July 17, 2003

To Whom It May Concern;

I am a 60 year old woman who is five feet tall, overweight and diabetic.

I had intermittent gallbladder pain and discomfort since I was about 55 years old. My Kaiser doctor had told me that if the episodes got more frequent or any worse that we needed to talk about surgery.

It did continue to get worse...... but I certainly didn't want to talk about surgery! I had a previous bad experience with being intubated and I couldn't face going through that again. I was willing to put up with the discomfort and pain for as long as I could stand it just to postpone repeating that experience.

Then about three years ago my pain and digestive problems worsened to a point where I was having problems almost on a daily basis.  I felt so miserable most of the time that I finally admitted my problem to my doctor the next time I saw him.

I was sent for X-rays and was told that it showed "multiple small stones." My doctor urged me to schedule surgery to avoid the risk of having an emergency situation.  I asked for a bit more time to see if I could get myself mentally prepared.

Fortunately, at that same time, I also happened to be seeing Dr. Redding who was treating me for whiplash injuries from an automobile accident. I told him about my reluctance to have gallbladder surgery and that I did not think I could elect to do that even though I was advised to. He said if I was interested, there was an old fashioned alternative treatment that I could try that had a good record of success. That really got my attention.

Surprisingly the treatment was simply a matter of using a castor oil pack and a heating pad. At first it sounded too simple to really be an effective treatment but I was willing to try almost anything to avoid surgery.  The second part of this treatment was to take olive oil by mouth every three days from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/2 cup depending on what I could tolerate. The caution was that this might precipitate surgery if the stone was too large to pass.  I never got enough courage to try this part of the treatment because I was fearful of precipitating surgery.

I obtained a piece of wool flannel cloth from Dr. Redding that measured about 10" X 14" and a bottle of cold pressed castor oil. The cloth is reusable and so I kept it in a zip loc bag after each use.

To make the Castor Oil pack:

I first laid the heating pad out flat and then placed a sheet of kitchen plastic wrap over it to protect it from the oil.

Next I placed the open flannel cloth on top of the plastic wrap and then poured cold pressed castor oil onto the cloth until it was soaked but not dripping.  I folded the flannel cloth double with the oil inside the fold while it was on the heating pad.

I turned on the heating pad and folded everything in half to warm the oil before applying it to my skin.  After a few minutes I opened it up to it's full size and then placed it all; the heating pad along with the castor oil pack, across my abdomen and well up on the gallbladder area where Dr. Redding had showed me.

I put a small towel on top of the heating pad to help hold the heat in and took a cloth belt from my bathrobe and tied it around me and the pack. This helped to hold the heat in and to hold it more securely in place. For a smaller person a towel and safety pins would probably work too. Tying it on that way made it possible for me to sleep with it on. I alternated the setting on the heating pad between low, medium and high according to how well I could tolerate the heat.  I probably left it on for longer periods than I was supposed to but I was in considerable distress and it felt good when I had it on. When the pain was bad I left it on all night on very low or with the heat turned off.

The amazing thing about the castor oil packs was the immediate relief I got from the discomfort and pain . There was never a time that I didn't get relief. Any time I had that pain I would run for the castor oil pack.  I meditated with it on, I watched T.V. with it on and t slept with it tied on. I even took my castor oil pack with me when I traveled frequently between California and the Midwest and used it in the motel rooms where we stopped.  It truly worked and I wanted it near me since I was hoping it would keep me from having an emergency surgery. After awhile the frequency of my overall problems had eased and I was able to go without the castor oil packs for several days at a time and then weeks at a time. The episodes had become so infrequent that I thought I was over my gallbladder problem.  Then unexpectedly I would suddenly have another acute episode and I would rush for the castor oil pack again and use it until the symptoms would go away once more.

