Monday, March 26, 2012

Return to Hansa: It's working

Sorry I took so long to write about my our last day at Hansa. The benefit is I can see things that we did are already working. Our last day was really good and sad at the same time. It has become almost a home away from home. The hardest part was leaving our friends. We have gained a life long friendship though and even though it was hard to leave I wouldn't trade it for the world. We love you Body family!

The day started our with me seeing the doctor. I was scheduled for an hour. He needed 15 minutes. That was it. I still have a lot of work left to do but we had made some progress and he got kind of as a far as he could go this time. So we moved right on to the kids. We did some work with the myasms which are those diseases, illnesses, and conditions in your family history that are passed down energetically. They don't always activate, and just because you have a myasm doesn't mean you will get that illness but you could. You just want to clear all of that out. The big one that stands out for me is cancer. I have it and so does Brooke but it has skipped Jenna so far. Hopefully getting these issues addressed in the kids means they won't pass them down anymore. Again doesn't mean that we would definitely get cancer but that energy is there and could activate at any time unless you get it taken care of.

We didn't really have any big revelations. Dr. J did say that Brooke's ear looked night and day better. She still had some pain at about 5 am in the morning so I was really nervous about our flight. He gave us a herbal remedy to take for the pain. Just to be safe I did give her some advil and found the ear plugs designed for flying that are open on the end to help regulate pressure. The kids did amazing on the flight and Brooke has had no complaints since.

Since we have been home things have been crazy as is usual around here. We have just been busy and I started not feeling good. I realized right away what my mistake was. When I was at Hansa I didn't really do any detox this time so I really should have come straight home and got in the sauna. Having the energetic treatments got things moving in my body and I wasn't doing anything to get the junk out. Then I started to have my usual sore throat that I get a day or two after flying. Weather it activates my Ebstein Barr or what I don't know but it happens I think every time I fly. This time I woke up with my eyes stuck shut and a bad headache. I kind of started to panic. Please not pink eye and no antibiotics. Well 24 hours later I am feeling much improved. I jumped all over detoxing and it seems to have worked. I did the sauna once Saturday, twice yesterday, plus took detox bath, and started taking my EmergenC. I also went to the health food store to try and find a remedy for my eyes. The lady suggested Rue Fennel drops mixed with purified water as an eye wash. 3 doses of that during the day yesterday and no problems with my eyes this morning. I will definitely be continuing this protocol for the next day or two to make sure I really knock it out. I also made Asian Ginger Chicken soup for dinner. It is has spinach and mushrooms and I threw in some chicken for my husband. It is supposed to be healing and was perfect way to end my day. 

Back to the girls. They both have a few remedies to take for the next 30 days. I was excited to hear it was only 30 days. Jenna is taking the same ones for Lyme and neurotoxins I originally took. I couldn't be more proud of my girls. These remedies don't exactly taste great and they do it 3 times a day without a fight. Already we have seen an improvement with Jenna's stomach issues. She has suffered with horrible gas since she was little. I don't think she has had any since we got back. It's the little things sometimes. It is just more confirmation that we are doing the right thing. I can't wait to see what happens over the next few weeks for both girls. I am expecting big things. I got our our paperwork and test results and took some time to look them over on the flight home. The one thing that really stuck out to me was Jenna's vitality. Her little body is only functioning at about 50%. We didn't talk about that specific number so I am going to email the doc and get some more information. Hopefully her numbers will increase rapidly now that we are on the right path. If she has done this will functioning at only about half of what she should I would say she is in for big things in her future. 

