Rather Be Healthy

Percentage

What I’m going through, what I’ve experienced over the last two months is difficult to explain really, small changes, minimal improvements are happening each day but whereas in all my previous attempts, and they were attempts based on my own research, in the main they could be likened to being on an escalator. Not in the normally accepted way, no it was like being on a down escalator but trying to walk up, initially as a strong man I could keep a good place and stay in the middle. Sadly my efforts as dedicated and committed as I was, just wasn’t enough so slowly but surely as the disease started to take a firmer hold I was moving further to what I felt was a point of no return, a bit like taking a step up but going two steps back. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle and it was very hard to deal with emotionally especially for such a physical man like me. But that was then and not now, now it’s very different, I’ve written about changes that are happening, unfortunately at this time the changes can’t be looked on cumulatively. It’s not as if an improvement is permanent, they happen one morning but go in the afternoon. Yesterday there were two physical things I did that I haven’t been able to do in four years, sadly I couldn’t do them again today but when I look at my physical self now it’s an improvement on last month. I have to look at the big picture, how there’s small but positive improvements that will slowly but definitely become permanent. This is just nine weeks into a very long journey, when I look at my improvements yes they’re small but a small percentage improvement is massively better than anything going down that escalator.

Four phases.

All four are very different and almost bear no similarities to each other as my life so far has been so varied, as a Liverpool lad born in the fifties, wow that seems such a long time ago, phase one was no different to the thousands of others, The Beatles were just a local band made good and as a Reds fan I followed what was the the best footie team ever!! , no mention of the blues even though I was born in Everton which is in Liverpool. I was just a healthy kid playing and scrapping with my mates. Phase one lasted until my early twenties then phase two, another healthy and more financially rewarding period. Primarily in the I.T. industry meant I earned good money but also worked hard and drove the equivalent of 40 times around the world, this was done up and down the A1 and M1 and every A and B road in the country. During this phase I was a skydiver, hang glider, scuba diver, mountain biker, rock climber and pilot.

Big change for phase three, living in the Rocky mountains, living and working in Colorado was a major culture shock, business is done differently, everyday life is different, yes they use our language but it’s been bastardised although it’s similar enough and after a few mishaps it was fine. It was during an 11 year period here that my MS started, two years after I moved in 02. My position as the client service director for the world leading authority in biological dentistry and body chemistry re-balancing was demanding enough without having to deal with the disease. Eventually I had to accept that MS was beating me, no more working and back to England. Still in phase three but still trying to beat  it naturally but not successfully.

Phase four, a friend of mine, Mary in Wisconsin told me about Ann Boroch and how she cured herself so after reading the book, several fortunate things happened which brings me here. Occasionally I have days that are good and bad, like Thursday, I’d had two fantastic days Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday morning was great but I became extremely weak in the afternoon. I think yesterday was the end of a really good 10 day good spell, the weakness took me by surprise but it wasn’t really a problem. I don’t know how long phase four will last but it’s a phase I’m enjoying and so looking forward to phase five. About a month or so ago I wrote a post for my blog www.ratherbehealthy.com that I firmly believe the this decade, my sixties will be the best decade of my life… so far because I know the next is going to be a doozy.

Better than it..

The program I’m doing, we’re doing is one that is so important, the reality of this has far reaching implications in my life or your life and everyone connected be it family or close friends. By making changes to my diet and taking very specific supplements the internal workings are being affected, there are trillions of cells making everything from skin and hair on the outside to blood, lymphatic liquid, enzymes, glands and organs on the inside. If we neglect to provide the necessary nutrition, all of the above simply cannot do the job they were designed to do. So the fact we have this hideous disease which has gradually been getting worse proves that at some point in our lives we’ve failed in providing what our body has needed. Now I’m not saying that by over eating or just by eating nutritionally bereft junk food that we’ve created this disease, absolutely not. But I am saying that completely unbeknownst to us that certain foods have helped perpetuate and exacerbate it. Fortunately some of us have been shown proof that Ann Boroch perfected a way of removing this so called incurable disease completely from our body. The ABP will do it providing we stick to it, in only two months myself and several others are well on the way to doing that. From my own experience as the good stuff, not wanting to get to technical here, but the anti funga’ls, digestive enzymes, adrenal support and the many other supplements and nutrition cause many changes. These are seriously shocking to our day to day functionality,  the disturbance will have its up’s and downs but we have to keep focused on the end result, the slips, the falls, the weakness, the extreme fatigue and depression are only phases they’re temporary so as they happen I know I’m being tested but I also know I’m better than it, multiple sclerosis your days are numbered.

