24. MS or Mercury Poisoning; what's the diff?

August 12, 2012

Hi again, I had written a good many paragraphs on the subject of MS and Mercury Poisoning one night on my bed (when I couldn't sleep) - with my ipad, amazingly. But I was not familiar enough with how the ipad works when you switch from one window to another and somehow I lost all I had written (waaa!).

Anyway in the meantime, I had a nice holiday traveling to Michigan to the wedding ceremony of my son and his lovely wife. Following that, my daughter and I continued on to Ontario to see relatives and stay for a few days at a beautiful cottage in beautiful Muskoka.

In the meantime, I'd forgotten what I had put in this "ghost post", but it had to do with the association between MS and Mercury Poisoning. I'd read an article about natives living in the more northern regions of Canada and their problems with mercury poisoning due to the large amounts of fish they consume. And as people were describing their problems it sounded very similar to many of the problems I'd been dealing with in my life. That got me doing some research.

There are a number of interesting and astonishing articles online about this subject ... and apparently Hal A. Huggins DDS, MS, is one doctor who has been teaching around the US and the world trying to convince dentistry to stop the use of mercury in fillings (http://www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/ - LOTS of good info there).

Seems the best way around all of this trouble is to not get any fillings in our teeth, EVER! So eat healthy from childhood, keep fit, stay away from pre-prepared packaged foods and take cod liver oil as a preventive measure. (as I mentioned before I take a fermented cod liver oil)

Personal stories:

http://www.mercurypoisoned.com/linda_brocato.html

http://zap.intergate.ca/mystery.html

Again, the GOOD NEWS is that our bodies can recover and heal themselves - IF we give them the opportunity with:

•  proper environment,
•  proper foods,
•  proper thinking
•  enough exercise and
•  a little time.

It doesn't take a long time to get sick but it does take a long time to recover - so if you're doing it naturally, have patience; next year you'll be better and the following year you'll be even better and the following year better yet!
______________________
Painting/drawing or making any kind of art gives me a lot of peace and contentment. Here's a little oil pastel I made at the cottage this year: (my art website is "dorothealeblanc.ca" if you're interested in seeing more of my art)

23. a side note - about asbestos poisoning

I have not done any study on asbestos poisoning or the problems it causes, but Jillian McKee has ... and if you're looking for info regarding this problem, hopefully this link will help you:

http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/jillian/

There's always hope for a better and healthier life!

22. Take your Health into your own Hands.

I wonder why too many people just let the medical profession make so many decisions about their health. We're normally more independent than that. I mean, we inform ourselves about a lot of things; we have hobbies, take courses in a multitude of areas and spend mega bucks doing it. Why do we then just blindly take the advice of a medical doctor without bothering to LEARN ABOUT HOW OUR OWN BODIES WORK first?

The medical profession is there to help when we can't help ourselves; but it's become much more than that  because of our neglect - one might say the general public has become stupid, ignorant and misinformed about their own bodies and how to maintain them. People are getting sicker and sicker, they're getting fatter and fatter and they're dying younger and younger. I'm guessing 90% of the problem is because we've forgotten how to live - how to eat properly, sleep properly, exercise properly, pray and even think properly.

Anyway, all these people with sicknesses who could be healthy by eating a proper diet and exercising become a drain on our system ... money is pouring in for research but few answers are forthcoming ... doctors and nurses seem overworked and hospitals are bursting at the seams but the information on maintaining good health gets ignored.

WELL I CAN ASSURE YOU, RESEARCH HAS DONE IT'S JOB!! - AND HERE IT IS:

A. Milk and milk product consumption REMOVES calcium from our bones and CAUSES osteoporosis;
B. Beef and animal product consumption in general CAUSES heart disease;
C. Sugar consumption CAUSES cancer and diabetes,
D. Wheat consumption CAUSES weight gain and can have a detrimental effect on our brains.
E. The Mercury in our tooth fillings CAUSES: generalized morning stiffness · joint pain · rheumatoid arthritis · mixed connective tissue disease · skin rashes · subcutaneous nodules (skin bumps) · multiple sclerosis · amyotropic lateral sclerosis · neurological symptoms · ringing in the ears · burning and numbness sensations · dry eyes and mouth · immune dysfunction · axillary lymph node swelling · digestive disorders · malnutrition · leaky gut syndrome · dysbiosis · yeast and pathogenic bacteria infections · chronic fatigue · depression · circulatory diseases · atherosclerosis

A cure was found for cancer too many years ago but people are not listening! Money grabbers have been killing the cures and keeping them from the public as much as possible. But thank God for the internet ... there's a lot of information to sift through, but it's not difficult to find 5 or 10 sources that are in agreement; those are the ones I trust. I try to type in "natural" somewhere in the url so I don't get medicine companies giving me advice.

It's not that difficult and it's not that complicated to stay healthy or get healthier but it's a learning process just like everything else; we learn, we practice, we learn a little more, we practice ... and so on. So it may cost us some money - more if you're sicker and older, less if you're younger - but I would say it's absolutely worth it.

It took me years to learn that the mercury in my teeth was poisoning me and possibly causing the majority of my illnesses. There were other things that didn't help my problems (ie. my food choices) and so after I dealt with the mercury I went on to do more research on how to take the next health step. I changed things as I was able to; some took longer, some, like milk products and wheat I cut out "cold turkey". Meat and animal products I cut out gradually.

Since I've been eating differently, 98% animal product-free and wheat-free for several years now, I thought it would be a good idea to have my blood tested to see if there were elements "missing" that I might need. Well, the blood test came out perfectly with my proteins only being slightly low. But I know what to do for that, I'll add a little more spirulina to my fruit smoothies, I'll have a vegan, wheat free protein shake once in a while and I'll eat a little more quinoa.

I'm a LOT healthier now than I was 5 or 10 years ago - most importantly, my mind is crisp and clear - and I have acquired knowledge and an arsenal of things I can do to increase my level of health. And it's not only eating the right things - exercising is important too, as is getting massages, cleansing occasionally (hps-online.com is how I do it), acupuncture can help with pain, naturopaths can kick start you in the right direction ... or these kinds of videos can help too: "Forks Over Knives" ... "Food Matters" ... "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead".

Anyone can do something to become healthier ... choose one thing and go for it!

Then choose another ...

