I wrote this for a group of friends from my church. I want to share it here. The first time I read at this site, I heard someone say that their raw journey was spiritual. I agree. Anyway, this is my story, for what it's worth:
*******
I had a late night last night, and was planning on sleeping in today, getting up just in time to make 11 o'clock church. Unfortunately, my mind won't let me do that. After three hours of sleep, I am awake with my mind going, and going, and going. So I've decided to tell you my life story... well, one angle of it. Health. It is indeed a long and winding road.

I was born 53 years ago, my parents divorced when I was 5, and I was raised by a single mother. This was at a time in history when women had it really rough as far as wages went. A woman worked side by side with a man and made 60% of what he made. My mom struggled to feed 5 kids on way insuffient income. So we ate cheap. We ate fried potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Those were our main staples in life. For vegetables we had canned green beans, corn, and peas. Sometimes there was salad, made with iceberg lettuce, and tomato. Another "salad" we ate was just to cut a head of lettuce into wedges, and cover it with mayonaise. For meat, we ate hamburger and chicken. And the hamburger was either served with some pasta, in spaghetti, or cooked with some potatoes. Chicken we boiled and then mixed with homemade egg noodles, consisting of white flour and eggs and salt. Or we dipped it in egg, rolled it in white flour, and fried it in Crisco. Of course, this was served with yummy mashed potatoes that were loaded with margarine. At school we ate sack lunches consisting of sandwiches made with balloon bread, usually pb & j, with some potatoe chips if we were lucky. I remember once that in the cafeteria they were serving brocolli, and a boy smelled it and threw up. I had never tasted brocolli, but decided if just the smell made him throw up, brocolli must be terrible indeed. I had never heard of asparigus, cauliflower, avacado, or many other vegetables. My mom was a working single mom trying to house, clothe and feed 5 kids on less than $1 an hour.

I married a man with a golden heart who struggled to function normally. He was raised in a very nonfunctional home. In a more loving, nurturing environment, he might have been taught how to overcome his disabilities. I married him for his heart, little understanding that I was choosing a life of poverty. While there are some things I regret, I do not regret choosing him. I would rather be with him than anyone on earth. I love his heart, find comfort and solace in his presence.

By the time our first child came along, we were already wrestling with poverty. We wanted to do what the Lord wanted, so I was a stay at home mom having baby after baby. No real regrets there, we love them all. But the circumstances did contribute to my total health picture. I had 5 babies before my oldest turned five. And I was feeding them all on boxed macaroni and cheese. Ramen noodles had come on the scene then, so that became another staple of life. And we had more than our share of potatoes fried in Crisco. Well, actually we used the store brand of shortening, couldn't afford Crisco.

I discovered that kids want snacks. Of course, I had heard that fruit was healthy, but for a buck I could buy a package of cookies that would give everyone a snack- twice. As our family grew to 8 children, those dollars added up, so the fruit snacks were far in between. The cheap cookies or chips, possibly some pretzels were the snacks we used. They went a long way.

I had heard that fruits and vegetables were healthy, but was helpless to follow that route, given finances. But even if I had had more money, I probably would have continued eating the wrong foods, because it is how I was brought up. It is what I knew.

At age 30, after having 7 children, I was diagnosed as a type one diabetic. It was my first "incurable" disease. Since it was type one, my doctor told me it was not the inherited type, it was not caused by diet, that it was "stinking bad luck." Next came shingles. I thought at first that it was a one time thing. The second time it flared up, my doctor gave me the news that it was a recurring "incurable" disease. I was indignant. I thought God should only allow one "incurable" disease per person. After all, if my diabetes is "stinking bad luck" and not caused by anything I did, then it shouldn't be accompanied by other "incurable" disease, right? How much bad luck can one person have? But on the heels of shingles came chronic fatigue syndrome, carpel tunnel, and fibromyalgia. And most recently, celiac disease.

