Hello to everyone, from Davis, California, U.S.A. 

The purpose of the Betty's House...Life After MS website, and this newsletter, is to help all people with Multiple Sclerosis believe that they need not be a victim of MS, but rather that they can be a victor; that they can be "enabled" by their MS rather than "disabled," and that the choice is up to them.  I believe our body is designed to be self-healing, and that our challenge is learn how to "listen" to our body and to support our body's self-healing process. 

I also believe that I am not my body.  I believe that when we identify with our body, or with our physical challenges like multiple sclerosis, then we have little chance of overcoming its potential disability.  I hope this philosophy resonates with you.  If this concept is new to you, I hope by the time you have finished reading this newsletter you will be motivated to make some changes in your lifestyle - or at least try one or two - and the way you look at your physical challenges, and to begin your own journey to wellness. 

Perhaps you have been reading these newsletters for some time but have just never gotten motivated to begin a wellness program for yourself.  Or perhaps you just think it won't work for you.  I hope this issue will contain something that will help provide the stimulus for you to at least make a conscientious effort.  And please remember, you have so much to gain, and nothing to lose. 

I did it, and so can you!

    IN THIS ISSUE: 

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  Again, as I do every month, my thanks and big hugs to all of you who help make this on-line newsletter and Betty's House possible by contributing $15.00 per year.  If you find benefit in Journey to Wellness, contributions may be sent to Iams House, 139 Inner Circle, Davis, CA  95618, or by credit card by calling 800-651-3155, or 530-753-5595, or by sending me an e-mail.   YOU make the website and this newsletter possible.   Without your help both would disappear.

Please also remember that when you purchase ANYTHING through Amazon.com on the Internet, if you'll use this Betty's House Amazon.com icon you will be helping in a small way to help pay the cost of this newsletter and the Betty's House website.   IT IS AN EASY, PAINLESS WAY THAT ALL CAN HELP.

Check out the Amazon website using this Amazon.com icon.  You'll be amazed at all the products available there.  They have a lot more than books today, and it really makes for easy, trouble-free shopping.  For all of you who have been shopping using the Betty's House Amazon link, thank you for remembering to do that.   Each order you place using the Betty's House link means a few cents is returned to Betty's House to help pay the monthly fees for the website and publishing fees for this newsletter.  It is not very much, but every little bit helps.

PLEASE NOTE: 

    1)  Archives of the past year's issues of Journey to Wellness are available here.
    2)  If you wish to send an e-mail to me, be sure to use one of the following subjects:

            "Order" if you wish to place an order
            "Report Please" if you are requesting the recommended Supplements list
            "From a Newsletter Subscriber" for all other correspondence

Please remember to do that so your e-mail isn't lost in the never-never land of spam!!

  Bon Appétit - Healthy Food Tips and Recipes

All of these tools directly affect our body's energy.  The more of them we employ, the more effective we will be in our quest for self-healing. If we always keep our attitude, belief and intention intact, we have the foundation on which to heal.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE FOUNDATION STONE OF ANY SELF-HEALING SYSTEM IS OUR ATTITUDE AND BELIEF.

I think the most insightful thing I have ever heard or read about belief is that...

 ~  A belief is merely a thought that you keep thinking  ~

Wow!  What a powerful thing to learn.  All the great metaphysical writers remind us that we are continually creating our reality out of our thoughts and intention.   One of the most important lessons I have learned in my life is to accept that I create my reality.  That was the foundation upon which I began my own search for self-healing.

In Messages from the Masters (published by Warner Books) by Brian Weiss, M.D., Dr. Weiss says:

                           Our bodies are intimately linked to our moods, so our moods and emotions are easily
                           translated into physical symptoms. Love can heal; stress can kill.

I always start my day with the simple Qi Gong routine outlined above, and I always do some deep breathing after I go to bed.  It really helps me to drift off to sleep rapidly.  I also do deep breathing several times during each day. Doctor Jahnke in The Healer Within calls that the "remembering" breath, which simply means do it every time you remember during the course of each day.   I am also very careful to:

So as you can see, it doesn't have to be anything big to activate these self-healing tools.  It for me is just a way of life, and that should always be the goal. There is no such thing as anyone who cannot do this! AND IT WORKS!