__________________________________________________________________________________
PS. I'M ADDING THESE PHOTOS FOR A FRIEND WHO WAS INTERESTED
__________________________________________________________________________________

This is my stretching wall (in my painting studio) where I do inversions and other stretching poses. It really helps my back and shoulders to feel better. The second photo shows one of the ways I use it. For more information on how to use this equipment: there's a picture gallery at my friend Heather Dooley's website (http://acyoga.ca/).

21. June 9th

Well, I in January I saw the documentary "Forks Over Knives", ordered 4 copies with books and then lent them out to whoever wanted one. While watching the program I was overjoyed to see that there is PROOF that an increase in chronic degenerative diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity (yes, that's a disease too), osteoporosis, MS, etc., etc., etc., can all be correlated to the increase in animal product consumption.

The reason I was so glad to know that is because for the last 5 years, I've been living an almost totally animal product-less diet, and there was a nagging suspicion in the back of my mind that I wasn't perhaps getting enough protein (with public media the way it is, no wonder, eh?). BUT NOW I can rest assured that vegetable protein and plant-based-protein ARE sufficient sources of protein.

I've decided to get my blood tested this week so I can make sure that I'm not missing out on any essential nutrients/vitamins etc. I'll post again as soon as I find out.

I'm also having a saliva test done to find any hormonal balance or imbalance. At this point I've already eliminated a lot of external toxins (like mercury, chlorinated and unfiltered water, meat products, allergens like milk and wheat, and unrefined sugar) so the test results should be interesting. There are always some toxins we can't avoid, but I think a stronger, healthier, cleaner body can handle those.

I have a rant coming up about our responsibility towards health education and the current abuse of the "health-care system" up here in Canada but my main desire is to free up the hospitals and emergency services to be able to help those people who truly cannot help themselves.

We can all live healthier and happier lives if we first know that it's possible and then secondly put some effort into it.

Please buy and watch "Forks Over Knives" and lend it to your friends.

20. January 3, 2012 - Happy New Year!

The good news for me this past year (2011) was that both my kids got engaged and one was already married in September. Here's a pic of me and my daughter (Christel) on a memorable date: 9/10/11 (September 10th, 2011)

I wanted to make another post today about getting massages because they have made such a difference to my health at this point in time.

I had learned in 2007 through my hps-online.com cleansing site that massages were of benefit to general good health and so I started having them that many years ago. BUT I had never had them more often than once a month because they were so expensive (except during my 7 day long cleanses when I had two in one week) AND had also never requested any sustained focus on my legs.

About 2 months ago I signed up to get massages from a local massage school and I didn't expect too much from it because these were fresh students just learning about massages. I mean, who doesn't believe that more experience brings greater effectiveness, right?

Well, the arrangement with the school, meant I was getting a massage once a week and I decided to ask them to work only on my legs; so they did. And just that already appeared to help me with the everyday walking activities I had to do. But there was another "trick" they had up their sleeves and this was a type of "sacral release". The masseuse put her palm underneath my sacrum and just left it there for 5 - 10 minutes as I was laying on my back. She said she could feel the muscles around the sacrum releasing as her hand was there.

After the massage I felt less discomfort in my lower back and on top of it I was able to lift my right knee higher than I normally could before. The next day in my yoga class I noticed too that I was able to do some leg lifts on my back with bent knees much more easily and with less back pain than before.

So now I do this for myself at home, and after several experiments I now use a small piece of towel/facecloth folded up into a small soft square, and then I place it under my sacrum as I'm laying on my carpet. It takes me a while to get it positioned properly but once I have it where it's comfy, I stay there about 10 minutes.

And I did it this morning at my yoga class too - I used my small pair of socks, folded twice and put them under my sacrum during the meditation period at the end of class (our teacher makes that about 7 minutes long).

This is helping me a lot, so I thought since it's fairly cheap and effortless, others might want to try it too.

Remember, better health won't come your way if you are not willing to put some effort into.

If I thought really sick people would listen to me I'd tell them to:

1. stop consuming wheat and dairy

2. stop eating sugar

3. start eating/drinking lots of fruit and vegetables

4. start taking fermented cod liver oil for strong teeth and bones

5. get their mercury fillings replaced

6. start occasional juice fasting with GUIDED colon cleansing (don't do it without experienced advisors) (I do it now about twice a year)

7. start taking decent multiple vitamins

8. maintain a regular exercise regime

9. pray

It IS possible to live a healthier and happier life! Things can get better and better and better!

By the way, I don't know if I've ever mentioned, but since I started getting healthier I've rekindled my love of making art and started painting. Please take a look: www.dorothealeblanc.ca

19. It's now April 22, 2011 - long time no post ...

Hi everyone!

Above is a pic of me at the Algonquin hotel in St. Andrews New Brunswick ... my husband and I stayed two nights on April 1st and 2nd of this year (2011) and it was a lovely experience - I highly recommend the place!

I just wanted to add a couple of things to my neglected blog ... thing's I've found to be a great benefit to my health.

Lately I've been taking cod liver oil (the Blue Ice fermented kind). It's been about 6 weeks since I started and I've already noticed a great and positive change in my complexion. I'd been having issues with hormonal acne ever since I had my first child - never had pimples as a teenager, but had them from the age of 26 to 53 years old! It's kind of been on the back burner for me since I considered it a minor problem compared to the other health issues I was dealing with (just use make-up eh?).

Anyway, I actually started taking the cod liver oil to help with my teeth - I read a book about healing and preventing cavities (http://www.curetoothdecay.com) and cod liver oil was one of the major suggestions. I can tell that it has already helped with my teeth (they don't feel as sensitive), but I'm also seeing a somewhat miraculous change on my face - yea, even before my very eyes!

So along with the HPS online cleansing program that I've been a part of for the last 3 and some years, my health continues to improve and improve and improve! I've done lots of writing on the forum online there and if you're interested in reading some of my program reviews, they're here: http://www.hpscleansing.com/group/forumdisplay.php?f=4. There's a long list of other people's reviews too so you'll have to scan down the list for my name ... usually starts with something like "Graphic Designer, Dorothea_L ..." But go ahead and read any of them.

Well, my prayer for you is that you'll discover for yourself how to live a healthy and productive (and hopefully God-filled) long life! It's yours for the taking ... it may not be easy but it's definitely worthwhile!

Hey, being sick isn't easy either!

I'm not getting older baby, I'm getting better!!!

lots of love,
Dorothea

18. Wow, more than a year later!!!

Hi Everybody (or anybody),

I can see that the squeaky wheel gets the grease ... and since my health is less and less of an issue, I'm posting here less often.

