Charla Huber

B次元官网网址 staff

Trish Coleman was given four to six months to live last October.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 been six months since the diagnosis, and I feel better than I did two months ago,B次元官网网址� said the Gordon Head resident. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know if I am going to live very much longer, but I am OK with that. I am at peace with that.B次元官网网址�

Coleman began seeing View Royal homeopathic doctor Roland Guenther after her diagnosis.

B次元官网网址淭here wasnB次元官网网址檛 any other hope. For pancreatic cancer there is no known cure or treatment,B次元官网网址� said Coleman, 81, a former registered nurse.

She never sought out alternative medicine before but thought now, she has nothing to lose.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a miracle and itB次元官网网址檚 unbelievable how much better I feel,B次元官网网址� Coleman said. B次元官网网址淚 was never against alternative medicine, IB次元官网网址檇 just never tried it.B次元官网网址�

Working with Guenther may not have changed the prognosis of her disease, but it has given her a better quality of life, she said.

Sitting in his View Royal home, Guenther gently picks apart tiny emu feathers and grinds them with a mortar and pestle. The feathers are ground into lactose powder, a common ingredient in homeopathic medicine.

In the final product B次元官网网址渢here is not much substance of the emu feather, but itB次元官网网址檚 the energy,B次元官网网址� he explained.

B次元官网网址淗omeopathy is a treatment with remedies that are made from substances of nature that still carry the energy of these substances,B次元官网网址� Guenther said.

Guenther, a former surgeon and general practitioner, now focuses his practice on homeopathic and natural healing and hopes to build relationships with local First Nations and other people in the community to help them heal.

Originally from Germany, Guenther became enamored with First Nations culture when he met a Cherokee native there. He knew he needed to learn more and came to Canada.

B次元官网网址淚 started hitchhiking to find the right people. Within one week I found the Blood people,B次元官网网址� he said with a smile. B次元官网网址淚t was a different world.B次元官网网址�

As an adult, he was adopted by a Blackfoot family in Alberta and lived in the Blood Reserve, near Lethbridge, for more than two years in the late 1990s.

He began studying native medicines and became a sundancer, lead sweat-lodges, became a pipecarrier and went on vision quests in the mountains.

B次元官网网址淚 learned everything in nature is soulful, every plant and every stone. I learned to communicate with our plants,B次元官网网址� he said.

A medicine man brought Guenther to Chief Mountain in Montana for his first vision quest in 1996. The quest lasted four days and nights.

B次元官网网址淣o food, no water, just pipes and praying,B次元官网网址� he explained. B次元官网网址淚f you tell any doctor you dry fasted for four days they wouldnB次元官网网址檛 believe you, but natives have been doing this forever.B次元官网网址�

Guenther incorporates his experiences with the Blackfoot people into his homeopathic medicine.

He has been working on treatments specifically for First Nations people and gone to great lengths to learn, including milking a buffalo in Northern Saskatchewan.

Guenther explained issues plaguing aboriginal communities around the world such as diabetes and drug and alcohol addiction should be looked at on a collective level instead of an individual one.

Four years ago he started a group of homeopathic doctors treating homeless people on the downtown Eastside in Vancouver. The group has grown to include 20 people volunteering two days each a month.

B次元官网网址淢ost of the people down there were natives and I know where they come from,B次元官网网址� he said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

After seeking help from many counsellors and therapists, Patricia Huot decided to give homeopathy a try to help her recover from early childhood trauma.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 helped me make a shift in a positive and gentle way,B次元官网网址� said the James Bay resident. The 65-year old has spent nearly 20 years searching for something to help her and meeting with Guenther is the only thing that brought her tangible results.

Homeopathy allowed her to start healing.

B次元官网网址淩ationally I know there is no reason for (having my issues), but itB次元官网网址檚 still there and interferes,B次元官网网址� said Huot, who meets with Guenther monthly. B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 really there as a traditional healer, not simply a body mechanic.B次元官网网址�

Choosing the alternative

Roland Guenther graduated from a German medical school in 1980 and became a surgeon mainly performing abdominal procedures but also working on trauma patients.

B次元官网网址淭hen I realized I didnB次元官网网址檛 want to grow old in a hospital,B次元官网网址� he said explaining why he moved into a position as a general practitioner in 1985.

B次元官网网址淚 always had a strong connection with nature and our bodies are part of nature,B次元官网网址� Guenther said. B次元官网网址淚 started looking into alternative treatments.B次元官网网址�

In Germany homeopathy is incorporated into mainstream medical treatment.

charla@goldstreamgazette.com