This is a "hard-to-believe" story. But do believe it... because it happened to me! You can gain from my unbelievable experience! Frankly, it is perhaps more difficult for me to believe than for most of you, since I come from a medical background. I am a doctor of dental surgery, a specialist in periodonita (diseases of the mouth and supporting structure of the teeth, the gums, and bone). I have also been a professor at Iowa University Dental School and at Physician and Surgeons School of Dentistry (now known as "University of Pacific Dental School") in San Francisco. After 2 years of service in the U.S. Air Force as a dental preventative officer, I maintained a busy practice for 30 years in a northern California town and acted as head of a dental clinic there. I relate all this information so you may understand the subtitle of my story "A Skeptic Then a Believer in Miracles!"

I was a man dedicated to my profession for over 40 years. The pressures and tensions of my work left me in a very poor state of health, with the following conditions: high blood pressure; hiatal hernia; lung congestion; difficulty in breathing; dry mouth; swollen feet, ankles, legs, and hands; headaches; nasal and sinus congestions. In addition, I was very much overweight.

For more than 10 years, my daily prescribed medication for all these ailments was a handful of pills. I was being treated for the effects and symptoms, not for the cause! My visits to The Nations's most outstanding, medical institutions gave me no relief. The verdict was that one day it would be necessary to consider by-pass surgery. Just recently, one of my older brothers had submitted to this type of surgery and had suffered untold agony before he died. I was alarmed and depressed, and life became a nightmare for me. Was I to experience the same?

A young business fried, knowing of my poor health, showed me an article regarding his own mother's health problems and the changes she had experienced. "Some of your symptoms seem much like hers," he said. And then he related more of her story and experiences at the California Health Sanctuary near Hollister, California. Could it help me in like fashion? After some research and much consideration, I made plans for a visit and stay there. I thought I had accepted my decision when the appointed day found me driving toward Hollister. I did not back, out but my skepticism reared its ugly head and grew steadily stronger. But I kept going. What could I lose?

This was my mental and emotional state upon arrival at this totally non-medical institution. After an evening meal, I was placed on a strict fast (nothing but pure, distilled water) for one week. All my medications, pills and capsules, which I had brought with me, were taken away. Rest and fasting were the prescribed order of the day. I never dreamed I could miss one meal, much less several days of total fasting! At first, I thought if I could complete 3 days, that would be a triumph! But I felt so right about it that I continued on. I remembered that Jesus, the Master of all, did fast for 40 days and 40 nights. So what was rightfully good for Him would surely be of value to me! My scientific knowledge actually made it easy for me to understand what was taking place. The presentation was from a different point of view, but it all made sense.

The high blood pressure which I had experienced for many years was no joke and figured as a major factor in my daily life. Therefore, I came prepared to monitor it morning, noon, and night. I might have to give up my medication, but I had my trusty stethoscope and sphygmometer with me. And I worried and used them for the first few days. I wanted to be sure I did not need to resume taking

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

via Case Histories? 8