New Zealand's Greatest Doctor:
Ulric Williams of Wanganui
A Surgeon who became a Naturopath
By Brenda Sampson
Two letters from a patient who asked to be anonymous
She wrote:-
"When I was 16, I developed an abscess at the base of my spine. This was caused by bruising when I had been accidentally pushed onto a blackberry stump during a bit of tomfoolery. The abscess took 12 months to develop, but then it necessitated minor surgery, after which I was confined to bed for two weeks. At the end of those two weeks, my appendix burst and due to unforeseen circumstances, I was not operated on until seven hours later, which meant that the poison had spread widely through my system, and I was not expected to recover. However, I did survive, and after seven weeks in hospital I was allowed home, in spite of the fact that the wound, where a large tube had been inserted for drainage, was still not properly healed. I had to attend outpatients for about three months, when it did finally seal over, and I slowly regained strength. After a while I had a return of soreness on the tail bone, and in time this had to be lanced again. Then for a period of six years, this 'sinus' as my doctor called it, kept erupting and required lancing at frequent intervals, especially after travelling in a car for even a thirty mile distance.
It became frustrating, and I was drained of energy. I could not take part in sport for fear of knocking it and causing another eruption. The doctor was puzzled and admitted he did not know why it should repeatedly break out. He decided to open it right to the bone and pack the cavity to allow it to heal only slowly, and I went to him every day for dressings and repacking. This necessitated giving up my job. Positions were not easy to find in those days. I was fairly depressed about the whole thing, especially when my doctor suggested that if this slow healing trial did not work, he would cut out an area of flesh and try that! This really shook my confidence in him, and months later when it did erupt again, I decided to go to Wanganui to Dr Ulric Williams and seek his advice. By this time, six years had gone by, and you can imagine what I was afraid of by this time. My mind was made up that something that would not permanently heal in six years, could only mean one thing.
I was a little in awe of that fine specimen of manhood as I was ushered into his consulting room. He seated me and asked me the nature of my visit. I told him I had an abscess on my tailbone that would not heal. To my amazement, he was not the least bit interested in looking at it. Instead he made himself comfortable and asked me to tell him of any past illnesses, so I told him about the peritonitis and how long it took for the drain spot to heal, and then of the continued outbreaks of the sinus. He took notes unhurriedly, then studied them for some time. He asked me, "If you had a balloon with a weak spot, and with water inside, where would you expect the water to leak from?" I said, "From the weak spot." He thumped his fist on the table and said, "That is exactly what has happened to your body. The peritonitis poison was never properly drained, so it has to find the weak spot."
Silence reigned for some time, before he looked at me and said, "I cannot cure you." Imagine the shock! I imagined he was confirming my worst fears! He gave this time to scare me before continuing, "Until you clear your blood stream of the poisons, the abscess will never be able to heal. I can tell you how to do this, but I cannot do it for you. It will mean a strict diet for possibly two years, and it depends upon your own willpower whether you cure yourself or not."
I left his rooms walking on air with relief after the fright he had given me, but I guess that was 'tactics' and it certainly made me determined to stick strictly to his instructions. He wrote me friendly and encouraging letters periodically, gradually changing the restrictions of the diet, and not only did the abscess heal, but my energy returned and I had a new lease of life altogether.
That was 33 years ago, and over the years I have visited Dr Williams on several occasions for his help and advice, and always found him so willing to give of his time, without the slightest thought of financial repayment. He spoke to me for many hours on subjects I considered unrelated to my health at that time. But on reflecting I realised it was all a part of his psychology to relax me, and to convince me that I really did have the courage to carry it through."
The second letter
"I do not seem to have a copy of the diet sheets, but I can tell you roughly what the diet was. To begin with, I was on fruit and vegetable juices, and raw fruit for breakfasts, salads for lunch and also the evening meal. Then gradually I was allowed a potato in its jacket, then wholemeal bread and meat substitute dishes. I was a whole year without any meat, and then gradually allowed poultry and fish occasionally, also brains and liver, etc. The second year I still had fruit breakfasts with dates and nuts, and always a salad lunch, but more meat with the evening meal. Vegetables, mainly steamed of course, or dry baked. I remember taking my vegetable water and Marmite broth to work in a thermos for morning tea, and being chaffed by the staff, but I had to learn to take the teasing, and tell them jealousy would get them nowhere. It was certainly worthwhile, and during that second year I was married. Fortunately my husband was most helpful and understanding and was willing to eat the same way. He says to this day that he was never fitter (and he was an athlete).
