My golf game has improved.
 
OK, an odd thing has happened. My golf game has improved. Er, mini-golf that is... Lately, I’ve increased my dosage of guai. I’ve tried this many times in the past and never had much luck with it. I’ve always been “slammed” so hard with intense cycling, that I had to cut back down to my normal dose. But, the other times I tried it, I did it “by the book.” This time, I’m doing something different. The “by the book” way of increasing your dose is by adding in some Fast-Acting (FA) Guai. I last saw Dr. St. Amand in December of 2007. He said I could increase my current dosage of 600 mg. Long-Acting (LA) Guai, to 600 mg. LA Guai + 400 mg. FA Guai. In other words: Old dose: 600 mg. LA Guai New dose: 600 mg. LA Guai + 400 mg. FA Guai I was to take this dose twice a day, morning and evening. So, I tried it. And, the same thing happened as the last two times I tried increasing my dose. SLAM! Within a few days, the headaches and backpain became so excruciatingly intolerable, I stopped taking Guai altogether for several days. Then, I went back to my old dosage of 600 mg. LA, twice daily. (sigh) OK, so, why did I even bother trying again, if it had failed in the past? Well, I’ve been on Guai for four years now, and I thought since I am getting closer to being fully “cleared,” well, maybe my body could endure a higher cycling dosage. Apparently not. But, three weeks ago, I started down a different path. (And, this does tie into the golf game. I will get to that...) I received an email from my friend Robert in Arizona. We met through one of my blogs, (either this written blog, or my video blog on YouTube, I don’t remember which.) We’ve been corresponding back and forth since then, exchanging emails every couple of weeks, keeping each other appraised on how we’re progressing with clearing out our fibromyalgia symptoms. Well, Robert is 64, and it can be considerably more difficult for someone older to complete the Guai Protocol than somebody younger. The difference lies in simple mathematics-- it takes two months of being on Guai, for every year you’ve been showing fibromyalgia symptoms. Assuming fibromyalgia is genetic and starts at birth, (which is still an ongoing debate, but for the sake of argument, let’s say it is,) then let’s compare my son, Alex, with Robert. Alex is six years old and has been on 600 mg. Guai, twice daily, since December of 2007. (Six years of symptoms) x( 2 months to clear each one of those years) =12 months until he is completely symptom-free.. So, it should take Alex one year for Alex to be completely symptom-free of fibromyalgia at his current dosage. Now, let’s look at Robert in Arizona, he is 64 years old: (64 years of fibromyalgia) x (2 months to clear each one of those years) = 128 months until he is symptom-free. Or, 10.6 years. Ouch. Now, there are some people who start Guai and feel immediately better. There is an 80-year old woman who joined our support group. I wrote to her, telling her about how I suspect my 70-year old Mom probably had fibromyalgia, but wondered if “my Mom was too old to start on Guai.” So, I asked her opinion, and how/why she decided to start on Guai. She responded back immediately, saying: “You are never too old to start on Guai.” She started having “good days” right after starting on the medication. It was working very well for her. Robert in Arizona was not so lucky. As Robert wrote to me: (I deleted out the personal parts of the email, to protect Robert’s privacy): [excerpt]Since my last email, my fibro protocol has changed. I felt horrible last year from July through Sept... [excerpt] I decided that guai would take too long at my age (64) to rid myself of fibro since I've had it most of my life. I was at the point where I was uncomfortable 24 hours a day. Quality of life became an issue... [excerpt] A couple of months ago I came across a book by David Brownstein, MD called Iodine Why You Need It. Perhaps you've come across his research and his success with fibro patients. For the last month I've been taking Iodoral an otc iodine product and assorted vitamins. The first thing I noticed was that I slept much better and my energy level increased by at least 50%. I was going to give you a report on this after several months to make sure this improvement was not just coincidental. I know that throughout the years of living with fibro my symptoms have improved and worsened without any reason that I could detect. There is a support group for iodine/fibromyalgia at www.fibromyalgiarecovery.com. This group was formed by a woman who used guai for 7 years with great success. This group has been guided by a doctor from California who also uses iodine (Iodoral) to treat his patients. This group doesn't discourage the use of guai. [end excerpt] Hmmm... I was very intrigued. Over the years, people who have seen my blog have sent me links to all kinds of stuff claiming to help fibro-- everything from Mangosteen juice to vitamin supplements to specialized chiropractic treatments. I read all of the information, but, I’ve invested too much time into the Guai Protocol to not see it through to the end. I’ve gotten my life back thanks to the protocol, so I’m not willing to give it up for an Asian-wonderberry juice, (even if it did do wonders for somebody’s Aunt Elly’s back pain, or foot problems, or bladder infections, or whatever.) This was different-- this was a group of Guai protocol people, expanding, branching out and trying new stuff, while still doing the Guai protocol. Hey, I’m OK with that. As I’ve written in private emails to folks many times, I see fibromyalgia as a jigsaw puzzle. I believe Dr. St. Amand has discovered a very crucial piece of the puzzle that has literally saved many lives. But, I also believe there are still pieces of that puzzle that have not yet been discovered. And, there are other doctors and researchers out there doing important work that will help add more crucial pieces bring the pieces of the puzzle together. I do not know if the puzzle will be solved in my lifetime. But, hopefully it will be solved in my son’s lifetime. And, when it is, they will have found a cure (and a cause) for