The Truth Saves Lives - And it Brings Freedom [Medical Medium Healing]

"Chronic illness is growing at an alarming rate. Even with the massive amount of organic food being cultivated now, even with the awareness about removing processed foods from our diets, even with the newest healing modalities, sickness is present like never before. No one is escaping illness, not unless they have the right information to stop the ticking clock. "

"This is not a lifestyle book. It's a lifetime book. In a sea of false truths, this is about saving lives." ~Anthony William, Medical Medium

This is truth. This quote is from the new Medical Medium book, "Cleanse to Heal". I have read this book cover to cover, and now with the #cleansetohealbookclub I am going back through each chapter to take it in again, one powerful morsel at a time. This is an incredibly powerful book. It's not like any other book out there. This book is truth. It's living words, and it comes from God. 

I don't say that lightly. I  say it because it's important, and it's truth. I have read just about every health book out there before I came to the Medical Medium information. I spent 20+ years of my life seeking the answers on how food could be our medicine and what was the right way to eat for optimal health. I devoured all of the "science" on both sides of the food wars - from The China Study to Weston A. Price to Atkins to GAPS and on and on and on. 

I overhauled my familys' diet multiple times in my quest for optimal health. We ate organic, we went gluten-free, dairy-free, corn-free, we tried traditional foods, fermented foods, ACV, probiotics, SCD, GAPS, raw food, raw meat, the blood type diet, protein power, Atkins, Paleo, the candida diet, Autoimmune Paleo, Low FODMAPS AIP, low oxalates, vegetarian, and I'm pretty sure there are even more that I am forgetting. 

But in every single one of those belief systems, across the communities of people seeking to be the healthiest they could be, I noticed that in each one, people were still getting sicker and sicker. People were losing the battle for optimal health. Losing function. Losing health. Why did Autoimmune Paleo need to exist, for example, if Paleo was the all-time optimal way of eating on the planet? And why were SO many members of that community having to give up more and more foods and turn to autoimmune Paleo if it was so ideal?

By the time I found the Medical Medium information, I was down to only being able to eat a handful of foods and I was sicker than I have ever been in my life. I had an entire page of chronic illness diagnoses including autoimmune ones, and I had volumes of symptoms and conditions that had taken my whole life and all of my functionality away. I was allergic to the world, homebound, suffering from physical as well as mental illness, and very close to no longer being on this planet. 

The truth is, none of those belief systems actually had answers to why we were all getting so sick. They were all playing guessing games and using US as the guinea pigs. Worse, using us as a way to line their own pockets - not just in book sales, but in supplement lines, powders, foods and other products that are supposedly for health. Medical Medium calls them carpetbaggers - opportunists, snake oil salesmen that prey on the chronically ill for their own profit. It's not only selfish, it;s dangerous. It's playing with people's lives and causing them betrayal after betrayal, breaking their trust again and again. 

But when I found the Medical Medium information, it made SO much sense. It filled in every blank where all of the science had left off. It filled in blanks for the questions science had never bothered to ask. And little by little, all of that other information fell away. It became noise in the background because the Medical Medium information actually had answers. And not only were there answers, but it actually worked. And not just for Me, but for millions of people around the globe who are finally healing their chronic illnesses when nothing else ever did. REAL healing, not temporary bandaids. 

That's what the truth does. It works. It brings healing. It brings peace. It erases all of the confusion and noise and stands above the rest. It goes by word of mouth. It's not backed by some interest groups seeking to make a profit off of people's suffering. It's backed by results. It's backed by people actually healing. It's REAL. And it MATTERS. 

For me, I don't even pay attention to any of the other noise out there anymore. I don't need to, because I'm no longer confused and searching desperately for answers. I've found the answer. When you truly understand how bodies REALLY work, what's REALLY going on in there, what pathogens and toxins we are affected by and why. Why foods that used to be survival foods and staples have become unsafe, what foods really do cause healing and why and how. When you have that, you have peace. You have healing - not just of the body, but of the mind, spirit and soul as well. Of the broken trust and the betrayals. You gain trust. You gain faith. And most of all, you gain FREEDOM. 