Our biggest challenge at the moment is this possible CCSVI issue for me. It is all so new and there are of course no guarantees that the "angioplasty" to open up your veins will work. There is just a lot of unknowns right now. I am still feeling okay with going to get the scans done if we can come up with money. Then we can go from there. Lots of research and prayers ahead. I am feel beyond blessed though that we found Hansa. We are on our way to better health and I couldn't be more excited.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Return to Hansa- This is where the healing begins

Things have been quite interesting since my post last night. I have a big break in my day so I decided to write part of my update now so I'm not having to write so much later. We went to dinner with our amazing friends who have been such a big help watching the girls during some of my treatments. We had a great night and come up to our room at about 8:30. Then out of the blue Brooke started complaining about her ear hurting. I was trying to figure out what was going on since we had been off the plane for over 24 hours and she had no complaints at all during our flight. I got her to sleep a little but the pain was waking her up in tears. That led to  borrowing my friends car in the middle of the night to go to Walmart. Not my idea of a good time but I had to help my little girl feel better. Long story short,  I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and neither did Brooke but with a little Advil, warm compress, and cotton in the ear while she slept...she is pain free and bouncing off the walls this morning. So all is well at this present moment. 

I was scheduled to see the doctor first thing this morning. I did forget to mention yesterday that besides seeing the doctor, I had a massage and did the LUX (the treatment that uses colored lights and gemstones aimed at different organs on the body). That is the same protocol today. They are trying to help me save money and do kind of the minimum but still get good results. I don't think the girls will do anything but see the doctor where you do get energetic treatments and some other stuff. I started my appointment, after discussing how I was feeling, with some basic alignment stuff. He did a little cranial release as well. We then went on to the neurophoton therapy with the glasses that show you the different colored lights. All of the standard stuff went really quickly with no issues so he brought out some homeopathics to test me with while wearing the glasses. We dealt with a couple of minor issues there. Then we moved on to colored glasses that are different then the colored lights. I flew through those as well with very little to deal with. So the doctor said I was going to challenge him today with what else to do. We finished up trying to address the ringing in my ears and I was done. I have a massage and LUX scheduled this afternoon and then the girls see the doctor. I'm hoping to learn lots this afternoon in their appointments and hope to start seeing some improvements.

My girls are doing so good with all of this. Convincing your kids to take herbal remedies and stuff isn't easy. Some of things I take are just plain horrible to chew up or swallow so they are troopers. Both of them gagged last night taking their first doses. I crushed up the pills and put them in applesauce this morning. It was better but not great. We will get through it though and hopefully soon they won't even notice. I have a lot of research still to do on this whole CCSVI thing and just trying to make sure I make the most of this short trip. I knew as soon as I got here I wish were staying the whole week and could just do everything. I am still really blessed though to be here and glad we are doing something to get our health in order.

This afternoon the girls got their turn to see the doctor and really their first experience with energetic treatments. Brooke went first because her ear was really bothering her again so I wanted Dr. J to take a look at it. Looking at ears isn't really standard for them but he did it anyways and said she needs to get back to the ENT. He really didn't like what little he could see but she has so much wax in the way he couldn't get a clear view. This has always been a struggle for Brooke and her doctors have had to remove the wax before. He said both ears were very red and kind of inflamed looking and it just didn't look good. Through BRS testing he did pick up a virus in the ear that is bothering her. He suggested some natural drops to try. He also showed me how to massage the area in her neck that would help open up her ears for proper drainage. Unfortunately I had to do another round of Advil before I get the store for the drops because they pain was so bad. Hoping we really get some relief before getting on the plane tomorrow. Once that was out of the way, he did some alignment stuff using energetic chiropractics and the percussor. Most of her issues were all in her sacrum. Then he did her cranial fixations with the percussor as well. Fairly easy for Brooke with the exception of the ear. She did great though.

Jenna had the same type of energetic treatments and use of the percussor to fix alignment and cranial fixation issues. He did note that both girls have a ridge in their "hard palate

Overall a good day. Looking forward to tomorrow but I definitely wish we could stay longer. We are going to miss our friends so much and I would love to keep working on the getting better but it will good to be back home with daddy and the dogs. We can also see how well we do over the next few months and then analyze where to go from there. So one appointment with the doc and then we will be saying good bye to Kansas and hello California.  Good night.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Return to Hansa- Survey Says...

