Pretty soon, I was smoking, eating, and gaining weight, even more than before! I got to feeling rotten. I had no energy and was experiencing an increasing malaise. Then, from Healthful Living magazine put out by T.C. Fry, I learned about the California Health Sanctuary in Hollister, California. I felt attracted to it because of their inclusion of a spiritual ingredient into the Hygienic program. That seemed right for me. So, a year-and-a-half ago, I talked with the Director there and started planning my life so that I could go there. My smoking was at FOUR PACKS A DAY! My coffee and tea intake was increasing. My weight was up to 217 pounds, and I stand 5'6" tall. My abdomen was bloated and stuck out like a buddha's.

Finally, I got to the California Health Sanctuary on July 22nd, 1984. It turned out to be everything I had hoped for and then some! Once again, I fasted under careful, loving supervision. This time, it was for 27 days. I needed more like 40 or 50 days, but my time was limited. So, now, I am going home. This second time around clinches things for me. (I understand some people take more time than that to learn their lessons.) My weight is 177 pounds, a 40-pound drop in 5 weeks. That's still too much for me to weigh, but it is such an improvement! And no more cigarettes! I may not always be perfect with my diet. BUT THERE WILL BE NO MORE SMOKING, SO HELP ME GOD!

I learned so much here not just about food and fasting, but about how I got to be the way I was and about how to handle myself after I leave the Sanctuary. I got in touch with myself, my life, and with God.

This has been an important experience. I'll be back to finish what I have started. Next time, I hope to bring my wife with me. She needs this, too. And I expect to show her by my example just how important it is for everybody! Selfishly, I need her on my side, doing this thing with me. That is something I learned at the Sanctuary we cannot do these things alone and do them successfully and consistently. We need support. We need each other.

A CASE HISTORY taken from... Naturally, The Hygienic Way, Volume IV, #2 (August, 1984)

I had not been feeling so well. Really, I had not felt great in a long time. So, I went to the doctor. Of course, he gave me some tests. That was in 1977, I think. His diagnosis was very definite. It was made on the basis of the outcome of the tests. Joe Sarelli, having reached the half-century mark, had also come up with diabetes! Hearing this "good news" made me feel even worse! However, I wanted to go on living; and not knowing any other way to go, I started taking the insulin the doctor prescribed for me. The man was doing his best. I took it faithfully for the next 18 months.

A good friend knew about my condition, and he knew how much I did not like feeling the way I felt and doing this thing I was doing with the insulin. He told me about something called "Natural Hygiene." It kind of made sense. It, at least, seemed worth checking out. He directed me to the headquarters of the American Natural Hygiene Society, which, it turned out, to be right there in Chicago, my home town. The people there gave me a list of Natural Hygiene institutions. One was fairly close, Dr. David Scott's place near Cleveland, Ohio.

PROBABLE WRONG DIAGNOSIS

In 1980, I made a reservation at Dr. Scott's. I placed myself on a supervised fast that lasted for 23 days. I HAVE NEVER TAKEN INSULIN SINCE! Dr. Scott said I probably never had diabetes in the first place. He felt I had some liver malfunction that produced symptoms like those of diabetes. Whatever! The important thing to me was that I did not need to take insulin anymore. I never will again!

I went home a new man with a new lease on life, a new diet, and no cigarettes, no coffee, and no tea. I had been practicing all these vices for many years. Everything went fine for 3 months. Then a BIG emotional crises came up in my life a really BIG one. And in a moment of weakness, I added to that problem: I took a cigarette and had a big meal of the kind of foods I used to eat. I was living high on the hog once again! It was downhill all the way after those first 2 wrong moves.

PART I: "How Can I Get Proof that Natural Hygiene Really Works

via Case Histories? 4