fibromyalgia. So, yes, I totally checked out the website Robert sent me (fibromyalgiarecovery.com) and read all the information. It is worth reading. The gist of it is that by adding Iodine to the Guai protocol you can vastly speed up the cycling process. Instead of taking years to cycle, you can cycle in just months. Hot diggity dog- if that were true, that would be the greatest thing that had happened to Guaiers since, well, Guai itself was discovered to alleviate the multitude of symptoms plaguing folks with fibro. So, I ordered a bottle of Iodine from a breast cancer website, read all the information about dosage, (start slowly), and decided to give it a go. I’d heard of this before actually, under the name “Ludol’s Solution.” (The bottle I bought was called “Iodoral,” but it’s the same stuff, basically.) When I was doing cancer research for my brother, I read extensively about the Gerson Therapy. Dr. Max Gerson was a fascinating individual, and did some amazing work, right up until he was murdered in 1958. (It is presumed he was murdered by those most threatened by his research, namely, the pharmaceutical industry. fascinating, fascinating person.) Ludol’s Solution is just one part of the Gerson Therapy, a therapy credited with healing such notable individuals as Nobel Prize Winner Albert Schweitzer. Somewhere along the way, I got the idea of changing my Guai dosage from 600 mg. LA x 2, to 600 mg. LA x 3. Now, I can’t remember if this is because of something I read on the website, or because of my email correspondence with another person I met through my blogs, a fellow migraneur, also named Diana. Diana and I have a lot in common. Not only does she have fibromyalgia like I does, headaches are her worst symptoms, just as they are mine. And, she has a six-year old son, who has been diagnosed with Juvenile Fibromyalgia, just as I do. So, we’ve been corresponding back and forth as well. Diana mentioned to me that her headaches improved a great deal when she switched from 600 mg.LA x 2, to 600 mg. LA x 3. Hmmm.... So, instead of taking the Guai just in the morning and evening, she was taking: 600 mg. LA morning 600 mg. LA noon 600 mg. LA night Huh. Now, that is a combination I have NOT tried. Everytime I increased my dosage, it was always by adding in some FA Guai. Well, she was a fellow migraneur, as well as a fellow fibromyalgic. If it helped her, it might help me. DING DONG! The Iodoral I’d ordered arrived very quickly, within just a few days of ordering it. Wow- OK, that got here fast. Well, guess, I’ll go for broke, and try the Iodoral and the increased Guai dosage at the same time. Maybe I can improve my migraines, AND clear my fibromyalgia faster at the same time... Yeah, I know, better scientific methodology would be to make just one change at a time, but, you know what? I’m not interested in methodology at the moment. I just want this damned disease out of my system. I just want to have less headaches. I just want to be done clearing. I want to be done with the cycling phase of the protocol, and be in the, well, what would you call it? The “done” phase? The nirvana phase? The symptom-free phase? Call it what you like-- that’s where I want to be. The Guai admins constantly admonish us “this is a marathon, not a sprint.” You can’t rush the protocol. Yeah, OK, maybe not. Or, maybe you can... I’ve been on the Iodine for three weeks now, and the results have been rather surprising. I have to go now and take care of my neighbors’ animals, and then prepare tomorrow’s Sunday School lessons. So, I will have to leave my Iodine adventures for another blog. I’ve been taking a lot of notes, though, as it has been a very, very interesting process... If you’re interested, I discussed this same topic in my most recent YouTube video blog. Oh, but I did promise to explain the golf reference, and I will... (... and, then I really do need to go feed those animals...) Today, we went and played mini-golf as a family. My son adores mini-golf. He got a very good report card this week, so we took him mini-golfing as a reward. Normally, I’m one or two shots behind both my husband and son. I usually miss “par” because I miss the hole by just a hair’s breadth. It is as if I need glasses, and I just can not properly calculate the distance to the hole. But, it is not my vision that is the problem. It is my muscles. My muscles do not function properly, and it is just enough of a “handicap,” to borrow a golf term, to make the difference between making the shot, and missing it, everytime, by the tiniest of a fraction. Time after time. My ball would just skirt the side of the hole, missing it by the tiniest bit... Time after time. Except for today. After three weeks on this new protocol, my muscles feel different, (and I have more to report, but we’ll leave it at that for now.) And, today, I made all the shots, time and time again. My husband looked at me in surprise. I didn’t miss any of the shots. I made par every time, just like my husband and son. (They are both VERY good mini-golfers.) There was no skirting the hole by just a hair’s breadth. I hit the hole dead-on, every single time. It was as if the muscle clumsiness that has plagued me for all these years, has finally decided to let go. The connection between my brain and my muscles has finally decided to cooperate. I have lost my (fibromyalgia-related) clumsiness, and can now simply do the things that normal people do. Like hit a silly mini golf ball. And, I’ll just leave it at that. Hungry animals await.../CYCLING.htmlhttp://www.fibromyalgiarecovery.comhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb3xqiCsjKsshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1shapeimage_1_link_2
This photo was taken last summer.  It is my brother, Mike, leaping off a rope swing and into a  little cove, located off of Lake George.  This was our family reunion weekend.  Mike is out of the hospital now.  He had the trach tube removed yesterday.  We’re planning on camping at Lake George again this summer.  When you have a disease like cancer, as Mike says: “It is not how many breaths you take, but how much you make of each breath that counts.”
Saturday, April 26, 2008