A READER'S SUCCESS STORY

  Hi Betty,

I've read your website for almost 15 years now which is when I was diagnosed with MS. I was diagnosed at age 30 and I am 45 now. At the time of my diagnosis, I was very sick and scared. I couldn't believe that I would be disabled, and perhaps that saved me. Not only could I not believe it, I could not accept it either so I began to look for other answers. One night, about 6 months into my diagnosis, while on an MS chat board, I posted a message asking anyone if they knew of anything that could help.

The Universe worked it's miracles and Ashton Embry happened to belong to that board. He responded and I listened. I bought Judy Graham's Book, MS: A Self-Help Guide to its management, and began trying her suggestions.  Some worked, other didn't.  But through research and diligence, I began to develop an approach that worked for me. After about a year, I was doing very well and recall posting on that same website what I was doing and how it was working.  One member responded, "You are still early in your disease process. It's natural to get better.  Your improvement won't last."  I'm happy to say he was wrong and I'm still very healthy and have incurred no further disability.

I ride my bike, go to the gym, walk (run if I want) and wear heels to work. I am faithful on my diet and my supplements regime.  But most importantly, I have changed my beliefs about what is possible.  In fact, changed my reality to one that holds far more possibilities, including one that acknowledges the body's self-healing ability.  Just this May, I graduated with my Master's degree in Clinical Social Work and am employed as a therapist helping others change their beliefs about what is possible. Getting my Masters had special meaning for me as I had been working on a Masters in Anthropology at the time of my MS diagnosis and ended up dropping out due to my inability to cope.  MS changed my career path, but in the most wonderful way possible.  I can't imagine enjoying my work more than I do.

Your website is a wonderful source of information and support, and it was one place when my courage faltered in those early days that I could go to and read about other's successes with this "radical" approach to MS. I decided about a year and a half following my diagnosis to discontinue my Betaseron injections and have never regretted it.  I used to worry that I was making the wrong decision but no longer have any concerns.  My old neurologist was very supportive of my decision and acknowledged after about 7 years that I had actually improved over time despite being on no medication. Unfortunately, she left private practice and I was never able to find another neurologist I liked.  As time went by, I realized I didn't really need one as I never had any significant exacerbations...a few tingles here or there and that was it. This remains pretty much the case today.  I am a strong advocate of this approach and in my belief that it holds a solution for many people like me. Although I keep up on the research, I probably will remain drug-free as I have faith that my body will continue to respond to this balanced approach. I have no doubt that in another 15 years I'll be writing this same letter to someone! Thanks, /S/ Sheri

Hi Sheri,

Thank you so much for sharing your story. If it meets with your approval I will include it in the next newsletter. Do you have a photo you could send to me? It is always nice to feel as though you are meeting the physical person when reading a testimonial. If you do not have a photo you have scanned in a picture file in your computer, you may mail me a print and I can scan it.

Your story reminds me a lot of mine. The first self-help book I read was Judy Graham's book, MS: A Self-Help Guide to its Management, and my experience was very similar to yours. Then I met Dr. Barry Sears, author of The Zone, at a seminar, and he convinced me that many physical ailments can be either controlled or prevented with nutritional strategies. Along the way Dr. Embry and I connected on the Internet, I worked with a great herbalist for a year or so, and I learned valuable lessons from all of them.

Today I believe that diet is just one of the "tools" we may use to activate the healer which resides in each one of us. I also believe that our belief, attitude, and intention are at least equally important. 

Thanks again for sharing. Personal testimonials are very, very motivating, especially for the newly diagnosed. Please also tell me a little about your self: where you live, what kind of work you do, do you have a family, how MS impacted your family initially, those kinds of things. I look forward to hearing back from you.