I'm still participating in the cleansing program that I started 2 years ago in June and it's helped my health to get better and better and better. If anyone wants more info on that they can go to http://www.hps-online.com

I thought I'd post some comparison pictures

First is a photo of me in April of 2006



Then a photo from June 2007



Then a photo from August 2009



I'm quite happy with my regimen nowadays (as far as exercise, eating, peri-menopause, bms, etc.,) ... not everything about my health is perfect ... but everything has tremendously improved. And best of all - my energy levels are way up and I've been painting on a regular basis. (I went to four years of art school at the University of Guelph and graduated in 1980, but I didn't do a lot of art work after that … until now). You can see the first of my works after the improvement in my health, along with some old ones, on this new web site (which is still being modified):
lineuponlinedesign.com

Well, it's bye again for now.

I wish everyone a healthier and happier life - it's possible to change your situation. No one has to live with chronic degenerative diseases.

All - understatement of the year - I did was:

1. got rid of my mercury fillings (see my previous entries on that)

2. eliminated wheat and dairy from my diet (it was really hard at first, but a whole world of amazing foods was awaiting me when I did that - I actually began to LOVE and even crave fruits and vegetables - imagine that!)

3. eliminated refined sugar from my diet (there are a lot of natural alternatives, and then there's the wonderful stevia (a sweetener made from a plant - I grew it once in my garden and the leaves are so sweet to eat) I buy it in powdered form (get the pure stuff, it's not bitter)

4. eliminated beef and pork from my diet (fish, chicken, lamb are ok - preferably free run and in small doses)

5. limited packaged food items (most of it contains wheat and sugar anyway)

6. continue to drink lots of good water (that should be up near the top of the list)

7. got into a colon cleansing habit (I found a thorough program and it worked wonders for me!)

8. continued to get exercise ... I learned about proper posture and muscle control (it helped especially since I had lost some ability to feel, and I had to teach my muscles to do what they were supposed to do without teaching).

9. there's more, but I wouldn't want you to be overwhelmed!

I did all this over a period of about 4 years ... one bit at a time. Some of you may know that I cried to God for help - that always works. God sent information my way and I chose to do something with it. I had some help from naturopaths and TCM practioners (Traditional Chinese Medical practitioners), but I was desperate and sometimes doing all of the above is what it takes.

Blessings and much love,
Dorothea

17. I went to China!!

Again, it's been another long time since I've written here ... and in the meantime, as the title reads; I went to China - we left May 30th and returned June 22, 2008. Here's the link to my China blog with lots and lots of photos: chinainjune.blogspot.com

And, when I was in China I had a technical problem working on this blog. Somehow I "accidentally" went through the process of closing it, or locking it and poof - it was gone. It's a long story ... but as it is; here I am, back in Canada and well able to continue blogging.

A mercury related note: Yesterday I saw an ND in order to start the process of metal chelation. This is a long time coming as I first had my mercury fillings removed in April of 2006 and wanted to start chelation maybe a half year later. Wow, it's been 2.5 years since I had my mercury removed! But since the bm (or lack thereof) issues started, I thought I should not do the chelation. (note from the future ... I still haven't done the chelation.)

I'm pretty convinced that the constipation/digestive problems I've been dealing with arose due to hormonal changes in my body - I'm 51 now, and have been experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms for at least 4 years already. A product called "Calm" with the main ingredient, magnesium citrate, has helped maintain my bm regularity. But I've found that different people find different things work for them, seems it's trial and error which is still better than medication.

In the meantime I've worked on other improvements. I've gone through an internal cleansing process with an online cleansing program (http://www.hps-online.com) and that has brought about even more health improvements! I say without a doubt that I am much healthier today than I even was a year ago. And a year ago I was much healthier than the year before that.

The least of the benefits of my cleansing has been that I've lost 25 lbs and am down 2 or 3 dress sizes.

So, back to chelation; the process of determining how much of various metals are in my body involves a toxicity test. I'm supposed to take some DMSA, drink 1.5 litres of water over a period of 6 hours, collect my urine during that time, and send a sample of it to be tested. Apparently they test for a number of different toxic metals. This will be interesting since I know from a hair test done about 3 years ago that I had high levels of aluminum in my body. Maybe some of it has been extracted from the fasting/colenemas cleansing I've been doing, I don't know.

I've been having spirulina on a regular basis in my morning fruit smoothie and that, I've heard, is supposed to absorb metals from the system. (My fruit smoothie is usually one fruit like pears or apples - sometimes I'll throw in a few strawberries. This morning I had 3 organic pears with a tsp of spirulina, a tbsp+ of flax seed powder, a tbsp+ of chia seeds, some 3-6-9 oil, a cup of hot water and some stevia; it was very yummy!)

So, I'll report back after I find out the results of this test - it'll take over a month since my ND is getting married and will be away for two weeks.

Never despair, there's always hope for a healthier future - but you have to want it and you have to work at it. And of course, either way, there's always hope when you put your life in the hands of Jesus.

much love to all who read this,
Dorothea

16. Where I am now...

I haven't posted here for about 10 months, but I wanted to let my blog know that my health is still improving. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but it's a good record for me.

Well, it was in May of 2007 that I last wrote about the candida diet I was on - which temporarily helped, but not for long... The next month I cried out to God in desperation because of the bm difficulties that were still pestering me and the following morning I found a website that talked about juice fasting. I was about to try that next, even bought a book about it... and so I clicked on the link and looked around a bit to see what I could learn about juice fasting. The site address was HPScleansing.com and because my mind was pretty foggy, all I did was look at the pictures and listen to the single short video. (Since then, newer videos have been put up)

I asked my husband to do some research on the site since my mind was particularly foggy. He thought it was a good idea and that's all it took to convince me that the process could actually help me - and help is what I found. If anyone wants to cleanse and do it properly, after all my experimenting, reading, testing, and failures, I can say I'm pretty sure that this site has very good info. The program involves a series of four - seven day cleanses (with juice fasting), taken over a period of a few years, I've only been through two cleanses so far; but what a difference it's made!!!

I found that there is no quick fix - like everything else I'd been trying - this program turned out to be long process but it seems like a more permanent fix. Doesn't that make sense though? I've been 50 years with this body and have tried many diets and exercises in my attempt to stay fit. I've had my bouts with junk food and laziness and then on top of all the damage I did to myself, there was the damage of toxic chemicals like mercury ... and who knows what else, wrecking havoc on my organs.

