ON August 11th, 1932, I was visited by Mrs. F.E.E., who lived in South-West London. She came with her daughter who said her mother was desperately ill. She had been losing weight, had no appetite, felt terribly depressed, feared she had cancer. Judging by her appearance, there was much reason for that suspicion.
The old lady led a very hard life, came from a wealthy family, had suddenly lost her husband, had set to work for her children, bringing them up splendidly. She had been living on boiling hot, strong tea, with masses of sugar. Her mother had died of cancer. I suspected cancer of the stomach which she herself had suspected. My directions stated:.
“You are a widow. 69 years old, and have come to me complaining about indigestion and enlarged finger joints, pain in the left kidney, an absolutely torpid bowel, which may be due to a flabby uterus pressing on it.
You look a strong women, but have a poor colour of skin, eyes and hair look dull, you take tea poisonously strong and boiling hot to your great danger, have many brown spots on the skin, have been very constipated for years, were born in India, are never hungry, hardly perspire, sometimes cannot control bowel, bladder control causes difficulty, you very restless, cannot stand the cold, love sweets, like fat, are thirstless, take far too much sugar in your tea, take boiling soup and cocoa and thick butter. Your father, a general died when 79, your mother died of cancer of the breast.”.
In put her on a lacto-vegetarian diet, forbade over-hot food and drink, told her to take the absolute minimum of butter, little or no condiments, gave her Nux vomica and Carbo vegetabilis to improve her digestion, and Thyroid 2x to detoxicate the body. After a week I replaced Thyroid by Sulphur 3x.
I had very little hope for her, but to my amazement she told me in her first weekly report, written of August 19th: “I have great pleasure in saying that I am really quite well again.” I did not believe it and thought the old lady unduly optimistic. However, on September 14th, after four weeks treatment, she sent me another letter, assuring me that she was perfectly well.
Four months after she had left me, I was visited by her daughter, who told that her mother had greatly benefited, but had slipped back badly, had severe pain in the left kidney, a dry cough which prevented her sleeping, an extremely poor colour, glazed eyes, brick sediment in urine, constant urging at night, was restless, anxious, got cramps in the legs, had pain in left lung.
As the cough was caused by a chill, I gave her Aconite 3x and Phosphorus 3x, to be taken in alternation. As soon as the cough was settled, she was to take in alternation Berberis mother tincture and Solidago 1x for her left kidney pain. Before long the chest trouble improved, the old lady was not longer racked with cough, but then the bladder difficulty became prominent and she could not sleep through brain activity.
I sent her coffea 3x to be taken at bedtime to make her sleep and Eupatorium purpureum 1x for her bladder trouble trouble, a dose three time a day. There was an evil smell from her body, which alarmed me greatly. However, Psorinum 6, taken night and morning, eliminated it.
Cough, kidney pain, sleeplessness and bladder trouble disappeared, but the old looked anaemic, was restless, and complained about palpitations which are frequently found in the anaemic because the heart is starved of food. I sent her Ferrum arsenicum 3x and Quin. phos, 3x, which helped her greatly. The body of Mrs. F.E.D. was badly worn through years of faulty living, constipation, worry, overwork, boiling hot drink. As soon as one part of the body was put right another went wrong.
Old, badly-used bodies resemble picturesque old houses which are in the repairers hands all the years round. The kidney pain returned-injured kidneys seems never to heal completely-and there were many new complaints. Still, the lady improved vastly and, on March 2nd, 1993, she wrote to me: “I am feeling wonderfully well, my courage and my spirits are renewed. I am very grateful.”.
On August 15th, 1933, a year and four days after the first interview, she called for the second time. She had erysipelas, a dangerous disease, especially in the old and weak. A condition identical with it has been produced in provers by Rhus toxicodendron and by Apis. Rhus toxicodendron produces a bright red inflammation, while Apis produces a watery swelling, similar to that produced by bee stings. Arsenic produces a burning sensation and restlessness.
The rash on the face of Mrs. F.E.D. was not sufficiently like Apis or Rhus to prescribe either. So I gave her Apis 1x, Rhus 3x and Arsenic 3x, and told her to start with Apis, taking frequent doses, finding out which suited her best and concentrating upon the more helpful remedy. Apis cleared up the trouble quickly.
Later on, heart and kidneys gave trouble once more, but Solidago and Crataegus proved of inestimable value. At the time of writing, the lady is perfectly well, extremely happy, feels better than she has for many years.
On September 22nd, 1929, Miss L.S., an old servant, of Great Moor, Stockport, wrote:.
“Can you cure me of indigestion and slight heart weakness, which I have had all my life? I have acidity after every meal, singing in ears, and one night I had to get up because I could not get my breath, and I felt faint two or three hours. I have blood pressure in my head, I can feel it on my brain, and tightness round the heart. I think it is due to change of life.”.
She was 5 feet in height, weighed 9 stone 12 lbs., had gained 2 stone during the last two years, complained of throbbing in the ears, did not perspire, lived on a faulty diet, with numerous cups of very sweet tea, was constipated. I told her to keep her bowels regular with liquid paraffin, put her on reducing diet, gave her Sulphur 6x night and morning to clear her blood and reduce blood pressure, and a little Nux vomica and Carbo vegetabilis combined before meals to improve digestion.
Success was instantaneous. Miss S. wrote on October 21st: “I have lost 3 lbs. and can get my breath better. A week later she wrote: “I feel better. I do not hear the noise in my ears half so much now. My digestion is now better than it has every been. I do not feel the blood pressure in my head much.” Then her liver gave way and I had to send something to help her with the liver.
On November 20th she wrote: “The heart beats more regularly and does not go so quickly. I weight 8 stone 12lbs.” She had lost a full lost a full stone in about six weeks. She then stopped writing for many months, being perfectly satisfied with her condition, but wrote on February 28th, 1930:.
“I am almost ashamed to write to your. I ought to have written before after all the trouble you have taken. I am keeping in good health which I owe to you. I do not know where I should be if I had not asked you for help. I still weight 8 stone 12. My heart seems quite strong and I have no indigestion.
Later on she wrote that she was developing a goitre which would account for complaints about her heart. I sent Spongia and Sulphur to be taken in alternation and on July 17th, 1930, she wrote enthusiastically: “The goitre seems a little less. I feel very well in health now. My heart seems quite strong. I feel better than I have ever felt in my life.
The cure evidently held good. I received a Christmas card from Miss S. in December 1933, and she wrote: “I am still keeping strong, and all the praise for it is due to you. I feel ever so much better than I have ever felt.”.
Had the poor old soul gone to her panel doctor in September 1929, he would have given her a sedative or a tonic, or a heart mixture or something of the kind. She would still have gone on with on with an unsuitable, hurtful, fattening diet, and she might have become a complete invalid, unable to earn her living. It is easy to cure cases of this kind if one takes a little trouble.
James Ellis Barker wrote a very large number of books, both under the name James Ellis Barker and under his real German name Otto Julius Eltzbacher, The Truth about Homœopathy; Rough Notes on Remedies with William Murray; Chronic Constipation; The Story of My Eyes; Miracles Of Healing and How They are Done; Good Health and Happiness; New Lives for Old: How to Cure the Incurable; My Testament of Healing; Cancer, the Surgeon and the Researcher; Cancer, how it is Caused, how it Can be Prevented with a foreward by William Arbuthnot Lane; Cancer and the Black Man etc.