Penny Brohn - Part II

Amanda's hatred (which wasn't hatred in fact) dispersed quickly in the gentle atmosphere of The Penny Brohn Centre.  She said she didn't want me to project my feelings of anxiety (work related) upon her, as she was already dealing with as much as she could cope with, which was understandable.  I didn't mean too, I was just airing my work related concerns.  I wasn't really thinking.  Anyways,
it was quickly resolved and I was back in the good books (apparently I'd never left them!).  The group meeting was very interesting, people introduced themselves, said where they'd travelled from, and what their diagnosis was, along with any treatment they were awaiting, or indeed had already had.  They discussed what they wanted out of the Bristol Approach.  The group consisted of the 5 of us on the 3 day 'open course' residential, and 5 others for an introductory day.
Out of the 10 folks sitting in the circle, one had travelled from Inverness (he was working down this way and decided tie a visit in), Julian, he had an asbestos related cancer.  A lovely man who had been given a deadline by his GP as to when his life must end, he stated he didn't like deadlines, so was here to see what he could do as far as nutrition goes, to help extend his life.  We both chatted to Julian at lunch.  We discussed all the books we'd recently read, which he took down details of, and intended to read himself.  We also chatted with another smashing couple, Jackie and Angela.  Angela being the supporter.  Jackie had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and had had a lumpecotmy.  Thankfully her nodes were clear.  She was here to find out about what she could do to improve her lifestyle through nutrition and meditation etc. etc.  The four of us chatted in the garden for almost an hour after the meeting.  The majority of people there were having or preparing to have chemo treatment (not Jackie, she was having a blast of radiotherapy).  So when Amanda introduced herself and started to talk people were surprised, if not a little baffled.  No doubt (as she felt), some thought her slightly barmy, but then all these people were there to look into what else they could do alongside their conventional treatments, either to make the side effects more bearable, or to simply improve their chances of recovery.  Amanda's was just a more radical approach.  Amanda was intending on 'Purity'.  Getting the inside of her body as toxin free as possible, and clearing her mind of all stress and anxiety.  We spoke of  the changes we'd already made within our diets, which many people seemed surprised at the fact we'd managed to 'just do it'.  Duane and Amanda (Amanda, diagnosed with breast cancer, just finished her second regime of chemo, tired out, feeling rough and with very little appetite), a young couple with three young boys, have struggled with the food on offer at The Penny Brohn.  Poor Amanda, a very sweet lady, currently has very little appetite due to the chemo anyway, but is now at the point of malnutrition, due to disliking all the vegetable based foods.  They admitted they tend to eat alot of processed convenience foods, and she now has an incredibly limited diet, featuring no fruit or vegetables.  It's a real pity, because Amanda needs to get these vital nutrients into her.  I supppose she is going to have to look at her diet as medicine for a while, until she eventually gets used to the tastes and textures.  If she is brave enough to face chemotherapy, she is brave enough to chew up a bit of cabbage, carrot or kale (Duane, you've got a job on your hands, but you know you need to do it.  Once Amanda is better she will need to stick with a healthy diet.), she is a tough lady no doubt.  In her job she deals with autistic kids on a day to day basis, an amazing lady.  She will get through this, but she really needs to address the food situation, and Dwayne really needs to get behind her on it.  Our bodies require the right fuel to power our systems efficiently to enable it's intricate inner workings to protect itself through it's immune system, what you put into your body is what allows these systems work.... or not work in many cases.
My Amanda got alot from the group session, saying it was good to be able to speak with people who were in the same situation, who inside, were suffering the same questions, the same fears.  Yes I could offer support, but I couldn't actually know, withour having cancer myself, how she is actually feeling inside.
The early evening was spent walking and reading in glorious sunshine.... Everything felt almost perfect.

After supper (which Duane's Amanda couldn't bear to eat, far too much healthiness in one bowl!  Ha ha!  Sorry Amanda x) Duane was preparing to head out to find something that Amanda would/could actually eat.  Anything would do by this stage, even rubbish food was better than no food at all.  Sue, the final member of our 3 day group was heading up to her room to read.  She had been diagnosed with breast cancer in September, and was well into her chemotherapy treatment.  Another lovely lady, who was there to find out about changes she can make to her lifestyle to prevent any reoccurences further down the line.
This left my lovely lady and myself.  There was harpist playing for us this evening.  He had travelled from Glastonbury, about 25 miles away.  Amanda and I were about to receive a very intimate harp gig!  Nice!
John had joined us for supper, and had made his introductions then.  He headed down to the garden room 15 mintues ahead of us to tune the instrument.  I felt a little disappointed for John that there was only the two of us.  John laughed and said that the smallest group he'd previously played for was about eight.  I explained the others were tired, hungry or foraging, it wasn't personal. 
John got to work on the harp.  It was beautiful.  Between each piece of music he explained the origin of the work and a little about the harp itself.  He is a talented man, with a great knowledge of the history of his harp playing passion.  John was very open minded to say the least and possibly a little barmy.  He had soft, gentle tones, and was extremely well spoken.  His smiling relaxed eyes accompanied his warm persona as he spoke, his silver hair swept back of his face.  The reason I say John may be slightly barmy came about from when he described a piece of Celtic music he had just played, an Irish Lament.  He stated that this piece originated from a time when the people were surrounded by folk lore - pixies, fairies, trolls and goblins.  He finished his sentence with, 'Which I fully believe are still around now'.  Amanda loved that, she loves people that speak their minds, people that are not afraid of what others may think of them.  I liked it too.... But I like barmy people.... Takes one to know one, I hear you say!  Ha ha!  John demonstrated many different harp playing techniques, it's amazing how versatile the harp can be,.  Latin American music, the blues and jazz, he even threw in a little Led Zeppelin.  He played for almost two and a half hours, and even allowed myself and Amanda to have a crack too.  It was great fun.  If there was ever an instrument that I would consider setting the time aside to learn, it would have to be the harp.
A beautifully relaxing evening, again, almost perfect.
We have a cookery session today, I'm hoping Duane and Amanda will be inspired, and hit the veg in a big way once they get home to Swindon.  We have 'key worker' meetings late morning, then at 2.30pm we head back to Banbury.  Back to the juicer!