And I have that now, and it's thanks to all of the incredible dedication and hard work of Anthony William, Medical Medium. He, in these books, has given me the answers that have given me my life back. Given me the healing foods back. Given me peace and freedom. And I want you to have that too. You deserve it. You deserve to heal. You CAN heal. 

Q&A: Healing Anxiety [Medical Medium Healing]

Awhile back I was asked to make a video about anxiety, and it has finally happened! It's been on my mind since I was asked I think months ago now. Oh my goodness, what a relief to have posted it finally!
 
When I was at the height of my chronic illnesses, I had debilitating crippling anxiety. It got to the point where I developed agoraphobia, unable to leave my house or speak to anyone without a buffer. I could not answer or make phone calls. I was terrified to be anywhere other than my house. I canceled every appointment I would make. It became a heroic event to actually go to an appointment.
 
Since implementing the healing information from Medical Medium 3 years ago, my anxiety has dissipated by about 85%, which is honestly miraculous and not something I ever expected on this healing journey. Some days it's even 100%!

I talk all about it in my video. Have you healed your anxiety? Tell me about it, I love hearing all of the amazing healing stories in this community!

Medical Medium - Can He Help?

As many of my readers might know, I suffer from a chronic illness. Several, in fact; they really enjoy being co-morbidities it seems. 

I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic connective tissue disorder. I learned about that at the age of 42 as the result of much research and help from my similarly afflicted friends, after I never seemed to recover from a concussion I got in January of 2012. 

 I've been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (aka Systemic Intolerance Exertion disorder). 

I also have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (or Disorder), which makes me allergic to the world essentially - I react to and can get anaphylaxis from pretty much anything: food, chemicals, environmental triggers, emotions even. 

 I have Degenerative Disc Disorder in my lower back, which causes excruciating back pain (thanks, connective tissue disorder!). 

I have bursitis in my hips. 

I have sleep apnea caused by the excessive weight gain that resulted from my concussion, on top of already being overweight when it happened. 

I also have Dysautonomia/POTS (Post Orthostatic Intolerance Syndrome). 

 Let's see, what else? Oh! I have a hypothyroid diagnosis, but none of the thyroid meds prescribed have done a thing for me. 

I have arthritis in my neck (again thanks to EDS). I'm sure I'm forgetting to mention something, but whatever. 

And how could I forget my diagnosis of Fibromyalgia? 

I also have been diagnosed with Anxiety, Depression and PTSD (we lost our first son Quinn in 2003 to his severe heart defect.) 

 So what this all looks like in my daily life is that I've gone from being a functioning regular human being (who can walk and go out with friends and be in crowds and go places like stores) to a person who is homebound, and most of the time, also sofa-bound. I can barely walk, I have a wheelchair and home health PT/OT services on order, I cannot safely go out into the world without having some sort of mast cell reaction and being exhausted for days. I have deep, deep fatigue. I cannot tolerate exercise because any kind of exercise just exhausts me, I ALWAYS feel like I am completely out of gas. 

 I have lost my ability to drive anywhere by myself, to cook or prepare food, to do any tasks around the house like cleaning or cooking or tidying or making the bed. I have brain fog so much of the time, much of the time I can't do anything more than stare at my computer screen, watching comedies (I cannot handle anything too serious or deep or scary, it could cause a reaction. Really.). I can barely read books because of the brain fog. 

Occasionally I'll have a period of lucidity, where I can get a book read and do the budget and organize tasks that need doing, but those windows are unpredictable and definitely not frequent enough.

 Barometric pressure changes hurt my body - I can feel them, they make my blood heavy and sap what little energy I have. They cause me great pan and brain fog. I also react to heat and the sun - too much sun or heat can also send me into anaphylaxis. I have tried everything I can to find healing and help my own illness. 

I eat an autoimmune Paleo diet: all organic, grassfed, free-range, clean. No nightshades, eggs, dairy, grains, sugars except from fruit, processed things, additives. Whole foods. I take a crazy amount of supplements to support my body, and it's taken SO MUCH research to find the ones that work. I've tried so many others. 