  Hi Betty,

Yes, of course, feel free to use my story. I hope it helps someone else on their journey. I agree that diet is just one tool but it is an important one for healing, as you point out, and one that is approachable for many. Changing beliefs, attitude and intention are much more difficult as I know from my own work. However, I believe that is the key to transformative healing and I attribute my own stability to my own work in those areas. Recently, I began reading Eckhart Tolle's, A New Earth. I like his work on the Ego and Pain-Body and it has deepened my own spiritual work in these two areas. I have also read his book, The Power of NOW and highly recommend both of them.

As for me, I have lived in Topeka, KS all my life. I have never married and have no children, but am in long-term relationship. We have two 2-year old labs, Rusty and Max, who I enjoy playing Frisbee with. I guess they are my children (smile). At the time of my diagnosis, 15 years ago, I was in a relationship, but it didn't survive the diagnosis. I had a hard time emotionally and he just couldn't deal with it all. I was angry at him for a number of years before realizing things worked out the way they were meant too. We remain friends and speak on occasion.

My parents had a hard time with the diagnosis.  My father's response was, "What quack told you this?" I said, "Actually, it was a couple different quacks, Dad." My parents have never been emotional people and they had a hard time with my depression and grief. I eventually sought psychotherapy and the Universe was again thoughtful and sent me a psychiatrist who had an interest in mind-body approaches and chronic illness. By that time, I had already begun to suspect that I was "creating" this illness through my thoughts and emotions. When I arrived at his office, I needed a cane and had an IV in my arm from steroids. It took several years of very hard work, both physically and emotionally, to get well again. Even my psychiatrist was amazed at my progress, both physically and emotionally. He was also very supportive of my desire to get off Betaseron and stop the steroids, and provided invaluable medical advice at the time. Today, he has incorporated acupuncture into his practice as well as Chinese medicine, and I have availed myself of these therapies also.

Well, I've rambled on far too long so I'm going to end here. Thanks for letting me share. I don't really talk much about my experience with MS because it has become less a focal point in my life as time has gone by. Most people don't know I have it, and those that do, have been around me for so long that they don't think about it either. I guess I had some free time on my hands today and decided to share my story and thank you because I admire your dedication to educating people about alternatives ways of living.  /S/ Sheri Daudet

Thanks so much, Sheri, for sharing your story.  We are certainly kindred souls.  I underscore your recommendation, as I have in earlier issues of this newsletter, Eckhart Tolle's superb books, A New Earth (published by Plume) and The Power of Now (published by New World Library).  They are truly transformative.

  Dear Betty,

Do you have any strategies for managing the constant fatigue that is a part of MS?  Thank you for any insights or advice you may have.  /s/ Susan

Hi Sue,

It has been a lot of years since I experienced MS-related fatigue, but I still remember how bad it could be. I believe that some kind of exercise is the biggest key to relieving fatigue without drugs. If you don't have it, please go to Amazon.com and order The Healer Within book by Dr. Roger Jahnke. It is a series of VERY SIMPLE Qi Gong movements and self massage, all of which can be done either standing, sitting, or lying down. I do about 8 to10 minutes of those before I get up in the morning. They energize the body in ways you can hardly imagine if you haven't done them conscientiously. This little book is a powerhouse of information on natural healing.

Did you know that Qi Gong (chi kung) means literally "energy work?" I first learned to work with Qi Gong from the Tai Chi for Seniors video about 12 or 13 years ago, and I still to this day do that routine almost every evening. [Just for your information, Qi Gong is from ancient Chinese medicine, and is the healing form of Tai Chi.]

Actually any form of movement will help fatigue. Of course stress reduction, healthy diet, and the recommended supplements (B-12, Vitamin D and Omega 3 oils) are important, but I don't think they have much of a DIRECT effect on energy.

I hope some of this is helpful to you. Remember, you can do it too! If you have specific questions, please let me know.