I did the castor oil packs on and off for about a year and a half.  I felt much better and my symptoms seemed to have almost disappeared.  Then about two months ago I had an episode of a severe pain that traveled across my back. I went back to my primary Kaiser doctor because the pain was so sharp.  He said I would probably have to have gallbladder surgery as soon as it could be scheduled. He sent me for an ultrasound. Much to our surprise it showed no evidence of ANY gallstones! It showed a normal gallbladder! Boy was my doctor puzzled about that!  I told him what I had been doing and he just raised his eyebrows. He said that the pain I had was most likely the a passing of a gallstone.  I continued to have little colicky pains in my gallbladder area for a few days after that but since then I have not had ANY symptoms at all.  I no longer have any digestive problems or pain like I had before.

In retrospect, it dawned on me that those acute episodes I was having off and on during the past months must have been because I was passing small gall stones. That puzzled me because I thought that happened only when you took the olive oil to flush them out and I had avoided that part of the treatment. I started thinking more about that and then I finally realized that since my habit is to use Paul Newman's Olive Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing several times a week ....... that I was actually taking the olive oil treatment that was recommended!

I am so grateful that my gallstones are gone and that I did not have to have the surgery I dreaded. I certainly want to add my name to the list of people who got relief from using this alternative treatment.  I also want to say that t continue to use the castor oil packs for other discomforts like indigestion, GERD and muscle spasms.  It continues to bring relief. Just using the heating pad alone does NOT bring the same results.
 

CASE REPORT 2

I am a 58 yr. old female. I had a MI approx. 10 yrs. Ago. Seven yrs. ago I had a 5 graft heart bypass surgery. I also have Diabetes H, Hyperlipidemia, PCOS, hypertension, peripheral artery disease, and some I can't remember.

For all intents and purposes I should have been dead a long time ago. I believe a combination of Osteopathic treatment and using things from the Cayce readings is the reason I am alive. I have been going to my Osteopath for about 7 years. For the, last 3 years I have been going regularly (once a week).

The most dramatic change has been in my heart. The echocardiogram I had taken in 2000 showed that the ejection fraction of my heart was 30%. There was also limited motility in the front of my heart because of the damage caused by the MI. I had another Echo done this year.  This time the ejection fraction was 48% and the motility of the heart muscle was bordering on normal.

I have been using the wet cell appliance for almost two years. I have made some dietary changes, but not many or consistently. The same could be said for any exercise program I might have started. The wet cell appliance, the Osteopathic treatments, meditation and my church are the only things that have been consistent in the past two years. I drink mullein tea, and take omega-3 oils. I have been meditating regularly now for 3 yrs. and I am studying Edgar Cayce's "Search for God."  My relationship with God has become the single most important element in my life.

I had an enlarged liver for years, with accompanying pain on my right side. I started taking Milk Thistle and receiving an Osteopathic treatment called the liver pump. This was the first concrete indication I had that the Osteopathic treatments and the Cayce recommendations did anything but relieve pain. My liver is now normal size and I have no more pain on my right side.

Because of the PCOS I have really high triglycerides. They have been as high as 1100. After I started eating a combination of nuts daily (4 almonds, 3 hazelnuts, 3 cashews, 3 pecans) my triglycerides have come down to 200.  I stopped eating the nuts for a month and my triglycerides went up a bit. All other lipids tested have been closer to normal also.

I have used Caster Oil packs for everything from back pain to sore joints to kidney pain. I use peanut oil every day for neuropath caused by the diabetes. The Scar Massage has made the scar on my leg (from the removal of my saphenous vein) so light that I can once again wear shorts and skirts. I have a non-union sternum, and I alleviate the aching with Egyptian Oil.

I have recently developed diuretic induced uricemia resulting in gout. I have started to drink saffron and sage tea and use peanut oil massage in my joints.  Because of the congestive heart disease, the medication I take for hypertension, and because I smoke, I have a cough, I wear the cold coin and it seems to lessen the frequency and intensity of my cough.

I have become an advocate for Edgar Cayce wisdom and for Osteopathic medicine, without which I would not be around to write this.