The doctors didn't have answers and basically sent me home to die. My story starts two weeks after my birth when I began getting sick. So sick I couldn't keep anything down and I was wasting away to nothing.
I was losing weight, nothing but skin and bones. I was starving. The doctors had given up hope but my uncle didn't. He suggested a pediatrician in North Carolina he thought might help. We lived in Georgia and made the trip two states away. Just as I turned 8 weeks old, surgery for pyloric stenosis was performed and I was considered "fixed". They didn't know what caused it, so there wasn't talk of a "cure".
As life went on I always wondered what caused this and did it have a bearing on my later health issues? Time would tell and now six and a half decades later I am finally telling my story. You see, this was not the first nor the last time doctors let me down.
The Early Years
I had an interesting childhood to say the least, moving on an average of once a year. I didn't have the security of calling a place home or having any friends for very long. I was always the "new kid", in a new school and with a new doctor. I grew like a string bean, taller than average and very lanky.
Middle school is difficult for all kids going through the hormonal changes, the social stigma and grappling with who you really are. This was the first insight I had into my health issues. I needed glasses to see the blackboard at school. During my eye exam the doctor told my mother I had nutritional deficiencies.
So what followed was the worst "treatment" I've ever had to go through...well maybe not the worse, but right up there. My clever brother and mother came up with dosing me with an Instant Breakfast made in a powder that came in a packet and declared on it's box that it contained all the missing vitamins and minerals, just mix with milk. My brother also added a raw egg in the mix and blended it up for me. The funny thing was, he made too much and so he'd give me an 8 ounce glass to drink and he'd take care of the other 4 ounces or so. The joke was that he gained weight and I didn't. I think I probably lost a couple more pounds. I have a problem digesting milk. Always have. Allergy tests showed I was "allergy free" but that wasn't the whole story.
Two Kinds of Milk - A1 and A2 - which one do you drink?
Did you know there are two kinds of milk from cows? All these years I had no clue. Now I've done extensive research into food and how to heal myself with nutrition I have learned there are A1 and A2 cows. The protein (casein) is different in the A1 milk, it contains histadine instead of proline like A2 milk. Histadine turns into histamine. A2 milk is more like human breast milk than A1 milk due to the proline. The A1 milk is inflammatory, and especially undigestible for those of us with issues clearing histamine from the body.
While following the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) I made homemade yogurt and had issues. I tried draining off the whey and making Greek yogurt thinking it was the whey that made me feel bloated, gassy and loose stools. I made yogurt using goat's milk and I could tolerate it much better. I also could eat soft cheeses made with goat's milk but didn't dare with cow's milk. Mozzarella cheese and ricotta cheese kept lasagna out of my diet and no cheesecake for this gal.
Growing Up
My mother didn't like to cook. Our dinners looked like those from the opening scenes of the movie, How Corporations are Ruining Your Health (Food Industry Documentary) with the scenes of tv dinners, canned and boxed "phude". Television was gaining popularity and housewives were convinced that they were a "slave" to the kitchen and "convenience foods" were her freedom. Women bought it hook, line and sinker...at least my mother did. She was too busy moving us across country every year to be bothered with cooking.
Fast Forward
I managed to grow up, get married and have two children. In 2011, our son took his life on his 23rd birthday. I heard the gunshot and I found his body. I suffered from shock and post traumatic stress. I was numb and at the same time every nerve in my body was as though it was on fire. I couldn't stand to be touched, hear anything on a radio or television unless it was classical music. Somehow I could find comfort there, and also in my garden.
Friends and family commented on how well I was "holding up" after my son's death. If they only knew how fragile and broken I felt inside. I should have let my grief out instead of "being strong". I was anything but. The link below explains the "broken heart syndrome" after the loss of a loved one.
The Physical Symptoms of Grief
I started to question my son's suicide. Why? I wanted answers. He had complained of diarrhea and had been seen by the local doctor. The diagnosis was one that I had heard before, IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and a prescription for a little blue pill.
Breast Cancer?
Around August I discovered a lump in my breast, about the size of a pea. I didn't say anything to anyone. I waited for a couple of months hoping it would resolve on it's own. It didn't, it was now the size of a peanut. I was diagnosed with breast cancer, 100% mucosal carcinoma. Recommended treatment was a lumpectomy and radiation treatment. After the first round of radiation my intestinal tract fought back. I was so sick I missed a session and wanted to stop then. I wish I had.
My dad died the night before my surgery. I got the call at 10 PM that night and was due at the hospital at 7 AM. I forged ahead determined to get it "over with". I missed my dad's funeral. I didn't think I could take the stress of the loss. This was just before Christmas in 2011 and I had lost my son in March that year, it was too much. Then I went through the treatment in early 2012.
What's the Scoop with My Soup?
I started researching our food and discovered what was being done to it. I volunteered to help work on the GMO movement. I got very involved on a state and national level. I had a blog, a podcast, "What's the Scoop with My Soup?" where I interviewed Stephanie Seneff, PhD from MIT about GMOs, RoundUp and glyphosate.