The GOOD NEWS is, that our bodies are magnificent "machines" - they always want to come back to a healthy state - and when we give them what they need to work with, they can fix themselves!!! And that's what this program is doing - it's providing me with the information and guidance I need to help my body to fix itself. My health is truly improving in wonderful ways.

The urls below are posts that I made at the HPS forum after my two cleanses - anyone can read them, just copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.hpscleansing.com/group/showthread.php?t=3629

http://www.hpscleansing.com/group/showthread.php?t=3764

In short, I feel like they've given me my life back. One of the great side effects of this cleansing process was that I lost those 20 pesky extra pounds, and over 1/2 year has passed and they're still gone!

So, that's it for now.

And, if you haven't gotten the mercury taken out of your body - please do it; it's one of the many things that will help you to regain your health.

love,
Dorothea

Oh, I've started painting again (that's how great I feel) Here's a pic of one of this year's paintings:

15. candida albicans and bowel movements.

After struggling (extra) with my digestive system since January 2007 (when I got a series of 7 colonics to try to help me but didn't help much), I finally received some information about the relation between mercury poisoning and candida albicans. A friend wrote to me about it and I am so thankful!

I was getting desperate to have regular elimination (see later posts how I solved that one) - we were leaving for a two week trip to Ontario. So on Friday, I went to the office of a local ND and bought - over the counter - some natural stuff to help eliminate the candida problem. I also went online to find appropriate foods to eat.

On Saturday I began my diet:
-- No sugar of any variety including most fruit, honey and maple syrup, no starchy vegetables, no yeast or gluten, no vinegar, no refined wheat and only a little, no fat-dairy like yogurt and skim cottage cheese. 65 % of my diet is supposed to be vegetables (you can search on-line), 20% high protein foods, 10% complex carbohydrates and 5% fruit.

And to help kill the candida, the Caproyl treatment from the ND's office, these three bottles: Caproyl, psyllium powder (with husks and seeds), and Bentonite - use according to directions.

Wow, what a difference in how I feel!! I not only have regular bowel movements (that's what we're looking for) and . . . the by-product of this heathy eating is that I've lost 2 pounds in three days already. woohoo!!

Well, I'll be doing this for at least a couple more weeks (maybe a coupe of months or more) and I'll let you know what happens and any more good info I hear about.

Did someone say knowlegde is power?

14. Big mistake eating at Jack Astor's.

My husband and I went out to eat last week, fully intending on going to a healthy restaurant but things got in the way, we got late and hungry and we decided to go to Jack Astors, which was close to where we were.

I thought I was doing a good thing by ordering the Asian noodles with vegetables, but to be honest, didn’t think much before ordering. The vegetables were great and crunchy; the noodles, however, were made with wheat (I had gas all night) and it was the spiciest thing I’ve ever eaten. I also suspect it was loaded with MSG. We didn’t have desert, because there were no dairy-free or gluten-free ones.

And that night, I had the worst night of my life which meant I was almost useless the next day.

Never again.

I hate passwords!

13. got a juicer and love it!

In March I received the Champion Juicer which I ordered online. (I don't know how to do that very well, so I may have paid more for this machine than I should have.) It came from California. I paid 250.00 (CAN) and then 50.00 for shipping and then 30 for tax when it got to the border of Canada and then another 50.00 for duty. (I hope it lasts a long time!)

Anyway, it's been very good for my elimination system and I LOVE being able to drink down 5-10 servings of vegetables in 2 cups of juice. And the fruit juice is amazing! This morning I put in about 12 strawberries, one apple and one pear - all organic. Yummy in my tummy and good for bms!

12. Don't have 3 bowel movements a day? Read on...

I titled this post the way I did because the other 3 members of my family DO have 3 bowel movements a day (which I find very frustrating, but it's normal according to several books, and as a matter of fact some books say if one doesn't have 3-a-day, one is constipated!) and my husband and children just can't stand listening to my (I admit, daily) stomach, intestine and colon adventures. So anyone who already has 3 bowel movements a day; I'm excited for them, but they probably won't be interested in reading this.

However, this area of study has actually become quite fascinating to me; it's the next area in my travels toward better health that I consciously want to fix. There may be many reasons for the weirdness of my digestive system, but the two reasons I'm willing to admit on my blog, are: Mercury poisoning and my age (almost 50).

In my continual readings about health - and natural solutions - I've read of the importance of a good digestive system and how it affects our entire being. One good book I have is by Brenda Watson ND, called, The HOPE Formula. I also like Dr. Gillian McKeith's material called "You Are What You Eat ..." and I've been reading Kevin Trudeau's books (one is: "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About") which give a multitude of natural healing options. It's great to find that all three of these authors are pretty well in agreement about the digestive system and what kinds of things we should be eating. They all speak highly of colonic hydrotherapy, they all recommend taking digestive enzymes, probiotics, fiber and they all agree that doing other kinds of organ cleanses is important as well. And then, my ND agrees with them too!

So, to start the cleansing process, I went through a series of 7 colonics since mid January (about 6 weeks ago). And I'd like to say, first off, that I wouldn't do it again without the advice of an ND or other natural health physician. This was my very first experience with physical colon cleansing done by a professional hydrotherapist but I had gotten desperate.

It got serious back when I had started a part time job at Statistics Canada (a year or more ago) and brought a lunch that didn't take long to prepare or eat. For two days in a row I brought a home-made protein shake for lunch (with soy protein) ... the days were uneventful really except that I suddenly stopped having my one, singular, daily, morning, terrific bowel movement.

It turned out that I was quite "plugged up" and my hydrotherapist explained that many women do not digest soy very well. Hmm... now you tell me!

Anyway, the first few colonics went well except for the fact that over a period of 5 weeks, I gained 6 pounds! (Arghh! I thought I was going to lose weight by going through this process (I read that most people do) and instead, I gained.

The last three colonics didn't go so well; something I was eating or something else was causing the hydrotherapy to not do what it was supposed to do. After the 7th attempt to clean "colon house", we called it quits until later. (Apparently we found that laying on my left side during the entire colonic process was more successful than laying on my back, which I had been doing).

Now that it's been over a week since the last colonic, I feel that I'm getting back to normal again (well, almost), The books say that our food is supposed to pass through our disgestive system within one to four hours! But some say that a bowel movement a day is ok.

For now, I'm going to continue to take my vitamins (mentioned in an earlier blog), I'm going to eat according to the "food combining method" (mentioned in an earlier blog), I will continue to eat 95% dairy and gluten free foods (mentioned in an earlier blog), I will continue to take probiotics, enzymes and fiber. And finally, I'm going to ask my Naturopathic Doctor about what kinds of cleanses to do. (Oh and I'm going to keep exercising too!)

