Some years ago, my wife Pam had a stomach problem for which she visited a doctor. In the course of treating her problem, the doctor took some ultrasound images and noticed the presence of gallstones.
This was a surprise to us because the gallstones were completely asymptomatic, causing her no pain or trouble of any kind. Because they were not a problem, the doctor recommended no treatment.
Fast-forward several years to about 1990. I had just begun working for a new employer when Pam began to experience some pain from the gallstones. Although she had never had them treated before, the insurance company considered them to be a pre-existing condition because they had merely appeared on the earlier ultrasound image!
We were distressed, wondering what to do; gall bladder surgery at the time was expected to cost us about $15,000 which we could in no way afford. Sounds like God let us down with the timing on that one, right? Wrong! We talked to friends and relatives about this; my Aunt then mentioned the problem to a neighbor; the neighbor gave my Aunt a booklet; my Aunt mailed it to us. The booklet described a home remedy for removing gall stones.
Briefly, the remedy involves going on a fruit-juice fast for several days in order to clear the bowel. On the evening of the treatment day, you lie on the couch and drink a pint of cold-pressed olive oil, divided into eight doses, each dose chased by two tablespoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice to kill the taste. The eight doses are taken at fifteen minute intervals.
After the last dose, you go to bed, being sure to lie on your right side. (I think that way the olive oil pools at the entrance to your gall bladder duct, and when the oil causes the bladder to contract, some of the oil and lemon juice enter the gall bladder where they can soften and lubricate the stones.) Somewhere in the middle of the night you will wake up with a powerful urge to evacuate, and you will pass the stones. (They just squirt out through the gall bladder duct like so many watermelon seeds!)
We were of course somewhat skeptical; for due diligence, we went to a seminar in San Diego at which a doctor presented information about another experimental non-surgical protocol which used ultrasonic sound to shatter the stones, allowing the fragments to be passed out of the system through the gall bladder duct. This experimental treatement cost somewhat less; about $5,000 total. I questioned the doctor carefully as to just how flexible the gall bladder duct might be. He indicated that it was very flexible, but that irregularly shaped stones could sometimes become lodged in it causing pain and requiring surgical removal.
Hearing that the gall bladder duct was very flexible, and thinking about the lubricating effect of olive oil, we were encouraged to proceed. However, to be sure that there were no serious negative effects of the treatment, I decided to be a "guinea pig" and take the treatment myself before having Pam try it. What a surprise! The night of the treatment I passed about two cups of chloresterol-based gallstones! I had no idea they were in there! (I still have some in my freezer if you would like to see them).
About a month later, Pam worked up the courage to try the treatment. She also passed many stones, and has had no gall bladder trouble since. Total cost of the treatment? Not $15,000, not $5,000, but less than ten dollars for all the olive oil and lemons. You might want to budget somewhat more to cover the fruit juice; however, because you are fasting, you will save it on food anyway.
We are very thankful to God for bringing this remedy to our attention, and we hope there may be others who may be able to benefit from what we learned.