My concerns..

Since starting two months ago I was surprised that the changes necessary for me to follow the ABP were actually not difficult to adapt to as in all honesty there wasn’t that many, it wasn’t a case of adding lots of new foods it was mainly eliminating a few. I am gluten intolerant so the restrictions here were minimal, dairy was already a no, no for me so again not a problem. When I had baked beans which was probably two or three times per week I always drained to sauce first as most of the sugar was in that, so yes I miss my beans on toast. I also loved tomatoes and mushrooms which have now been eliminated. As far as supplements were concerned I think I use the best quality already so I just had to add digestive enzymes, adrenal support and Candida Cleanse, no big deal adding them. So there are a few foods, some treats I miss but in reality how I feel overall by not having them is infinitely better than how I felt having them. The changes I’m making, the improvements I’m having and the absolute certainty in my mind about the fact I am being cured is so freaking wonderful. The title of this post is My Concerns…  hmmmm …..oh yes there’s……. none.

Remember I’ve said before that me writing a post is mainly for my own motivation and inspiration.

For so many years I’d wake up and my first thoughts were that although I was in pain and struggling to move that I’d do my best and try to be positive, let me say that it was hard. I couldn’t even roll over in bed to try and get more comfortable. My mind knew what it wanted to do as my bum was numb and back was aching but the physical side of me just refused, I simply didn’t have the strength or coordination. Very frustrating when you start to cramp up but your limbs won’t move to help you relieve the problem that’s getting worse every second. Anyway enough of the bad things because my everyday life is improving. I’m now waking up and not feeling frustrated or down, now it’s a case of being very pleasantly surprised because the pain and limitations are less, obviously it’s only minor but it is better, so regardless of it only being minor and a barely noticeable improvement, the fact is it is an improvement. For instance I woke early this morning around 5.30  but felt very comfortable and more importantly, not in pain. There’s no doubt that the first month was hard feeling slightly better one day but terrible the next, the second month saw an improvement in the number and length of positive spells.  I’m now just about to enter my third calendar month and I’m so excited and optimistic and positive, it’s hard to explain really, I’m not cured …..yet but I know I will be… thank you…

Is it just me…

So nine weeks in and I’m not sure if someone on the outside looking in would necessarily see the differences that I’m personally experiencing, it’s not as if I’m walking or doing anything differently. But…. during the 17 hours or so I’m awake I have found that everything I do from getting out of bed in the morning to eating my food or getting my supplements or… Yes the most common thing, going to the bathroom 25 times is just that tiny bit easier. Manoeuvring about the flat so frequently is tiring, I wish I didn’t have to do it so often but I do and its slightly easier and doesn’t worry me as much. Since I came back to England from the U.S. I’ve gradually got worse, the muscle atrophy is horrible to me, I was always so proud of my strength and stamina so being in this weakened state makes me feel so frustrated and humiliated. But in the last two weeks I’ve genuinely felt stronger, now I honestly believe 100% that the transition from getting pathetically weaker everyday is slowly but surely being reversed. I know several others were fortunate as I was to be part of this group, I just hope others are experiencing improvements and it isn’t just me.

My perception.

As each day starts I tell myself that I’m going to have a good day, even before my feet hit the floor my mind affirms that I’ll feel strong and stable regardless of how my body feels and of course there are times that I’m a little weak to start but I can’t let that initial feeling dictate my day. Take today (Saturday) for example, I’d woken at 6.30 and read for an hour, I always drink a litre of water before getting up and going to the bathroom. Initially I didn’t feel brilliant but I ignored that and constantly recited a positive mantra, now I’m not saying that the mantra per se made my body chemistry rectify what was making me feel a little unstable, but the positivity it instilled in my mind certainly helped.  I firmly believe that believing makes all the difference, if you believe you can or you believe you can’t…. you’re right I have told myself that the ABP will cure me, there will definitely be bad days, but they are becoming fewer and further between. My writing is better, my strength and stability are improving so it’s happening, it might be another two or three years but in my mind it’s not an if it’s a when. There’s lots of alone time, time when it would be easy to  give up and tell myself it’s not working but that won’t actually help initially or in the long term, I have a gut feeling that slowly but surely it will happen and the main controlling feeling and more importantly is that my perception is that I’ll win.