April 7, 2007 is my fist anniversary of being mercury free!!! (clapping… cheering… joy and laughter…)

I think we can live a normal, healthy, happy, prescription-free and over-the-counter drug-free life: All we have to do is refuse to stay sick, insist on asking questions, do some research, listen to our conscience and act on what we know!

Our bodies are very responsive, and they bounce back when given proper care.

11. My Terrible Tetanus Shot Experience

Even a fool may be wise after the event. -- Homer said it well -- and maybe someone wiser than me will read this and not make the same mistake I did!

I had a terrible experience this week:

I was making my lunch on Wednesday later in the afternoon around 3 pm, cutting leeks for a stir fry. It was a day of great accomplishment for me and I felt pretty good about it. But I was slicing fairly quickly and with some force, when I sliced right through the top 1/6th of my fingernail and well into the flesh! Immediately it began to bleed and immediately I pressed the two pieces of flesh together and prayed severely for a couple of seconds. I grabbed a paper towel and thought about what I should do ... no one was home (my husband was overseas for his work) and I needed two hands to put on a bandage. I suppose I COULD have managed on my own (and now I wish I had), but for some strange and stupid reason I wanted someone besides me, to help me.

I didn't know where the nearest medical clinic was so I got out the phone book and found a one not far from where I live. I had not noticed it during the last four years we'd lived in the area ... I got in my car and drove up to find someone to help me put a bandage on my finger.

I had to wait, but time passed quickly because I was reading about the quality of food served in university kitchens. (Most of it is, shamefully, of bad quality but Guelph University (my Alma Mater) has come out near the top with great healthy meals and they even have a vegan eatery!)

Back to my story: I was called into a little room, a doctor came in and looked at the wound and said because it was right through the nail, no stitches could be made. That was ok with me. And then she asked if my "tetanus shot was up to date". Regretfully but truthfully, I said "no".

(The last time I'd heard the word 'tetanus', my son had cut his baby fingernail clean off while working on a construction site this past summer and I took him to the hospital to get it bandaged. While he was there the nurse told him he should have a tetanus shot and he flatly refused - he hates needles - so the nurse called in the doctor who explained the whole story of how ugly it could get if he didn't have a tetanus shot. He refused again. The nurse came back and reiterated how important it was to get a tetanus shot and at that point, I was ready to take it for him! their stories were so scary. But he was 20 years old and needed to make up his own mind - I held my peace. He still refused, and he's fine, and now I really admire him for it.)

Back to my story: The doctor sent in the receptionist who I'd told that I was not allergic to anything (not wanting to get into the details of being sensitive to about 30 compounds I found out through my mercury-related dental visits). The receptionist (really a nurse in nurse's garb) pulled out this smaller-than-business-card size package and broke out a little needle (which I refused to look at, remembering the horrid huge needles shoved into our arms and legs in public school) and she did her thing. "Wow, that was painless," I thought. It wasn't as bad as I remembered.

I felt ok for the rest of the day.

The next day however, I began to feel a familiar feeling - the feeling I used to get when I was overworked and stressed and my period was about to come on. The feeling you have when you KNOW if you don't sleep right NOW, something will get you. I had planned to have tea with a friend that evening, so I did a little clean up, drove my daughter to school (it was pouring) and quickly laid down for a nap, 35 minutes before my friend was to arrive. Next thing I knew, the doorbell rang and my friend was here for tea.

When she arrived, I immediately began coughing and gagging and sniffling and feeling horrible. (Note that since I had started taking those good vitamin supplements over a year ago, I had not had to deal with any cold or flu symptoms at all, so this was very strange for me.) This was definitely a reaction to the tetanus shot. So while I was making tea, I took some extra supplements but I was feeling very cold. I also had a very hard time thinking, I was so distracted with the symptoms, or, was my brain also affected by the tetanus shot? It felt like it. That evening I had to do some more driving; picking up both kids from the Mumford Road bus terminal (because it was really really pouring), and after my friend left, I took some more vitamins and went to bed.

Although I was tired, I had a hard time sleeping and I sweated so much that I thoroughly wet my nightgown and bed sheets. The next day was a challenge as well, fighting cold symptoms and a bad headache, but doing my work as usual and taking extra vitamin C and anti-oxidants. The next night my daughter challenged me to go to bed early and I did - 9 pm. At 2 pm I woke up soaked again with sweat, so I got up, took some more antioxidants, changed my night clothes, changed my sheets, got a warm fuzzy blanket to cover me, took another sleeping pill and slept until 6:45 in the morning.

Went to the market with my daughter who did a little research on-line and found this site that states mercury is used in tetanus shots (http://www.vaccinetruth.org/page_8.htm). When she read me the info I was MAD at myself for taking that tetanus shot!!! I was furious because I had been doing my best to rid my body of as much mercury as possible.

ARGHHH!!! It's like spending the summer getting all the weeds out of your garden and then calling in a specialist who proceeds to throw a handful of tiny weed seeds over it.

Here is an excerpt from the doctor's essay I mentioned:

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"Tetanus occurs when a wound is not properly cleaned and the germ is trapped in the wound and cut off from oxygen. Typically this would be a puncture wound where the skin would close up quickly leaving infection underneath as with a rusty nail. Wounds that bleed will never result in tetanus because the tetanus bacillus is anaerobic. ...

It is an article of faith, widely accepted by doctors and patients alike, that tetanus is almost invariably fatal, especially if the person is not vaccinated. This fear is so deeply entrenched that I have personally seen patients dutifully wait in a busy emergency department for hours to get a tetanus shot because they had sustained a superficial cut while washing dishes.

Before I knew better, and because the "standard of care" dictates that every cut gets a tetanus shot, I handed these shots out like candy, believing it was better to "over protect" than to risk the development of a "fatal" case of tetanus.

Discovering that most people recover from an acute bout of tetanus was unexpected, but it was disconcerting to find that many of the reported cases of tetanus were in "fully vaccinated" people. ...

