Previous resident…
Imagine that you’ve recently found somewhere new to live, it’s really comfortable and as each day goes by your getting more and more accustomed to your new residence. It’s slightly weird in some ways because the person that lived there before was also very happy but for some completely inexplicable reason they had to leave…. whatever!!!! Not your problem.
The change for you personally has been great, you’ve discovered lots of things to do and lots of new people in your life so all in all, you’re staying regardless of the fact that you’ve heard the old resident is now interested in moving back!!!!! not going to happen!!!
Finding new things to do has been a revelation really, your life before was fairly non existent, you were just a speck… You weren’t on anyone’s mind, no one cared whether you were there or not, no one really talked to you or paid any attention, but now it’s completely different, now you are the main guy, so regardless of the previous occupier ‘s wants or desires, you are staying put….
The frustrating thing is even though they initially sought help from people in power, nothing was happening but now it’s different, now they’re getting some weirdo involved and although no one can really understand it, they appear to be making an impact.
Well you aren’t giving up without a fight, no way!! As far as you’re concerned this is your new home and if it’s a fight they want, that’s what they’ll get.
The problem you’re having with the “weirdo” is that they are really stubborn and are sticking to this ridiculous task of gnawing at your heels and creating problems that are making things difficult.
So what should you do now that they have shown themselves to be winning the battle, maybe lots of kicking and screaming will help, maybe you should cause a few problems yourself and show you’re not giving up or leaving without a fight.
That scenario sounds strange really, especially when the main character in this short story appears to be losing the battle….. Why….because they’re not the good guy,… the old resident is winning, surely that’s not a good thing… Actually it is because the main character in this isn’t me, the main character is the bad guy….
How can that be?
Because the story is about multiple sclerosis and the “weirdo” is the ABP who is winning on behalf of the previous resident of my body…
Me…
What it was…
Multiple sclerosis is a hideous disease and encompasses a multitude of symptoms, it’s not a “one size fits all” type of problem, I can imagine that it’s not exactly the same in its effects for most of the two million sufferers. Yes obviously there are very similar problems, but they will vary to some degree.
For instance a lot of people will have Vision problems, I personally have never had them, another is Tingling and Numbness, no to this as well. But Pain and Spasms, Weakness and Extreme fatigue, Balance problems, occasional Dizziness and Bladder problems have all been major issues for me.
As Janet so eloquently described in her post, we should all occasionally look back and take stock of the changes, the difference in our life as we progress on in this life changing journey. It would be nice to one day be able to say that we’ve reached our destination. However I don’t think that’s likely to happen to most people, I personally feel it’s not a destination per se….more of a lifelong journey.
But in reality, having a constantly improving life is a damn site better than the prognosis given to us all upon diagnosis.
Mine for instance was back in 2004 when I was living in Denver, Colorado when the neurologist looked at me with a “hang dog face” and described the negative life I was going to have, which would definitely be worse if I didn’t take the medication. As I’ve previously mentioned I never took the drugs then and never have.
So, getting back to my point and taking stock…I No longer have extreme fatigue although I still get very tired on occasions, my balance is better, I no longer get dizzy spells, I do however have what I describe as a hummingbird bladder…
I’m only 25 months into this and have a lot further to go but I’m so happy with my improvements and am very optimistic for my future.
I can very happily state that what it was, is not….
What it is…
Another day…
A lot of people will tell you that they are very strong mentally and see things for what they are, the ones that look at the bad things that happen in life and tell you “it is what it is” so “deal with it”. When I was younger this seemed like the best way to move forward, being a “Realist” was being strong mentally. As I got older my view, my attitude to life changed, fortunately… I remember once when my skydiving team were jumping into the Ponsborn Park Hotel trying to get sponsorship from Lowenbrau.
I had a banner strapped to my leg which was supposed to drape behind when I came under canopy, unfortunately it came adrift in freefall and was streaming behind me. I new that if I deployed my main chute it would become tangle with the banner and not open. Now remember I was falling at around 125 miles per hour, or terminal velocity. So, as all skydivers would do I didn’t panic even though I was less that twenty seconds before the earth and I would meet… The banner was tied to my harness, then a ten foot rope extended from that with a small sandbag which would keep it tight below me, before being deployed it was inside my jumpsuit. So as the seconds ticked by and each one made me 176 ft closer to earth you can understand in order to get the bag out of my zipped jumpsuit, I had to remain calm. Obviously I did it and deployed my canopy about 500 ft above ground, that’s less than three seconds from impact, so if I’d still been a realist and said “it is what it is”, I would have “gone in” and wouldn’t have had the incredible memories I’ve had.
