Wilkie Wages War: Additional information that may prove of interest. July 26, 2006

Environmental Health Network leader Barbara Wilkie discovered in July 2005 that her chemical injury/multiple chemical sensitivities had suddenly manifested as stage 4 (later stage 5) kidney disease (kidney failure). Despite dire warnings of death within a year, she eschewed dialysis and Western Medicine drugs and took a route of alternative medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and strict dietary changes. She lived well for six years, far beyond the doctors’ predictions.  Barb died at home, surrounded by friends and family, on May 31, 2011.

During this time, Barb documented her journey. From diagnosis through June 2008, she created one huge website page packed with details, plus some side documents on diet and other topics.  We have divided these works into smaller pieces, by date or topic, to make it easier to read and find things.  For dates after June 2008, we have letters, online posts, and other documents.

Barb intended her work to be read and used. We hope this presentation will help you do just that.

Wilkie Wages War on Kidney Disease
(aka Renal Disease or Failure)

OR, AS I SEE IT: Life with yet another facet of living with MCS.
I want to live life while dying.

Additional information that may prove of interest.
July 26, 2006

Following is a news item that certainly grabbed my attention when I heard it announced over
the radio Wednesday morning, July 26, 2006 . . . the day I was told a year ago that I’d be in
ESRD and ready for transplant, dialysis or dead.

Naturally, my ears perked up when I heard that a teen did not have to undergo chemotherapy,
after all. Music to my ears as I have been belittled (understatement) for choosing not to use
mainstream pharmaceuticals, which I feel could further damage my already compromised kidneys.

In the case of the teen, I cheer him on! There are books and videos available on the Hoxsey Method
and that is quite an interesting story, in and of itself.

“ABC 7 Medical: Teen Fights Cancer Treatment
Tuesday July 25, 2006 5:40pm Reporter: Kathy Fowler
Video: ABC 7 Medical: Teen Fights Chemo
WJLA-TV Broadcast Script-
“Anchor: AS WE REPORTED EARLIER, A JUDGE RULED THAT A MARYLAND EASTERN
SHORE TEENAGER WITH CANCER DOES “NOT” HAVE TO REPORT TO A HOSPITAL
TO UNDERGO CHEMOTHERAPY. MEDICAL REPORTER KATHY FOWLER EXAMINES
THE ISSUE FROM A PURELY MEDICAL STANDPOINT. …”
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0706/347345.html
[Note 8/2/11: This article no longer exists but there is a different one about this case here.]

Links to information online about the Hoxsey Herbal Therapy
http://hoxsey.com/
[Note: 8/2/11: This site no longer exists. Here are some other article on Hoxsey, ranging from anti to neutral to pro.]

http://www.NewsTarget.com/019759.html

Then for some other kidney info that may be of interest:

A few of the Kaiser kidney transplant stories:

Frustrated Kaiser kidney patients eager to get transplants elsewhere
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/11/MNGR8IPK931.DTL&type=health

Is Kaiser Kidney Transplant Program Ethical?
http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_128211524.html
[Note 8/2/11: Story is no longer at the site. It’s archived here, but only a sentance.]

Kaiser Kidney Transplant Program Injuries
http://www.kaiserinjurylawyer.com/CM/CasesandResults/Kaiser-Kidney-Transplant-Program-Injuries.asp

And then . . .

State probe of Kaiser again extended, fines expected
Sacramento Business Journal – June 15, 2007
“An investigation of Kaiser Permanente by the state Department of Managed Health Care,
originally expected to conclude last October but later expanded, could be completed by
mid-July, officials now say. …

“… The probe, originally part of investigations into Kaiser’s now-defunct Northern
California kidney transplant program, was later expanded to cover how the Oakland-
based healthcare giant handles consumer complaints and a wide spectrum of quality of
care and oversight issues. …”

And, will Kaiser now listen to the patient complaints about all the fragrances everywhere one
turns at Kaiser? I don’t know, but if you have such a complaint, maybe NOW is the time to
voice them once more again. Maybe Kaiser will listen now. Maybe . . . — barb

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/06/11/daily45.html

Article: Kaiser Permanente Fined Millions‚ Again
“The California Department of Managed Health Care has fined Kaiser Permanente $3
million for haphazard investigations of questionable care, physician performance and
patient complaints. Kaiser is California’s largest HMO with 29 medical centers and over six
million members. While some equate more mistakes to the sheer size of the company,
others seem to think that Kaiser just isn’t doing right by their customers, because this is
[Note 8/2/11: This is how Barb’s text reads.]

“Not the first time”
“This is not the first time that the Department has assessed a fine against Kaiser
Permanente. In August 2006, Kaiser was fined $2 million for its improper handling of
kidney transplant patients. In that instance, the company transferred patients from
established kidney transplant centers to its own center. Hundreds of patients waited for
months to receive new kidneys, but many never did because Kaiser mishandled the
paperwork. Many patients died waiting and many others’ health was put at risk due to
prolonged periods of dialysis. Kaiser closed its Northern California kidney
transplant program in May, 2006. …”

Losing Weight Could Prevent Deadly Kidney Disease
“Oakland, Calif. January 3, 2006.
“If you are one of the millions of Americans who are vowing to lose weight in 2006 a
new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente could help offer you some extra incentive.
Shedding those extra pounds could reduce your risk of a potentially deadly kidney
disease. That’s the findings of a new study in the January 3, 2006 issue of Annals of
Internal Medicine.
http://www.dor.kaiser.org/external/DORExternal/news/press_releases/press_release.aspx?id=3252

As stated earlier, Kaiser has labeled me obese . . . while I’ve seen myself as overweight.

