What do you mean, saved by salt...?

Good question. The title I chose for the blog is actually kind of humorous for me. I wanted something a little more catchy than "how I spent my summer vacation treating lyme disease." Since I am choosing to blog right now while starting this heavy-duty salt protocol, it seemed like a catchy title.

However, let's be real.... no one is "saved" by anything.... and in fact, I don't need to be "saved." I just need to be here for me, and be committed to my healing and transformation to vibrant health. As Ariana would say, "Everything happens for a reason." I do believe that. And in spite of the pain I feel in various parts of my body, I also feel better in many ways than I ever have. How's that for irony? Well,it's no accident. I have worked hard this past year to bring myself up to the point where I am right now, feeling really great mentally, emotionally and spiritually, having much of my old energy back, and totally engaged with life and Light.

(This entry will be one of the longer ones, as I feel it important to give a brief summary of some of the "stuff" that contributed to where I am at right now. There is no way to capture it all, but here are a few highlights...)

This healing "crisis" came at the perfect (perhaps agreed upon) time... after I had been working non-stop for over 20 years in child welfare, followed by running non-profit agencies, doing the Silicon-Valley commute chaos and life in the fast lane.... and then the last couple of years before moving to Whidbey were spent preparing for that move - house hunting (five trips), planning a wedding, raising baby goats, running The Sanctuary on top of my day job (although my day work, as well as my healing work, have never been "work" to me....), then packing, moving, un-packing, settling into the new, dreamed-about slower lifestyle, surrounded by nature. In quiet and solitude. Leaving the traffic, concrete, smog, noise, and overcrowded conditions behind.... and just as much, I was feeling a call to come to Whidbey, and back to the Puget Sound where I had been born, where my heart had always felt at home.

And that's exactly where we are at and it's so beautiful. Every day Erick and I look at each other in amazement and say "We LIVE HERE!!!". Yet when I came here, after promising myself a lifestyle change, I found myself seduced into being the Director of a local non-profit, and back into a swirl of activity many hours a day. I had been having a certain amount of pain in my joints, and other symptoms of what I now know are symptoms of lyme, and telling myself that it was "hormones." The office I worked in (the size of a large bathroom) had three computers, a copier, fluorescent lights and no ventilation, which didn't help at all. The EMFs drove me crazy, and I was/still am super-sensitive to chemicals.

The "hormone" rationale only went so far, until the time I found that I was struggling to walk up the hill to my home, and in such pain in my joints that I could hardly move. Initially, it was a little terrifying. I struggled with that for a couple of weeks before it occurred to me that I wasn't getting better - something was really wrong and I needed to seek attention. I went to a local MD who told me to "exercise more." (Pretty hard to exercise more when it is excruciatingly painful to move). I went to an osteopath who told me that I was structurally sound, who looked worried and said I probably needed some testing. I've never been big on western medicine and have always avoided medical attention except when I absolutely needed it (if I hadn't been so stubborn, perhaps I would have sought medical attention after those two tick bites....!).

So I went to visit a local naturopath, Dr. R. (I'll ask her if I can use her name in this blog...). Extremely sharp, knowledgeable and on top of her game, I knew I was in a good place to get some help in figuring out what was going on. Her primary approach to everything is to strengthen the immune system, and that's what we went to work on. I had to do an overhaul of my (already pretty good) eating habits, and began taking homeopathics and quite a few supplements, including intravenous vitamins (not my favorite thing to do, and my veins finally threw in the towel and said "no more"). I started using her far-infrared sauna (bliss) and ended up purchasing one of my own, which I use faithfully at least five times a week. I went to acupuncture every few days, too, for the first few months. I needed that kind of strengthening. My entire being was exhausted, flat-lined, and all I could do for a few months was sleep, read, rest, eat a little, sleep, read, rest, eat a little more.... I had to let go of my job. During that time Ariana moved back to California and that, too, was really hard, even though I knew it was time for her to step out into her own light and her own life.

OK, so I did ask for lifestyle change, right? I received it!

Nothing in our planning said that I would not be able to work for awhile and that Erick would have to float the boat. But he is my hero - he works three different jobs that he absolutely LOVES, and somehow we are doing just fine. Thanks, Baby! (I am actually getting back to working more now in my Reiki practice, and all kinds of opportunities are coming my way, with my improving energy. The Universe knows what it's doing. I've also learned I can live on WAY less than I ever thought I could.)

Lifestyle change? YESSS! Thank you to the Great Mystery.... I appreciate it ALL!

So back to the salt.... after many months of being in denial that there was a serious, on-going problem here (and after finally being diagnosed with lyme, as well as toxic levels of lead and mercury in my system), I had to take a time-out to just study and read-up on what I was dealing with. Not that there is any one answer, or any easy answer. There isn't. But what I really wanted to know was: How have people with a diagnosis of lyme disease gotten themselves better, to feel well again? I realized I had to take my healing into my own hands and own it.

