Saturday, May 22, 2010

Ongoing Discovery in Recovering from ALS

When attempting to recover from a purportedly incurable and terminal illness, you can often find yourself navigating a very unpredictable path. It is a constant process of discovery. Often times, things don’t make sense, and sometimes you discover that you have taken a wrong turn, and have to double back and try again.

In my work with Dr. Akin and the use of hair analysis, I am able to track the mineral levels in my body. With a nutrient rich diet, comprised mostly of raw organic fruit and vegetables, I would expect to be seeing fairly strong results in my reports. Yet for almost 2 years now, my numbers have been low for minerals that are abundant in the foods that I eat. My copper levels, for example, have been consistently low despite my consumption of an ample number of carrots on a regular basis. Inconsistencies such as this have been puzzling. Rather than consuming supplements to duplicate the intake of nutrients that my diet already supplies, Dr. Akin agreed that it made sense to investigate why my body is not absorbing what I am taking in.

To accomplish this, we ran a series of GI panels to explore what was going on with my digestion. Among the things we discovered was the existence of several pathogens that should have been eliminated by a detoxing agent (MMS) I had been using for over a year. Upon re-examination, I discovered a wrong turn in my path. I had been using the MMS at too low of a dosage. The bad news is that I wasted some time. The good news is that the possibility now exists for more impact from the MMS.

While Dr. Akin and I have been discovering the issues with my digestive system, my healer, Jose, discovered a huge quantity of dimethyl mercury laced throughout my body. He is very hopeful that we may see significant changes in my condition once the dimethyl mercury is gone. I am very hopeful that the MMS (in proper dosage) will help accelerate its departure.

It constantly amazes me how possibilities for healing keep showing up in my life, as long as I keep my intention focused on recovery. There always seems to be another step to take, another path to explore. Recovering from ALS, as always, continues to be an exciting adventure.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Black Knights, SerenAides, and Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Life and the media are filled with examples of people who have beaten the odds and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles through the sheer force of will. One of the more dramatic images that come to my mind is actually a fictional and quite humorous one with which I often identify. I am referring to a scene from the 1975 comedy “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, which many of you are probably too young to remember. In this scene, the Black Knight is defeated by King Arthur while trying to prevent Arthur from crossing the bridge that the knight has sworn to guard. Each time Arthur relieves the knight of one of his appendages, the knight dismisses Arthur’s success with some belittling comment. At one point during the fight, with blood gushing in comic exaggeration from his armless shoulder, like water from a fire hydrant, the knight shouts, “Ah, it’s only a flesh wound!” Finally, reduced to an armless and legless torso, the defiant knight screams after the departing Arthur, “Come back here, you lily-livered coward! I’ll bite your knee caps off!” Despite the goriness of the scene, it is hard not to chuckle at the absurdity. Yet I always find myself admiring the knight’s tenacity in handling adversity. Each time I have lost a little bit more of my mobility, I have found myself reflecting on the knight and finding inspiration in his refusal to quit.

Last September, a more aggressive acupuncture treatment resulted in the loss of most of my remaining arm and hand strength. Operating my wheelchair and my computer mouse, the two remaining activities in my life that provide any physical independence, had become nearly impossible. For a short while, I felt crushed and defeated. I had arrived at another major choice point. Giving in to the depressing emotions would surely have led to more physical and emotional degeneration. That choice was unacceptable. Instead I chose to remain focused in the moment and not project my set back into a continuing pattern. I kept telling myself the weakness is now but, not necessarily tomorrow.

But I needed inspiration to regain my internal strength. Among the sources from which it emerged, there are two that stand out in my memory. One was the Black Knight. While it is difficult to bite the kneecaps off of a disease, remembering his tenacity helped to pull me through. The other source was SerenAide. For six years now, the people who participate in this wonderful evening of music have been an amazing source of emotional, physical and financial support to me and my family, and in the fight to defeat Lou Gehrig’s disease. I couldn’t bear the thought of letting them down. So I chose to fight my way back.

As a result, I have regained about 90% of the strength that I had lost. Last month I observed my 10th anniversary of living with ALS, an achievement marked by fewer than 5% of those diagnosed with this disease. It is difficult to find the words to adequately express my degree of gratitude to the people of SerenAide and to the Black Knight for the choices they help me to make.