I've tried chiropractic and acupuncture and I regularly use massage therapy and craniosacral therapy to help my body. I do PT when I can, although I had to stop going because I was no longer able to tolerate leaving my house. Home PT is meant to start June 13th. 

I've tried the meds that allopathic doctors have prescribed - compounded of course, since I cannot tolerate most of the fillers used. I am currently able to take one prescription that helps take the edge off of my pain - low dose naltrexone. Emphasis on LOW dose. 

I use medical cannabis when I need pain relief, as I am allergic to opiates and NSAIDs. 

I'm also currently doing The Cusack Protocol for my EDS, and I've found that it IS slowly making a difference. I've been on it a few months, and I do see a change. But I do still have flares, and there are times when I feel like I've gone back to square one. And nothing ever seems to really give me any kind of lasting energy boost. (I don't use caffeine or any artificial energy substances either).

When your daily life feels a lot more like death than life, you get to the point where you become pretty open to trying ANYTHING that you have heard has helped others in your situation. Anything that will get you a little bit closer to feeling even semi human. Living life holed up in your house, no matter how cool your house is, is no kind of life. Not without a community or friends to come over and buoy you up and keep you sane. 

 And because my close online friends and I spend our days on the sofa, we also spend a LOT of time researching our conditions, and trying to find the things that can perhaps help us regain quality of life. That's how I've found the things that DO help me. 

 I've also really learned to tune into and trust my gut - because there really ARE so many different treatments and possibilities and roads to take out there, because there ARE so many things that people say helps some (but can also harms others), the one solid way to weed through it all and to know which thing to try next once the research is done is to just listen to your gut, and follow what resonates for me, what I am drawn to. Sometimes that happens slowly, and sometimes it takes the Universe bringing something to my attention a few times before I actually see it, or realize it's a possibility for me. 

 A long time ago I ate a high raw food diet, for over a year, and I felt amazing doing it. I wasn't vegan - I still ate fish, especially sushi, and some shellfish and poultry. And the poultry would of course be cooked. But I was 80% at least raw fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds (though minimal). I felt pretty amazing doing that, but I stopped it because my son needed gut healing and I was drawn to the GAPS diet for that - which did in fact heal his gut beautifully. He still has the most amazing poops I've ever seen - like if you're familiar with the poop scale, his would be the top tier of "what poops should look like". I'm super proud of that as a parent, that I was able to do that for him, and it worked, and it's still working today. 

After GAPS, we just naturally gravitated towards Paleo type eating, although some gluten-free organic packaged foods have definitely made it back in as well, especially since I've been so sick and can no longer cook. But in my heart I kept wanting to find a way to get back to raw foods, especially after I got really really sick and debilitated. I just kept thinking, "I know that if I had cancer I would be doing raw foods. Maybe this is the same." But I didn't have the strength or the energy or the wherewithal to be able to accomplish it. 

My poor husband, who was now preparing ALL the food, was in pure survival mode. If I could give him recipes, he could probably do it, but I was honestly so brain fogged I couldn't even come up with a cohesive plan or recipes for him. And yes, I know how to Google. Yes, I have Pinterest and use it. Yes, I know full well how that all works. So if your healthy brain is thinking, "But you can just look up any recipe online," I KNOW. But THAT is how bad brain fog can be. It can make it so that you cannot even make a simple food plan or look up a simple recipe. It really really can. 

 But somewhere in there I'd come across this man who is a medical medium. Not the kind of medical medium like many are, where they are connecting with spirit or their spirit guides....he was connecting with something different, he said. I mean, similar but different. And he had these recommendations about what to eat for a cleanse, and how to heal your gut, and they were similar but different to anything I'd heard before. Similar because of the raw foods, but different, because there were very specific foods he advised, And also other things, like meditation (which I do) and connecting with spirit/angels (which I am drawn to but don't have much practice with). 

