The One Thing

“I think one must finally take one’s life in one’s arms”
– Arthur Miller, After the Fall

Every day, people from all parts of the world email me this question: “What is the one thing, the one treatment, the one clinic that gets people well?” One treatment? One clinic? Stumped, I don’t have an answer for them. Lyme Disease has the shady reputation of being the trendy-modern illness du-jour but it is by no means solved by today’s modern-quick-fix-get-right-to-it methods. NO WAY! It’s a journey with no end date for most.

But this “ONE thing” question sends me into my own philosophical tail spin. How do we help people that are long suffering to stay the course? How do we teach patients to borrow more time from their spirits when they have been sick longer than the world’s tolerance for sick days? What tools do I give to these clients and their families?

The questions from patients keep coming. I feel inadequate knowing that most mundane answers will only quell their desperation momentarily. My compassion for their circumstances comes from having been in their shoes; I fully grasp the torment of chasing wellness. It only makes sense that those who aren’t well want to know when they will be better; they want end-date, an exit strategy, a plan! But what if their need for the answer is part of the problem? What if the real way out is to not have a way out? I know what you’re thinking, “NO WAY OUT? ARE YOU CRAZY I’D RATHER DIE!”

But stay with me if you will. Correct me if I am wrong, but you might have 20+ doctors on rotation. You dart from one protocol to the next not knowing if one is working. You take pills, supplements, meds with no sense of order. You can’t organize it all. You are on 6 different protocols and you just went to see a special new doctor that gave you a special new protocol that’s really going to fix it. But you haven’t even started this yet, because you don’t have the energy to order anything on it and a few of the items kind of scare you. You need to research those new items but you’re too exhausted from doing the first 6 protocols and you have an appointment for an IV in 20 minutes that you aren’t even dressed for. Sound familiar? If so, you are like many of us. You’re wandering around in a gigantic kitchen acting like an exhausted Executive Chef with no Sous Chef to back you up. A health advocate/coach, a case manager, a family member can help you make order of it all, but making order is not the ultimate answer.
My observation is this–what gets us into this mess, is that we want the ONE magic solution that clicks us back to the way we were before this. This frantic search for getting better quickly creates a chaos that has us lost in a dark room. Don’t misunderstand me…you should continue to unpack your case, dedicate to the journey ahead. Commit to all of the things that you need in order to handle getting well: find the right care; make your supplement packs; learn how to muscle test; hire an advocate/a coach; find the next doctor that’s going to help you uncover the next puzzle piece and be your best detective. But, while you do all this, give up fixing yourself, throw away the cure, instead dedicate to your marathon of healing. Trust that the transformed you will be better than the way you were before.

I remember the day I made this silent pact with the universe. I fully accepted that there may never be a “cure” and fully gave way to the path ahead. I decided to give in to what being unwell meant for me. Instead of trying to get out of it, I dedicated to being IN IT fully. I agreed to nurture my illness like a sick child, with whatever it took. This allowed me the ability to surrender, to welcome in a paradigm shift and transform me into wellness. This is the only ONE thing that I can recommend from where I stand. I have observed, for myself and many others that the continued work toward getting well becomes the goal and fixing the problem becomes irrelevant.

So…do the work you need to do to set all this up, then turn it over to those you trust and sit back. Let the universe know that you’re ready for the ride… Give up the ONE thing, but rather surrender to one day, one month, one year, one lifetime, of true healing. I’ve seen it time and time again with clients when they finally connect to that moment of surrender, they begin to ride the tumultuous waves of wellness into their authentic lives…only then do they become fully well.

https://www.lymenation.org/the-one-thing/

Healing the World One Mouth at a Time

I feel inspired by the six plus hours of surgery I just watched Doctor Volz perform today at the Swiss Biohealth Clinic in Switzerland. This remarkable dentist and surgeon is doing what many don’t have the fortitude to do. This brave and brilliant man is cleaning the world up one mouth at a time. And if that wasn’t enough, this entrepreneurial dentist has created Swiss Dental Solutions a company which builds full ceramic implants. Dr. Volz uses zirconium oxide only in his surgeries, a product he devised and manufactures for the best results in bio-immunological implantology. So…Ulrich Volz is literally changing the world of dentistry! This moves me because; It was only just hours ago that my beautiful young client Autumn Lee Reed had a mouth full of various metals and infections and that her health was negatively impacted by it all. But thanks to Ulrich Volz her mouth is now free of all metals and of all toxins and bugs that were living in her cavitations. I have been lucky to watch this master perform this type of surgery with clients several times this year, but today I am particularly touched by doctor Volz’s generosity of spirit as well as his determination to help people with his unique skill; knowledge and expertise.  

