25 Aug : I want to share this communication with Ian Shillington, ND, about my feelings on the naturopathic experience of the last few months. This becomes more important for me since I get always more emails from people looking for alternative treatments for their illnesses. This has promoted in me to reflect on what I have gone though. I finally have been able to realize the importance of balance between the use of alternative and traditional medicine. They must interact, and both have solid points. In light of this you will better understand my open letter were I also added a photo of Ian. It is not a letter of anger, it is a letter of deep reflection on my believes.

From: Stephen Serenelli - citynews@sasktel.net
Subject: To IAN SHILLINGTON- It has been a while for sure !!!
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 08:53:34 GMT
To: Doc Shillington - docshillington@verizon.net
CC: Doc@AcademyOfNaturalHealing.com

Hi Ian,
I am glad to hear from you since it gives me the opportunity to clean the house.
It surprises me that you would ask me how I am doing since you know I run an online diary since October 2003.
I am going to open my mind with you to let you know how unlucky I feel in having met you on my healing path.
Your "piece of cake" approach to serious cancer activity has fooled me in taking wrong decisions. Don't worry, I know very well what you would say... the ultimate decision lay in my hands. However this decision was made as a result of your confidence that this was an easy matter using your program. While on the program when I showed concern about the CEA rising. You said this was probably a good thing as the body was getting rid of the cancer. You could not be any further away from the truth.
I am not running away from my responsibility, but I can still point at your actions and your irresponsible words to help someone else in my situation make better decisions.
Your playing remote naturopathic doctor with serious cases and suggesting that you have alternatives to surgery... is criminal. My tumor, operable in October 2003 resulted inoperable in March 2004 and I had no alternatives to the stoma since my bowel was totally blocked. The stoma has taken away my quality of life as a physically active person.
I am in palliative care now, I better spell this for you since you don't read the diary. I had ample time to ponder on all has happened in the last few months and see what I could have done differently.
You are a very bad example of what a N.D. can be. Your arrogance in thinking that you are the only one to know what is right is inadmissible.
This is an open letter that will be added to my online diary to help other people to beaware of charlatans that can have a profound effect on one's health.
Regards,
Stephen Serenelli.

23 Aug : I had fever for two weeks now (between 37 C and 38.5 C). It is higher at night and interferes with my sleep. Until the fever doesn't come down I cant sleep. The mucus from my anus is now even more frequent and I have to use padded underwear. It doesn't leave me time to reach the toilette. I am also dripping urine out of control. I sleep a lot during the day. My taste buds are driving me crazy. They keep changing and what I want today to eat, may not appeal tomorrow. On the good side, my appetite is holding on. My bowel movement is also regular, flax seeds are really helping. My life is pretty much in door. Getting out is a bit of a chore since I can't seat comfortably in our van. If we go for a walk I don't go that far as the stimulus are killing me. I have seen some more blood in the urine. Fortunately stopped right away. There is not much they can do for me. Just flush my bladder with a saline solution via catetere. The procedure must be done in the hospital. I want to stay home, surrounded by an environment that is very comfortable to me. Laura Lepard deep tissue massages have become even more important and starting this week I have them Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also had two sessions of reflexology for my feet with Bill Cathcart at Zoe Health Center. I am not sure yet of the benefits but I will continue for another while till I have an opinion on the matter. I am still badly effected by low pressure (bad weather). This year our summer is very wet and cold. We can still hope for a good indian summer in September. All I can really do is computer work with snoozes in between. I don't feel like writing much these days, and if it doesn't happen early in the morning... it is not happening.

8 Aug : time to break my silence again and write a few lines. Yesterday we had an outing around town. The sun was nice and warm. With the risk of sounding boring... I have to notice how fragile I am. At the Brick furniture store in the Gateway mall I had to lay down on their show room beds. I am at the level that I have no reservations in doing what I need. I was laying down with my eyes closed... with a feeling of absolute freedom. Eileen had gone doing errands in the mall. I would open my eyes once in a while and notice people starring at me. I could care less. I was following my needs. Eventually Eileen came to pick me up. We had a little chinese for lunch. I am not used anymore to the amount of salt that they use in commercial cooking. All the same was a nice treat. We were also looking for a hydro foot bath. Because of my jaundice all my body hitches very badly. I am doing my best to resist... but day after day is getting worst. I treated Eileen with a visit of the Exhibition Fair. She really enjoyed the people exhibit in the Exhibition Centre. She may enter something from her garden next year. Here again I could not finish the visit. I lay down on the grass in front of the Armory building... and let it all go. Eileen was now free to finish looking around. You just can't begins to imagine how many people did stop to ask me if I was alright. It was very nice to see people concern about a stranger laying on the grass. Were I am from, Italy, people would just walk by and ignore you. I can't do anymore walks on the treadmill... the stimulus is killing me. I release mucus every hour now. As soon as I move any faster I have to run. I am in need of pads now. We finally moved in the new living room. It feels so great. The older room is now dining room, with a nice contemporary dining table set. We now have also a massage table in this room. I had 2 hours of deep massage therapy with Laura Lepard. She is so caring and a real pro in her job.