I think I say this a lot but- What a day! This brings back memories of my first trip to Hansa. Information overload. I was ready this time and took notes but I am still not sure I comprehend everything. Of course as I start to process things questions come up so I will be making my list of questions for the doctor here shortly.  I wish I could take the "essence" of Hansa with me always. It is almost like magic that you walk through the doors and you swear you will eat right, take all of your remedies everyday on time, drink plenty of water, detox, meditate, think positive, etc...but then reality sets in when you leave and it starts you start to let those things go by the wayside. Once again, I am going to try really hard to to do what needs to be done to give us the best chances of health. Maybe it will stick this time because it has become about my kids much more than about me. So onto the day and what we learned. Sorry if my posts here are long but I so desire to give you as much information as possible. If anything I say here is helpful to one person than it really does make it worth it. Grab a cup of organic coffee, with stevia and a splash of almond milk and settle in for a read.

This morning started out with a CRT for myself and my 8 yr old daughter Jenna. My daughter did great during the test just like I knew she would. Next we went in to see the doctor and go over the results of the CRT's and then have the BRS(bio resonance scanning) for us and my 5 yr old daughter Brooke. Starting with me made the most sense. We reviewed how I had been feeling, what I was currently taking, etc...I admitted I screwed up and stopped taking my remedies a few weeks too early by mistake. I could tell than he wasn't thrilled but we were going to get through it. It may have been a blessing because my body actually tested that it didn't want to of the remedies anymore so that was good. Anyways, my CRT test didn't show a huge improvement but it is obvious by how I feel that things are improving. A lot of what I am dealing with may take 6 months to a year to clear up so that would make sense. In the overall numbers my inflammation dropped from a 4.5 to a 3. (0 is best 6 is worst) I will take any improvements I can get. Then when it came to vitality it went from 1.3 to 1.7. My body was functioning at about 40% at the 1.3 mark so again some improvement. When it came to specific areas there was not much change either. My thyroid is actually worse so I need to have it checked and may need to go back on thyroid medication that I had stopped in January. Hope to know a little more by Wednesday but will still need to have it checked. The biggest deal on my test was the fact that my head issues had not improved. This really confirms for the doctor that I am dealing with CCSVI. (chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency) Basically it is believed to be comprimised blood flow in the veins draining the central nervous system. The fact that I am having some lymphatic drainage issues in the areas at the base of the neck further supports the doctors suspicions. This is something they are finding in MS patients. Interestingly enough a lot of MS patients are testing positive for Lyme. (So if I could for one minute just say I don't blame Lyme for everything but the reality is many conditions appear to be caused by Lyme. Many of the conditions of really just a name for a group of symptoms like Fibromyalgia where as some of the other conditions may be actually illnessed or diseases them selves. I just encourage you to do your own research is you are facing a symptoms or have been labeled with a condition that may not make sense or has no known cause. Lyme has been associated with things like...Fibro, chronic fatigue, MS, alzheimers, parkinsons, arthritis, autisim, bi-polar just to name a few. Everything has a cause. Just saying. Enough of the lecture)

