to who did this to me, I would have loved to respond with, “I can’t decide if it was my second or third husband.” So where did the arsenic come from you might ask? Although the medical field cannot specifically define the source of my poisoning, we do know that I ate non-organic grapes on a daily basis for over a year when I began experiencing stomach aches. Shortly after this, the FDA was contacted because three grape pickers died from exposure to arsenic from picking California red-flame grapes…the exact variety I ate. After the deaths of the grape pickers, there was a national boycott on grapes.
“It’s your life. You can make a difference. I know because I did.” little more?” Before I ever had the chance to respond, she would say “You’re good? Good, I’m almost done.” After the first massage, I was able to walk a little. I was thrilled. The improvement lasted for a week. The physical therapist commented that of the few patients she treated with this technique, many of them never came back. NO SURPRISE, but there I was. What choice did I have? This went on for months.
In 1998, I decided I needed the best medical minds and latest research for my long road of recovery. I found the phone number and called a famous arsenic research doctor in Alabama who I had read so much about. He changed the protocol of my treatment. His belief was that getting the arsenic out as fast as possible is too harmful to the body. The long-term answer was to treat it less aggressively. I discussed this with my treating physician and he did not agree. It is my body so I made the decision to follow the treatment schedule recommended by the Alabama research doctor. During treatments, I spoke with other patients in the heavy metals chelation IV room. Their stories were grim without 100% recoveries. I didn’t want to end up like them. They had not cleaned up their diets or sought any alternatives on their own. I couldn’t understand this. I still don’t. That same year I lost the ability to walk without severe pain. Walking from one room to the next caused incredible searing pain that would drop me to the floor. On numerous occasions I crawled. Two doctors discussed sending me to one particular physical therapist for a massage. Massage? Great—I thought, until they told me it would be extremely painful. Linda, the massage therapist, would say ‘Hang on, are you doing ok? Can you take a
I had been a competitive equestrian prior to my illness so I was feeling the emptiness of equine companionship. I thought to myself: I may not be able to walk well but I can sit without pain so why not get on a horse; I was a fairly decent jump rider before this so it seemed like a sound idea to me!
When my friend saw that I had arrived to the barn she reluctantly took out this old Belgian mare used for beginners. The horse was docile, but huge…similar to the Budweiser Clydesdales. The plan was for my friend to help me from my car and walk me and the Belgian to a mounting block where she boosted me up onto her back. I just sat on her back feeling total contentment. My friend asked if I was all right and whether I felt confident to walk by myself or be led by her. My balance seemed good so off I went into the indoor riding arena. I walked a few laps with total joy. The doctor told me that riding with nerve damage would probably never be a good idea but apparently I did not recall that discussion; I was thrilled beyond belief to be riding again. I may not have been able to walk well, but this mare could.
My doctor also said that he could never get his patients recovered enough to eat sweets so he wasn’t even going to try with me. By sweets, I mean sweet peas, sweet corn, or sweet potatoes. Fruit and desserts were totally out of the picture. With all the supplements I had been taking to heal my body I eventually could eat an apple with no reaction. No migraine. No nausea. At my next doctor’s appointment I couldn’t contain my delight so when he opened the examining room door I took a big bite out of my apple, chewed it like any good drama queen and said, “I have been working hard on getting my digestion back through alternative medicines. It’s working!” In 1999 I biked into the New England winter because I could sit without pain. I felt so alive with the snow falling, the crispness Continued on page 32 berkswomen2women.com 31