DAILY INSPIRATION

I know many of you are still struggling with Lyme Disease (or for those of you that are not dealing with Lyme Disease, perhaps something else). One of my dear friends who started this journey with me at the same time (we 'met' through an online support group and became dear friends through our struggles) still struggles with Lyme Disease. My heart breaks when I hear that she is still not doing well and unable to feel like herself in most ways.

Having been blessed with recovery, and a normal life again, I feel it is my duty to share what I did to get better with others. At the very least, I should provide inspiration to those who are still struggling. When I was undiagnosed, sick for years, and then sick through treatment for years after that, I looked everywhere for HOPE from someone who had recovered from Lyme. I could not find but one. This, of course, contributed to hopelessness.

I am here to tell you that you CAN and WILL get better. I never DREAMED I would be doing what I am today. I have started working on my small booklets (the most important of which I believe will be an outline of everything I did to get better) to share with this community. I promise to work on them more in the New Year (but work and life are quite busy), but please feel free to bug me via email to encourage me to finish them. I know not everyone will get better the way I did, but I have a lot of information to share that I believe can at least help.

For now, I will provide you with some hope. When everyone else is celebrating the holidays and you feel blue (I remember this very well from years past), please remember that ANYTHING is possible. Miracles do happen. My first LLMD told me I would never get better (I quickly changed doctors). I proved him wrong. HOPE can never be taken away. If you want some inspiration from days when I was in IV treatment for Lyme and could see through the light, see this post. To that vein, here are a few inspirational quotes:

"When you have come to the edge of all the light you have
And step into the darkness of the unknown
Believe that one of the two will happen to you
Either you'll find something solid to stand on
Or you'll be taught how to fly!"

~Richard Bach, best-selling author.

"Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it." ~Winston Churchill, was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War.

"Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them." ~Washington Irving, was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century.

Also, for those of you really feeling you need to try something new - 2 women on the CA Lyme group who did not get better through traditional LLMDs or other complicated holistic treatment posted that they BOTH became symptom-free and healthy through an Ayurvedic doctor from India (I am not promoting this doctor nor do I get any sort of incentive for promoting him). He is visiting the U.S. in 2013. I also saw a doctor in NYC for many months (and still work with remotely) that helped me get to where I am today. I am happy to provide either doctor name to you in a private email.

With warm wishes for health, happiness, and peace...Mona

Pretty long video, but WELL WORTH IT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixyrCNVVGA

As those of us who have endured Lyme Disease, or still continue to endure it, know, everything we eat and put in our body affects how we feel. It is sad to me that most of the nation doesn't understand the importance of the environment, food, and how much it affects our health.

What is in this video is NOT new to most of us: eating safe, non-genetically modified organic food free from antibiotics and hormones is essential to feeling well. But, Robyn O'Brien does an amazing job illustrating the story, the facts behind all of this, how the food industry perpetuates this cycle of ilness-causing foods, and why good clean food is still inaccessible to most people (cost). Some interesting stats from her talk: Americans spend more on health care than any other country, and have more cancer than any other country. 1 in 10 breast cancers is genetic; the other 9 are due to environment (according to Robyn).

I struggled with convincing my parents to buy me only organic food, and the grocery bills were so high for the 6 years that I was sick. They thought it was all BS. My bills grocery continue to be high because I refuse to put anything else in my body even though it's not in my 'budget.' But being disabled, in bed, and sick again is also not in my 'budget.' I need to keep myself healthy.

I hope we can change the policies of this country so that the food industry stops inherently contributing to illness. I don't think 'regular/healthy' people realize how important this is; I have many friends who have the means to eat organic/pesticide-free but do not. I suspect this is because the message hasn't alarmed people enough. The message needs to be loud and clear HOW dangerous chemicals, pesticides, and other agents in our food are.

I hope we can drive this point home to many so we can prevent more illness in this country.

Even the American Pediatrics Association (hardly characterized as holistic or radical) reported that the evidence is “robust” for associations between pesticide exposure and cancer (specifically brain tumors and leukemia) and “adverse” neurodevelopment, including lowered I.Q., autism, and attention disorders and hyperactivity in children. The article is here. The APA linking pesticides to these health concerns is VERY alarming in my view.

My dear friend Johonna has been creating a blog of ways to keep ourselves healthy, in home, food, everything we do - I learned about both of the above pieces from her.
http://www.littlegreenmoments.com/

I feel it is our duty to educate others about what we have learned. So please share this information with those you love, and let's try try to get consumer demand for clean foods high enough so that EVERYONE can afford it.

This month, I was honored and humbled to be featured in San Francisco Magazine's December issue. I was in a section where they profiled Women Social Entrepreneurs and in Philanthropy. The reason they chose me was because I am a co-founder and Board Member of a nonprofit, called Spark (www.sparksf.org). I co-founded this nonprofit with some other women when I was in law school about 7 years ago.

I post this here along with the theme of the last post, to show Lyme patients out there that ANYTHING is possible. I never thought I would be able to walk 10 minutes again, to get through the day without napping again, to be able to use my brain again, and I certainly thought I would never work again. Not only am I working, but I am doing well, thriving, and continuing upwards. After years of feeling near-death was imminent (or at least hoping it was because the suffering of this disease was intolerable). I am here to tell you that ANYTHING is possible. I couldn't even imagine working 7 months ago. I am still paying off that medical debt, but I feel blessed to feel independent, healthy, and happy. I would say I am between 85-90%, and still going for the 150%.

Never EVER EVER give up....Below are the photos from the article..I am at the very bottom picture. The link to the online article is at: http://www.modernluxury.com/san-francisco/story/the-philanthropists?page=3.

As I promised, I would detail every piece of my protocol to share what helped me and hope that you can also use some of it to guide you in your treatment process..I'll be posting snippets of info soon, on detox, hormones, etc. Stay tuned!