So what does CCSVI mean for me. One is the doctor believes this may be a big road block for me if it is not addressed and that would be sooner rather than later. Second I need to go get a MRI and Ultrasound to determine if this is definitely an issue for me. Being that this is a fairly new condition I am limited on the places that are familiar with it. The place that the Hansa Center works with regularly to address this issue is in Las Vegas. The imaging alone is about $3200 if your insurance won't cover it. Which I am guessing they won't but we will see. If the images show blockages you basically have to have something like angioplasty to open things up. That brings up a whole other world of issues...it is not guarenteed to fix things. You may not feel better even if it does fix things. You may "re-stenous" which means things block back up and then what. Factor in the risk and the cost of the procedure and well, this is going to be a big thing for us to deal with. Bottom line, I feel right now I need to try and proceed with the imaging and then go from there. In some cases it is genetic and something is malformed causing the issues. (Doc said this may be an issue in my case since Jennas test is leaning that way but they don't usually go down this road with kids. It could be other factors at this point for her) It could also be caused by some type of cervical impingement and fixed with some chiropractic type therapy. Either way surgery or other would involve me coming back to Hansa to continue addressing the issues and seeing what happens when that issue is taken care of. For some people, it is a huge turning point and they really improve after this. So bottom line is we have lots to think about. That covers the basics of me today. As far as the rest of my testing went with the BRS- my Lyme is definitely improving. I still have the ammonia in the brain(which is the main toxin released by the Lyme bacteria) but there was definite improvements. Started some new remedies to deal with the neurotoxin issues, the viruses which are major for me, and iodine for the ammonia I believe. Anyways I am excited to get back up and going and see some more improvements.

Now to what really matters- my girls. Brooke did really good with the doctor. In summary she has major digestive issues which I kind of figured. If you remember the top 10 list from last time Brooke only had a top six issues from each area. Children and healthy adults don't usually have 10 areas. For people with significant problems we have more than 10 but that is where they stop testing. Have to start somewhere. At least there is an end point for Brooke. From biggest issue to least her organs were- colon-stomach-thyroid-pituitary-pineal-hypothalamus and chemical/nutritional issues were metabolic-virus-lipid metabolism-yeast-allergies-hormones. Can't say all that means yet but should know more over the next two days. The hormone issue stuck out to the doctor and this is where the diet has got to change. Her hormone issues are stemming from the crap in our diets. So completely organic and hormone free meat and dairy or going dairy free is a must. What a wake up call. Dr. J believes Brooke has yeast in her colon so going to deal with that and forward we go. He also believes she may have some neurotransmitter issues contributing to her mood swings. She is also indicating stress on her autonomic nervous system. I believe it could be internal (illness type stressors) but it can definitely be external stress. Another huge wake up call. My 5 yr old and 8 yr old both are suffering from stress related issues. If these aren't indicators of how out of whack our world has gotten I don't know what is. The good news is although the doctor believes Brooke is carrying the Lyme bacteria she got in the womb she has no indications it has activated in her system. Lets hope with what we are doing here and the changes we make going forward her little can keep it in check and she never has problems. She does have some cranial fixations which may be affecting sinuses and some pelvic misalignments both of which we will deal with in the next two days.

My Jenna also has the cranial fixations which may be causing her more recent episodes of dizziness and pelvic misalignments. She has the indicators for stress on her autonomic nervous system too. She was indicating for a remedy that would help people who had gotten sick and not recovered properly. That is some big news for us. Jenna was born 9 lbs 4 oz to everyones surprise. By about 7 or 8 months old she was 18 lbs. She then got violently sick with rotavirus which caused her to end up in the hospital dehydrated and to have lost almost 4 lbs in a week. She has had ongoing stomach trouble and at almost 9 yrs old she weighs only 53 lbs. I am hoping we really begin to make some improvements in this area. Her top list of issues was as follows for organs adrenals-stomach-colon-heart-pituitary-pineal-hypothalamus-bladder. and chemical/nutritional were toxicity-bacteria-virus-hormones-allergy. She too has an end in site. The heart does concern me and they did pick up an arrhythmia which her pediatrician has also picked up but the Dr. J says he believes it may only come on  in response to what her body is going through at any given time.  The biggest news of the day was that Jenna is showing active Lyme as she has substantial quantities of ammonia in her brain as well. The bugs have started their cycle and are dying off releasing toxins into her little body. I almost cried when I heard the news but not because of what you would have thought. I am so thankful to God that we found out. My little girl stands a good chance to deal with this now and be done. No invasive antibiotics but getting her body to get back on top before it looses all control. I see myself in her at this age struggling with staying focused, being organized, remembering my homework.  Those same struggles in me were joke about lovingly in my nick name "Jessica Marie, tie your shoes, forgetful, Dlugos. I was a little bit of a walking disaster who always forgot things and well no one knew it wasn't just part of me. My body was being taken over slowly by these stupid bugs and their toxic waste and I was left fighting to get my life back. My little girl won't have to suffer the way I did. I couldn't feel more blessed. I am a little in shock and realize we may have some work ahead of us but we will overcome this. Dr. J believes her number one issue of toxicity is probably the ammonia and her body actually said it wanted the organs dealt with first. He does believe she may somewhat of a leaky gut and her allergies are really systemic reactions to what is leaking out. I can't wait for tomorrow so we can really get moving on these issues and hopefully start to see some improvements. Lots of questions to ask and things to figure out but feeling good about the direction we have chosen to go. I so desperately wish my husband was with me to help go through this and make sure we are doing whatever we can for our girls. I don't believe though this will be the last time we will be here though. So glad God has this under control. We couldn't face this battle without him. 

