heard in the past about Water Fasting and thought it might be a good idea but had never gone into it, and now the book that I ‘happened’ to take off the shelf was Fasting--and Eating--for Health, by Joel Fuhrman! I was so excited! I started to read it right there and within minutes I knew that this is what I have to do. I copied the relevant phone numbers from the book, went out to the public phone on the street (pre cell-phone days!) and spoke to the relevant people and they guided me to contact a place in California that does water fasting.
I spoke to my gastroenterologist about the water fasting but she was very dismissive of the idea; she literally laughed at me, but when she did another scan, it showed that my whole colon was inflamed by now, and none of the traditional treatments had helped me at all.
Things moved along quickly and after a short time I was on the plane to California – with a stop on the way to leave my son by my mother-in-law.
I stayed In a special place that treat patients with pure water fasting (click here to see the website) for four weeks. The first week was an easy diet with fruit and vegetables but the next two weeks was just water. (No vitamins, no juices and no infusions.) For the first week I was still able to walk around but by the second week I was in bed all the time. I kept drinking water and trying to relax.
When my body came to a point that I needed to stop, I started to eat very gradually. All this time my body had had the opportunity to clean itself, and when I came back to the gastroenterologist the new scan showed the entire colon was clean and cured! There was no trace of any inflammation! (She still insisted that the water fasting was nonsense...)
It was a dream to be healthy again.
After nearly two years some of the symptoms came back and I did a short water fasting in a different place and since then I have been completely healthy, Thank G-d.
What I want to say is that many people suffer from different illnesses and they keep taking medicines, and the diseases are still there. The idea is to get healthy completely.
It is very important to know that water fasting may only be done only under medical supervision and after they have checked your ability to fast. Not everyone can fast, please don’t do it by yourself...
Incidentally, I also have experience with Grape fasting. A few years before I did the water fasting I did one week of grape fasting. For a whole week I just ate grapes and drank grape juice. I still continued with my daily life but needed to rest more. I did it for getting rid of the Colitis, and while it didn’t help me for that, it did help me for something else. I was born with a small lump of fat in my back and it really bothered me. At the time I was seriously considering having surgery to remove it, but after I did the grape fasting it all melted and disappeared within a few weeks and I didn’t need the surgery!
I’m not a doctor and I’m not suggesting anyone what to do. I’m just telling my own story and sharing a different view for healing!
And I must stress again that I feel that it was a 50/50 healing process. 50% was the physical aspect of the water fasting and 50% was that I dealt proficiently with the emotional issues... because it’s more the other problems that cause our bodies to become ill.
If you have any question or comments, please feel free to email me to: tovaphoto:gmail.com