You asked what kind of diet I had been accustomed to prior to my troubles? Well, I was one of a family of six children, and during the depression years, things were not easy for my parents, but my mother was a wonderful manager. We seldom had fried foods or pastries, because she knew better than that. But looking back maybe we went a little short of protein during those worst years. Though really I feel our diet was not wholly to blame. I have come to realise that unhappiness and stress can be a worse enemy than diet; and we really did have our share of stresses during those early years. My father was a man who was forever striving to seek a better position, and after a very unfortunate misunderstanding on the family orchard, he was forced to leave and find employment where he could earn enough to keep a growing family. He kept changing to something better as he thought, and we were shifted from one town to another where he thought he was bettering himself, but in fact the cost of all this shifting was getting him nowhere. He also was a devoted father, and wanted us to have things Mother felt we could ill afford. There were frequent arguments about finance in the home. These upsets were more damaging to us children than our parents ever realised, because we were so fond of both parents, and could not stand any tensions between them. But most of all, the fact that after my two primer years I had a change of school every other year of my schooling because of these shifts. I was a fairly shy child, and it seemed I just made friends, and then had to leave them. We seemed to be always struggling and Mother took in sewing to help out. This meant that my older sister and I had to become very domesticated at an early age. I don't think this hurts as long as you also have enough time to have a little fun, but we missed out a lot in this respect, especially with four other younger children to help cope with.
Why have I told you all this, when I have bottled it up for years, I wonder. Perhaps it will do me good. I agree with Ulric Williams that peace of mind is of the utmost importance to good health, and through all these years I resented my father's lack of stability. Though he did honestly believe he was doing it for our good, I am certain."
(Later she sent the following diet in Dr Williams' beautiful handwriting, dated April 1967. This was some years after her recovery and the diet sheet allows meat.
Swiss Breakfast
2 grated apples, a level tablespoon each of honey and raw oatmeal, juice of half a lemon or an orange, 3 tablespoons of top milk, a handful of chopped raisins and walnuts. If too much, use less of each.
Or, for variety: oranges, grapes and milk
Or, three kinds of fresh fruit, dried fruits and walnuts
Mid morning nothing
Lunch or Tea Wholemeal bread, butter, honey, vegemite, peanut butter, uncut salad veges, with hard boiled egg, cheese, walnuts.
Or, a large mixed salad. For variety, besides lettuce, use cabbage or silver beet cut fine; celery, cress, onion, small leaves of dandelion and sowthistle, spring onion, radish, tomato, grated root veges, and bits of fresh and dried fruits and banana. Salad dressing (honey, olive oil and lemon juice in proportion of 1,2,3. Make a bottleful. Shake before using.) Potatoes cooked in their skins, a little butter, salt and pepper if liked. There are other salad recipes in my books.
Or, on cold days, home-made soup, and thin wholemeal toast and "scrape"
Mid afternoon Carrot juice, sipped.
Dinner Lean meat or fish. Plenty of vegetables, conservatively cooked (steamed is best) without salt or soda. You can add a little salt at the table. No puddings with this; have fresh fruit instead.
Or, an egg dish or a cheese dish, perhaps with a rasher of bacon for flavour. Then stewed fruit, or ripe fresh fruit or dried fruit. Baked or boiled custard or junket or home made Spanish cream. Brown sugar, a spot of cream. Occasionally, instead, a steamed pudding.
With lunch and dinner every day
One vitamin capsule (they are free on Social Security) and 2 Vikelp tablets (they are not free) for essential minerals.
(The Swiss breakfast was the original muesli, invented by the Swiss doctor Max Bircher Benner, born 1867, a pioneer in nutritional science. He believed in raw fruit and vegetables as a cure for disease and wanted to persuade people that even grain foods can be eaten raw. I remember in the thirties, my father cut an article from the Evening Post entitled "Swiss health breakfast". The recipe was 2 tablespoons of rolled oats, soaked in water overnight, 1 or 2 grated apples, some sultanas, lemon juice, honey and cream. B.S.)
