I want to use essiac as a preventative for my iguanas. Should I give it to them once a day or just once a week or what? They are healthy and not very old. I saw how essiac literally saved my father's life from non hodgkins lymphoma and I am determined to use it on my iguanas hoping that it will keep them healthy. What do you think?

Jan replies...

Hi Susan,

I have not heard of any one giving essiac to a reptile or amphibian. I would consider it worth a try perhaps if they were mortally ill, but I sure wouldn't give it to a healthy one when there is no history of how they react to it. I really think essiac should be saved for when you need it. I would love to hear details about your father.

Jan

Susan replies...

Dear Jan,
Thanks for writing and answering my question. I wanted to write back to let you know of an incident that happened not too long ago with my 5 year old male iguana.

While we were gone one day, he had gotten his head caught under the closet door. He had been trying to go in there is what I guessed. My husband had to tear the door apart to get him out and he was very much near death. His entire head turned black and blue. He was barely breathing, and I could get no response from him. I keep in close contact with my vet, and this time she was out of town doing a conference.

Something came into my head to try essiac, since I keep it all the time in case I need it. I made some of the tea and slowly gave it to him all night in an eye dropper, just drops of it here and there. About 4 hours later, he came around. Totally back to his old self. Like nothing had happened to him. It was the middle of the night. I woke my husband up. He was so shocked. He said, NO he was nearly dead! He got up just to see what I was talking about. We were both in shock. The bruising on his head was gone. It was like he was brought back from the dead. It HAD to be the essiac. I can't believe the healing power it has. Still today he is doing fine, and all the doors in the bedroom have been totally reconstructed to go down to the bare floor at the bottom, so none of the iguanas can even begin to get their heads under them.

My father was diagnosed with non hodgkins lymphoma right before Christmas of 1999. He was in stage 3B. He had been having some weird symptoms, but just thought it was from getting older. Then he had a large groin node to come up. It was misdiagnosed as a hernia so he went nearly a year without being treated. When we finally found out it was really non hodgkins lymphoma, I immediately got him on essiac tea.

Even before any chemo began, he started to feel better. Where his previous scans had showed that he had cancer cells above his diaphram, they next scan showed them not there. After he started chemo, I still insisted he drink the essiac. He NEVER had a side effect from the chemo as long as he did this. After 3 months of chemo the lymphoma was barely detectible. His blood counts never went down, and chemo will cause blood counts to fall. He never had any nausea, any tiredness, nothing.

His doctors were really surprised. My father finally told them he had been drinking essiac. All of the doctors said, well that has nothing to do with how well you're doing. They can say what they want, but we know that it's because of the essiac that he did so well and remains in remission. Oh and it seemed to clear up his arthritis too. He had suffered with it for over 15 years. He is cancer free (he's 64) and does everything he wants to, and feels great. He drinks essiac about 3 times a week to keep himself feeling good because he believes the essiac is why he is healthy now.

That's our story. Thanks again for writing back to me. I appreciate your concern about us. Wishing you all the best,

I have a 6 year old Chow-Shepard Mix. He has been diagnosed with a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor in his right front foot. Apparently it is slow growing.

My options are to have the tumor removed with radiation follow-up or amputation. The surgeon is extremely reluctant to perform only the tumor removal without radiation, but the radiation is not within my financial means. How much time could we buy if the tumor removal was followed up only with dietary changes and immunity suppliments and essaic? I know answers are merely speculation but I don't know much about this type of cancer. Unfortunately I am out of the country and am having to make these decisions from a secondary position. I would like most to buy myself some time in the safest way possible. Also, do you have any insights on how long I can post-pone the amputation safely? Please give me any insight at your earliest convenience. Much appreciation,

Lynn

Jan replies...

Hi Lynn,

I am sorry about your boy. I don't have an answer for you, but I certainly recommend essiac no matter what you do in these circumstances. It eases side effects and helps digestion and makes them (and people) feel better, aside from any help it may be in fighting cancer. Is there a reason you don't want to do the amputation now?

Many dogs do just fine on three legs and I think the younger they are, amputation is likely to be easier on them. If the liklihood is that you will have to do it eventually anyway, why not now? If the vet thinka the cancer is only in the leg you might be able to eliminate it entirely. But I understand the reluctance of the vet to just remove the tumor, sometimes that "excites" the cancer.

