31 Things: Visit the Harry Potter Theme Park

This past week I went with my Dad to Orlando, Florida. He had a business trip, and then we took an extra few days to visit Universal Studios. We basically had two days travel, I had two days to myself while he was in conference and we spent the weekend at Universal. Overall I'm glad we got to go on this trip, but it definitely had it's ups and downs. The downs included GPS issues, arriving at addresses that didn't exist, wasting time on my two days and barely getting anything done, rain on our first morning at the amusement park, lack of decent food choices, which all created a bit of crankiness on my part. On the bright side, I visited a really cool (and expensive!!) raw vegan restaurant called Cafe 118. I had a fabulous Tropical smoothie of pineapple, banana and coconut. I also ordered the raw lasagna, and a few desserts to go. Very friendly atmosphere, tasty food, but prepared to break the bank. And....of course there was the HARRY POTTER THEME PARK!!! Sadly it was raining for a bit that morning, but by the time we got the the Harry Potter section the rain had mostly stopped. They really did a great job recreating the town and Harry's school, etc. It all seemed very real. Most of the stores were just gimmicky, but we saw a demo at Olivander's wand shop, which was a lot of fun, toured the castle in a full action ride, and just had a really good time. The other positive was due to my health, my Dad had to wheel me around in a wheelchair (that's not the positive) and because of this, we got to cut through so many lines. They had regular and express lanes, express lanes were something people paid extra for, but often times they saw the wheelchair and the employees ushered us through the express lane. We rarely waited for rides or shows. Overall it was a pretty good trip. Here are some photos.

Raw Lasagna

Raw Smores

Raw Hazelnut Tart

Entrance to Harry Potter Park

Hogwarts Express

Hogwarts School 

Now that I'm back, it's time to do some cleansing! Will post details soon.

Health Update

I cannot express how grateful I am to be home from the hospital. It's a beautiful thing to be in your own space. I've had some amazing helpers bring me food, play with Triton, and just send the most loving notes. My Mom has been incredible, even when I get cranky with her, keeping things clean, taking me places, etc. So how am I doing? Here are a few little tidbits:

• I did gain 7lbs in this last week since leaving the hospital, so we up'd my meds and I've started to lose that again. I can definitely tell it's working. Don't fret if we go out and I disappear for awhile; I didn't get lost in the bathroom, I'm just peeing like the Energizer Bunny....it just keeps going and going and going....
• The tumors in my armpits appear to be smaller, so yipee for that!
• I went to Trader Joes on my own today; drove myself, parked, walked the entire store on my own, carries the bags to my car, into the house, and unloaded all on my own. This is HUGE. I NEVER would have been able to do that a week ago. I'm getting stronger, walking better and have more energy
• I'm still sleeping bizarrely.  I sleep in the late afternoon/evening, then get up, and sometimes am up for hours in the night, and then sleep some more. I think I'm still screwed up from being in the hospital.
• I've been going visualization exercises to get my body to function properly. I already know this helped dissipate the tumor in m lung pressing on my trachea because I haven't felt it in months. I have no doubt I can use this to heal the rest of my body.
• I am going three times a week to do the MOPA machine, which sends electronic pulses through your body, killing microbes, which then kills cancer cells. I'm going to say this is contributing to my improved health. 
• My Cancer Protocols have changed some. I dropped the Budwig Diet, am focusing on the Cellect and working on creative ways to eat it. We just started doing some juicing, I'm doing the B17 (cancer killing vitamin) and several supplements for the heart including Niacin. 
• I haven't been doing the Vibe machine because stairs are still an issue, but we are looking to move it and that should help. I heard a few stories recently of people who shrank tumors within weeks by doing this, so I'm getting on it!
• Overall I am improving and looking forward to going to the Harry Potter theme park at the end of October! I KNOW I will be healed to the point that I will be able to fully appreciate the experience. 

