Rather Be Healthy

Review.

During the first month on the ABP which was September, I experienced exactly what I was told to expect, there were good days followed by bad days, the good in comparison to bad were like night and day. In between that two day cycle I’d have several okay days which were quite easy to deal with, I didn’t feel particularly good or bad although I definitely felt apprehensive waiting for the bad day to happen.

October saw a change in that the good day became good days…. I was very pleasantly surprised at the extended periods that happened, during that period I had several spells lasting five or six days and the bad or tough days were no worse than before which made me happy.

November and December were very similar really, longer periods of feeling really good while the negative days weren’t really days as such, it was just several hours at a time. I really started to pay more attention to what my body was telling me. I’d been guilty of thinking “I knew best” which just resulted in me getting frustrated and a little annoyed with myself.

I have to also make this next point very clearly: During the first four months there were several occasions that I momentarily doubted what I was doing…. again, Momentarily… until I drew on that much needed inner strength, gave myself a slap, a kick up the ass and carried on…. thankfully.

January or month five gave me more positive inspiration and motivation than ever especially as I’d bought the latest revision of “The Candida Cure” and reaffirmed what I’d learned from “Healing Multiple Sclerosis”.

As I’m coming to the end of my sixth month I’ve learned a lot, and more importantly I’m adhering to the plan, if for whatever reason I feel weak, I don’t get frustrated or despondent, I just accept that it’s part of the very complex healing process. Every minute the body experiences literally millions of actions and reactions because of the changes we are implementing through diet, antifungals and supplements. This severely damaged body is adapting slowly but surely and the physical changes need the mental adjustments to keep pace.

I’m improving physically by the day, to others it might not appear obvious but it’s massive to me, so much so that I truly believe I’ll be able to actually take a few unaided steps in a month or so.

Ego.

What can be frustrating while on this incredible protocol is how I can allow a ridiculous mental attitude to influence the progress I’m making, however….. my attitude is based on what I’ve learned recently and the solid nutritional background I already had, but is slowly but surely adjusting to reality and common sense…..

To explain…. as I’ve been improving physically so much more so over the past month than the previous four, I’ve been telling myself it’s ok to feel weak for a few hours after I’ve been physically pushing myself, whereas a month ago, no not a month, only a couple of weeks ago I’d feel so frustrated and a little disappointed that I could be feeling so good then so weak in the same two hour window.

I tell anyone that’ll listen, I tell my family, my carer and even the FedEx or Sainsbury’s delivery guy that I’ve been improving so much, I absolutely know it’s happening, I know 100% it’s happening, but when that change happens at indiscriminate times I allow a negative feeling to slide in. Admittedly it’s only ever for a matter of seconds, but annoying all the same.

I’ve got to make sure its the truth, the reality that takes the dominant place in my head and not the tainted, full of self importance ego that steps in to override what’s really happening.

The negative feelings and the weak part is only a very small percentage of my life and will soon have no place at all because “ I am healing, I am going to live again so you!!!! Negativity, weakness can sod off”…

Get worse.

Following a plan, any plan to change something that’s been in place for a long time is always going to be difficult, it’s not as if it’s possible to just change the ingredients and methods you’ve used for years and expect everything to improve immediately. Just imagine having a really sporty BMW M3 but over the years you’ve been putting the lowest grade petrol and the cheapest oil in, not because you’re a skinflint but the car was so expensive and you just couldn’t afford the good stuff. So gradually the super fast car that was, now takes a week to get to its top speed and the clunking and rattling when it was turned off was embarrassing.

So you come into some cash and decide to treat the car to top grade petrol and oil, that’ll fix it surely…. well no it won’t, in fact if anything it just seems worse than ever. How can that be…. surely if the good lubricants are going in then that’s got to make it better….

After flushing the BMW’s lubricants, oils and fuel system a couple of times, putting in a new battery and a days overhaul will just about make in run as good as new. Now think about you, likening a really expensive top of the range Beemer to a human body that’s a billion times more complicated, intricate and delicate isn’t the same.

