Thanks R.!

I rec'd my first response from out there in never never land! It reads:

"Hi Cheryl, 

I believe you are on the right track with dieting.   It's been a long time, but I checked out the people, and several were highly credible. Kathy has an MS in neuroscience, and another is a well known Canadian actress.  I forget others--it has been a while. Maybe there are others since I have retired from the scene in 2006 (I am 72).

The Midwest surgery mills that make big money operating on TCs have learned how to get the right thing (for their purposes) said on the TC forums.  Good alternatives to the present technology for microsurgery could put them out of a profitable business.  

Kathy had an MRI after she had virtually complete control  of pain from dieting (I visited her and the Optimal Health Institute in San Diego, where she goes for their radical regimen which,  and  the MRI showed her cyst was unchanged.  No one knows why dieting makes cysts asymptomatic.  It is thought ("by some scientists" -:)) that cysts continue to grow because of the constant pulse of the CSF stretches them out, and if there are nerve rootlets in the cyst walls, they can get stretched and then they hurt.  Anything that hurts means, "Don't do that!".

Surgery is not the only alternative if dieting becomes ineffective for some reason.  Fibrin glue is an alternative in theory; it depends on the cyst. I had two of two cysts obliterated by FGI--one in California, and one at Johns Hopkins.  There is a need for research for   a better procedure that works on a very high percentage of cases.  Don't hold your breakth but if I live long enough and get rich enough I hope to start another TC foundation. and new forums that tell their members how to avoid the influence of surgery mills.

I plan to consult more with Dr. Long at JH.  because I have arachnoiditis. If I do, I will find out more about the current state of affairs.

Best wishes for the blog and, most of all, for your health."

This is great! First, because it is always great to hear that I am on the right track. It can be discouraging at times when there is no one, medical wise, to help me with this process as they gravely underestimate the power of the body with the right diet. Second, it further confirms that there are cases of people's cyst/s going back to asymptomatic. The only downer is in answer to one of my biggest questions, "Is the diet shrinking the cyst to remove the symptoms or just becoming asymptomatic?". From the information given in the email, it is stating that the cyst does not change in size. A little sad because I have really been dreaming of the day this thing was no longer inside of me! From this standpoint I will neeed to learn to live in harmony with it. I refuse to hold hands with it and sing kumbaya though...I have my limitations! But, time will tell....

I still believe that I might be able to get rid of this thing anyway...don't get me wrong I will be just as happy to turn it back to asymptomatic, but it is not in my nature to not give it hell.