Therefore, routinely vaccinating every 10 years, as the journal article suggests, simply to maintain "adequate antibody levels" is uncalled for and may not only provide the person with a false sense of security, it may actually cause harm. Tetanus vaccines haven't gotten the "bad press" many of the other vaccines have recently received. In the zeal to protect from this "deadly disease," it is imagined that the risk of infection far exceeds the potential risk of the vaccine. What harm could it do? I thought the vaccine only contained inactivated tetanus toxin and sterile water. I am convinced that is the perception of nearly all physicians. IT WAS DISTURBING TO LEARN OF THE OTHER INGREDIENTS THAT ARE IN THE TETANUS TOXOID VACCINE: FORMALDEHYDE; SODIUM PHOSPHATE MONOBASIC; SODIUM PHOSPHATE DIBASIC, (AN EYE AND SKIN IRRITANT THAT MAY BE HARMFUL IF INGESTED); GLYCINE, ALUMINUM, AND 25 ug. OF THIMEROSOL (MERCURY). There is obviously more to the tetanus vaccine than inactivated toxoid! In the Emergency Department, if the tetanus status of a patient is "unknown," an additional shot is routinely given, because it is thought to be harmless. However, this is simply bad medicine. If the person doesn't need the tetanus booster, the vaccine can cause a severe allergic reaction referred to as an Arthus type, Type III hypersensitivity reaction. This side effect is defined as "an acute inflammatory reaction caused by deposition of antigen -- antibody complexes into the tissues."

The "Arthus type" variation classically causes a reaction only at the injection site, but the result is an acute necrotizing vasculitis and localized necrosis (death) of the tissues. The reaction starts 2 -- 8 hours after a tetanus toxiod injection and occurs if the person has very high serum antitoxin antibodies due to overly frequent injections. In addition to the local reaction, severe systemic reactions can occur. A partial list of adverse events includes headache; nausea; vomiting; arthralgias; tachycardia; syncope (fainting); cranial nerve paralysis; and a variety of neurological complications including EEG disturbances, seizures and encephalopathy; anaphylaxis and Gullian-Barre' syndrome. RECOMMENDING "ROUTINE" TETANUS BOOSTERS BASED ON MATHEMATICAL MODELS OF ANTIBODY DEGRADATION CAN RESULT IN SEVERE COMPLICATIONS AND IS RISKY BUSINESS, INDEED."

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Now, I may not have had the reactions they're talking about but one thing I do know is that I was well able to ward off all cold and flu symptoms for over a year - up until I got the tetanus shot. I was not expecting a reaction but I got as sick as a dog and there seems to be no other explanation for the weakness in my body over those few days.

I admit, I was ignorant (it's not the first time) but I was also in a vulnerable position. I didn't know I was allowing mercury to be needled into my body and that's why I was so angry. I think I'll get a little medic alert bracelet that tells the medical profession I'm allergic to their drugs.

The lesson today is; do some research about vaccinations before you blindly go and get them for yourself or your children.

10. An interesting video

It's been a while since I've taken the time to make an entry. For five weeks I was working for Statistics Canada on the 2006 Census - very time consuming work.

Last week my ND forwarded a video that I found extremely interesting. You should have a look at it, it's only a few minutes long. It shows (under a microscope) the effects of a small amount of mercury on a stem cell - effects that are not caused by even aluminum, lead or cadmium.

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On May 7th, my husband and I went back up to St. John to get my teeth looked at because the chewing on one side of my mouth was a little painful. I was surprised when all it took was a bit of grinding - with no needle or numbing gel! Anyway, it was a good time to travel to St. John because we left Halifax in the cool rain and found New Brunswick warm and sunny; a nice break from the rainy weather we've been having.

• more health improvements that I'd like to mention here:

The most wonderful being that I've had hardly any PMS before my periods! (Ask my husband how wonderful that is!) I'll have my third period soon and I can hardly tell it's that time of the month. There were a few times that I took some Vc15 (did I tell you about that? - the nutritionist I saw in Fredericton told me about it. It's a great herbal remedy made by Rekeweg that helps sleep and pre-menstrual symptoms), and I'm not going through the bottle anywhere near as fast as I was before.

I'm really enjoying waking up in the mornings now - I feel like my body has really rested and is willing to get up and go.

Do you remember when I mentioned that I lost 2 pounds when I had the mercury removed? Well, normally when I lose weight that fast, I'll gain it right back. But I wasn't able to chew hard things so I've been having a lot of soups and smoothies over the last couple of months. I've lost more than 6 pounds now, and I'm not feeling hungry or like I've been missing something.

My daughter and I have been watching, "You Are What You Eat" as often as possible. If you haven't seen it, it's a 1/2 hour show about a Doctor/Nutritionist, Dr. Gillian McKeith, who finds willing and food-challenged individuals to go through an eight week program with totally new eating habits. These people are most often VERY overweight and through new choices of food and exercise, on average they lose around 28 pounds - in eight weeks! By the time Gillian is finished with them they've lost their food cravings, they feel GREAT and want to continue their new lifestyle.

There's a lot of good information in these programs (unfortunately the season has ended, hopefully they'll continue in the fall!). Dr. Gillian talked about ways to improve the digestive system with food combining. My digestive system has been screwed up for a while (another symptom of mercury poisoning but maybe too also part of the menopausal process) so I got her cook book and started using the food combining she recommended.

In the morning I eat fruit by itself, on an empty stomach. I usually make a smoothie with 4 or 5 different fruits. For lunch and supper, I make sure to never have protein and carbohydrates together. I can have protein with vegetables (green leafy, not starchy veggies) or I can have carbohydrates (ie grains, rice, bread, potatoes) with vegetables (green leafy, not starchy). If you want more information about this, just go online and type in "food combining". It took me a while to adjust to it and I don't always get it right, but it has massively helped my digestive system. There are many days when I have absolutely no bloating or gas. I praise God for it because that problem is extremely uncomfortable.

So it seems that if I continue to eat by this food combining system, maybe I'll just continue to lose weight until I'm normal. Right now I'm ten pounds heavier than I was when I got married - in 1980. Mercury poisoning can be the cause of weight gain (or the inability to lose weight) and weight loss, so I'll just blame this one on mercury poisoning too! I couldn't have anything to do with a lack of self control, could it?

Finally, I believe that it's rarely one thing that causes all our problems or one thing that makes them all better. Regarding health, I believe it's an overall healthy lifestyle that is necessary - regular exercise and a healthy diet with lots of fruit and veggies and good quality supplements (do your research). When we've done all we know to do, and still need help, we keep praying and researching.

I think there's always something we can do to improve our situations so we always can have hope for a healthier and brighter future.

9. More improvements, and some rebuttal . . .

I have to mention that I got our taxes out the door on Friday! (hallelujah chorus). I certainly felt more mentally and emotionally able to tackle our taxes than in previous years. I don't know if the mercury removal did that, but I sure feel more mentally alert, more "crisp" and less foggy.