A human body is a completely different kettle of fish…. the complexity of the body requires lots more hand holding, for instance the blood isn’t just red stuff, there’s more than fifty different components that have been altered by poor nutrition and just downright bad chemicals that unbeknownst to you were in some things you ate and drank over many years. Anyway cutting a long story short, the changes you…. we..make will take time to have a positive lasting effect, in fact you’ll probably get worse before you’ll get better. After five and a half months of steady improvements I have I have to remind myself daily that the small knock backs are part of the long term healing process because I occasionally feel a little worse than the previous day.

It’s not easy.

I’ve talked about the challenges we face when we have the desire to follow the ABP with the aim of healing ourselves. Everyday there are temptations unlike any a healthy person is likely to face, very basic, mundane things like “should I go to the loo now or can I wait till after I’ve eaten” or “will eating that cereal make me sick” and other ridiculously simple tasks to others that are painful and frustrating when we have less control, obviously as we become more in tune with our body and the protocol it gradually becomes natural and less of an issue.

Over the last month I’ve really been pushing myself, I know that everyday the muscles in my legs and core are wasting, they are constantly getting weaker which is making life so much harder, getting up and furniture walking to the bathroom 20 times each day is exhausting, so having a weaker body and legs make it so much more demanding.

That being said I’m trying my best to exercise, squats, press ups and the plank are hard but I try to do all of them everyday, I sit there and mentally try to motivate myself, actually it’s not motivation per se, I yell at myself in my mind and tell myself to not be a wimp and get off my lazy backside and just do it…

The exercise, any exercise is tiring enough but getting up off the floor is sometimes even harder for me, there’s been days that I’ve exercised then spent the next twenty minutes totally exhausting myself trying to get up. I often feel good mentally at the end of the day and then first thing in the morning that’s true but I can tell you, exercise it’s not easy.

Enough.

For the newbies in the group’s I’m in I thought I’d explain a little about myself, my apologies if this is boring to the others, anyway, here goes, I was born in Liverpool when The Beatles were just a local band made good and Bill Shankly was shaping a football team feared throughout the first division as it was then. Tough life growing up, very occasional sweets but lots of love and regular smacks to keep me and my 6 siblings in place.

School then the Army Apprentice College in Chepstow, the the regular Army, marriage, 2 kids, divorce, 9 years then marriage, no more kids, divorce… 6 years, move to Colorado, marriage, then 2 years later was diagnosed with MS and 4 years later was divorced.

During the last marriage I started as the client service director for Dr Hal Huggins the world leading authority in biological dentistry and body chemistry rebalancing.

Before all that I did 834 skydives, I was in the Guinness book of records between 1989 and 1997 as part of the british record  60 way formation, I was also a hang glider, Scuba diver, rock climber, mountain biker and I got pilots license a Flagler Flying school in Florida.

Getting MS is horrible for anyone, but being such an adrenaline junkie and being so active meant a complete lifestyle change for me and probably more difficult to accept. It didn’t make the disease worse just harder to cope with.

My knowledge of nutrition and supplementation since working for Dr Huggins is good so staying true to what I knew was right has been easy. The information I’ve been able to learn through Healing Multiple Sclerosis and The Candida Cure by Ann Boroch have been massively instrumental in the improvements I’m experiencing now. I’m still struggling with MS and to any onlooker it probably doesn’t seem any better. But the many little improvements are so good to me and I’m 100% sure that following the ABP is the right thing for me to do. I believe that anyone can make positive changes if they want it enough.

Am I different.

Probably yes….. I think some people are destined to live the “woe is me” life, the “my situation is worse than everyone else” or the “no matter what I do, things will never get better” attitude. I’m sure in their mind it’s easy to justify, easier to just call it a day. Obviously I’m not them, I’m not in exactly their situation.. or am I….

I was born in 1955, one of 7 kids living in a 2 up, 2 down terraced house with an outside loo, this was in Liverpool, my dad worked 6 nights each week while my incredible mum looked after us and several other kids to make a little extra, actually it wasn’t extra, it was necessary to be able to feed the nine of us.