The Final Straw
It was fall and we had scheduled to have all the main flooring in our home to be switched from carpeting to a vinyl "wood grain" flooring. I had initially scheduled it for late August but it was delayed after one of the rolls of vinyl was damaged in the warehouse and shipping. I had requested low VOC's for the glues for the vinyl or any other chemicals. I tried to open the windows but the glue required the house to be warmer which meant the windows had to remain closed. In the days and weeks following I found it harder to breathe.
For the first time in my life I was diagnosed as "asthmatic" and prescribed steroids and a Z-pack of antibiotics. I went back to the clinic only to be prescribed the same medications. I didn't get them filled. I thought I was going to die. The next day I nearly did. I called the ambulance just at the right time. They used the paddles to shock my heart back into a normal rhythm. I had been diagnosed with a LBBB (Left Bundle Branch Block) in 2010. The asthma drugs were contraindicated for someone with a heart history. The possible side effect, sudden cardiac arrest. That nurse practitioner no longer works in the medical field. Turns out she had a drug problem. Last I'd heard she worked at a dollar store.
The doctors tell me I have the veins of a 20 year old. However, the first diagnosis the doctors contemplated caused my heart going into an arrest rhythm was due to "broken heart syndrome".
"Nocebo"
The cardiologist that was assigned to my case at the hospital called me after I was discharged from the hospital. He suggested I get my "affairs in order". He was feeding me a "nocebo" instead of a placebo. He had given up on me already. When he asked what I was doing I told him we just finished watching the movie, "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" and were getting ready to enjoy our green juice. He nearly choked trying to stifle a nervous laugh when I told him this.
I mentioned the exposure to the toxic chemicals in the glue, the dust from the carpet, the formaldehyde, flame resistant and stain resistant chemicals in the carpeting were all in the air I was forced to breathe during the flooring job. I didn't feel comfortable leaving my house with a stranger working inside and my husband was at work. I found it odd that the doctors never made any notes about this nor discussed it as a possible trigger to my breathing/heart issues.
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead FULL MOVIE
Going Forward
Fast forward. In April 2015, I received a pacemaker. I also made some major life style changes. I changed my diet, I started doing yoga, I did meditation, I took more heart healthy supplements. This healing journey was a full time job but it was worth it. What option did I have....die? I needed to retire. On my second attempt, I finally qualified for disability so I could afford to make my health my full time job, my priority.
I was doing really well for the most part. I found a integrative cardiologist who helped guide me off the multiple diuretics that were destroying my colon. He tested my genetics for MTHFR that would shed light on why my homocysteine was so high and he set me on the right nutritional therapy to start my journey to healing. He outlines a lot of this in his book, "The Whole Heart Solution".
My Gut Reaction
in the fall of 2017 I was glad I had a pacemaker, it kept me alive when my small intestines ruptured. My pacemaker fired 5 times, three of which I definitely felt. It kept my heart in rhythm. I spent 2 weeks in ICU fighting for my life after I was in septic shock. I had three surgeries, two ostomies for 5 months and struggled to get nutrition in my body without a functioning digestive system. I had to learn to walk again. I had lost nearly 50 pounds over the three weeks in the hospital. The advice from the nutritionists I had were to gain my weight back eating proteins and carbs...wish I knew then what I know now. Live and learn.
I was working with a biochemist on my nutritional deficiencies. I was grateful that I had time to build up my body before my "blow out", otherwise I don't think I would have survived. I had such a severe case of SIBO and SIFO (Small Intestinal Bacterial/Fungal Overgrowth). My colon that had been plagued with diverticulitis over the years had caused a section to die and cause a blockage which then caused the undigested food, gas and bacteria/fungi to backup from the large intestines to the small intestines where they didn't belong.
The Take Away
The cardiologist that was on duty during my hospital stay asked me how I reversed congestive heart failure. I told him he wouldn't like my answer. I pointed up and said,
"I have the Great Physician".
I told him I stopped taking their medications and had been working with a biochemist on my nutritional deficiencies and diet.
Cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal issues...I've had my share of health issues but I've always had my faith. Without prayer and the strong belief in God I don't think I would have had the strength to fight. The enemy is NOT my body, the enemy is the "system". The one thing that I remember from the drugged days in ICU was the verses I had learned as a child.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:8
There are 78 verses in the Bible that confess this to be true.
Patient's Stories on Alternative Cancer Therapy
I'm not the only one. The video link below follows six patients as they try alternative treatments for their various cancers. It is not an easy path but it is more rewarding and powerful to take responsibility for your health than trusting the medical establishment to have your best interests at heart.
The Food Cure, Hope or Hype?
Featured photo is provided by Austrian National Library on Unsplash
Additional Resources:
A1 vs A2 milk and BCM-7
Polymorphism of bovine beta-casein and its potential effect on human health https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17666771/
Beneficial Effects of Milk Having A2 β-Casein Protein: Myth or Reality? https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/151/5/1061/6165053?login=false
A2 Milk and BCM-7 Peptide as Emerging Parameters of Milk Quality https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2022.842375/full