So many of us, men and women alike have been physically compromised with our dental health. Our mouths are precious gateways to so much in our lives; love, nutrition, intimacy, communication-- we all believe that the doctors and dentists who care for our oral health do so with honesty and integrity. When we are told that our mouths are metal and infection free by our family dentists we believe them. When we are told that root canals are our best options to save our teeth we trust them. But at the end of this often long journey for many chronically ill patients we feel betrayed to learn that none of this is true. As a health advocate to many trying to restore health, I have seen the shock on many faces when they learn that their mouths are filled with substances that are making them all so sick. Many were told; “You have absolutely NO metal in your mouth!” Yet, in the chair, during surgeries like the one I just watched, mercury amalgams are found, metal based crowns are found, metal posts are found, titanium implants are found—all metals! And, cavitations are smoldering as well as infected root canals with big cysts or ankylosed teeth that should simply not be there anymore. How do we find our way through this maze of confusion?

 My own mouth was a cause of many sleepless nights, I spent years solving it. I was born and raised in France of American hippies none concerned over dental issues. Raised by a French concierge from the farm in Bretagne while mom and dad were partying with Dylan and Baez my uneducated nanny knew nothing about dental hygiene. She never told us to brush our teeth! So at 12 when I was sent to a fancy New York City Cornell educated dentist by my new fancy psychotherapist stepmom, the dentist did what seemed like the best job ever—she heroically filled my 17 cavities with mercury amalgams. At 13, 14, 15 I had the beginnings of chronic life-long bladder infections, no one would have put the two together, not then. Years later, in my later thirties, after removing all my metal fillings I was left with a mouth full of infections. The then Biological dentist drilled too deep and damaged all the nerves in my teeth. I was told for ten years by the conventional dental community that root canals were my best option, so I obliged. Ten years later and 20 miscarriages behind me with a Lyme disease diagnosis and more, I had a body full of chronic pain. Thanks to Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt and Dr. Ulrich Volz I have been able to restore my health as well as help other do the same.

But, I am compelled to add this piece. It’s no secret that I overcame many years of sexual abuse as well as my own self-abuse thereafter through high class prostitution. I have written about this at length. It’s also clear to me that my transforming through this has been an integral part of my own healing journey as well as my contribution to other’s healing paths. I’ve dedicated years of therapy and spiritual work to transforming this and have found true balance.  I realized early on that for me the abuse with my mouth began there, the historical picture of my oral suffering is clear. I have also held the hands of many clients who have struggled with this same history. What disturbs me though, is that our culture is still living in a paradigm where the patriarchal dominance is king. By this I mean that many with this kind of early abuse have a repeat trauma. The trust we all place in dentists and doctors who fill our mouths with substances we don’t agree to, mirrors the early betrayal we suffered with being sexually abused. In the current climate in America where many hidden secrets are being revealed by those betrayed, I am honored to be part of a new healing community. One where Healing is given priority. Healing with a capital H must be given applause. It is in these midst that we can become whole again. Dr. Volz and Dr. Klinghartdt are the kind of doctors that are leading this movement. Chairside surgery with Dr. Volz I observe the care he takes to avoid any re-trauma for all his patients, even under anesthesia. Being used as the arm for Dr. Klinghardt with my clients I watch him finding the underlying causes of patterns of illness. These men are a new breed of doctors necessary for our culture’s deep wounds, ones who lead with their hearts. These men are slowly shifting a paradigm that no longer serve us, they are leaders in an artistry of medicine we must support. There is a poetry in how they care for us all. As I sit here watching Dr. Volz complete his work today with my courageous client Autumn, I am filled with gratitude for this work and this new breed of Healers, and I am honored to be a part of this path with them both and for all who need our help.