As an adult I was able to indulge a little because of my work in the I.T. industry, good money but long hours and 50,000 miles driven each year. I’ve done 834 skydives, I was a Hang glider, Scuba diver, mountain biker, rock climber and a pilot. All of that ended including being divorced because I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a little hard to take at first but at the end of the day I had two choices… give up or fight it….

Hmmmm giving up was just not an option so I did everything I could from reading everything I could to having a full dental revision that required 10 hours of dentistry in two separate days, to CCSVI in Bulgaria, none of these had made a significant, lasting difference, there’d also been at least 50 other things I tried over a 14 year period.

I learned about Ann Boroch in August last year, started on the protocol in September and now I honestly believe that I’ll be healed in two years, the ABP isn’t easy, at the start it’s definitely a challenge but after a couple of months the “just feeling better” part massively outweighs the bad bits.

Half way through my sixth month and I feel so good in comparison to before I started, for an outside viewer it probably doesn’t look significantly different but to someone with MS the subtle changes are Ginormous… not a real word but you know what I mean, Oh and by the way I also lost a $500,000 house, went into a $100,000 debt, lost all my friends as a result of being taken to the cleaners when divorced by my American wife…. I could be pissed off and bitter and frustrated and depressed but guess what…. I’m not so yes I probably am different.

I just knew.

There are times when watching The Voice or B.G.T. or The X Factor that when they show a detailed look into one of the contestants and there’s video footage of them performing as a 6 yr old and later as a teen in front of their family because it was always what they wanted. You see them interviewed and then saying that it’s what they’ve always wanted to do, when that happens you as the viewer are expecting them to sing or perform well because it’s in their blood to be a performer. Then they walk on the stage and you can feel their personal confidence when they start to sing, it’s controlled perfectly even though inside it’s nerve wracking initially to them but it’s what they want and they want it enough that the fear, the anxiety, the nerves are controlled as they do what they know is right, what’s meant to be.. for them.

Well….. I’m not a singer, apart from in my head, I’m not a performer, but I do have something in common with all the good ones on those shows…. I believe in myself, I have absolute confidence in me…. before a friend of mine, Mary who was a patient of Dr Huggins 8 years ago and lives in Wisconsin in the U.S. decided to tell me about Ann Boroch and her research, work and untimely death, even before I knew that I believed in myself. It’s weird because I’m sure my family and close friends all believed that I believed in myself and somehow my healing would happen but no one including me knew how. For the last 5 1/2 months I’ve been following the method, the proven successful method known as the Ann Boroch Protocol…the ABP… that requires a 100% commitment. Obviously unless you’re a superhuman there will inevitably be times or possibly days that the commitment slips but providing you’re able to get back on track, be strong mentally against all odds then the protocol will work. I’ve had to be strong and with guidance from my good friend Janet Orchard, actually we’ve never met but she’s been my mentor and inspiration so in my book she’s my good friend…..  with her help I am honestly feeling so good, the little, the small, the subtle changes that came and went in a heartbeat are starting to become longer everyday experiences. I find myself able to move easier, to actually be aware of the toes on my left foot, not all the time but sometimes I’m able to spread them out, to actually feel them moving, it’s so, so good, I know that probably seems weird to normal people but when that hasn’t happened for years it’s great.

So it’s truly happening, contrary to what all the naysayers, the medical professionals, the doctors and neurologists said would happen, slowly but surely I’m healing, so even though 14 years ago there was no tangible proof, I just knew.

H.O.A.L.

Since I came back to England over five years ago I’ve persevered with what I thought was the best way to assist my body through what everyone with multiple sclerosis knows is a very difficult 24/7 experience. I wasn’t just playing at it or fooling myself because of overly promoted advertising of “sure things” on sale, no, my nutritional and supplemental regimen was based on the years I spent working for Dr Hal Huggins in Colorado. So based on his incredible work I’m sure I’ve been able to lessen the horrible debilitating symptoms.

I was originally diagnosed in February 2004 and was able to work full-time until November 2012 and part from the first five months when I was looked after by my beautiful sister Suzie, I’ve lived alone and seen a carer for an hour at lunchtime. I’ve learned that certain supplements and more than 4.4 litres ( 1 gallon) of water are absolutely necessary for me to exist, there are a variety of things added to the water including bicarbonate of soda.