Why am I telling you this? What has it to do with MS and the Ann Boroch protocol? Well in 2004 I was told by a neurologist in Denver, Colorado that I had an incurable life threatening disease…
I didn’t accept his prognosis, I didn’t say “okay, it is what it is, I’ll just take the drugs and wait to die”…
The feeling was exactly the same as that skydiving incident, no I didn’t have 20 seconds to save my life, I have much longer, so although I’ve tried fifty plus things that haven’t worked, the ABP IS….and my eternal optimism has enabled me to stay alive and….
Fight another day
You can be.
During my life I’ve always thought of myself as someone that did things, I’ve never been a “couch potato”, far from it, as a kid brought up in Liverpool in the “50’s” it was normal to be physical, playing outside, getting my hands dirty and just being a kid.
I left school and went to the Army Apprentice College in Chepstow, South Wales where I became a Combat Engineer, which meant I was trained in Bridging, demolition and minefield clearance amongst other things, I also qualified as a Carpenter and Joiner and took an HND in building construction and building science.
Over the next 25 years I’d done nearly a thousand skydives, I was a hang glider, scuba diver, mountain biker, rock climber and a pilot as well as riding very fast bikes and driving fast cars.
30 years after leaving the Army I’d arrived in Colorado in the US , a very different lifestyle, I was working as the client service director for Dr Hal Huggins who at the time was the world leading authority in biological dentistry and body chemistry re-balancing.
So, when I was diagnosed with MS in 2004 I’m sure you can understand how devastated I was to have become so physically challenged after leading such an active lifestyle.
Initially I was gutted, I felt sorry for myself, I was depressed and I’m not ashamed to admit I cried a lot and felt very alone, especially as it was only two years after I’d moved to the US. But that period of my life lasted about a month, then I took a deep breath, looked in the mirror and told myself to “Man up”…. No one was going to heal me, certainly not the drug pushing doctors, so it was down to me.
As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve never taken any MS medication, I took it upon myself to find out about genuine ways of actually beating it, not to simply mask the symptoms as pharmaceutical drugs do.
Up until September 2017 I’d tried at least 50 different therapies, operations and so called “miracle cures” that did nothing but lower my bank balance. Obviously I was a little skeptical when I read “Healing multiple sclerosis” by Ann Boroch, that opinion changed completely after 3 months, and now, 2 years and 3 months later I’m so happy, positive and optimistic for the future.
I think it’s generally accepted that women cope with pain better than men, but men are men!!! We are tough, or at least we like to think we are, but more women straighten their spine and fight for their life by starting and Sticking to the ABP.
I hope that more people, not just women take up the challenge of saving their life by committing to the protocol, how can you do it?
By being the best You… You can be
Direction…
To a certain extent I can sympathize with the medical profession when it comes to dealing with patients that have multiple sclerosis because I know they want to help but their medical training has brainwashed them into believing those with this disease are sliding down a slippery slope with no chance of true recovery.
They aren’t stupid heartless people, far from it, they genuinely want to help and they honestly believe they are doing the best that’s possible.
Sadly that’s not true, because myself and thousands of others know differently, why? Because the Ann Boroch protocol has changed the lives of a large number who’ve been strong enough to persist in following this life changing program.
The protocol isn’t a “just do this”, and everything will be easy to fix, no, not at all…. Multiple sclerosis is a very difficult, sneaky, conniving beast, the 37 trillion cells that make your body have all been contaminated, they all communicate with each other. When you understand that this vast quantity are being “healed” at a rate of millions each day it makes sense that it takes years (4) to fully heal.
When done perfectly, which is nigh on impossible, the cells are healing at around 25 million each day, diversifying or slipping from the protocol obviously re-contaminates a portion which sets you back a bit. That happened to me recently, but that was only a temporary set back.
