Grace Gawler, a vegetarian from age five, went on to work in a veterinary clinic while still at junior high school. Thus the vegetarian interested in health and natural treatments became grounded in science, pathology, bio-chemistry, anatomy and so on. She had a desire for all things natural including an interest in natural cures for cancer in animals. Over the years, when appropriate, she experimented with natural medicine as a complement to conventional veterinary treatments. Eventually she concluded that both systems of medicine need to be utilized for the best outcome. Thus was born her integrative approach.
It followed that Grace’s cancer work, which began when her boyfriend, Ian Gawler, lost his leg to bone cancer, was a blend of both forms of medicine – conventional and alternative. Now with 35 years of cancer experience behind her, Grace describes her work as integrated cancer support medicine and is known for this stance within the medical community.
But not every cancer practitioner practices integrative medicine – there is still too much ‘either/or’ medicine. So what is needed to end the polarization between the cancer healing medicines? This is a topic we’ll be tackling in our new Grace Gawler Institute for Integrated cancer Solutions. Continue reading “Integrated Cancer Medicine requires Integrated Participants – part 2”
Although a tad sensational with an image of quarreling wives – Adam Cresswell has written a courageous article that reflects the truth of Australia’s most famous cancer remission story.
To be 100% clear, this is not personal in any shape or form. What has happened over the years is a morphing and misreporting of Ian Gawler’s story so that it resembles virtually nothing of the truth of what actually occurred. The story is still amazing and it still offers hope – but there is a public responsibility to tell it accurately. I addressed these errors in the MJA 20 September 2010.
I believe that sound nutrition is important for cancer patients and I have always taught the balanced view both when I was at the Gawler Foundation and since. Many suffer gross malnutrition from bizarre diets; especially vegan diets. The more advanced the cancer – the sicker the patient can become. I also endorse the practice of relaxation therapies – but extending meditation into a curative form as proposed in the MJA 2008 version of the story is simply not responsible. Continue reading “Grace Gawler – The Medical Journal of Australia article reported in the Australian by Adam Cresswell”
The following extracts from my memoirs Grace, Grit and Gratitude (self-published Oct 2008) aims to set right the long held concept that meditation and a vegan diet played a major role in Ian Gawler’s cancer cure.
For many years I have been trying somewhat unsuccessfully to correct published accounts of our story, however the true story as revealed, may hold many more possibilities, inspiration and research options for those going through the cancer experience.
To clarify, Ian first saw Ainslie Meares 12 December 1975 – when a bony metastasis was diagnosed in his right groin. Ian spent 6 weeks under Meares meditation directives – deteriorating significantly during that time; so much so that we abandoned his groups and his technique; choosing to explore other options. There has been much confusion about this point because in 1978 Meares erroneously reported Ian’s medical history, distorting the timeline and making it appear that Ian had attended his sessions when his cancer was widespread. Many may have seen the now famous pictures first published in You Can Conquer Cancer. These are not pictures taken when Ian first saw Meares (Dec 1975) but were taken July 1977 – 19 months after he first saw Meares. At that time Ian was quite well – but was carrying an enormous tumour load.
Meditation and diet had not impacted the cancer growth – but perhaps there was a silent healer within; unknown to us until Ian’s remission June 30 1978. More about that later.
In brief Meares’ error has provided the foundation for the volumes of misreporting of Ian Gawler’s remission.
February 1976:
Regarding Meditation-From my memoirs
“…..Ian and I knew how bad it was ‘24-7’, and that he would soon die meditating if we did not do something else, so that day marked the ending of our formal relationship with Ainslie Meares. I did not see him again, but Ian kept in touch with him from time-to-time.
While meditation is a wonderful tool that supports patients in many ways, it did not play the most significant role in Ian’s remission. How do I know? Simply because I was there, I was present before, during and after his cancer and believe my view to be accurate. During our darkest days when Ian’s prognosis was two to three weeks to live, an emaciated, pain riddled and rapidly deteriorating Ian kept hoping that Meares’ technique would be the turning point.
Our lives became a hellish continuum of sleepless nights, enemas and eventually morphine when the pain was beyond the pail. Weeks passed and as he tried and tried to meditate, day by day he became immobile, more ill and in greater pain such that I had to confront Meares on the ‘just keep meditating’ issue.