Dear betty I would like to order your book.  I am 59 and have just be told I have late age PP MS. For over a year I had noticed my left leg getting weak and I was tripping with my left foot dropping but not all the time. I also ended up in hospital in February because I couldn't wee. They though it was a pill I was on for my back. I have a very painful sclersoed SI joint. I really thought it was related to my back so this is a shock I am still working through.  !! years ago I was told I had intercysitual cystitis and was told there was no cure and I just had to learn to live with it. Then I found out I had lichen sclerosis which I have to have checked every year. I am the 4th person in my wider family to get MS but I don't want it to take over my life. I do everything for my husband and even though he comes with me to see the doctors he will not talk about it.  In fact he has told me he doesn't want to know about what could happen.  I have a very strong faith and a sense of humor and one of the things that scares me is a change of personality as I have always been a kind person.  Could you let me know how I could buy your book please and is it worth joining a support group over the net.  Many thanks.
/S/  Maureen in New Zealand

Hi Maureen,

I'm glad you found me.  It was interesting to read a little about your story.  I was 58 when I was diagnosed with PP MS . . . was told for 2-3 years that the increasing weakness in my right leg was from an old back injury . . . thought my bladder urgency incontinence was due to menopause, etc.  Needless to say, MS is not easy to diagnose.  There is a lot of it in my family also.

But do not dismay. You do not need to be a victim, it need not "take over your life," and you for sure don't need any of the so-called MS drugs, in my opinion.

I have a suggestion for you.  Make a commitment to yourself that you will study and motivate yourself on a regular basis. If you will go to the Archives of my Journey to Wellness newsletter, and each week study another issue, it will take you 12 weeks to get through the last year's issues.  I guarantee you that if you will make that commitment, and stick to it, you will build your belief [very important] that you indeed can win over MS!

I suggest you forget a support group.   Most lead to teaching you to become a "pro" at having MS.  Immediately you learn how bad in can/may be, and all about the MS drugs, and that is just the opposite of what you need.  I NEVER RECOMMEND SUPPORT GROUPS.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I received both a phone call and a note in my website guestbook from Julie K. Here is my response

Hi Julie,

First a response to your note in my guestbook:

Very interesting and affirming site. I have just been diagnosed with celiac disease, after having been diagnosed with MS in 2005. I find diet modifications extremely challenging; I feel like life is no fun and I am obsessed with food...I'm trying to stay positive and I feel I've come a long way towards being open-minded and willing to make changes, but I am really struggling. I particularly don't feel ready to give up dairy and sugar while I'm getting off gluten. Can you offer some advice/support groups? I feel like I can't do it alone. I need a therapist or people who will understand. Any Christian groups would be super-appreciated, too, as I am a follower of Jesus. Thank you so much for your site and God bless.

Oh my. You must feel as though you have been "whacked" with a double whammy!  I do think I would do the following: I would make the first step of nutrition revision simply eliminating WHITE FLOUR AND PROCESSED SUGAR. That is pretty easy to do.

I also understand and sympathize with your feeling that life is no fun, and also that you are obsessed with food. But I must tell you that both of those things you can easily and totally control with attitude.  If you tell yourself that your life isn't fun, and that you are obsessed with food — guess what — that is how it will be. One of the things I believe and teach is that we didn't have a choice in the cards we were dealt, like your celiac and MS, but you do get to make daily choices of how you play the cards. And that is the secret to self-healing.

You must learn to reach inside yourself and talk to the God who lives within you. Study the meditation Addendum in the Four Steps book. That and daily practice of Qi Gong are the major tools I used to half my own MS about 11-12 years ago. And there is nothing special about me. You can do it too! Just believe - really believe - that you can succeed. That is the basis for ALL healing. And please believe me, all healing is self healing. No doctor or medicine or diet heals you - they are merely tools to activate your body's own innate God-given self healing ability.

Enough of my soapbox. I hope some of this is helpful to you.

Newly Edited Version of Four Steps to Overcoming MS

I was fortunate recently to get acquainted with a new resident in the community where I live, a lady who edits books for the University of California at Davis Medical School.  As a result she agreed to professionally edit Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis for me.  I had already decided to incorporate the addendums as separate chapters in the book.  I also added a chapter on the Internal Guidance System (IGS).  It is now available in either a Word .doc format (as previously), and also in an Adobe .pdf format (which is becoming standard in the e-book industry).

