Hello World!
Well, a lot has happened since we last spoke! For the sake of not boring you to death I will simply give you the cliff notes. Of my two latest additions, both receive raves from me. The addition of watermelon juice once or twice daily has been really great! It gives you a shot of energy, like the green juice, only it does it while filling your craving for something sweet…SCORE! I drink it around 3 pm, to prevent from face planting into my desk. Optimum Health suggests to juice the entire watermelon (rind, seeds, and all!) so that you can get some of those fantastic little built in warriors in the rind that are there to protect the watermelon…why not use them to protect you? The next addition is the continued use of Lypo-Speric Vitamin C. I love, love this stuff and absolutely think it makes a difference. I had come across a lot of studies, books, documentaries, etc. that suggest the use of intravenous vitamin c to eradicate cancer and so, letting curiosity get the best of me as usual, I ordered the book Curing the Incurable. After reading it I am certain of one thing, Vitamin C is not a Vitamin in the sense of other vitamins…it is more like a necessity of living, like water. What I am unsure of is whether intravenous Vitamin C would actually have an effect on eradicating Tarlov Cyst Disease. It really seems to be focused on curing/halting viral diseases such as Hep C, AIDS, Lupus, Cancer, etc. So, what that means for me is that I will continue to take my 1,000 – 2,000 mg a day, but am not seeking out copious amounts to be intravenously injected.
A BIG thing that is going on (by BIG I mean really expensive and somewhat painful right now) is that I have found my way to an integrative doctor with the help of the searchable database at www.acam.org. I was directed to an integrative specialist through basically all books and documentaries I have come across, but I simply ignored it as I figured I could figure everything out through books and save my money for the organic goods. Well, I came to the conclusion that I was wrong. I mean I have been maintaining my pain and symptoms with my green juice and veggie diet, but I seem to be teetering on the edge. As in, I am only two pizza nights away from the symptoms poking their heads back out to say hello. I feel like going to the integrative doctor is going to provide the last pieces of the puzzle to get me back to true health. I had my first appointment yesterday and got every test done you can imagine. Except they weren’t the kind of tests you would imagine I guess. They involved heart rate variability, Autonomic Response Testing, biological terrain testing, pH testing, thermography testing, etc. It took hours and the thermography testing is the most embarrassing test ever (think being totally nude with your nipples in some guys face while he gets thermal readings from all over, including your areola and nipple!), I seriously wanted to die! Once the testing was done I then went in for my consultation with Doctor Robert Battle (great name, right?) to discuss the findings. It wasn’t pretty and given what I have done to my body over the last 10 years I guess it shouldn’t be. Plus, it should be obvious I am unhealthy..I am 27 and already have a debilitating disease (if I let it be, that is). But, it was worse then I thought. I won’t go into detail and I really couldn’t cover it all if I wanted to, but the gist of it is I have tons of metals in my system, an acidic pH, an inefficient digestion system, an extremely overworked pair of kidneys, an over extended adrenal and thyroid, and a biological age of 69! This is all of course a result of having way too much fun in college and then forgetting to stop once I got out and a diet full of inefficient, incomplete packaged diet foods (if it says diet it’s healthy right? Man, I was such an idiot then…aww blissful ignorance).
Dr. Battle said the juicing and diet changes have been successful in giving my digestion a much needed break and he seems to think that it is this huge break I was giving to my system that allowed the symptoms to be more efficiently cared for. He believes that the source of my disease and other symptoms (ie everything else that’s wrong with me!) can be attributed to an allergy which gave me the horrendous ear infections as a child (ear aches are an little known side effect of an allergy) that has been left untreated and gone on to cause all kinds of other issues (for example the cyst in my right breast, the cyst on my left ovary, and the cyst in my left wrist, etc.) and that couple with the build up of environmental toxins has allowed me to become symptomatic, while most people with a Tarlov Cyst never have symptoms (lucky bastards). So, from his standpoint, he seemed really, really confident that once I corrected this my body would begin functioning normally again and kick Tarlov Cyst Disease’s ass out of…well, my ass (my words, not his). This is really great news, right? SO, why am I not jumping through the roof? Quite simply because I am now of the school of ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.” I went to 7 doctors before concerning this and it was an utter nightmare and unfortunately Dr. Battle is going to have to overcome my trust issues! I must say though that what they have already done seems to be making a difference. Especially in my head. I feel very clear, very energetic, very optimistic, and way more in love with Damon then usual; all goods things!
Our basic plan of attack is to first detox and get all this crap out of me. I never did that before (even though I knew I was supposed to…evidently they all weren’t lying, it is important!). The idea is that if your organs, tissues, cells, etc are chalked full of toxins and you don’t remove them first, all of the nutrients, vitamins, mineral, and herbs can’t get in to give you a back log to do all of the needed repair work and other essential functions. Essentially, if you take all of these great supplements and don’t detox first, you are basically making really expensive pee (that is why after you take something your pee is dark yellow…you didn’t absorb it all the way). This is being done in conjunction with neuro-peptide injections (this hurt like a mother-f’er) and lipid exchange (to detox the liver). After that I will be re-assessed to make sure my tune up worked and I am running smoothly again. From there we will begin work on whatever still isn’t running smoothly, on the assumption that it may be an important factor in my condition, which will involve supplementation and other therapies to restore my health.
Of course I am praying to Buddha, fingers crossed that this is the missing link that will bring this horrible year after year after never ending year nightmare to a close and I can live healthily with my husband….hell we may even be able to actually have a kid of our own someday. The whole experience with Dr. Battle has been interesting so far (I have had two appointments and seen more needles then I care to count put in places you wouldn’t imagine…like the back of your ears…ouch), and I believe he can help me. It is a totally different experience to go to an integrative doctor then it is a regular MD and it is hard to get used to. I have been ingrained with the idea of what a doctor is, what a doctor visit looks like, and the different methods employed. This originally caused me to freak out like something was wrong. Then I remembered what a traditional doctor visit looked like; a 1 1/2 hour wait, 10 minutes with a stranger who barely looks at you let alone runs tests, then dolls out some random diagnosis (based on seemingly nothing now that I reflect back), writes you a prescription for $200 worth of god knows what pills, then charges you an arm and a leg on your way out with no real solution in sight. I didn’t like that system and I certainly don’t miss it. Dr. Battle has hardly even mentioned my cyst. He believes (as do I) that it is simply a symptom of a bigger problem and therefor once we correct the problem all my symptoms will disappear. So, a doctor visit with him takes 5 hours, they run every possible test they can on you to get a complete picture of every function going on, they ask for a biography from you curious about your mental health, your childhood, and anything and everything that has ever happened to you. He wants to get to the bottom of the issue and he wants to help me make it right. I hope he can. I hope I can. I could really use a break from my life revolving around my stupid back and I know you could, too. I will keep you updated. I have another appointment tomorrow and then again on Monday. Things are looking up, I just know it. So much for the cliff notes version, huh?
