Deb's Story

Here's my story ... like millions of other stories ... but unique because it's MINE, and because it's mine, it's had a huge impact on me and my family. It's a story of going from very sick, to very well. And I hope that by telling it, it helps others. 

Thus ...

The Happy Colon Club!

By Deb Dowdle

Every good health transformation story must have the BEFORE PICTURE. And I think I do it proud! 

I've enjoyed good health my whole life, with only a few minor hick-ups along the way. But after the birth of my last child, things started to change rapidly. The pregnancy surely took it's toll (bed ridden for eight months) and I soon found myself depressed, overweight, sluggish, with low self esteem, and truly sick. 

I tried a detox cleanse with Elizabeth King which helped a lot, but I found that I was still sick in the end. Doctor's visits revealed a tumor on my right ovary. This is where everything got interesting ....

After visiting an oncologist, we set up a surgery for the next morning. The doctor felt confident that we were dealing with ovarian cancer. We geared up but scared for what the surgery would reveal.

I said goodbye to my boys after a heart-felt conversation about things being in "God's hands".

Eric and I went to the hospital. He was so good to stay by my side through the whole nerve-racking experience.

My mom came to bring me comfort. How does anyone survive without a mom! Even when we're 100 years old, we need our mom's!

Good news! No cancer. Bad news, a grapefruit-size tumor that was removed with my right ovary. (Lucy Jolynn, my left ovary lost her twin ... sniff.) I had endometriosis so thick it took the doctor three hours to scrape it all out. In the scraping process, he accidentally (like he would do it on purpose) cut my uriter. I also hemorrhaged, thus the bruise on the neck from where they put an blood transfusion doo-hickly. I was later told it was one of the worst endometriosis surgeries the doctor had done in over thirteen years (yippee --- pick me). I was also told that my bowel had been deformed. It is common for the endometriosis growth to grow into the bowel, where pieces have to be removed down the road (fun? ... I think not) 

I was soon starting the recovery process in the hospital. I have to be blunt when I say it was HELL. The best part was when my amazing family came to visit. When they'd walk through the door, it was as if life had just entered my body. Oh, how we need our loved ones, especially when we are sick!

The "Moms" in my life, Granny and Oma came to bring me comfort ... 

Again, what would we do without Moms?!!!

My kids left me love notes on the wipe board in my room. When they were gone, I would look at the board and it would bring me comfort. 

My sweet friends Dave and Wendy came to see me. Wendy spent a lot of time with me the first night. I appreciated her SO MUCH. I am so thankful for the many cards, gifts and flowers I got from so many wonderful friends.

My son Shawn drew me a picture of the tumor being removed. It still makes me laugh.

Eric brought Cody to see me time and time again. He missed his mom and needed a lot of comfort and explanation. Eric was so good with him. Here, they're my cheering squad!

I was released after ten days at LDS hospital. I was so happy to go home, but couldn't walk without help. I had no idea how hard surgery recovery could be! I hadn't eaten much during my hospital visit and lost weight. Eric was eating my food and the dietitians didn't know. We didn't realize they were supposed to monitor what I was eating. It was very strange to me that they were giving me full-on meals of meat and potatoes and salad. I could only sip water and juice and the pain killers were making me throw that up. Hmmmm ... makes one wonder what those hospital nutritionists know.

After a rigorous and awful recovery with more hospital visits, infections, complication to medication, etc...  I finally got back to normal life. But I was given NO instruction as to how I should care for myself. "Call us when the pain gets too bad and we'll go from there" was my instruction. After ten weeks, I as still feeling sick. So ...

I called Elizabeth King, the homeopath that did my colon detox the previous year. I went into her office and in a few second she knew what to do to help me. I was immediately put on pro-biotics and other herbs. Within three days I felt as good as new! It was amazing!

I knew at this point, that there was something here that had to be researched. 

But as I felt started to feel better, I lost the urgency to care for myself and within a year I was back to the sluggish, painful life I had experienced the year before. Yes, this is common. We rarely do any changing unless the level of discomfort exceeds our desire for change. My desire for change was now HUGE.

I was finally ready to learn.

I went back to the hospital. Things were pretty bad. I was scheduled for another surgery (full hysterectomy) with a rigorous drug intervention of Lupron (catapults you into menopause). I was told I couldn't have any hormone therapy for four months with the hopes that it would stop feeding the endometriosis. I was also told I'd be impossible to live with ... mood swings, extreme hot flashed, and all the other gross symptoms of menopause rolled into a concentrated bomb of destruction. My husband was not excited about this, especially when they said, "You WILL want to kill your husband". And neither was I. The ability to control my emotions and moods, and to have coping skills for life, was something I didn't want to loose. 

The date of the impending surgery loomed closer. I didn't feel good about it. I went back to Elizabeth King. She told me she had a homeopathic alternative, but it would be hard and require me to have discipline and change some life-habits. 

I cried, but agreed to the process. I cancelled all my other appointments. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Today, February 2009, I am about to turn 40. I feel as good as I did in my 20's! I am so grateful for the changes I have made and the new chance at a normal life I've been given. I've kept my girl-innerds (especially little Lucy).

I am strict with my health regimen and it gets easier over time. My family has their mom back. They're happy about that ... however, they're wondering what the crap happened to our old way of eating! From time to time I throw in some red meat and potatoes to make them smile. But mostly, we're now inundated with healthy organic meals of a multitude of colors and flavors. It's wonderful. 

I'm going to outline some of the things I am doing for my health. So many of you have graciously asked about it out of kindness. Others of you are in a similar boat and looking for answers. Either way, I hope this recap of my health saga has been helpful.

Happy Colon to you all!!!

MY PROGRAM

First, get a good doctor who is willing to talk about nutrition and holistic alternatives. Get a good physical and take charge of your health. IT'S YOUR JOB -- NOBODY ELSES!

Second, it's a GREAT idea to do a detox cleanse. The one I did with Elizabeth King is about 21 days long. Yes, it's HARD, but when you're done, you will feel amazing, drop a boat-load of weight, and be educated about health far beyond your wildest dreams. Here's her sight if you want to hook up with her.

THE COLON CLEANSE

I'm on a program called MMS (Miracle Mineral Supplement). It's also called Clorine Dioxite.  It basically uses oxygen to kill everything in the body that is alkaline. It was discovered by Jim Humble where it is doing amazing things around the world. I'm not going to take up space to explain how it works. Just google Miracle Mineral Supplement and you'll find a lot of information on it. I do recommend that you work with a professional on how to use it for starters. Like chemotherapy, it can make you sick. But, it's doing a great deal of good.

Learn all about herbs and nutrition and start eating right. It will save your life! 

Green Smooties!!!! ... I scream it from the rooftops!!!! It's has been one of the greatest keys to my success. It works. I drink them every morning and sometimes for dinner too. My family drinks them. Learn as much as you can about them and then do it. Google green smoothies and you'll get a boatload of information. Or you can go to my post where you can see how I do them.

GREEN SMOOTHIES

Maintaining a healthy life with exercise and eating right REALLY DOES make you better. Can you believe it's that simple. But it's not that easy. You truly have to completely change the way you think and act to see results. Remember, its' not what you CAN'T HAVE where you focus. You must think about what you MUST HAVE first. Once you get the nutrition in you, you don't want to ruin it with things like refined products, hormone injected meats, process foods etc. 

Good luck ... send me comments if you have questions.