And he has a book. A book I apparently pre-ordered, and had actually forgotten I'd bought (brain fog).  The other night I wasn't able to sleep at all, so I opened up my Kindle and began organizing the books on there that had yet to be categorized, and I came across his book. I felt pulled to start reading it, so I did. And it really resonated - so much so that I was up until dawn reading, then the next day I finished reading it. And when I did, I felt the urge to text some of my friends and enthusiastically urge that they read it, too. I just NEEDED to share this with them so we could take about it together. 

I'm not zealous about most things, so this is kind of out of character for me, but this time, I was just pulled. One of the things in the book that he advises doing, for everyone who is able , is to drink 16 oz of celery juice every morning, for gut healing. He also has a 28-day plan for a raw cleanse, which I read and decided that I will also do once I have the energy to make the food. But right now, celery juice is something I CAN make in the morning. 

I decided to experiment with it. I thought, "Okay. I can add this one thing. Maybe I can do more later, but right now I can add this one thing. And I already have a big smoothie for breakfast, so I'm already partway there."

So I'm trying the celery juice, and I'm journaling it to keep track of the effects. Stay tuned (click the link below) to see how it works out. 

Continue on to Medical Medium Cleanse: Celery Juice and Raw Food -  Day 1 - to see how it goes!

well, I was going to write about RVing, but...

Keep Calm and Save Spoons by ThePaperPoppyStore on Etsy

Sometimes it's difficult to remember how to keep a blog. Life gets in the way - health, trying to stay afloat, just staying functional. I struggle with chronic illness. One of the myriad of reasons we are wanting to get on the road is to find an environment more conducive to my health, as I am incredibly sensitive to mold and wet climates (NOW you tell me!). The past two years have made me very aware of just how much my environment IS affecting my health.

Have you heard of The Spoon Theory? I hadn't, until a few months ago. But it is a brilliant theory, in my opinion, because it really does explain what life is like when one has a chronic illness. When my own husband read it it helped him understand what I am going through in a much more profound way. I highly recommend clicking on and reading (and even bookmarking) that article, it is well worth it. Go ahead, I'll wait.

You see? That's it. That's my life now. Most days, even though I am probably sitting here on the sofa doing nothing, because that's what I have the spoons for, I cannot even brain enough to write blog entries, and instead I either read Facebook because it's brainless, or watch silly sitcoms, because they keep my mood up. If I do have the ability to brain anything, or any energy, I'm not at my computer - I am doing stuff with my son or getting some laundry done or catching up on chores that pile up while I'm down. (My husband, though valiant and tireless during this period, is only human, and cannot manage allthethings while also working outside our home full time).

And then there are days like today: my brain works, but my body feels exhausted - like I've been hard at work or am completely sleep deprived, despite having had a full night's rest. I'm just tired. But deeply, bodily tired, like I just can't move, and even walking to the bathroom is a LOT to ask of my body.

The official diagnoses are: Fibromyalgia, Hypothyroid, Adrenal Fatigue, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, PTSD, Anxiety, Sleep Apnea, Bursitis and Depression. It seems that when one has one major diagnoses, they become like those famous potato chips - no one can have just one. I also have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, which makes going out in the world akin to trying to navigate a minefield: all of the scents, chemicals, lighting, sounds, emissions....it overwhelms my already overloaded body and it can take me down for days. I have to be so careful about where I go or who I am around (perfumes and colognes), or what I put into my body. I can't go out at night because the lights from the cars against the darkness will send me into migraines. Which is almost irrelevant, because what little energy I have tends to crash around 3pm, leaving me unable to do anything but rest for the rest of the day anyway. What social life? 

I use a combination of allopathic (that's traditional western medicine), biomed, naturopathic and chinese medicines to foster my healing. I see a therapist, and a GP, a naturopath, a rheumatologist, sleep experts, a chiropractor, and massage therapists just to keep at this level of function. Because it was even worse before. My brain fog was so bad and my energy was so low that even doing something as seemingly simple as typing a blog post seemed herculean. Everything in the world was overwhelming. My anxiety was so bad that even making a phone call seemed impossible. My husband was making most of my appointments and then even taking off work to take me to them so I would be able to go.

