Be out of touch for 2 weeks **Update** Rudolph Steiner Health Center, Ann Arbor, MI

lesvanb
lesvanb Member Posts: 905
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hey all

I'll be away from a computer for a couple weeks while I'm at the Rudolph Steiner Health Center in Ann Arbor, MI. Keep on keeping on you all.

all the best, Leslie

***UPDATE**

Hello all and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all!

I've been catching up on reading all your posts, and please know that I'm thinking of all of you as we all go up and down on this cancer roller coaster.

Just before Thanksgiving I returned from a two week intensive health retreat at the Rudolph Steiner Health Center @ the Anna Botsford Bach Home, Ann Arbor, MI.

"The Health Center follows the Anthroposophic medical guidelines of Austrian scientist-philosopher Rudolf Steiner. The retreat is modeled on the Lukas Klinik in Arlesheim, Switzerland and serves patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer, chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis and vascular disease. Our patients enjoy a two-week program including daily doctor's visits, nursing applications, artistic therapies, rhythmical massage, speech formation and curative eurythmy. Daily medical discussions foster a team approach to healing. Staff and patients share organic/biodynamic meals together. Our retreat is the first anthroposophic in-patient care center in the United States." For further cancer treatment reading refer to: http://www.steinerhealth.org/about/cancer-treatment/

What a delightful time! I continued my IV Vitamin C therapy, added IV mistletoe (Iscador) 1x/week, did music, spatial dynamics movement therapy and even painted my first watercolors! The weather was delightful the first week and decent the second week for November in MI. I enjoyed daily walks through the hardwoods in a nearby city park, went to a concert put on by the Ann Arbor Symphony, and saw the play Bye Bye Birdie at the Rudolph Steiner High School.

Back home we are finally seeing some snow come down though it's not a huge storm today (hopefully 6"). Yesterday I brush hogged some ski trails through the sage brush so here's hoping we get enough this year, like we did last year, to keep some trails going through the winter. The horses will be moving to winter pasture soon and Dave is intrepidly trying to sprout some cilantro and basil seeds in the south facing window while kale continues to grow in the bedroom (saved from the grasshopper onslaught this summer). Phoebe, the border collie, stacks her own piles of wood as Dave stacks his. She has learned to leave Dave's stacks alone - mostly.

On December 8 Dave and I travel to SLC and the Huntsman for another 3 month PET/CT scan plus my 6 month check-up with my GI surgeon. We return to Lander December 10. We also have scheduled an appt. with the thoracic surgeon on December 13 if needed, and we hope not, as Wait and Watch is just fine. Additionally, I, and many on my health team are curious (a generous term under the circumstances) about how the IV Vitamin C is working. Please send along your good wishes for this time.

all the best, Leslie


"A real medicine can only exist when it penetrates into a knowledge which embraces the human being in respect to body, soul and spirit."
-Rudolf Steiner

Comments

  • Kathleen808
    Kathleen808 Member Posts: 2,342 Member
    Be well
    Be well Leslie. I'm thinking of you.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    Stay safe.
    Let us know when you return!

    Hugs, Kathi
  • dorookie
    dorookie Member Posts: 1,731 Member
    Have Fun
    Enjoy your time, and stay warm its starting to get cold up there..

    HUGS
    Beth
  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    Leslie:
    Well at least its suppose to warm up here in Michigan next week, talking about 60. I thought the Steiner Center was alternative medicine and/or complimentary treatment? Make sure you come back and let us know about your experience. I don't know too much about the Steiner Center so anything you can share would be appreciated by me and maybe some other folks on the board. Thanks.

    Take care and Welcome to Michigan!

    Tina
  • Lori-S
    Lori-S Member Posts: 1,277 Member
    Leslie
    Have a good trip and let us know how things went when you get back.
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    We'll miss you!
    Thanks for letting us know!
  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    Thanks
    Thanks for letting us know and hope all goes well with the visit.

    Kim
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member

    Be well
    Be well Leslie. I'm thinking of you.

    Aloha,
    Kathleen

    anything important in there Leslie?
    Hugs!
  • lesvanb
    lesvanb Member Posts: 905
    geotina said:

    Leslie:
    Well at least its suppose to warm up here in Michigan next week, talking about 60. I thought the Steiner Center was alternative medicine and/or complimentary treatment? Make sure you come back and let us know about your experience. I don't know too much about the Steiner Center so anything you can share would be appreciated by me and maybe some other folks on the board. Thanks.

    Take care and Welcome to Michigan!