I will soon have a separate website for the book.  The price remains the same, $21.50.  If you purchased the previous version since April 1, 2008, send me an e-mail and I'll send you the new version without cost.  Be sure to include which file version you would like to receive.  If you do not know, then ask for the Word version . . . it works for almost everyone!

The worst aspects of MS respond very positively to gentle exercise.  Such a deal!  And it really doesn't matter what level of disability one has.  Many exercises can be done either standing, seated, or lying down.  And deep breathing — which is so essential — can be done any time and any where.

Over the years I have evaluated personally many exercise programs, and the absolute best I know of are Tai Chi for Seniors by Mark Johnson, Yoga for MS by Shoosh Crotzer, and Gentle Fitness by Catherine MacRae.  I am very confident in recommending them.

~ Yoga for Strength and Qi Gong for Healing ~

In response to questions from some of you, all of the DVD programs have parts that require standing.  My observation of each one is as follows: 

YOGA FOR MS AND RELATED CONDITIONS - I found this modified yoga program in the Yoga Journal about 11 years ago, and it remains a mainstay of my own exercise program.  This program is recommended by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

TAI CHI FOR SENIORS - This is a simple, easy-to-do Qi Gong (chi kung) Tai Chi video program.  It was the very first exercise program I found after being diagnosed with MS, and about 13 years later I still find it very beneficial and do it almost every day.  This program complements the Yoga for MS routine beautifully.

GENTLE FITNESS - Catherine and I connected on the Internet about 8-9 years ago, and I ordered her Gentle Fitness.  I find it an excellent program, and use sections of it together with the Yoga for MS program.

These videos make up my personal exercise library, and alternating the programs keeps me from getting bored.  Together with deep breathing exercises for a few minutes at least a couple of times a day, and walking about a mile several mornings a week with my ExerStrider poles, weather permitting, not only keeps me fit and energetic, it keeps my legs strong and moving.

Each of these exercise DVDs are available for $29.50 each plus $4.00 shipping and handling.  (There is an additional $5.00 charge for international air mail shipping.)

                Follow this link for more information on these videos and books.

FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS includes just about everything I have learned in my own journey to wellness.  It is an easy to read, understand and follow e-book guide to the management of Multiple Sclerosis using the healthy lifestyle approach that I practice and recommend.  It incorporates each of the four areas, exercise, meditation, diet, and supplements.   This book includes an extensive recipe collection as well as an all inclusive guide to the Best Bet for MS food plan.  It now includes a complete guide to our Internal Guidance System.

Four Steps to Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis is available for $21.50.

You may order any of the above by providing credit card information by e-mail to me, or by calling 800-651-3155 (in the U.S. and Canada), or 530-753-5595.

                Follow this link for more information on this e-book.

THE HEALER WITHIN (see more specific information included elsewhere in this issue) is an excellent book by Roger Jahnke, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, which I no longer carry in stock.  You may, however, order it from Amazon.com.  Just click on this Amazon link to order.  The Healer Within includes very simple easy-to-do Qi Gong based movements that I highly recommend.  The best thing about this book is that all the movements may be done standing, seated or lying down.

  Research News

As always I hope you have found something in this issue of Journey to Wellness to help you along your own journey to wellness.  If something in this newsletter raised a serious question for you, please send me a note and I'll try to respond.  I thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.  I love reading your correspondence.  You are all very special to me.   Please also remember that Journey to Wellness is intended to be interactive.  I really want to hear from you!  Please send me your experiences, challenges, etc. and I will try to include them.  And please, include a photo.

Yet again I remind you, please remember to smile and laugh a lot, and to say "I love you" often to those you love.  One never knows when we will be saying it for the last time.  I truly do know for sure that when all is said and done, and we move on to our next experience, it is only the love that lasts!  It is now 22 months since my 42-year-old son, Kevin, graduated to his next experience.  Now my son's father is in his last few days of life.  Life really is precious and precarious. 

Big smiles and {{{hugs}}} to all of you,