Ian had followed reluctantly but he knew that although meditation was helping him spiritually, it was not having the desired affects physically. He so much wanted to believe that meditation could cure; but the facts spoke for themselves; his condition was deteriorating at an alarming speed and had we not tried out other treatments at that time; he would certainly have died.
Ian in Philippines March 1976
We went on to discover the pathways of acupuncture and alternative medicine with a qualified general practitioner, which thankfully brought the first small window of pain relief. Ian’s pain had clearly become his disease and while it continued, he deteriorated so that all other therapies apart from large doses of love had little benefit. His pain absorbed every ounce of energy he had so that there was nothing left to assist his healing.”
After Ian’s remission in 1978:
PP 218-219 Grace, Grit and Gratitude
“An article that appeared in the Medical Journal of Australia saw our lives take a dramatic turn when a wave of media mayhem began due to an article titled ‘Regression of Osteogenic Sarcoma Associated with Intensive Meditation’ that appeared in The Medical Journal of Australia. (October 21, 1978)
The report summarized our healing journey in a few paragraphs and came as a complete surprise to me—I had not known about the release and publication, and felt flabbergasted by its content. The article begins “The patient aged 25 underwent a mid thigh amputation for osteogenic sarcoma, 11 months before he first saw me 21/2 years ago. He had visible bony lumps of about 2 cm in diameter growing from ribs, sternum and the crest of the ileum, and was coughing up small quantities of blood in which he said he could feel small spicules of bone…. etc.”
The article caused a media sensation, proposing a link between intensive meditation and remission of Ian’s cancer. However, as I was an intimate part of Ian’s cancer journey from the beginning and his sole carer, I could not make any sense of Meares’ version of our story.
Throughout Ian’s journey, I had documented and kept photographic records. My memories as the person who carried the daily loads during Ian’s illness were vivid, and I have no doubt that Ian’s history would have turned out differently, had we not moved on and incorporated other therapies other than meditation. I believe, as did doctors at the time, that his obituary, rather than an abstract about his recovery would have followed, had we not visited the Philippines. The supportive care, faith and love in action that we found there, inspired Ian; reconnecting him with his will to live, no doubt an element that helped him to survive.
I felt a weighing disappointment inside my body as I read the published case report, as if someone had reached into my chest and ripped out my heart. It was too late, our arduous healing journey now broadcast to the media, was an unacceptable misrepresentation that no doubt would be difficult to correct. I was angry that no one had consulted or informed me about the appearance of the abstract nor given the opportunity to review it before publication. I did not know what to do when our efforts were misreported and trivialised. Torn between acquiescence and accuracy, I had an ethical crisis. It was too late!
As predicted, the media soon ran the meditation cures cancer story while I became a voice lost in the wilderness. My concern was for the cancer population and their carers, a desperate group I had come to know well. I knew that patients and partners would try to replicate our story and I knew the unspoken hardships and pitfalls they would endure if they tried to assume our roles. Without our veterinary/medical knowledge, we could not have managed our situation—nor could we have made the crucial choices required when let down by therapy after therapy that failed us. More coming soon….
Last Saturday I was asked to give an impromptu talk and join a panel Q&A session at a health & wellness seminar on the Gold Coast. It was an excellent information afternoon and clearly demonstrated both the general public’s interest and confusion around natural therapies, supplements and self-help methods. Inevitably, at these functions, questions about raw food and vegan diets for cancer patients along with questions about the Gerson Diet are asked. Participants at these days are often surprised when I answer that in the majority of cases, I have not seen cancer patients respond well to raw food diets – especially vegan raw food diets. As well, although cases of remission have been reported; personally, I have not seen remissions brought about by the Gerson Therapy or raw food regimens. Because my name is Gawler, people always ask me about raw foods and the many dietary approaches used to ‘cure’ cancer.
Many ask me about Ian Gawler’s recovery from cancer often having been told by a health professional that his remission was due to meditation, positive thinking and adhering to a vegan diet. These stories are not accurate, and when taken out of context and without the whole story; they can be dangerously misleading.
February 1976
Ian’s recovery involved so much more; however like a ‘Chinese whisper game’, this amazing recovery story which occupied more than 23 years of my life has been so often misreported, even by the Gawler Foundation itself – that it is no wonder so many cancer patients are confused. Continue reading “Gawler Diet – Vegan, Raw, the Gerson Diet? Grace Gawler Comments”
Great news for cancer patients and caregivers – Grace is back after a long absence from her not for profit Foundation work – now with her own health promotion charity – Integrated Cancer Solutions – located at Hope Island, Gold Coast Queensland. A generous donor who recognised Grace’s contribution to her previous organisation, the Gawler Foundation; has gifted funds so that once again, Grace Gawler’s services can be accessed by cancer patients and care-givers.
