over the river and through the woods to the naturopath we go

last weekend we went to PA to visit john's sister for her daughter's high school graduation party. only intending to drive up sat and back sun, we didn't pack much. then, we ended up staying until tues. that being the case, there wasn't much clean underwear going around.
ewwwww.

on sunday night john got the idea that maybe the naturopath would be able to fit us in if we called her. we had planned on rechecking his blood at the 6 month mark, which was last month. we called and she said she could get us in so we ended up seeing her late monday afternoon for a 2 hour consult. she drew his blood just like last time and analyzed a live culture and then a dry one, looking for improvements and comparing it to the draw she did 6 months ago.

overall, john's blood has made some good progress, and we still have far to go.

the good news is that john's blood shows improvement in: pH/acidity, bacterial markers, metal levels, yeast/fungus levels, food particles (leaky gut), digestion and overall toxins. she was pretty happy with the improvement in pH and said that it usually takes people much longer to bring up their alkaline levels and it's usually a struggle the whole way. john seems to have pulled this off primarily with his change in diet and things have gone well. there was still yeast/fungus, some food particles, some bad bacteria and metal but significantly less. also he has a sluggish lymph system, 'parasite markers' and the way his blood looked around the edges was indicitive of a decrease in muscle strength and mass; but, overall, there's been definite progress.

the area that is still pretty bad is his parasites. and, to be honest, the parasite cleanse is the one that he has been putting off for some reason. last time she kept using the word 'parasite' and this time she kept using the words 'parasite markers'. we're not sure what the differeence is but whatever. i also noticed that last time we saw moving parasites and this time they looked more like very large scar tissues in his blood; it's hard to explain. she also kept mentioning 'white rivers' and 'white puddles' in his dried blood sample but i have no idea what the heck she was talking about in regard to that either. (i know, you're wondering why we didn't ask. seriously, this is like a 6 hour chem class crammed into 2 hours. i take notes. i'm lucky that i pick up all that i do so i consider anything that i'm able to retain as a small victory). she explained to him that he's pretty much gone as far as he can go without addressing the parasites and that as long as he has them in his system it does not matter how many other things he tries to improve he will still feel like crap. so we made a plan and an appt to follow up in 5 months.

while continuing the dietary changes (lots of water, little to no refined sugar/soda, no artifical sweeteners, few white carbs) and the vitamins (multivitamin, fiber, probiotics, digestive enzymes, milk thistle, chelating, MSM, olive leaf extract, evening primrose oil, cod liver oil and flas seed oil), we also need to do a few things.

for the next 2 weeks john needs to triple his olive leaf extract intake (kills off parasites). then he needs to do a 7 system organ cleanse (this is the one that made me fall asleep all over town for 15 days). after that he needs to do a parasite cleanse for 2 weeks on and 5 days off, ... 4 times. the whole while he is to continue the olive leaf extract and the chelating (for metal) but suspend all the other vitamins (except 2). he'll be taking the chelating b/c studies show that as parasites become aware they are being flushed out, ... they are very smart and resiliant, ... they tend to hide behind metals in the blood. after the 4 cycles he's to go back to the triple dose of olive leaf extract and resume the other viatmins until we see her again. we also need to start switching to green cleaners in the house b/c of the connection between parasites and metals (there are metals in otc household cleaning products). for the sluggish lymph she recommended magnesium oxide and potassium glucinate (the 2 he needs to continue during the detox). above and beyond all that she also recommended calcium, B6, B12 sublingual (the kind that you take under your tongue), CoQ10 (helps oxygen levels in the body), vit E, folic acid, and vit C.

it's a very hard, aggressive plan (not to mention expensive) but necessary. he may feel weak or fatigued and exhausted. he may get cranky or feel sick. or he may be just fine. there's no way to tell until he does it. pulling all this crap out of the body can fatigue but allergies to the supplements can do the same thing and you just don't know until you do it.

i am now researching green cleaners. there's much to learn there. my brain is tired.

she recommended 'muscle testing', something that john's chiropractor does but has just started learning so he's not really a resource. it's a very specific practice, one that this naturopath is not schooled in, so we may need to find somebody about that. i think i have a lead in the ithaca area. the little that john's doc does know has led him to tell john, "from all that i can see in you, all of your problems revolve around your digestive system". that was no surprise, as the more we learn the more we are believing the theory that 'all disease begins in the colon'.

i still have not had a chance to read the 'eating 4 your type' book i picked up that speaks to the idea of eating based on your blood type and i also have purchased 'the omnivore's dilemma' but have not had time to turn my attention to that either. i'm shooting for those to be read by the end of the summer. i have heard good things about both and people that have had good results with the 'eating 4 your type' book. i think both may offer us some useful knowledge.

we have an appt the wed before thanksgiving at 9am. the first session will be john's check up and after that i am having a baseline draw done. i'm kinda freaked about what she'll find but that's 5 months away and this isns't about me so i'll shut myself up about that.

the other thing that we need to address during this next 5 months is john's low blood oxygen level and his sluggish lymph system. she gave him some breathign exercises to do and encouraged light exercise. john is always hesitant about this b/c even slight exercise can set off a wave of vasculitis and honestly every time he goes to play lacrosse in the yard with the kids sure enough he starts experiencing symptoms. frankly, it sucks ass. all that man wants to do is play with those kids and he ends up soon thereafter with ruptured blood vessels and swollen joints and pain and squishy leg. sucks ass i say.

she also talked about at what point we start taking him off all of this but each supplement is different. for example she said something about one year for the chelating but that probiotics are good for life. she mentioned decreased vit E levels over time and, ... there was more but my brain is way full.

the naturopath said that if all is well at the nov appt then the next thing we need to tackle is john's leaky gut. food is still leaking through his intestines (probably from the chemotherapy thinning his intestinal wall) and for reasons i can't rememebr but i'm sure i'll learn, ...that's just not good. it's leaking less than 6 months ago but still enough to cause concern. she said something about alglutimate helping to repair the intestine lining and repair muscle but let's take one thing at a time, yes?

as for john's health currently, he is ok. not great, but ok. he is experiencing slightly stonger symptoms more and more frequently of slightly longer duration. the blood clot leg has been acting up more than usual; squishy and painful. he still says he can feel things moving through the vein. (gag). the vasculitis dots seem to come more often and have started to itch again (if he itches them they scar). he gets tired easier but tries to push through for the kids. but i did notice that today he tried to put a positive spin on things and said that he's pretty sure that all this "activity" going on in his body is 'healing'. "i'm feeling healing going on. that's what it is". i don't know if he was trying to convince me or himself but i said how good that was and we both left it at that.

glass half full.

keep the prayers coming please!
sorry this post was so long and all business like. next time i'll talk about our last two weekends. that's way more fun.
peace out,
k