I don’t know this for certain but my thoughts are that as we move forward and experience improvements, the devious disease doesn’t want to let go, it’s found a great place to live, as in our body, so realizing this will kick and scream and cling onto anything and everything it can causing as much of a problem as possible, we know this as Die off…
Again, in my opinion, D.O. Isn’t a one off thing, it will happen at numerous stages, often when you are thinking that all is going well, then out of the blue it hits you like a lightning bolt but can disappear just as quickly, that happened to me Monday afternoon, but as I’m writing which is 11.30pm I’m feeling great again.
So, we know the disease is hideous, we know the ABP isn’t easy, but we also know it works, and very importantly in my case, I know I’m back on track and heading..
In the right direction
Not an option.
It seems that my two years experience in this protocol isn’t enough to stop me making silly mistakes, I’m sure everyone makes them at some point, but I’m annoyed with myself for making such a ridiculous error. I normally do a reasonable amount of research on a food product before actually eating it. I found a vegetable gravy powder that initially looked compliant. I think when I saw it was gluten free and yeast free I was so excited to try that I failed to look at the small print.
Anyway I had the vegetable gravy with some lamb mince which tasted great, I didn’t experience any significant bad effects initially so had it once a week for about a month, my bad…
Thinking it was good, or at least acceptable I shared it with the group which was wrong to do, so please accept my apologies, I’m sure the negative effects it was having will take a week or two to eliminate, I don’t think it’s stopped my progress so no worries.
The protocol is mainly about eliminating foods that have a detrimental effect on the trillions of cells in the body that form the basis of every organ, the glands and blood which in reality enable you to live.
I’m addition to that it’s important that we change our thinking and attitude to what we eat and drink,which in reality, mainly comes down to our taste buds, so often we all say things like “this sounds good but I just couldn’t live without my morning coffee” or whatever else sounds good.
So to my second and equally or even more important point, “attitude or mindset”….. The Ann Boroch protocol isn’t just some “fad”diet to help you lose a bit of weight, this is a complete game changer, it’s a lifestyle change… Why?? ….because what You… Not anyone else but you personally are attempting to do, is to save your life!!!
Depending on how important that is to you is relevant to whether you.. Or I succeed..
I made a silly error, which I’ve rectified, that gravy was so nice and really made some meals something I looked forward to, but it’s gone, it’s in the bin and as much as the taste appealed to me, as much as I loved eating it, it will never pass my lips again… Why?
Because I’m doing the ABP and failure is not an Optimen
Important enough…
Just over two years ago I faced everyday with determination but no real confidence or optimism about my future, there was bravado obviously stemming from my upbringing, I’m from Liverpool, born in the 50’s from a mother originally from Berlin. So a “Scouser” dad and a German mum and one of 7 kids always having to fight for anything I wanted made me a tough character…mentally of course.
I’ve written about my active sporting life, the skydiving, hang gliding, scuba diving, mountain biking, rock climbing and being a pilot. Did doing all those things make it easier for me to fight against multiple sclerosis? I don’t think so..
I’m some ways it was detrimental, having great memories and experiences to a certain extent made me feel “hard done by”… Y’know what I mean, “I’ve done all these things and been so physically active but now I’m useless”…
So regardless of my upbringing and “tough mentality” it was forcing me closer to acceptance of the inevitable defeat to what the medical profession deem to be an incurable disease.
But in August of 2017 I read about a woman called Ann Boroch who had apparently beaten multiple sclerosis, reading her book “Healing multiple sclerosis” changed my thinking and attitude, I now felt optimistic and had genuine hope.
The Ann Boroch protocol isn’t an easy thing to do, at least not during the first 6 or 8 months, after that it isn’t hard to stick to the dietary requirements. Over time I personally have found numerous compliant food’s which I find to be perfectly acceptable.
I’m just starting my 26th month and to a certain extent I take the improvements I now feel for granted, what I mean by that is sometimes feel a little sad, momentarily, when I’m not leaping forward, I’m not walking unaided, but then I give myself a good slapping, mentally of course. I tell myself I’m so much better than the doctors and medical professionals expected me to be, and this is a 4 year plan, so if I haven’t got worse, as was their prognosis, then two and a bit years on I must be so much better.
I considered myself a reasonably physical man, a bit of a adrenaline junkie, but in all honesty those things haven’t helped me in succeeding on this journey, I’ve still a long way to go, being who I am and having done what I’ve done actually made me feel sorry for myself initially.
What has and “is” helping me is the fact that in my opinion, being healthy again and ridding my body of this hideous disease is…
Important enough, to do what’s necessary