When it comes to the actual physical aspects of my health, THAT'S easier to prove:

The latest thing I've noticed is less light-headedness when I do the "half moon" pose in yoga. This is where we stand tall with our hands clasped above our heads in the steeple formation and, squeezing our leg muscles and buttocks we lean to one side in the shape of a 1/2 moon (sort of) and hold the pose for several seconds. I used to have to lower one hand because my breath was panting and I thought I might faint if I didn't lower a hand on my waist. Now I hold the pose as long as I want. I wonder if my blood pressure has improved? I'll check it out and let you know.

Another improved pose is the "pigeon". We're sitting straight up on the floor with one knee pointing forward and one leg straight out behind us. Our hands are on the floor on either side of our front knee. To get a good back stretch/bend in that pose, we have the option of clasping our hands behind our backs and lifting our torso higher while grounding our tail bone deeper. It's a bit of a balancing pose and that's why I could never do it. But today, I did it! - with both sides for as long as I wanted!!

I haven't noticed any improvement in my balance with standing poses yet. I have that to look forward to and I believe it will eventually improve.

On another note:

Unfortunately, there was a news report this past week on the subject of children and mercury fillings. The studies cited were supposedly showing that mercury was still alright to use as dental filling material. Can you believe that! (It just goes to show; one thing we learn by studying history is that we don't learn anything by studying history.)

Here's what I have to say in response to that report:

My children are NEVER getting any more amalgam fillings (the ones they had were in their baby teeth and are gone now. And my grandchildren will never get any mercury fillings. I will also encourage my son's future wife to have any mercury amalgams removed properly before they even think about conceiving and if that's not possible, I will encourage her to not have any mercury put in or removed while pregnant or gestating.

The studies talked about in these latest articles were done over a 5 - 7 year period and I think they are ignoring the long term effects of mercury accumulation in the body. The New England trial followed 534 children who were randomly assigned fillings containing either mercury or a resin composite. That means the unfortunate 265 received the mercury fillings.

The same thing happened in Lisbon, Portugal. They chose (maybe half?) out of 507 children ages eight to 10 to receive either mercury-based fillings or resin-based fillings. They were followed for seven years and the researchers reported no measurable differences between the treatment groups. I wonder what they were measuring?

The New England study found significantly higher mean urine mercury levels in the amalgam group but, and I quote, "the increased mercury exposure was still 'well within established background population levels' said one doctor". Was he saying that the background population has acceptable levels that have been established? Um, but --------- NO LEVEL OF MERCURY IS SAFE!

They did find that urine levels of mercury were found to be higher in the group that received mercury fillings. Actually, that's a lot of mercury when NO LEVEL OF MERCURY IS SAFE!

Some one pointed out that the urinary concentrations "leveled off to approximately 1.0?g/g over time" and averages were well within normal background levels. I wonder, what are the "normal background levels"? MERCURY IS TOXIC, SO WE ARE NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO TOUCH IT - WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH IT IN OUR MOUTHS?

One doctor said that there is no reason to discontinue use of mercury amalgam as the standard of care for caries in posterior teeth. This is ABSURD! Parents, please hear this: MERCURY IS MANY TIMES MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVEN ARSENIC OR LEAD.

It also upsets me that they DARE TO USE CHILDREN AS GUINEA PIGS! WHERE WILL THAT DENTIST BE 20 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD WHEN CHRONIC DISEASE HAS SET IN? WHO WILL PAY FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE POISON?

I know I'm repeating myself, but remember that in 1991 Sweden declared mercury amalgam TOXIC and unsuitable for use. And in 1992 Germany, Norway and Great Britain stopped allowing the use of mercury fillings in pregnant women. In 2001 California introduced a bill to eliminate all mercury for use in teeth by 2006.

Here's a quote from the article: "Chief limitations of the studies were that they can not detect the effects of toxic exposure that may occur later in life, and they were not statistically powered to detect subtle effects that may have occurred in vulnerable subgroups, such as those with a genetic vulnerability to mercury poisoning,"

It seems to me that every human being IS VULNERABLE TO POISONS LIKE LEAD, ARSENIC AND MERCURY.

More quotes from the article: "Given the numbers of children exposed to dental amalgam, it is critical that further rigorous studies examine the molecular effects of the toxicant at appropriate doses (APPROPRIATE DOSES OF TOXICANTS?), measure exposure as precisely as possible, and explore the important question of vulnerability factors," Dr. Needleman said. (FINALLY, A RAY OF HOPE!) "It is predictable that some outside interests will expand the modest conclusions of these studies to assert that use of mercury amalgam in dentistry is risk free," he cautioned. "This conclusion would be unfortunate and unscientific."

I agree completely with this man - it would definitely be unfortunate and unscientific for anyone to feel good about putting mercury into childrens' - or anyone's - mouths!

8. Would you let a dentist dump toxic waste into your child's mouth?

I can't believe that some people are still saying that mercury fillings can be safe! Why would they do that? MERCURY FILLINGS ARE NOT SAFE!!!! There are so many studies available and so much scientific evidence... How much proof do we need?

Think of it this way: What would YOU pay for your house? A hundred thousand dollars? Maybe. 3 million dollars? Maybe. Would you give the life of your child for a house? Never! Would you give the health of a thousand people for a house? Never!

It's inconceivable that a normal human being would trade another person's life or health for material possessions. One person getting sick due to mercury poisoning is enough evidence for us not to use it anymore (period). How many more people have to get sick? ... and why, because some dentist wants a new car?????

"In 1991, Sweden declared mercury amalgam to be toxic material "unsuitable for use" and announced the imposition of an outright ban on amalgam fillings."

"Any exposure to mercury—no matter how small—may prove harmful to sensitive individuals."

These are more quotes from Dr. Wentz's book called "A Mouthful of Poison" and I'll be quoting more from this book below:

(If you'd like more info concerning the studies Dr. Wentz has quoted from, you can purchase the book. I have a link on the left side of this web page that will help you find it.)

"A formal judgement was passed in 2003 requiring all dental offices in California to post the following warning: "Dental amalgam, used in many dental offices causes exposure to mercury, a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm.""

"California has introduced a bill to outlaw the use of amalgam fillings after 2006: this act is based on the scientific evidence of bioaccummulation of mercury in the fetus and nursing child through maternal placental transmission and breast milk."