I read many stories of people who had gone through all their savings trying to get well with antibiotics and western medicine (Lyme is known as the "disease of the rich." If you don't have the money, you don't get well. That's why the Salt/C protocol is so exciting - it's inexpensive in comparison to most other treatments). I found that people were, on the whole, not getting well the western/allopathic way. I came across information on Rife machines, which treat lyme and other types of "dis-eases" using various electro-magnetic frequencies. Many, many people report tremendous improvement and amazing relief from years of symptoms, after using Rife machines. I learned it would not be a quick journey. Everyone said to be prepared to use the machine faithfully for at least a couple of years before really starting to feel any better. Then there is the little matter of what are called "herx" reactions (Jarisch-Herxheimer reactions), which happen when the lyme bacteria die-off in one's system. They emit a toxic chemical that, when killed in significant numbers, can cause a person to experience agony even more excruciating than the pain of the disease itself. I've experienced a few of those in reaction to various treatments (including a 2-week run of antibiotics), and they are powerful things. I felt like my muscles had been shredded by the claws of a grizzly bear. Can you say WTF???!!! or scream OUCHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I had pretty much decided to order a Rife machine, and when I sat down one day to buy one, I learned that some of the places that manufacture them don't even have them available, as they are in such high demand (they are also used to treat fibromyalgia - which some believe is essentially the same thing as lyme - and a whole host of other conditions). About that same time, I learned for the first time of the Salt/Vitamin C protocol. My naturopath also gave me information about it, encouraging me to give it a try. I have to give her a lot of credit - she is very trusting of a person's own guidance about what is best for them. She also acknowledged something that I knew in my heart.... she said, "I think a big reason you are doing so well, in spite of all of this, is the Reiki and energy work that you surround yourself with." I couldn't agree more. The Reiki, meditation, and quiet that I engage with every day are what help to strengthen and nourish me on all levels. That being said, I've had a few moments of depression and anger during this past year. While I feel like I worked through my "anger issues" years ago for the most part, I found myself feeling pissed off sometimes about being in pain and not being able to control it... I would be lying if I said some days didn't look pretty bleak.

So for healing, I decided to take a closer look at the Salt/C protocol, since Rife machines are very expensive and, apparently, not always easy to come by (there was a certain model I wanted, the Doug Coil Machine...) So I figured I would start first with the Salt/C and see what happens. It is a newer therapy, and people are having excellent results with it, in feeling better - even freed from most or all of their symptoms - and in actually dramatically reducing their bacterial load. There are numerous types of bacteria that reside in our bodies: some friendly, and some not so much. When our immune system is functioning well, the not-so-much ones lie low and don't make too much fuss. When the immune system goes haywire, these bacteria come out to play, in a big way. They infiltrate all parts of you (if they haven't already) and begin to make themselves known in a huge way.

For me, it was mostly in my joints and muscles. The bacteria drive themselves deeply into these places for they are hard to reach there. Some other lyme-related symptoms I've experienced have included blurred vision (which changes often in its intensity), brain fog (intermittent), speech glitches (rare), sweats (lyme or menopause or both?), funky nodules under my skin (little pods of critters... how fun is that??), heart palpitations, weird electrical sensations in my feet and legs (these went on for years and I wondered what the HECK they were!), cramping in feet and legs, sharp pains like someone suddenly poking me with a needle, hair loss (intermittent), tinnitus (haven't had that in a couple of years now - lyme symptoms ebb and flow), thyroid problems (that started years ago, around the time of my second tick bite). They say as you address the bacterial issues, you essentially will re-experience all of these "stages" and symptoms you've been through, which means re-visiting all of the above again before I say "bye bye" to the whole deal.

The Salt/C protocol, in contrast to the Rife protocol, is inexpensive and easy to accomplish, by ingesting a combination of un-iodized, pure sea salt and high-quality C up to four times per day (there's more to it than that, but that's the gist of it). We've all heard a lot about the dangers of salt these past years... well iodized salt that has been stripped of minerals really is BAD for us, and causes many kinds of health problems. Pure salt in its natural form is actually very GOOD for us, and when taken with equal amounts of Vitamin C, there is a synergistic effect that actually kills-off the "bad" bacteria in the body, without harming the good stuff. I won't go into the whole protocol right now, but suffice it to say this is something one wants to do under a doctor's supervision, with an understanding of how much to take, and how to work up to the proper dosage.

Again, those herx reactions can be pretty gnarly, and you don't want to bring on more than your already compromised system can handle. That's why it takes a couple of years or more to start to feel well. You can only go after a certain amount of bacteria at a time, and you have to hit them in their various life-cycles and stages. It takes awhile. It takes a lot of patience (never my strong suit, but I'm learning....) And all this combined with healthy eating (organic veggies and fruits, organic whole grains, and not much more!). Organic meats are okay, too, although I don't eat meat so that is non-applicable for me. My doctor tried to talk me into eating a can of sardines a day for the Omega 3's.... I tried, I really did, but EWWW... SO GROSSS!

That's enough for tonight. You get the idea... we are embarking upon a bit of an adventure here.... My philosophy about this is not to "go in and kill the suckers!" but to bring my body into balance and wholeness, and trust that when my immune system is healed and strengthened and the bacterial load has been brought under control, my pain and other symptoms will subside, and I will be out there kayaking, doing yoga, running, playing tennis, and all those other things I so want to do and am really missing right now.....

But you know what? It's all good. I love life, and I am blessed beyond imagining..... it helps to have the world's most loving, supportive husband, the most awesome daughter, many dear, close friends, soul sisters, amazing family, our beautiful home, this gorgeous island, and this incredible planet. It's not a perfect world, by far, but it is stunning, and I embrace all the experiences it has to offer..... Day after tomorrow the Salt/C Odyssey begins! Sweet dreams tonight...