Perspective

As I wrote yesterday, I think that Wednesday was a great day and Thursday although not great it was far from a bad day, in the main I felt quite good, just not brilliant. But just as everyone else doing this there’s going to be bad, very bad, not very good, good and great days and I’ve reconciled myself to accept that day as a stage in my journey. I just deal with the bad or not good days by responding appropriately, if I’m really weak I simply go rest in my bed, I don’t let myself get upset or depressed about it. This is a long undefined journey with some bad and lots of good, becoming great days. There isn’t a map with defined points on it telling me when and where the rest stops or refuelling places are so I just have to be prepared for bumpy roads or motorways as and when I come across them. The week before I started in September, Janet explained a few things to me, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but knowing I will do this against all odds makes it all the more rewarding.  My first un-diagnosed symptoms were in 1997, the early stages of RRMS which gradually led to diagnosis in 2004, I worked full time until April 2011. It’s been a very rocky road, no pun intended as I lived in Colorado, and the first neurologist told me I’d be in a wheelchair permanently within 6 months if I didn’t take the medication which I never did and never have. Looking at my life pre ABP and since starting less than two months ago, I have to put it into perspective and realise I’m so lucky. For anyone new or no longer following the program, have faith, it works, be strong and help the program help you.

So easy.

Am I referring to getting healthy, no I’m not because  removing a disease that’s lived in your body for as long as most kids are in school isn’t easy, far from it, the changes, additions and lifestyle adjustments needed to kill the bad bacteria, parasites and fungi is a very lengthy, difficult process and requires real commitment. I think in most cases because this process has lots of highs and lows that it’s constantly challenging you, one minute, literally one minute the body is reacting in a very positive way to the elimination but can do a 180 degree turn the next. Because of this it requires a very high level of commitment, I’m sure that you yourself will have doubts and those nearest and dearest will see the lows and probably say it’s not working so you shouldn’t believe the “snake oil salesman” and put your faith in the doctors and western medicine because they know best. Well the facts speak for themselves, ask any medical professional if multiple sclerosis can be cured, ask to see proof of who in the past 30 years have actually been cured, guess what… none using pharmaceutical drugs… none, so they say it’s incurable. Okay now read Ann Boroch’s book or Janets story and several others then ask yourself are they better than you? was their MS milder than yours?, the answer to those questions is a resounding no….. but they did have faith and incredibly determined in the face of adversity when all around them were telling them to give up that crazy, ridiculous idea. They had, have, incredible determination and I for one want to do the same, I will accept there will be hard times and bad days but there will also be great times and fantastic days. The title of this post, So easy… is referring to how it’s so easy to become accustomed to feeling good, which I did yesterday, in fact I felt better yesterday morning right through till about 1.00 than at anytime in my MS life. It’s now Thursday morning, I don’t feel bad I just don’t feel as good as yesterday but this is just a phase of my healing, I’m closer now than ever before, it might be next year or the year after but it is happening, I’m 100% sure.

A little bit better.

I almost feel that I shouldn’t say anything for fear of tempting fate, I felt that there was a good chance that the porridge oats I was having everyday was the likely culprit for my afternoon weakness, so I had my last one on Monday. I felt great as expected Tuesday morning and decided at 12.30 to go rest, the weakness was there but definitely not as bad. I rested for a few hours then felt great so returned to my normal day in the living room and finished a good book, that’s my 27th so far this year. So not having the oats Tuesday confirmed that I’d made the right decision, I’m hoping that there will be exponential improvements over the next few days. When your life has been severely impacted by disease, obviously in my case it’s MS, then making changes knowing that by doing so you’ll significantly improve your life, not just the initial day to day things but massively improve your desire to actually live. That’s not an exaggeration, it’s a fact, getting up in the morning and knowing everything you do from crossing your legs while just sitting down or going to the loo 25 times is going to be difficult, painful and so, so frustrating, so not eating certain foods is no big deal. It’s actually quite rewarding to know that a food you ate daily,  tasted good but was very likely nutritionally bereft and can be eliminated then replaced with a healthy alternative that over time will significantly help in your quest for life. I’ve probably cut out 20 different foods that I liked but we’re actually causing problems. It’s so sad that a very large percentage of processed foods are riddled with sugars, artificial flavours and preservatives that con your brain and tastebuds into wanting more of a substance that’s not real food that can help you but in reality limits your chances to live and actually harms you. At the end of the day, you and I have a choice to make….. please your tastebuds…. or help your body feel a little bit better, I know what my choice is..