I was never rolling in fat cells although I definitely carried more weight than necessary.
I’m now down 43 pound from my birthday last July, when I had decided to make a
serious effort at trying to lose weight. As life would have it, it was within a couple of
days that the alarms were sounded for kidney failure and then I was on a renal diet.
Even so, I’d lost only five pounds and couldn’t seem to drop much more.

It wasn’t until my acupuncturist came up with the low thyroid notion and put me on
iodine, that I started really losing weight and stopped shedding hair! Interestingly, the
blood test showed my thyroid to be fine, but he had me take my temps three times a day
and keep a record. Also asked questions, like: Cold hands? Yes!; Impossible to lose
weight?, YES!; Shedding hair? Like a dog!!! . . . Anyway, since iodine, my weight loss has
been slow and steady, where I hang out at a new lower plateau for a month or two,
and then start to drop a little more. They don’t want you losing weight dramatically
with kidney failure . . . that’s a NO, NO.

Now why did I gain weight? I don’t know. But has anybody ever look into the effects of
breathing seriously polluted air day in and day out in the daily highly scented and
monthly pesticided workplace? That may be the reason I had gained, for I sure didn’t have
the eating pleasures that would guarantee me that excess weight. Weight, which would
go on with jumps of 10 – 20 pounds at a time. While everyone always cautions against
“unexplained weight loss,” I was living unexplained weight gain! I wasn’t happy about
it, but I sure as hell couldn’t seem to do much about it. No matter how hard I tried.

But, the year 2005, was the year I suddenly felt much improved overall from my MCS
symptoms (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is the disability that one should not say out
loud!), proving to me that years away from the toxic workplace and years of great care of
self through food and chiropractic and acupuncture and without prescribed drugs,
made all the difference in the world. Ironically, halfway through the very year that I
felt better in decades, was the year I was diagnosed with kidney failure. Oh well, one
of life’s little ironies!

Following a visit to a nephrologist in April 2006, I turned to hubby and stated, Hey, kidney failure
is a win-win for pharmacology, and the medical industry and its docs.

The only treatment they can suggest is their drugs, which as I’ve already experienced, will make
me sick. As I don’t want to “do drugs” they want to wash their hands of me. Not look for safer
means of getting the blood pressure down — kidney disease causes high blood pressure and
then they are all convinced that high blood pressure accelerates kidney failure. Not look for safer
means of postponing the inevitable: dialysis and/or premature death.

Take drugs, which process through the kidneys, POSSIBLY causing more rapid kidney failure —
where’s the proof that the drugs don’t hasten kidney failure? Then go on dialysis and then
transplant and soak up the big bucks in drugs. What a deal. For the medical doctors and industry.
For pharmaceuticals.

If the patient doesn’t see eye to eye with the prescribed plan of dealing with kidney failure, tell
patient you can’t help them because you only know what you know. Then, stultify patient.
Beautiful!

So that was April and now it’s June 2006 and I still feel asymptomatic for kidney failure, but still
treat my diet as if I have severe kidney failure . . . And now a friend sends a link to this information:
Acupuncture, massage helpful after cancer surgery . . . I use it for kidney health!
Note: I have been an acupuncture patient since 1998. Once diagnosed with stage 4 renal disease,
in July 2006, I upped my acupuncture treatments and also I looked to broaden my holistic only
methods for dealing with it . . . My goal was to remain comfortably alive as long as possible.
Because of underlying chemical injury, I cannot take drugs that are concocted from petrochemical
derivatives, and are commonly prescribed for renal patients. In April 2006, I added weekly
massage to my routine. I am a regular at NHI in the Bay Area. So far, so good . . . I have a life and
have been holding my own, albeit at stage five kidney disease, which the medical doctors like to
refer to as kidney failure. — barb
By Amy Norton
“NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A combination of acupuncture and massage may help
ease pain and depression symptoms after cancer surgery, a new study suggests.

“Acupuncture has been shown in many studies to ease pain, and there’s growing evidence
that it helps quell post-surgery nausea. Massage, meanwhile, has been shown in certain
studies to aid cancer patients’ anxiety.

“Until now, however, no studies have tried combining the two therapies for people
undergoing cancer surgery — a physically and emotionally difficult process. …”
SOURCE: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, March 2007.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/04/11/us-acupuncture-massage-idUSCOL15892520070411.

Also at http://www.acupuncture.com/news/postcancer.htm
[Note 8/2/11: Article no longer there.]

Medical Guesswork
Business Week’s cover story, MAY 29, 2006
“From heart surgery to prostate care, the health industry knows little
about which common treatments really work ”
“…What’s required is a revolution called “evidence-based medicine,” says Eddy, a
heart surgeon turned mathematician and health-care economist. …”
And, evidence-based kidney information is what I try to give via Wilkie Wages War … — barb
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_22/b3986001.htm

And for those into PodCasts:
http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/podcasts/cover_stories/covercast_05_18_06.htm

Most recently, I’ve been reading Kevin Trudeau’s Natural Cures They Don’t Want
You to Know About, which we already know about. But it’s good to be a member
of the choir, listening to the preacher. Even a members of a choir can learn something,
and in my case, a lot. See http://www.naturalcures.com

Also, I highly recommend seeing Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.

If you have a modern computer, you can go to his Climate Crisis site at
http://www.climatecrisis.net/
(I just get white boxes on a dark background.)

We ALL are stakeholders when it comes to breathing.

Hang in there and keep up the good fight.
hugs
barb