Now off to bed for some much needed sleep. Can't wait to share our exciting day tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers and support. Love you all.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Return to Hansa

So the return to Hansa has begun. What an incredibly exhausting day it has been. I could not be more impressed with how well my girls behaved today. I even got a compliment from a passenger on our first flight for their behavior. What a great feeling as a parent. I made sure my girls knew how much I appreciated that. I wish I could say that today was stress free and easy but would fun would it be if everything went off without a hitch. Getting to see some of my favoritest people from last time made the whole day worth it.

Here is a quick run down of our crazy day. San Diego-Los Angeles-Houston-Wichita. We left our house by 5:30 to get to the San Diego airport for a 7:30 flight to LA. My husband offered to find a Starbucks for my daily coffee fix but I said no, I'll grab one at the airport. Well the commuter terminal has almost nothing in it and I figured no biggie I'll grab one in LAX. Of course by the time we landed and all, we didn't have as much time as I thought. Not knowing my way around I just wanted to get to our gate and go from there. Found our gate, almost time to start boarding and there is nothing really around. Our flight ended up being late and I could have found food and coffee but no one communicated what was going on. Let me say that our United plane from LA to Houston  was great. Free headphones if needed and tvs at every seat with free games, movies(good ones too), tv shows, music, etc...So for that United is awesome. However customer service at the airport is awful. Like I said, a late and oversold flight with no info as to what was going on. We of course are late landing. We get off the plane and I confirm our gate for our connecting flight. Totally different terminal, meaning you have to take a tram since the Houston airport is so big. I have less than 30 minutes to take off and all the lady says if we don't stop at all we should make it. No offers to help us by giving us a ride on one of the million little luggage carts cruising around. Me and both girls are running through the airport with all of our stuff only to get to our gate and find out they are behind. It was like a scene from Home Alone. We landed safely though which is the most important part. Although I am still looking for my mocha.

It feels good to be back only I wish we were staying for longer than 3 days. I am excited to see my progress and to get some more healing going but I am way more excited to hear what they say about my girls tomorrow. The anticipation is almost too much to handle. I have been having some symptoms return over the last two weeks so the timing couldn't be better. I realized the other day I screwed up though, by relying solely on my brain, and I stopped all of my remedies like two weeks earlier than I should have. I am wondering if that is why I am having a little flare up or relapse or whatever. By the time I caught the mistake it was too late to start everything back up so I will talk with the doctor and have all of my remedies retested to see where I stand on them. Part of my wonders if 3 days is really enough but I believe we should be able to accomplish a lot. The only thing I know right now is that Jenna, who is 8, are both supposed to have the CRT test in the morning. Brooke, my 5 year old won't. Just to refresh your mind, the CRT is the temperature test where they take your temperature at 100-200 different points (all above the waist) on the body and then subject you to cooler temperatures for 10 minutes then retake the temperature on all the same points. How your body responds to the cooler temperatures gives and indication as to what is malfunctioning in your body and your overall inflammation and vitality. Last time, my inflammation was high and my body was functioning at like 40%. Can't wait to see the results this time.