It seems like not many dogs get radiation, I think this may be because of availability and expense, so I don't have any info from anyone about success with it. Chemo seems to be usually a delaying tactic rather than a cure.

I did a little looking and found http://www.thedoctorsdoctor.com/diseases/mpnst.htm. It is pretty technical, and is about people, but I got this out of it: this cancer is a sarcoma, and the treatment is wide excision. I expect it is not possible to do a wide excision on a foot without removing the foot, which would be why he doesn't want to remove the tumor without radiation. The other thing about it is that it is painful.

I wish I could be more help, it is a tough decision to make. Any decision other than that is a gamble. And that one as well, really. There is no way to estimate an amount of time you can buy with any procedure or approach because everyone reacts differently. So I think the sooner you amputate the greater the chance you will be able to get rid of this cancer. I know that in dogs with osteosarcoma, amputation is also a great pain reliever for them because the cancer is agonizing. I don't know how much pain there is with this one, but there is enough that they mention it. Then I would use essiac and a really good diet as well and maybe some other natural things.

I sure wish you the best.

My cat Jake was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (tumour in the lower jaw) in July of 2001 and the vet gave him a prognosis of only 3 months to live. Right after he was diagnosed, we started giving him "Flor-Essence" in his food (1 tsp. per day) and noticed an immediate improvement in Jake's appetite, his coat, and his interest in life.

Although we were advised that the cancer would metastacize to his lungs, and that he would experience difficulty breathing, then lose interest in his food, and eventually have to be put to sleep, he has none of those symptoms as of January 2002, and is still an alert and happy boy. We know that he is not cured as the tumour is still very apparent.

Jake's life has been prolonged, and more importantly, his quality of life has been vastly improved, and as he is not taking any other treatment (the vet said nothing could be done other than amputate his lower jaw, which we would not even consider), we have to asume that it is the remedy, and lots of love, that have brought him this far.

Please tell your site visitors that there is something they can do to improve the quality of life for a beloved animal friend. Thank you again!

Jan replies...

Hello Susan,

It is always great to hear such good news. I hope Jake's good condition keeps up for a long time. How do you get him to take it? That information might help someone else.

Jan

Susan replied on January 06, 2002...

Hi Jan,
I should have thought to include that information, sorry for the oversight. I prepare the tea every 3 weeks and brew up only half of the Flor-Essence package as more would have to be thrown away. At first I tried to give it to him by syringe, it was an awful experience for both of us so now I put 1 1/2 teaspoons of it in his canned food each morning. Amount of canned food I mix it with is 1/2 of one of the small gourmet tins of cat food.

Incidentally, I read somewhere that "Fancy Feast" and "Sheba" brands are very good for fighting cancer as they are higher in fat and protein than other brands (no rice , wheat, or corn fillers), so that is what I use. I also use the "no name" gourmet foods as I have found they have virtually the same ingredient list.

Thank you for your well wishes for Jake. He is enjoying his life very much at the moment. This morning, he went out in the snow for a little while and was chasing the snowflakes as they fell. I think that's pretty amazing for someone who wasn't supposed to be here!

By the way, I cannot feed my two cats separately, so the other one named Rusty is also getting the herbal tea and I have noticed no ill effects in him because of it. In fact, his coat is much healthier and he has less trouble with furballs.

Best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year, and thank you again for your work.

Susan

Susan wrote again on May 08, 2002...

Update on Jake -- I corresponded with you in January to tell you about my experiences with Essiac and our cat Jake, who was diagnosed with bone cancer last year. I just wanted to let you know that as of today, May 8, he is still with us, showing no signs of deterioration, and throughly enjoying his life. He almost caught a bird this morning!

I don't think I mentioned before that Jake is also being given Piroxicam (vet prescribed) every three days via a gel that we put on the inside of his ear. Piroxicam is an oral medication used in human medicine for arthritis that has been shown to be useful for the control of some animal cancers.

Again, bless you for this forum and for the hope you are giving all of us!

Jan replies...

Hi Susan,

That is great news. I hope he keeps doing well, and appreciate your update.