With services including support groups, consultations, residential programs (small numbers of participants for individualised help); the Trust and Centre will soon make its mark on the map. Grace is keen to share the following story because it gives credence to the necessity at times to help patients find their solutions outside of Australia. The new Trust already has strong professional liaisons with local and national integrative doctors as well as integrated oncology clinics around the globe – in particular, Germany.
Great news for cancer patients and caregivers – Grace is back after a long absence from her not for profit Foundation work – now with her own health promotion charity – Integrated Cancer Solutions – located at Hope Island, Gold Coast Queensland. A generous donor who recognised Grace’s contribution to her previous organisation, the Gawler Foundation; has gifted funds so that once again, Grace Gawler’s services can be accessed by cancer patients and care-givers.
With services including support groups, consultations, residential programs (small numbers of participants for individualised help); the Trust and Centre will soon make its mark on the map. Grace is keen to share the following story because it gives credence to the necessity at times to help patients find their solutions outside of Australia. The new Trust already has strong professional liaisons with local and national integrative doctors as well as integrated oncology clinics around the globe – in particular, Germany.
Knowing her life as I do – I find this visual, set with permission to Olivia Newton John’s music, (Grace and Gratitude) a very moving journey – Pip Cornall
Olivia Newton-John says:
“I learned a technique from Grace Gawler which helps me to take little moments in the day for myself. Even if it’s just sitting in your car before you turn on the engine, take 10 seconds, take a breath and centre yourself. It’s like filling up a bank of energy and it works.”
Australian Women’s Weekly November 2007
Author Pat Pilkington MBE UK
Published – The British Holistic Medical Association Journal ‘Holistic Health.’ No 79
Since Grace Gawler wrote the first edition of Women of Silence in 1994, the field of psycho-neuro-immunolgy has developed and expanded, bringing new clarity to the powerful interaction of body, mind, emotion and spirit. Thirty years ago when her husband developed terminal bone cancer, Grace committed every fibre of her being to finding ways of healing the disease. Together they journeyed to the edge of life, working their way through 31 different therapeutic approaches, until little by little the life force was switched on again and healing began. Transformed by this experience, they founded Australia’s first Cancer Support Group, working over the years with more than 10,000 people with cancer. Continue reading “Pat Pilkington MBE UK on Grace Gawler's book Women of Silence”
Author Pat Pilkington MBE UK
Published – The British Holistic Medical Association Journal ‘Holistic Health.’ No 79
Since Grace Gawler wrote the first edition of Women of Silence in 1994, the field of psycho-neuro-immunolgy has developed and expanded, bringing new clarity to the powerful interaction of body, mind, emotion and spirit. Thirty years ago when her husband developed terminal bone cancer, Grace committed every fibre of her being to finding ways of healing the disease. Together they journeyed to the edge of life, working their way through 31 different therapeutic approaches, until little by little the life force was switched on again and healing began. Transformed by this experience, they founded Australia’s first Cancer Support Group, working over the years with more than 10,000 people with cancer. Continue reading “Pat Pilkington MBE UK on Grace Gawler’s book Women of Silence”
First written in 1994 and re-written 2003, this book has not dated. In fact the need for women to embrace the gems of wisdom in this book is greater than ever
Oncologists say the following about Women of Silence
“This book is full of Thoughtful, practical insights to everyday living with cancer. I would like all my colleagues to read it.” Professor R.R. Hall- Lead Clinician, Northern cancer Network, NHS – UK
“An essential companion for all women, it answers all the questions you often don’t want to ask. Packed with useful exercises to help you regain control of your situation, it will help you begin the healing process during the emotional turmoil that surrounding breast cancer.” Professor Karol Sikora Professor of Cancer Medicine, Imperial college Hammersmith Hospital London UK
“Grace writes with authority and compassion. She provides women with an opportunity to regard their adversity as a great opportunity.” Professor Neville Davidson, Professor in Clinical Oncology, Bloomfield Hospital Essex.
Chairman H.E.A.L Cancer Charity and Helen Rollason Cancer Care Appeal