Well I guess that is enough and I should really get some sleep. You know I will be filling you in daily about our trip. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Thanks to all of my family and friends for their wonderful support. By tomorrow at this time, I should have an answer to my most burning question...Do my daughters have Lyme also? It is comforting to know though how I will handle it. I believe we can get their health on track and that they won't have to suffer and go through all of medications and everything I did. We will get their bodies to deal with what ever they are facing the way God designed them too. Big couple of days ahead. Here we go...

Friday, March 9, 2012

Second Chance

My life may not be going the way I planned it, but it is going EXACTLY the way God planned it.


My husband and another dad took the kids out for dinner and a movie so I have the evening to myself. You would think I would be doing something much more exciting than this but the truth is I don't feel very good and wasn't up to going any where. I also realized it had been quite a while since I wrote an update and I figured there was not better time than this. My life has been really busy and I haven't had much down time. I have to say that is a good thing. I am amazed at how quickly I could forget how sick I was. In some ways I think it is a good think. However, it does create some issues with not over doing it. In my opinion my energy is still horrible and I still wake up tired not matter how well I slept. (I am sleeping much better by the way) I try and remind myself though, that I am doing much more than I was 6 months or certainly a year ago. So my energy is better but I know I still have a long way to go. If I could only have that bouncing of the wall feeling a few days a week that would be great.

Overall, I have done fairly well since coming back from the Hansa Center. I have not had any seizure episodes. My muscle spasms are 95% better. My pain has been almost non-existent and my brain function has improved somewhat. I had a little reality check though this past week with some joint and muscle pain, poor brain function, heart issues, etc...It has been a little frustrating but I can't really complain. It is interesting that this has been happening during the full moon and solar flares that have been happening. It seems really consistent among most of us with Lyme at least that feel worse during the full moon. I am hoping that is all it is. I got my new herbal remedy for this horrible allergies I have been having. Within 3 doses my symptoms had improved dramatically but they have come back. It seems like taking the remedy things clear up fairly quickly for a little bit but they come back within a few hours. Hoping we can get them under control soon.

As far as my treatment goes...my doctor here in San Diego had wanted my to start back up on the light therapy a few weeks ago. I am holding off for at least a little while more. That treatment is not cheap and I don't have any measurable results. That makes it hard to know if it is working. I have continued with acupuncture fairly regularly and am doing my epsom salt baths and the sauna. I will admit I am not doing the sauna nearly enough so I am trying to get up and do it first thing every morning. I did reach my 60 day mark since starting my remedies so I have stopped them. So other than my heart medication, the remedy for allergies, vit d, and one other pill I don't take anything. To go from almost 50 pills a day  and IV's to this is amazing. It is really evidence as to how far I have come. I am hoping to redo some of my blood tests, like my CD 57 to see what they are indicating within the next month or so.

The really good news is I am going back to Hansa in a little more than a week. Although I only get to stay for 3 days I am really excited to get a tune up and see how much I have improved and what else we can tune up. The best news is I am taking both of my girls. Although my husband doesn't get to go I can't wait to find out what they see in my girls and what we can do to get them on the right track. It is a total blessing that my friends from when I went in January will be there at the same time. I can't even say how much I have missed them. Plus, they are helping me with the girls while I am in treatment.  You can bet I am going to blog about that whole experience when we go.

I feel like I have so much more to tell you but I guess it will have to wait for another time. If you wouldn't mind praying for our trip which is March 18-21. Please pray for safety, answers and improvements for myself, Jenna and Brooke. Also please pray for our financial situation and some big decisions we have coming up. God is continuing to bless us and it will be exciting to share all of the details of my photography venture and what God is doing over the next few months. As always, thank you for your continued support, kind words and prayers. I will try to get back to blogging more often so you know what is going on and where I am on this crazy journey called life.