Question:
I was just wondering what those of you who have Hep C thought of Noami'sarticle in Alternative Medicine. With the talk of her here and my learning shehad Hep C only from reading this website I bought the magazine.

It starts with the info that Hep C was supposed to kill her within 3 years, butnow she's been in "remission" for two years due to her having acupuncture andtaking zinc, milk thistle, etc. It also talks about her spreading the word onthis disease by traveling the country. It mentions her second book, and herwork with Hep C doctors. She's decided to "go for a cure" instead of beingsatisfied with being in "remission."

Has anyone else read it?

Answer: Yes, I am reading it. I have admired her courage and efforts to fight thedisease ever since I read her first book, LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE. My husband Iare both reading and enjoying, NAOMI's HOME COMPANION. The article in"Alternative Medicine Digest" discusses a lot more than what was mentioned inthe previous post. Naomi works hard on relaxation techniques and maintaining apositive attitude. Her healing strategies encompass a lot more than a fewherbs or supplements or acupuncture. She chooses to refer to her selection oftherapies as "complimentary medicine." I like that. So often, the medicalworld and their patients are put off by the term "alternative medicine." Whycan't they all work together? When I was first diagnosed with Chronic HepatitisC in August 1992, I was told I probably had 3-6 years to live. My internistand gastroenterologist gave me no hope. When I complained of feeling tired allthe time, my ob-gyn said, "What do you expect--your liver is dying!"

The medical world needs to work on their bedside manner and offer hope, even ifit is a few herbs and acupuncture treatments! Hope can be effective medicinein itself! And we are all familiar with the placebo effect. Naomi Judd'sfirst book and story of her fight gave me hope. I began looking intocomplimentary medicine and found an MD who practiced homeopathic medicine andnatural healing along with traditional medicine. Together we tried differentapproaches, which included eliminating all drugs from my system--eventranquilizers, painkillers, all over-the-counter meds, and orally ingestedhormones. The objective was to make things as easy for my liver as possible.From there I went to more anti-oxidants, including milk thistle, NAC, megadoses of Vitamin C, Chinese herbs, phlebotomies for my high iron (Ferritin500), and much more. Yet, my health improved minimally until my acupuncturistpointed me in the direction of parasites! Yes, I did have them. I was heavilyinfested with many types in many sizes. Now after 9 months of takingcombinations of herbs to kill them, I am finally feeling like I have a newlease on life. The blood work is steadily improving and most importantly--myprevious miseries are under control, my chemical sensitivities are not rulingmy life, and I am not concerned with possible cirrhosis or cancer. Naomishowed me how to take charge of my health and continue to look for answers whenthe experts only suggested Interferon-Ribivirin drug trials and so on. WhatI'm doing seems to be working. So much for the "no hope"approach. Thank you,Naomi. Perhaps because we are both retired RNs, we share more than a casualinterest in healing, especially when the patients are ourselves.