    Tina

    Michigan
    Tina

    I really enjoyed my time in Michigan, I had been to Detroit for a conference but this was my first real stay in the state. Reminded me somewhat of western MA where I went to school (UMASS)- without the terrain relief of course. Feel free to PM about more info on the center. Seems like it is close to you.

    all the best, Leslie
  • Lori-S
    Lori-S Member Posts: 1,277 Member
    Leslie
    Welcome back and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It sounds like you really enjoyed your trip and got a lot out of it. That's wonderful. I will be hoping and praying for all the best with your upcoming scans.
  • Kerry S
    Kerry S Member Posts: 606 Member
    Leslie Darlin

    Only a few of us know how great it felt for you to get home and brush hog. That helps the body, soul and spirit big time.

    I have often felt it is the instant gratification of just doing it. It could also be the total feeling of power of the tractor under your butt and being in full control of that power. These are feelings in our cancer world that we really don’t get all the time.

    4.5 more days of the damn bag for me and the damn thing blew up in bed again this morning. It will be instant gratification getting that damn thing the hell off of me.

    I am looking forward to hear of good scans for you.

    Kerry
  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    Nice to hear from you
    That retreat sounds wonderful. Praying for excellent scan results.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    Kerry S said:

    Leslie Darlin

    Only a few of us know how great it felt for you to get home and brush hog. That helps the body, soul and spirit big time.

    I have often felt it is the instant gratification of just doing it. It could also be the total feeling of power of the tractor under your butt and being in full control of that power. These are feelings in our cancer world that we really don’t get all the time.

    4.5 more days of the damn bag for me and the damn thing blew up in bed again this morning. It will be instant gratification getting that damn thing the hell off of me.

    I am looking forward to hear of good scans for you.

    Kerry

    Hi Leslie welcome back
    Hope to know about you more often ! we miss you!.
    Hugs!
  • HealthSeeker
    HealthSeeker Member Posts: 1
    Info on Rudolf Steiner Center
    Hello Leslie, I found your post here by doing a google search for Rudolf Steiner Center. I would like to ask you more about your experience and if you feel it has been beneficial to your treatment. It is very expensive, especially coming from California and not sure I can fly. If you see this message and can reply, please email me at calhomeschooler@aol.com. Thank you.

    Shari
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    good wishes coming your way
    dear leslie

    the retreat sounded wonderful and healing. I am sure your giving your body the best chance.

    be wishes for your health,

    Pete
  • pete43lost_at_sea
    pete43lost_at_sea Member Posts: 3,900 Member
    Kerry S said:

    Leslie Darlin

    Only a few of us know how great it felt for you to get home and brush hog. That helps the body, soul and spirit big time.

    I have often felt it is the instant gratification of just doing it. It could also be the total feeling of power of the tractor under your butt and being in full control of that power. These are feelings in our cancer world that we really don’t get all the time.

    4.5 more days of the damn bag for me and the damn thing blew up in bed again this morning. It will be instant gratification getting that damn thing the hell off of me.

    I am looking forward to hear of good scans for you.

    Kerry

    glad your back kerry
    you still got your attitude.
    thank god,
    Pete
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    More on Rudolph Steiner
    Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was an Austrian mystic and self-proclaimed clairvoyant who founded the religion known as Anthroposophy. In addition to his acute interest in spiritualism, Steiner also turned his attention to many earthly matters. One was education: Steiner founded the Waldorf school movement, which now includes over 800 schools. Another area of interest for Steiner was medicine. Today practitioners of “Anthroposophical medicine” can be found in many communities in North America, Europe, and elsewhere.

    The underlying principle of Anthroposophical medicine is that everything physical is infused with and manifests spirit. Steiner claimed that the causes of illness are not primarily physical but reflect spiritual conditions. For human beings, he taught:

    Good health is achieved when the physical organism is properly "aligned" with three nonphysical bodies that manifest during a human’s lifetime: (1) the “etheric body” (a set of life forces), (2) the “astral body” (higher soul forces), and (3) the “I” (a spark of divine selfhood or ego that separates true humans from animals and subhumans).
    Bad health, on the other hand, often reflects the working out of one’s "karmic destiny." If one enters this world carrying spiritual impurities resulting from sins and errors committed in previous lives, disease can serve as a rite of passage, purging evils from one’s bodily/spiritual system. Thus, medical intervention is often a bad idea: A doctor who cures a patient with drugs, etc., may be blocking the patient’s karmic self-healing process.
    One result of Steiner's medical doctrines is that Anthroposophical doctors generally avoid giving inoculations. A professed believer in reincarnation, Steiner taught that a disease may be part of a patient's "karma" and that interfering with the illness would be unwise because treating only the physical body would require the patient to compensate in a future life. Addressing a group of doctors, Steiner said "If we destroy the susceptibility to smallpox, we are concentrating only on the external side of karmic activity."

    On other occasions, Steiner was even more outspoken. He said that black magicians and other evildoers will create medicines that will deaden people to all things spiritual: "Endeavors to achieve this will be made by bringing out remedies to be administered by inoculation . . . only these inoculations will influence the human body in a way that will make it refuse to give a home to the spiritual inclinations of the soul."