I want to take a moment to address something. I received an email (which I will respond to soon!) that suggested I had made a mistake going holistic and that I needed to give it up and go for the chemo to save myself. While I appreciate that this person is concerned for my welfare, I still believe that using chemicals to "heal" is a poor idea. I choose to address this because I think that she is not alone in wondering why I don't just do chemo. A few things a) At this particular moment my heart is not strong enough for treatment, we'd need to wait to build it up b) I have never been told that I could be "cured" by chemo, that is it a life extension, and likely cancer would return and I would have to go through this process, maybe several times c) I've seen what it does to people, and I'm not a fan d) My main issue with western medicine is that the doctors don't encourage you to make any life changes when diagnosed with cancer, in fact, they spend a lot of time making sure nothing has to change. Cancer came for a reason, and by not changing any aspect of my life, even if the chemo eliminate the tumors, there is a reason people always get them back. By doing things holistically I'm not only protecting my body long term from chemicals and not experiencing the harsh side effects of the drugs, but if forces me to change my lifestyle. I've had to improve my diet, face my fears, get in touch with my emotions, and I've learned how to be happy and am on the way to becoming truly joyful. I do not believe this would have happened if I had chosen the other path. For those concerned about stats, just because you don't hear about people healing themselves naturally, doesn't mean they aren't doing it. Big Pharma spends a lot of time shutting people up, many doctors who heal patients with natural medicines have to move to Europe or Mexico. I personally know people who have healed themselves, and follow blogs of several who have either a) completely healed or b) are healing from natural remedies. People are often talked into treatments out of fear, and I've always stuck to my beliefs. I appreciate any concern that certain community members may have, but know this, I WILL heal my body, and when I do I will truly be healed. No damaged nerves from chemo, no fretting over when things will return and if I'll survive the next round of treatment. I will be healthy and happy and well balanced and better off than I started. And this, is why I've chosen to go holistic. Feel free to email me if you wish to discuss this further. 

I'll wrap this with a little Love and Gratitude:

• I've been loving listening to holiday music this week, especially the fun songs like Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and Jingle Bells and also loving some of the rarer songs such as Carol of the Bells
• Conveniently Natural has delicious vegan food, home delivered, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly this week. Gratitude to Andrea for bringing me some and to the owners for dropping off some free samples. What a beautiful community we belong to!
• Trader Joes quiche is delicous!
• I am grateful for the comfort of my water bed, love it, always
• Gabby Bernstein's new book Spirit Junkie comes out in two weeks! Plus, Tori Amos has a new album out the next week AND I have a gift certificate for Best Buy from my Birthday, so freebie for me!
• I am grateful for the nicer weather and opportunity to chill on my back porch, watching Triton play in his pool, and chase squirrels in the yard
• She & Him are releasing a Christmas Album this year; I think I'm in geek heaven
• On Thursday's blog you'll see my pics for Fall TV; there is a TV show based on fairytales. So excited for that one. 
• I love sleeping with stuffed animals. I'll be sleeping with them when I'm married. They make me feel good. 
• Did I mention HARRY POTTER THEME PARK IN OCTOBER!!! Yeah, just a tad bit excited
• The symphony is doing Pops in the Park this weekend. Anyone want to go crazy early and get a close parking spot, have a picnic, chit chat and listen to some kickass music from Star Wars and Pirates of the Carribean? So much fun!
• Love naps, so refreshing.
• I am grateful for my parents and everything they do to support me. Love you Mom and Dad

Love and Gratitude,

Shanna

Love and Gratitude Friday's

I am grateful for:

All the healing that has been done on my tumors recently, thank you Mom and Linda

Having a roof over my head, a working furnace, and cozy water bed

Triton, even if he is a trash eater, he sure know how to cuddle

My new skill set, being a Reiki III practitioner

All of my lovely new friends :)

I love cuddling on the sofa with Triton ♥ turning leftovers into a brand new dish ♥ 70 degree weather in November ♥ listening to the new Marina and the Diamonds cd ♥ shrinking tumors ♥ realizing I have more talent and knowledge to offer than I thought possible ♥ sleeping until noon ♥ my chocolate chip treasure hunt cookies, with chocolate chips, coconut, and walnuts, yummy ♥ reading on my back patio ♥ having dinner with a new friend ♥ freshly shaved legs ♥ receiving unexpected letters in the mail ♥ reading revamped fairy tales ala Mercedes Lackey ♥ walking around barefoot ♥ reading a Course in Miracles ♥ two brand new radio stations in town 103.7 and 99.7, providing more variety in flipping channels ♥ Belgian waffles ♥ relaxing in a lovely detox bath, filled with Epsom salts, baking soda and lavender ♥Love and Gratitude,

































Shanna ♥