Heather was "cured" in 2010 but there have been a few twists and turns in her life during the last 5 years. I consider these to be "glitches" as she is in college enjoying life and able to compete as a fairly elite athlete.
As always, I am reporting on Heather's case history so that others may possibly benefit from our experience in some way. She is experiencing another glitch at this moment, and is in the process of receiving treatment. I will provide a chronology of developments, along with glimpses of our thought processes along the way. I think that most of you may find this story quite interesting.
This fall Heather was chugging along like a choo choo train pursuing her goals. She reported that she has never felt better, and still does! The only exception was that she had stiffness in her neck for the last several months, but no pain. Then in the first week of Novenber she started to experience pain in one of her forearms. Within 2 weeks it had spread over the whole arm, across her shoulders and trapezius, and down her other arm. The moderate pain became severe and she also had numbness and pins and needles sensations.
She went to the athletic trainer on campus when this pain started. He reported that she had numerous "muscle knots" in her trapezius muscles. He really went to town massaging out those muscle knots which were at "trigger points" He would eliminate them with aggressive treatment, but they would persistently reappear. He also reported that she had some rather bizarre and restrictive range-of-movement in her arms and shoulders. Everyone assumed that her problems were an athletic/training issue only. She also saw the campus M.D. who advised her to not swim or lift weights at all until the problems were solved. Heather insisted that her symptoms were different from what she had when she was sick with LD. She insisted that infection was not the cause of her problems because "I know the difference".
The problem is that the pain and numbness became progressively worse even while she was not training at all. The campus doc referred Heather to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI of the cervical spine area. The MRI revealed a "bulging disc" in her neck, but no other issues such as cysts which could cause nerve pain. he didn't think that the bulging disc alone could be the entire explanation for the symptoms that Heather was experiencing. This doc also ruled out Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and other possible structural issues with some other tests.
Heather reported back to the campus doc and he admitted that they didn't have a clue as to what the problem was. He said that he had already scheduled an appointment for her in early January with a neurologist. He encouraged her to seek the services of doctors of our own choice in the Balt/Wash area when she went home for Christmas break. During the second week of December when Heather was finishing the semester, she had to take a lot of extra strength Tylenol just to even put a dent in the pain when she was typing up her papers. The pain was so bad that she took Aleve just to fall asleep late at night.
Heather arrived home on Dec. 15th. Her M.D. at home wrote a prescript
ion for an MRI to check for a tumor on the Pituitary Gland on the bottom of the brain. We had already known for 2 years that there was a possibility that a tumor was causing her pituitary gland to malfunction and not send the ACTH hormone to the Adrenal Glands. This could be the reason why her Adrenals were not producing very much cortisol. This possible tumor could also be associated with why she is so abnormally tall- 6 ft. 2 .5 inches. The MRI was negative for the suspected tumor, and we were greatly relieved! Still, what was causing her problems?
That same day we took her to an M.D. who was highly recommended to us. I had spent over an hour on the phone with him a week previously. I was very impressed with what I heard. He was an Osteopathically trained M.D. He explained that he is a "holistic M.D." He claimed expertise in several areas, including sports medicine. He is Dr. R. and he practices as part of a large integrative medical practice in Washington D.C.
We first met with his assistant "Mike." Mike met with us for about
45 minutes and gave his spiel on a lot of things that we already knew such as the necessity of a good diet and lifestyle. I already knew that our appt. was scheduled for 1.5 hrs, and would be billed $650. I was nervous that nothing would be accomplished! He said that he was previously an astrophysicist, but had such a life-changing experience with LD and coinfections that he changed careers. He tried all of the mainstream approaches to healing, but they all failed. He said that he was sick for years but that he healed himself with adopting a pristine diet and sauna treatments at a Budhist monastery on a mountain top somewhere. This was before he met Dr. R. He also said that Dr. R. was an Einstein like figure, .... a genius.
Then we met Dr. R. who came into the treatment room sniffling and congested sounding, and obviously was very sick at the moment. My heart sank and I assumed that we just wasted time and a lot of money! He seemed to have little patience and poor interpersonal skiils. I'm sure that him being sick had a lot to do with it.
After asking a few questions, he looked at her face for a few seconds and then said " you are loaded with mold". He based that on the coloration of her face and the rash on the sinus areas on her lower forehead and on the sides of her cheeks along her nose. He went on to prove that his hypothesis was correct by conducting a simple test. He first grabbed each arm and tested the range of motion for certain muscles, as well as her strength for those muscles. She was severely range-of-motion restricted. We already knew that because her trainer had already said so. Then he gave her a dropper full of an herbal extract that eliminates mold neurotoxins (under her tongue). He waited a few minutes before he retested her range of motion and strength. Her restricted range-of-movement had changed to a full normal range-of-movement and greater strength!