I take an amount of supplements I cannot even talk about because it is so far beyond anything I ever thought I would see myself do. Food is medicine if one's body is functioning properly and can absorb the nutrients in the food...but when one's biochemistry is all out of whack and one's health is a multi-layered onion...well, it seems food can be thought of as Step 1. I am very VERY careful about my eating - my body does well on only a handful of foods, all of them grown in nature and unprocessed. I have learned in these past two years what my triggers are and I work hard to avoid them all.

My goal now is to keep working and keep finding where I am unbalanced, and do my best to correct that imbalance. So that I will have energy again And be able to move my body again. And go out into the world safely again. And I can see that it can happen...albeit it slowly, I can see that it just takes careful tweaking of this and that until it takes me up a level, then I can address the next layer, and so on. And as much as I love my beloved Pacific Northwest, I think that being in the wet and mold and lack of sunlight isn't working for my body, and I need to find somewhere that I can heal a little faster and more completely.

my journey from panic to calm, part two

I had made it through the plane ride here swimmingly. I had tools to handle it now - and I remembered to use them. This visit was going fairly well, all things considered.

Hubby wanted to take us to play mini golf - to have a family day, just the three of us. We'd been doing so many social things and running here and there trying to meet up with folks - he just wanted us to have family time. He'd found this coupon for half off or something at a place called St. Louis Mills. Now, I don't know if this is the biggest mall ever built, but it is certainly the biggest indoor space I have ever been in - and the biggest mall in St. Louis. This place is huge. It gives me a sense of what Mumbai must be like. Note: I will never, ever go there. I simply cannot handle the thought of an entirely indoor world. I NEED fresh air and open sky for my well-being.

Back to mini-golf. We get to the Mills and there is a train that goes halfway around the mall. Kiernen and I decide to ride it. Inside the train is small, and it is difficult to see the mall when we're inside it, but I do notice that the ride is quite long - halfway around the mall takes a good 20 minutes, if I remember correctly (and it is likely that I don't given the rest of the day). We return to the starting point and begin to walk around the mall to find the mini-golf part, which is apparently indoors. As is the go-kart track. And the rock climbing. We find the mini-golf, which is all glow-in-the-dark and freaky, and there is spooky music playing that has Kiernen say, "NO way, this is too scary," and to be honest, I was glad. We decide to see what else there is to offer, and within minutes of walking around the place, I am feeling the familiar body temperature rise, the sweating, the nausea, the panic, and the claustrophobia.

Surprised, I let Hubby know that I have to get out of there right now, and I go outside. And I breathe.  And the panic goes away. I am restored. Hubby and Kiernen came outside shortly after - Kiernen might have liked the arcade, but Hubby really wanted a day we all spent together - not me outside while they stayed and played.

Fast forward to yesterday, where our friend had invited us to come and hang out of his Dad's houseboat. It stays docked in the Marina, while they take the Sea-Doo out for rides when they want to move in the water. This sounded doable to me, because having not had experience with this, I didn't quite grok that a boat docked in a marina is still in the water, and this means it is subject to the movement of the water, which translates to gentle rocking. Oh.

I take my motion sickness medicine - I'm not going to ruin the fun for my boys just because I cannot hack the boat movement - and there is a dock, and there is land nearby I can ground on if need be. I feel me body temperature start to rise when I've been on the boat for awhile, so I breathe and I tap, "The motion of the boat," for about two minutes. I am completely fine for the rest of the day and I enjoy our visit to the boat - it is even fun! I actually like it! And because we've never been on a houseboat before, everything is new and interesting and fascinating. It was a brilliant day.

And while the boys are off in the Sea-Doo (I'm not that brave yet with my motion sickness), I walk and reflect and I realize something. What I thought was just motion sickness all this time might well have been panic attacks.  It may well be my limbic brain remembering the incident on the plane, and feeling a similar feeling (the actual motion sickness), immediately triggering fight or flight and going into panic. So all those times I thought it was JUST motion sickness (body temperature rise, sweating, migraines, nausea), it was actually my having panic attacks triggered by my limbic brain having that body memory on the plane.

