I was diagnosed with cancer on a Friday, which was both good and bad. Bad because it was just before the weekend and I wouldn't get any answers to all the questions and thoughts I had. I didn't have an appointment at the hospital until the following Monday. That was incredibly frustrating.

On the other hand, I quickly got acquainted with the alternative world, BECAUSE it was just before the weekend. I had an incredible urge to find information and the only place "open" was the Internet. So after having shared the bad news with my parents I was taken home and I started the computer right away. I did a lot of different searches: Cancer, chemotherapy, treatment, prognosis...anything my confused mind could think of.

I found a lot of things but one page in particular caught my attention. It turned out you can buy a tea called ESSIAC,, made from herbs, and apparently it has a fantastic effect on cancer. Supposedly, it helps the immune system fight diseases like e.g. cancer.

I talked to my parents and they went and got the tea the next day. I drank 3 cups a day for about a month I suppose. Then I spoke to the tea vendor and asked if I could have the phone numbers of other people who had tried the tea. I was really sceptical and wanted as much "proof" as possible that the tea really was efficient. She gave me the number for a man who had also drank the tea and who had been cured - much to the doctor's surprise. I called and we had a good talk. Apart from the tea, he suggested I contact a healer he had been seeing. He could do "something quite fantastic" with his hands and he also made some pills, which were supposed to be really good for all sorts of diseases.

I waited for quite a few days before calling. From being very sceptical and of a very scientific mind, I was now entering a world of "healers" and "pills that heal"...but after having thought about it for a long time I called the healer, Jeff Roope, and we made an appointment for me to go there a week later.

The visit with Jeff was really nice. We talked for a long time and he told me about his pills and there was no doubt - in his mind - that I had to start taking them.

Sceptical as I was, I asked him directly what a healer was...what was it that he could do. He told me that he could see energies and that he could manipulate them with his hands. I was just about to leave when he asked me if I had had problems in the lower right side of my mouth. He could see waves of energy that side of my mouth. Well, I just stood there with my mouth open from surprise. As you can read, it all started with a wisdom tooth and the wound had not quite healed yet.

He also asked me if I had back pains and showed me where he thought it was. I was sold! That was all it took to convince me that he could do something very special. We kept talking and went downstairs to the basement where he did his bit with his hands. He also gave me a lot of pills to take home with me and I started taking them straight away.

I stopped drinking the tea as he told me that the substances in the tea were the same as in the pills - only more efficient as pills and contained enzymes, which the tea didn't have. All in all I suppose I drank the tea for almost 2 months.

I've been taking the pills faithfully since. And I'm convinced they are working. Apart from that I go to see him every two weeks. I also asked him about the ESSIAC tea and he told me that the tea contains the same as the pills, so it wasn't necessary to continue drinking it. All in all I suppose I drank the tea for almost 2 months.

But how do I know that the pills are working? ...I suppose it has a lot to do with faith, but up until now, Jeff has been right about most of what he has said. I'll give some examples:

Jeff said from the beginning that my hair would get thinner, but I wouldn't loose all of it. Now, I have cut it very short (1 mm) so I actually look bald, but if you feel my head you can tell that I have hair. And it's not loose. After 3 series and 2 ½ months of chemo. This in spite of the doctors guarantees that 2 of the substances I'm given would make me go bald.

My blood counts have been pretty good all along and I've not had to have a blood transfusion or reduced doses yet. Well, once it did go wrong. I had a scalp infection and took some antibiotics for it in spite of Jeff telling me, from the very beginning, that antibiotics ruin the effect of the pills. But my head hurt too much, so I took antibiotics for 6 days. And what happened: The blood counts dropped just like he had said.

He told me that he's not satisfied if a patient isn't well 2 days after chemotherapy, if the patient is taking his pills. Apart from the first 2 series, where I was badly malnourished, I sailed through the 3 series. No nausea, no vomiting, a slight discomfort, a bit like having a cold.