"... Of greatest concern is mercury's well documented ability to cause genetic mutations leading to birth defects and learning disabilities. Exposure of the fetus to mercury can also cause serious disruption in brain development involving a reduction in total brain mass, loss of neurons, and developmental imbalances. The consequences include attention deficit disorder (ADD), behavioral disorders, a lowering of the intelligence quotient (IQ) and mental retardation. ..."

"Autism, a complex developmental disability that typically appears duing the first three years of life, may have a direct connection with early exposure to mercury. Some researchers suggest that amalgam fillings could be a large part of the reason for the explosions of learning problems, including autism and attention deficit disorder (ADD) since World War II — a time corresponding to the wide spread use of mercury amalgam."

"INTERESTINGLY, A RECENT GERMAN STUDY HAS RECORDED A MARKED DECREASE IN THE OVERALL BODY BURDEN OF MERCURY IN CHILDREN OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS, A CONSEQUENCE ATTRIBUTED TO THE MANDATED DECLINE IN THE USE OF MERCURY AMALGAMS IN THAT COUNTRY."

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My dentist in St. John was basically forced by her own health problems to become mercury-free. "Strangely", she improved practicing mercury free and now she takes great precautions when helping other people to get rid of their mercury. When I was at her office, not only did she remove the mercury properly (with a slow drill so as to chunk the amalgam filling), I had a continual external oxygen supply, she used a high power vacuum, and both she and her assistant used gas masks when removing the mercury from my teeth. How many other dentists out there are not well and don't realize that it's because of the mercury they are continually being exposed to?

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"It is well known that blood levels of mercury, while an important measure of transient mercury exposure, are a poor indicator of its cumulative body burden. It is the level of mercury in the tissues—not the blood—that prescribes the progression of disease."

"US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) classifies discarded dental amalgams as toxic waste."

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HMM... IF IT'S CONSIDERED TOXIC WASTE, WHY IS IT ALLOWED TO BE PUT IN OUR MOUTHS AND WHY DO WE ALLOW IT TO BE PUT INTO OUR CHILDREN'S MOUTHS???

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"The NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), WHO (World Health Organization) and the US Centers for Disease Control all acknowledge that practically speaking, there is no safe level of mercury exposure."

"... while the amount of mercury absorbed from exposure to various environmental and occupational sources can be substantial, it pales when compared to the amount of mercury absorbed from amalgam fillings. Simply put, if you are walking around with mercury in your mouth, you are your own primary exposure risk to mercury — and you will have to live with it every day until you do something about it."

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I'm SO glad I did something about it!

You can also choose to live a healthier and happier life!

7. Energy remaining high with some other news bits

The time has passed so quickly because I've gotten busier than usual. I've tried to reinstate my naptimes on weekends because my husband thinks I should not try to push myself too much. That's wise, I know, but on weekdays I'm going strong - happy if I get a cat nap.

There are three changes in particular I'd like to mention today. I waited until now to make sure it was not my imagination, or a passing thing.

1. Over the last few years I'd trained myself to sleep straight like a soldier, with both my arms down by my side because in any other position the numbness in my arms would become too painful and wake me up. A few days after my mercury removal I found myself waking up with my arms above my head! That's the way I like to sleep but I'd not been able to for a long time. Since then I've been sleeping on my side with one arm under my pillow as well! (these little things excite me so much!)

2. The ringing in my ears has become less, and has changed. It used to be a very high pitched, up-and-down ringing. There were many variations in the ringing, and it's very hard to describe, but now all I hear when I plug my ears, is an extremely high and much more quiet ringing with no up and down variations.

3. Last night at my yoga class we did this pose: It was an 'active pose' where we were sitting with our legs in the 'wheel of life' formation, swinging or rocking back and forth until we could lift our legs off the floor one at a time and then we'd swing our back leg forward while clapping our hands underneath that leg. (I hope I explained that correctly!) I USED to just continue the rocking motion while others in the class lifted their legs and then proceeded to the clapping extension - but, last night I even managed to clap my hands under my leg! (My legs didn't go very high, but I DID lift them.)

Well, that's it for now. Good health is available and I can say with confidence that the cost in effort, time and money is well worth it. Actually, it would be better if you never had to go down the road I did. Get rid of any dark fillings in your teeth, eat healthy food, get regular exercise, take good nutritional supplements and you'll probably save yourself a lot of money, effort and sorrow. (And there's even more juicy health info to come in future posts!)

There IS hope for a healthier and happier life!

6. Hopefully not the placebo effect:

It's been six days since I've had the mercury taken out of my teeth; I felt great on the weekend and I still feel GREAT! It feels as though I've lost 30 pounds and I find myself walking with a skip in my step. (I still have some pain in my gums and jaws, but I know that will go away quickly.)

The biggest change is in my energy levels. It amazes me that I'm suddenly doing things that I would normally procrastinate over; I've put off doing so many things around the house, that I'll be busy for the next year catching up.

Two days ago I decided that I shouldn't have a nap (as I had been forcing myself to do over the past year because otherwise the day would be too long for me.) So, instead of my two hour afternoon nap/rest, I drove to our new church location and did some gardening (actually weeding) for almost 2 hours. Then I hurried home to make some soup for supper and at 7 pm I went to my VERY rigourous cardio class. I particularly noticed that my legs were not as tired as before. I was still not able to do all of the leg movements the others were doing, but the muscle tiredness was minimal. After my gym class, I did some grocery shopping and drove home around 9pm. I watched some TV for an hour and was in bed around 10:30! Now that may sound like a normal day for you, but for me, that was NOT a normal day. I couldn't believe I had actually done all those things in one day!

The energy continues:

The next day I separated my sweaters for winter storage (a job I didn't do the year before), cleaned out some closets and did some laundry. And then, so I wouldn't have to get rid of them yet, I dyed some not-so-white-anymore white clothes. I did 2 colours and 4 batches and it was several hours worth of work. I decided to have a small nap, but it was only about 20 minutes and I woke up and got right out of bed with an awake feeling. Then I did some errands, had supper and went to church where we spent the evening moving stuff; I packed boxes, carried some boxes, swept and chatted. I drove home around 9:15 and went to bed by 11:00pm.

What? what? what?

And, this morning I felt awake shortly after I woke up! That means that the waking up process was not as looooong as usual. Normally, when my husband jumps out of bed in the morning, I'll laze around and try to wake my body up - sometimes for about 1/2 hour. But I didn't feel I had to do that this morning.

I would go on, but I'm off to pick my son up from work.

more later: