Victoria Mary Clarke

Irene Frisby interview

Irene Frisby interview, copyright Victoria Mary Clarke, 2002

Irene Frisby can’t wear make-up. Neither can she use the shampoo that you buy in the supermarket, or deodorant or even tooth-paste. Absolutely nothing goes on her skin that she wouldn’t put in her mouth. And she won’t put anything in her mouth that isn’t organic and free of chemicals. She must have the healthiest diet in Ireland. It’s so strict, that not only are meat and fish banned, but even avocados are forbidden. She will only eat fresh organic produce that is currently in season. Which, in Ireland, isn’t a lot to choose from. It isn’t easy to do this, she admits. But it’s worth it for her health, and Irene was diagnosed with cancer in January of 2001. She had twenty six lymph nodes removed and twenty of them were diseased. Cancer came as an enormous shock to Irene.
“When I was diagnosed with cancer I though Oh my God, I’m not going to see my child’s Holy Communion and the picture’s going to be lop-sided, without his mother. Cancer meant death. Between then and now, I have been totally educated about cancer and the body and my children speak about cancer the same way they would speak about a sore throat. That’s the way I would like to have thought about it, when I was diagnosed, but I couldn’t, because it meant death to me.”
But Irene had always been interested in alternative medicine and was not going to consider chemotherapy. She began to see a homeopath.
            “My homeopath would treat the symptoms of feeling sick and having headaches, during the treatment. She plays a huge role. I also have acupuncture, which makes for a more balanced flow around the body. All of these alternative people have something to teach you.”
When Irene got the final results, after her surgery, she had already been following a programme called the Gerson Therapy, which involved drinking freshly juiced organic fruit and vegetables and staying free of meat and dairy. She knew that a clinic existed, near Tijuana, in Mexico which had been founded by Charlotte Gerson, the daughter of Dr Max Gerson, who developed the Gerson Therapy. It was while researching possible dietary cures for migraine that Dr Gerson found that he had cured himself of skin tuberculosis. Gerson established a skin tuberculosis treatment programme at the Munich University Hospital, where 446 out of 450 patients experienced complete recoveries. In 1930, Helene Schweitzer-Bresslau, who was the wife of Nobel Prize recipient Albert Schweitzer was cured, after only nine months on the therapy. Schweitzer himself was cured of diabetes and the therapy was then successfully applied to heart disease, kidney failure and cancer.
Having decided to make a serious commitment to curing herself the natural way, without chemotherapy, Irene set off for the Gerson Institute, courtesy of her father, who she says was a tremendous help to her, throughout.   The regime at the clinic was quite strict, and patients were required to take along a partner, to help them with the therapy.
“You would start every day at seven, with your first enema, either coffee or castor oil, depending on the day, ”she says.
Is the enema uncomfortable? Irene laughs.
“No. Awkward, but not uncomfortable. It takes a long time to get used to doing it. You do it lying down on your right side, on the floor. The idea is to relax, you’ve got to hold it in for fifteen minutes. Then you start your juices, you have thirteen juices, throughout the day, so that’s one every hour. And your last enema is at eight, so your day consists of enemas and juicing and eating. It’s very labour intensive, because you can’t make up the day’s juices in advance, you have to do them and drink them within five or ten minutes, to get the best out of them.”
Where does she get her organic vegetables?
“In Kilpeddar, from Mark Michel. I’m very lucky, he’s only across the road!
You can only juice carrot on it’s own, carrot and apple mixed or green vegetables, you can’t vary your juices at all, it’s very strict. No celery, cucumber or avocado. But there’s a reason for everything, it’s all been thoroughly researched.”
While she can eat almost any vegetable, chemicals must be eliminated entirely from the diet and also from her lifestyle. The idea is to be as toxin free as possible.
            The clinic supplies a list of manufacturers who produce chemical free beauty products, Irene orders what she needs from England.
“It is expensive, ‘ she admits. “But you get into the habit of watching what goes into you.”
Luckily, Irene was never a make-up person. But in the photo of what she was like before the cancer, she has long blonde hair. Today, her hair is completely grey and cut short.
“I used to colour my hair,’ she laughs. ‘Because I went grey when I was ten, but I’ve stopped that. Hair dye is very toxic and there are so many blood vessels in your scalp, it’s a dangerous are to mistreat. It’s an education, too, when you start looking at the chemicals in your house.”
What things might be toxic?
“Toilet cleaners, polish, bleaches, sprays. You just have to re-train yourself not to be spraying everything!”
Does she notice herself feeling better, as a result?
“Yes. It took a while, though. There were times I crawled around the house on all fours, to get from one room to the next. You are doing some serious detoxing, so you get very sick and you lose a lot of weight. I lost four stone.”
Irene has two children to look after and her marriage broke up, just before she was diagnosed. Was it difficult to keep going?
“It was very difficult, but I never gave up, no matter how sick I was. I still made that next juice. You know you’re feeling lousy because the toxins are on their way out.”
Irene says her tumour markers are on their way down, she is feeling better and is well on track for a full recovery. When she’s better, will she go back to eating the forbidden foods?
“ I would like a steak or a piece of chicken,” she says. “But it would have to be organic. I will be very conscious of what goes into my mouth from now on. I do think more people should be aware of all the toxins that they are taking in, I’ve been totally re-educated! I would like to help, when I’m better, to educate other people as to what is going into their mouths. You would want to be very healthy nowadays, just to survive. And disease starts when your body can’t cope with the chemical build up in the body. You just have to teach yourself to live differently, it’s all about putting yourself first for a change.”