Since September last year I’ve undoubtedly seen huge improvements, to me of course, because of the ABP and there isn’t a shadow of doubt in my mind that this old body of mine will once again function normally as the inevitable healing takes place.

However….. the last 14 years have been tough and if it wasn’t for a H.O.A.L. and my absolute belief that I will heal, even though there was no tangible proof at the time. On one particular occasion back in Colorado, I had food poisoning, I’d fallen while vomiting, not nice…. and became so weak with my face was planted in a pool of vomit, I was peering and soiling myself, it took 7 hours to crawl from my bathroom to the kitchen to get the water I desperately needed.

During the five years here there’s been some really horrible things, one time  I’d fallen out of bed, I was naked, it was November and after 5 hours at 3am it was bloody cold, several other things including a fall the resulted in a very nasty cut on my head. I could write a book on the bad things that have happened, but it’s what was…. not is.

So although I have absolute confidence in what I’m doing now with the ABP it hasn’t been easy and I know there’s still a very long way to go, but what will keep me going no matter what this hideous, heartless and so frustrating disease throws at me is three things, the ABP, I’m my mother’s son and H.O.A.L.  which is that I have the Heart of a lion.

Overdoing it.

Making the commitment to follow the ABP was an easy thing to do, I’ll clarify that, as a man who has led a physical and very active life to then to become the complete opposite because of a disease…. multiple sclerosis wasn’t an easy thing to cope with or mentally accept and adjust to. So… reading about Ann Boroch and the way she addressed it was extremely inspiring and motivational so much so that I didn’t hesitate for a moment when deciding to do this. Making an emotional commitment and actually doing it are two very different things. As I said, emotionally being who I am and having done what I’ve done, it was the obvious thing to do, I really don’t want to be the shadow of who I was, so committing myself to this was natural.

The first few months were filled with lovely highs but as many frustrating lows, the fluctuations became less disappointing as I slowly started to understand what was happening. The intricate internal workings of a body are hard enough to understand, but when it’s one with a serious disease it becomes even more complex. The numb lump in my shoulders, my head is gradually accepting that when smiling because I seem to be getting better, it’s all relative…. Good for a 14 year multiple sclerosis sufferer is completely different to good for an able bodied healthy person. Lesson…… when feeling good, enjoy, appreciate but don’t, don’t forget what’s going on inside my body, my brain and don’t overdo it physically.

Confidence.

I’ve written many times of the progress I’m making, admittedly the improvements wouldn’t necessarily be that obvious to anyone not living in my skin, I can’t say living in my shoes because I don’t wear them, in fact I don’t wear anything on my feet, no socks, slippers or shoes, that in itself is good in my opinion. Grounding or Earthing as it’s sometimes known, again in my opinion is good and psychologically it makes a difference to me. As the weather gets better, not hot but just not freezing, I will sit outside with my bare feet on the step or on the grass for thirty minutes on the days it’s bearable, I say that because it’s the heat, not that we have extremes that affect me the most.

It’s probably been a month now that the improvements have slowly been combining so that feeling good is becoming “the norm” for me, I’m not internally stressing about little things that require physical action, so all in all I’m feeling great about myself.

As an aside note I had a lovely compliment on Monday, an unintentional one but a compliment all the same, I had a new carer who after her hour mentioned that I was young to have this disease, I sort of giggled and asked how old she thought I was, now her response hasn’t given me any delusions of grandeur when she said I was probably in my late 40’s….okay I did feel good even if she was only 26 and not a medical professional, I told her we had the same numbers for our age accept my two are hers in reverse.

Anyway back to my point, lots of people that I know have had CCSVI, myself included and some others more than once, I have the greatest respect for Paolo Zamboni the creator but the number of long term successes are small in comparison to the massive number of successes of those following the Ann Boroch Protocol.. ABP.. if you are intrigued, interested and would like to know more then please contact Janet Orchard or me and we can point you in the right direction.

In August 2017 I read Healing Multiple Sclerosis and felt tentatively good about the possibilities, nearly 6 months later I can’t adequately express my gratitude and confidence.