Then he gave a dropper full of an herbal extract that kills mold (under her tongue). He waited a few minutes before he retested the range-of-movement of her arms again. She was again tight and restricted with little strength. We had seen this type of muscle testing performed at the Hansa Center so we were not surprised. We were surprised that this M.D. had the knowhow and skills to conduct such a test. We were also surprised that the problem was mold because she had been insistent that infection was not involved at all. Dr. R. told us that he didn't learn how to do this type of diagnosis at medical school, with a smile on his face!
Most of the meeting consisted talking about
her past LD and treatment. He also spent a lot of time talking about
the dangers of GMO foods. He said that he used to see about
1 person per week that had pituitary problems. Now he averages about
5-6 per week. He noticed that it all started with the advent of GMO foods, and has increased since that time. He said that the health of the younger generation has been destroyed and that that generation has been set up for a lifetime of misery and poor health. He is very much in the same camp as Drs. Mercola and Klinghardt. He cited a study on rats that demonstrated that if as little as 11% of the rat's food was GMO then they would develop tumors. He stressed that someone with a history of chronic LD cannot afford to have ANY GMO foods in their diet at all. It was a sobering thought for us. He prescribed anti mold herbals, toxin eliminator, and a nebulizer to kill mold. We ordered the nebulizer but waited on ordering the other herbals....
Heather found herself being treated at the Hansa Center by Dr. J. 2 days later (not the owner, but another Dr. whose name starts with J). He concurred that Heather had systemic mold and that it was in her brain, CNS, and her cervical spine. He also said that it could be the only or one of several factors why her Pituitary Gland was not functioning properly. She was treated for 2 days, then had the weekend off, then was treated for 2 more days. She experienced no herxes excerpt for a pressure in her brain behind her eyes, after the first day. Dr. J. gave her something for it, and it went away after a few hours. The equipment that they use there is completely outside of the experience of most of the members here, so I won't even mention the names of the treatments. It would be irrelevent. I will mention that they use a Lymphatic Drainage Plate technology to promote lymphatic flow. She also used an Ionic Foot Detox.
Heather has been involved with year round swimming for the last 12 years. She has been exposed to warm and damp environments in which mold can proliferate. She shoves her equipment into a damp locker that is probably never cleaned, and in which there is no air flow. I can understand the constant and daily source.
There is also the issue of how this suddenly rose up to crisis proportion? After all, Heather has been to the Hansa Center several times over the last 5 years. I wasn't there, but my wife used tact in posing the question. Dr. J. did not avoid the issue and gave a straightforward answer. He conceded that Heather probably had a level of mold infection for many years. The cracked skin on her thumb which she has had for many years attests to that probability. The mold may have been present but very low in the past. He explained the approach to healing is like peeling an onion. What may not have been a problem years ago, can under certain circumstances rise up to be a major issue. She is training extremely hard in college. In fact maybe too hard. The coach has a reputation for overtraining according to Heather and the doctors at the college. Recovery is key to performance, but the coach does not like to grant it. Too much physical stress added to the inherent stress of college studies can be immune suppressive. Dr. J. explained that since Heather's upper body takes such a beating with the swimming and weight training, that the mold attacks those overtrained areas. It sounds like the most sensible explanation to me.
My understanding is that health is not a static entity. Just because a person receives a good treatment and reaches balance again today does not mean that it will remain so. Health is dynamic and variable.
Heather has returned home with a 60 day supply of a remedy to take. She has 2 weeks at home before she returns back to college. We have devised a little regimen to help in her healing. She bounces for a while on her trampoline to promote lymphatic flow. Then she has an Ionic Detox session with her arms in the basin and alternates with her feet on the other days. Then she concludes with an Epsom Salt/Hydrogen Peroxide bath.
Her local physician has a FIR sauna and Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber in which she may take a session or two. Also we will also probably have her do a "Myers Cocktail" or two before she leaves for college. Her Dr. J. of the Hansa Center sees the value of all these things and encouraged Heather to use them for her healing. Dr. J. expressed that he was impressed that Dr. R. (MD) was so competent by quickly and accurately diagnosing the situation. Although Dr. R.. is impressive and probably offers an excellent treatment, we are deferring to the treatment of Dr. J. of the Hansa Center to heal her.
Now you have the whole story, and I hope that by reading it that you have left with something useful to help you someday. There is possibly a silver lining in all of this. Since Heather only participated in a few swim meets in the first half of the season, she may be granted a "Medical Redshirt" for this year. This means that the NCAA could grant her the option of repeating this year over again for competition. Normally an athlete is only granted 4 years of NCAA competition, but a petition may be entertained to be granted a 5th year of competition. We shall see! I will keep you updated.
Don
Post Edited (Heathersdad) : 6/5/2015 10:07:25 AM (GMT-6)