The Plan
THE PLAN
So since I couldn't get any answers, I fearfully begun to search help for Lupus. Even though I hadn't got a diagnosis for it yet, judging from my high CRP and joint pain and facial rash that got worse from the sun, I went ahead and labeled what I was feeling with "Lupus".
I Googled and much to my dismay pretty much everything I read was that there is no cure for Lupus. I decided to join Lupus message boards and try to find some kind of validation so I could show my family that I really was not feeling well and that I needed to be taken seriously. I knew what I was feeling. I even tested myself one morning. I went out into our backyard and sat in the sun for a few minutes. Came back inside and there was a pink splotch covering my right cheek. I posted pictures of my face and showed the members of the forums my rash and described my symptoms and still everyone said "you're just anxious! you don't have Lupus!". Angered and feeling helpless, I decided to give up. I gave up trying to get answers or a medical explanation or understanding. I had to take matters into my own hands. I had to heal.
Only I could validate what I was feeling and seeing happen to my body. Only I could listen to my body, and my body was telling me, "Help! I am sick" and I listened closely.
I Googled some more and came across advertising web pages for books written by people promising a special Lupus cure and "medical breakthrough" information that could be mine for only $49.45. I dug further and stumbled across Brooke Goldner's book "Goodbye Lupus". It was fairly cheap I used the money from my last paycheck to buy it. At first I was a little uneasy about buying it, of course, but after visiting Brooke's web page (veganmedicaldoctor.com) and watching her heartfelt video, I felt a hope spark in me. It felt like she really cared and wanted to help people.
Well, I got the book and scanned through it. In it Brooke talks about how animal products, dairy products, processed junk foods--all cause inflammation and hinder a body's ability to heal itself of disease. I looked it up myself and found there were lots of other vegans (namely raw vegans) who healed disease from their high nutrient diets and lifestyles. Brooke wasn't the only one who healed from Lupus. Jill Harrington, another former Lupus sufferer and author, wrote a similar book in the same subject ("The Lupus Recovery Diet"). There was a trend I saw. When the body is given the proper nutrients and loses the processed foods and junk, it can have what it needs to heal inside and out. I watched documentaries on Netflix about nutrition and the body and was even more inspired to change my diet so I could have a fighting chance to heal. I had to do this.
One morning I was upset and scared. Could I really heal? Since I wasn't going to be working anymore and not make my own money, how could I eat vegan and not hurt my dad's bank account? I looked up on Youtube how to eat vegan on a budget and found FullyRawKristina. I felt a connection with her cheerful and bright personality and somehow I felt like it was possible to heal. Finding out she healed of Hyperglycemia also boosted my faith. She helped me feel that the things we eat really do have an affect on our health. I could do this.
The first fruit and veggie things I ate was a small plate of baby carrots and grapes. I was so weak and lethargic I could barely stay out of my bed. I was sick and swollen and in pain in my knees and elbows. When I raised my arm it hurt. I was frightened by that fact. I began to make smoothies with fruit and a small handful of kale. I would use what strength I could muster to walk to the kitchen and prepare the smoothie. I would then walk all the way back to my room to blend it (I kept the blender in my bedroom).
It was a scary time because I had no idea what was going in inside of me. Was I going to die? And the worst feeling of all was that no one knew what was wrong. God became my best friend and I would spend an hour some mornings sitting on my floor with all the lights turned off and have a small candle burning just praying to God to let me live, but most of all, to accept His plan.
So since I couldn't get any answers, I fearfully begun to search help for Lupus. Even though I hadn't got a diagnosis for it yet, judging from my high CRP and joint pain and facial rash that got worse from the sun, I went ahead and labeled what I was feeling with "Lupus".
I Googled and much to my dismay pretty much everything I read was that there is no cure for Lupus. I decided to join Lupus message boards and try to find some kind of validation so I could show my family that I really was not feeling well and that I needed to be taken seriously. I knew what I was feeling. I even tested myself one morning. I went out into our backyard and sat in the sun for a few minutes. Came back inside and there was a pink splotch covering my right cheek. I posted pictures of my face and showed the members of the forums my rash and described my symptoms and still everyone said "you're just anxious! you don't have Lupus!". Angered and feeling helpless, I decided to give up. I gave up trying to get answers or a medical explanation or understanding. I had to take matters into my own hands. I had to heal.
Only I could validate what I was feeling and seeing happen to my body. Only I could listen to my body, and my body was telling me, "Help! I am sick" and I listened closely.
I Googled some more and came across advertising web pages for books written by people promising a special Lupus cure and "medical breakthrough" information that could be mine for only $49.45. I dug further and stumbled across Brooke Goldner's book "Goodbye Lupus". It was fairly cheap I used the money from my last paycheck to buy it. At first I was a little uneasy about buying it, of course, but after visiting Brooke's web page (veganmedicaldoctor.com) and watching her heartfelt video, I felt a hope spark in me. It felt like she really cared and wanted to help people.
Well, I got the book and scanned through it. In it Brooke talks about how animal products, dairy products, processed junk foods--all cause inflammation and hinder a body's ability to heal itself of disease. I looked it up myself and found there were lots of other vegans (namely raw vegans) who healed disease from their high nutrient diets and lifestyles. Brooke wasn't the only one who healed from Lupus. Jill Harrington, another former Lupus sufferer and author, wrote a similar book in the same subject ("The Lupus Recovery Diet"). There was a trend I saw. When the body is given the proper nutrients and loses the processed foods and junk, it can have what it needs to heal inside and out. I watched documentaries on Netflix about nutrition and the body and was even more inspired to change my diet so I could have a fighting chance to heal. I had to do this.
One morning I was upset and scared. Could I really heal? Since I wasn't going to be working anymore and not make my own money, how could I eat vegan and not hurt my dad's bank account? I looked up on Youtube how to eat vegan on a budget and found FullyRawKristina. I felt a connection with her cheerful and bright personality and somehow I felt like it was possible to heal. Finding out she healed of Hyperglycemia also boosted my faith. She helped me feel that the things we eat really do have an affect on our health. I could do this.
The first fruit and veggie things I ate was a small plate of baby carrots and grapes. I was so weak and lethargic I could barely stay out of my bed. I was sick and swollen and in pain in my knees and elbows. When I raised my arm it hurt. I was frightened by that fact. I began to make smoothies with fruit and a small handful of kale. I would use what strength I could muster to walk to the kitchen and prepare the smoothie. I would then walk all the way back to my room to blend it (I kept the blender in my bedroom).
It was a scary time because I had no idea what was going in inside of me. Was I going to die? And the worst feeling of all was that no one knew what was wrong. God became my best friend and I would spend an hour some mornings sitting on my floor with all the lights turned off and have a small candle burning just praying to God to let me live, but most of all, to accept His plan.
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