And because I am no longer having many of those symptoms, I am able to see THAT connection - it all started on the plane - and the motion sickness can be brought down to just that - motion sickness. Which can be handled by my just taking the motion sickness pill. It is even possible that I don't need the pill itself, and baby steps - I'm not quite ready to let go of that particular crutch just yet. But just knowing those were panic attacks and being able to separate them because of the symptoms from the actual motion sickness allows me to be able to handle them much more easily. Ah, body temperature rise and sweating means breathe and tap, because this is a panic attack. Breathe and tap, "This situation," for less than two minutes, and I am fine.

Beautiful.

my journey from panic to calm

I  learned something about myself this visit. Well, I probably learned several somethings about myself, and this one stands out.

Many years ago I was flying home to Vancouver via Bellingham, WA. It was in winter, and the weather had turned unexpectedly snowy and cold, causing difficulty on the ground and in the air. I was still nursing Kiernen at that time. The plane, because of the weather, was unable to land in Bellingham, and while waiting for some kind of okay, began to circle in the air. We were also experiencing turbulence because of the air currents, and the stewardesses were also told to sit down and strap in. I was prone to motion sickness anyway, and because I had been nursing Kiernen on the plane, I was feeling pretty dehydrated.

As the plane circled, I grew increasingly more ill, and I began to vomit. I was hitting the call button over and over, and because they'd been told not to get up, they weren't answering me. Finally while I was throwing up, I got one of them to come and I told her I was dehydrated and needed water. She seemed fairly reluctant to help me, then she brought me the smallest  cup of water. I drank it down and pushed that button again over and over, finally getting her to come again. I told her I've been throwing up, I am severely dehydrated, I NEED water - not a tiny cup, but WATER. (Really water won't help in those situations - what I needed was something with electrolytes, but they had nothing like that on the plane and I knew it). Finally she brought me the whole bottle of water they were using to pour from - it was a huge bottle.

I cannot remember a time when I have ever been sicker in my life. It was horrible. And Kiernen and I were alone on the plane. Hubby had returned on an earlier flight because he had to return to work - and Kiernen and I had stayed a few days longer. Even though he was only two, Kiernen instinctively knew to leave me be and not ask me for anything - he could tell something was wrong with me, and he sat quietly, just watching me, while I was throwing up and all this was happening on the plane.

After that plane ride my motion sickness got much worse. In any situation that I'd have regularly felt motion sickness, it would get extreme very quickly where it hadn't before. Symptoms would include my body temperature rising quickly, sweating, feeling nauseated very quickly, a strong sensitivity to odors, and feeling claustrophobic. I'd get migraines. This would happen in cars, on rides, sometimes in big spaces where there was a lot of extra stimulation, like Costco, arcades, or malls, and especially, especially in planes. It became unbearable to ride in planes, even with all of the motion sickness medicine. The nausea would go away, but I still felt a rise on body temperature, a strong sensitivity to odors, and a feeling of claustrophobia (I might also mention that I am not claustrophobic otherwise).

I also began to have anxiety attacks in other situations - like social situations, for example, or as I said, in big enclosed spaces like malls or Costco or large department stores, or arcades. The migraines came on very easily in these situations, as well. I didn't know why. I didn't know what to do about it. I stopped going out as much, and I had to really be in a good space to deal with social situations.

Then Kiernen and I did the NAET treatments and all of that began to fade. I was again able to go out in public without worrying. The migraines went away. The motion sickness mostly went away. My panic attacks subsided. I could go to Costco. I could go to malls without freaking out. I could go out with friends. I could let someone else drive and I could ride in the back seat of the car. My world began to open again.

The test came when we got on the plane. I took my motion sickness stuff, and the plane ride was good - no nausea. There was a bit of anxiety, and as the plane took off, I remembered tapping my "gate points" - the top of my head and my upper chest - and breathing. So I tapped as I breathed, and I said something about the plane ride (I honestly can't remember) and I was fine. The whole plane ride. There was a movie in the back of my seat for me to focus on, and when we did begin to circle when it was time to land, and I felt my body temperature shoot up, I told myself I was safe, I breathed and I tapped, "This nausea," and I was fine. I felt just fine. I was AMAZED.

(continued in next post because this got long!)