Hello again. Val here. I’ll be doing the updates from now on since I can read and type OK and Joe doesn’t need to do that for me anymore. Besides, it’s easier for me to report on me than to have Joe have to interview me for all the details. Anyway, there’s not much going on to report, but I will check in about once a month just to keep in touch. So here goes.

Having done all my follow up visits to the medical establishment last month and having gotten a clean bill of health, I didn’t have to go to any of them again for check ups this month. That left me free to pursue my own healing path that’s more in keeping with my beliefs and lifestyle. I have continued my diet and exercise program to maintain my current level of good health, plus I’ve been addressing some lingering effects from surgery.

For example, my neck muscles have been fairly stiff and even painful if I turned my head too far to the left or right. The stiffness is a result of me favoring the sore muscles where the surgical incision was made in my neck and after a couple of months of not fully turning my head, those muscles seized up on me and have been really sore. I’d been getting some massage work done to alleviate the pain but I still had quite a bit of discomfort on both sides of my neck all the time. So finally I went to a well known local dowser and after a few hours of doing energy work on me, virtually all the neck pain was gone! What a relief.

Two days later I visited another alternative healer who is known for her cranio-sacral work. [Cranio-sacral work includes manipulating the skull bones to relieve trauma as well as moving the cranio-sacral fluid that bathes the brain and spine.] The area around the incision was still overly sore and sensitive and I knew that the body was still holding on to the trauma from the surgery, so I figured this person could help me with the pain. She worked on me for an hour and a half and, as expected, most of the pain in my scalp disappeared. For the first time in six months I can once again touch that part of my scalp and even lie on the left side of my head without pain. This is a major improvement.

Although many people poo-poo going to “alternative” healers, for me the proof is in the pudding. Rather than follow conventional medical advice, for example: to take muscle relaxers for my neck and pain killers for my head –  both of which only treat symptoms –  I went to practitioners who treated the causes and I got immediate and direct results. What more proof do I need? They get results where the medical establishment does not. That is not to say that conventional medicine doesn’t have its rightful place in treating many illnesses and especially when they require drugs or surgery. I’m simply stating that there is more to healing ourselves on many levels then conventional medicine accounts for and that we can compliment medical treatments with other modalities that are equally valid and sometimes even more effective in curing what we’ve got. Why discount possible cures for what ails you?

Along the same vein, last week I went to an annual weekend retreat called Celebrating Women at a hot springs in central Montana where this year’s theme was Healing. We were 120 women exploring the many ways we can heal ourselves and the planet and because many of the women there knew my situation, I was the recipient of more than one person’s healing touch. At one point I was put into the center of the entire group and every one of the women present sent healing thoughts/prayers/blessings into my head to help dissolve the remaining tumor. Nonsense, you say? Don’t underestimate the power of intent or positive thought. After all, I doubt I would have healed so quickly and completely had it not been for all of you who sent me your thoughts and prayers and continue to do so. As we believe, so we perceive.

I had originally planned on doing a follow up MRI in October but have now reconsidered the timing. My intuition tells me that I still have healing to do on various levels and that my goal of shrinking or dissolving the tumor is still in progress. My ‘hunch’ has been confirmed by more than one medical intuitive so I’m giving myself more time to do what I feel needs doing. My new date for the MRI will be after Thanksgiving and I’ve already notified my surgeons of that. Besides, it’s still the harvest season and I want to enjoy all the fun of it.

The last few weeks Joe, Rita and I (with help from Roscoe the raccoon – see photo) pressed almost 30 gallons of fresh apple cider. Yum!! Today I started making apple pies and the first two went to my surgeons as a gesture of gratitude. In the next week or two Rita and I will be making apple pies, dried apples, apple crisps, cakes, muffins and whatever other things you can make from apples. Saturday is our official “Apple Days” here in the Bitterroot and there’s a huge Farmer’s Market and celebration downtown. It’s an annual tradition in the valley since the days when apple orchards were the big business here. It epitomizes the fall season and we look forward to it every year. 

Other than all of the above, life is fine. Everyone comments on how much more relaxed I am these days and they’re right – I’ve slowed down and am enjoying life a whole lot more now. I actually take time to go to lunch with friends, go out to a movie once in while, play with the raccoon and cats (see photo), and generally have time to do the things I enjoy. Of course I still do chores and projects around the farm, but not with my former intensity or duration so there’s a whole lot less stress involved. I think I like this way of being! 

So that’s all for now. I’m looking forward to what October will bring me in the way of magic, lessons learned, and new insights. Whatever comes along, I’ll give you all an update in the beginning of November. In the meantime, drop me a line by e-mail or give a call if you feel like it. I now take the time to enjoy both without distractions and I love to hear how everyone’s doing. Hope you all are fine wherever you are and whatever you’re up to. Just remember to take time to smell the roses.  

Love to all, 

Val