A Long Healing Journey

On A Road Less Traveled

By George Shears

People afflicted with MS often assume that they have to rely entirely on drugs in managing their symptoms of multiple sclerosis. Many people with this disease have discovered, however, that actively promoting their own optimal health in every way possible is of equal or greater importance. I speak from experience, because my wife, Mildred, has followed this pathway with outstanding results.

Sue Ellen Dickinson, in her recent inspiring book, "No More MS--A Journey Back To Life," has similarly documented the effectiveness of this approach.

Mildred's, long struggle with MS began in June of 1983. While shopping in a supermarket, she was suddenly overcome with extreme dizziness, which continued unabated for nearly two years. During this period, she also experienced many other classic MS symptoms, especially extreme fatigue and sensitivity to heat, and was unable to walk unassisted. She spent all of her time either in bed or in a wheel chair.

Within the first month after the onset of her symptoms, she went through a 10-day, intensive inpatient neurological evaluation at the University of Minnesota Hospitals and was formally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Her neurologist recommended that she start on a course of steroids, which was essentially the only medical treatment at that time. Since she was very aware of how this intervention would disrupt her entire endocrine system, she adamantly refused it and opted for an eclectic natural healing approach for managing her symptoms of multiple sclerosis instead.

Both she and I were quite knowledgeable about, and open to, a variety of self-healing alternatives, many of which she incorporated into a regimen for promoting a state of optimal health. From the outset, she placed a strong emphasis on healthy nutrition and experimented with a number of specialized diets. She also took large amounts of high-quality nutritional supplements, received acupuncture treatments, and practiced meditation intensively, along with systematic guided healing visualization. She also focused strongly on maintaining a positive mental attitude.

By diligently following this natural healing approach over the next two years, her most overwhelming key symptom of dizziness gradually diminished so that she was able to start walking again without assistance. After that, she was also able to resume driving and to engage in relatively non-demanding activities of daily life. Her levels of energy and endurance, however, continued to be very limited. This part of her condition remained largely unchanged for 18 years after her initial diagnosis.

During those years, she also suffered from the classic, intermittent flare-ups of her initial symptoms, including acute episodes of dizziness, numbness in various parts of her body, intense headaches, extreme sensitivity to heat, and--above all--profound, chronic fatigue.

One of her most persistent physical challenges was in walking. Whenever we went walking together, we always moved at a snail's pace, because she was simply unable to get her legs to move more rapidly. She also became exhausted quickly and had to rest frequently. This difficulty always became more prominent in even mild heat.

Apart from using Meclazine to help manage her dizziness, the only other drug she took for her MS symptoms of multiple sclerosis was Symmetrel. This anti-viral agent was recommended to her by a personal physician who told her that some of his MS patients had gotten favorable results from taking it. Since she found that it at least had no apparent negative side effects, she included this in her regimen until about 4 years ago, when she stopped taking ALL prescribed medications.

In the late fall of 2002, a good friend told her about a new nutritional supplement that reportedly had been helpful to others in managing their symptoms of multiple sclerosis. After carefully researching it, she decided to give it a try. As a result of adding this new nutritional component to her regimen, her overall level of health improved dramatically over the next 6 to 8 months and has remained high ever since.

The first major improvement came in the form of greatly increased energy and a markedly increased sense of well-being. For the first time since the onset of her symptoms, she found herself again able to engage in a full range of daily activities, instead of having to carefully ration her energy with frequent naps throughout the day.

The next big noticeable improvement came with the onset of warm weather in the following spring and summer. To our great surprise and delight, she was able to join me in a daily, brisk 3-mile walk around the lake where we live in northern Minnesota--even during the hottest part of the summer; in fact, on one of the very hottest days of that summer, she pushed a stroller with two of our grandkids in it for the full distance.

Now, four and a half years later, perhaps the strongest validation for how lasting these improvements have become is that--at age 69--she is providing full-time care for three of our grandchildren, ages 13, 8, and 5--a feat that would have been completely impossible for her prior to this last stage of her recovery.

We've heard a great many other impressive stories of how others afflicted with the symptoms of multiple sclerosis have had similar success by fostering high level wellness. As I mentioned, one of the most impressive of these is by Sue Ellen Dickinson. Further information about her inspiring book can be obtained at the website below.

It's very important to understand that natural self-healing approaches, such as the one I've shared here, are not intended to prevent, cure, or mitigate disease in any way whatever; rather, their one-pointed objective is simply to promote optimal health in every way possible.

Please understand, therefore, that it was not a particular nutritional supplement that produced my wife's full recovery from the symptoms of multiple sclerosis; rather, by utilizing the micronutrients in this particular form of food, the CELLS OF HER BODY were able to achieve a significantly higher level of optimal health. And just as darkness is dispelled by light, disease symptoms--regardless of their specific form--tend to become less prominent to the degree that high level wellness prevails.

Natural healing, then, is all about fostering optimal health--NOT about curing, preventing, or mitigating disease, which is the sole province of allopathic medicine.