By the time my 8th child, a daughter, was 8 years old my doctor told me I would not live to see her become an adult. My diabetes was raging out of control because I was insulin dependant, but I was also allergic to insulin. Because I could not gain control of my diabetes, all the complications of diabetes began: Kidney damage, eye damage, nerve damage. After 8 eye surgeries, my vision sucks. I have little feeling below my knees, and with poor balance, I walk like a drunk.

As the nerve damage destroyed my balance, my energy also declined. I got up tired, and went to be exhausted. A walk of a blocks length utterly destroyed me. During a chonic fatigue flare up, a walk of 20 feet would cause me to sleep for 2 hours afterwards. Life was difficult, and it wasn't hard to believe my doctor's prediction that I would not live to see my daughter become an adult.

That daughter is now 22, serving as missionary, my dream for my own life. I received a blessing when she was 12 years old. In that blessing, I was promised that my health would be restored, but only after much work from myself. I didn't really know where THAT would take me. Work? Maybe cut out cookies or junk food.

After that blessing, I began to learn. A cousin introduced me to an herbal company (Awareness) that teaches that death begins in the colon. That when our colons don't work properly, eliminating 2-3 times a day, the toxins that are supposed to be eliminated are reabsorbed through the body. A working colon is vital to good health. I also learned from this company about parasites, and how they live in human bodies (according to Peter Jennings, and National Geographic, 90% of all americans have them) and they STEAL the nutrients we eat. So when we do eat something with a little nutrition, the parasites get most of the nutrients, and we get the left overs. Results-- malnourished organs, illness, sometimes even death. But mostly a bunch of people walking around sick.

From this company, I first heard the idea that cooking food kills enzymes, and that enzymes are vital to good health. Enzymes serve as a delivery system for vitamins and minerals. I didn't understand the implications for me as a type 1 diabetic. Enzymes come from two palces: they are in raw fruits, vegetables, grain and nuts, and they are produced in the body; in the pancreas to be specific. As a type 1 diabetic, my pancreas didn't work. So by cooking my food, I was depriving myself of all enzymes. But I didn't understand that.

One thing I heard at a meeting for Awareness is about a cat study. In this cat study, scientists took two groups of cats. One they fed healthy. The other they fed the equivalent of a typical American junk diet: fast foods, white flour foods, sugar and hydrogenated fats. All cats had been examined and were healthy at the start. They all lived a fairly long life, but the junk food cats died just a bit earlier, and they died of things like heart disease, strokes, and diabeties. The interesting thing about this study was that they followed several generations of the cat groups. The children of the healthy diet cats remained as healthy as their parents. The children of the unhealthy diet cats, who ate the same unhealthy diet as their parents, developed the heart disease, strokes and diabetes at a younger age than their parents had. They died younger. The third generation healthy diet cats continued in good health. The third generation of unhealthy diet cats died even younger and with more disease than their parents. The fourth generation of the healthy diet cats were strong and vibrant, just like their parents. The fourth generation of the unhealthy diet cats? There were no fourth generation cats. The ill health of the third generation had caused them to become infertile.

When I was a kid, it was very unusual for people to not be able to conceive. Sure, it's a problem that has always been around; we read of it in the Bible. But the accurance was low. Today it's epidemic.

So I was learning about the true importance of nutrition. I made some changes. I stopped eating margarine, and paid the price for real butter. I stopped eating white balloon bread. I actually even took some of the herbal recipes for colon cleansing and parasite cleansing. Within 2 weeks, I had 7 people-7!- come up and ask what I was doing because I looked so good. I felt better than ever, and it showed. However, after about 5 weeks, my husband injured himself at work, and there was no money for herbs, or even healthy food. Back came old habits.

And this is the state I was in when I moved to Washington state. Finances weren't better here. I still had a lot of kids at home. They were growing up, but I worked very little because of my health. We struggled, and continued to live on macaroni, top ramen, hamburger, and potatoes. I did continue to watch out for hydrogenated fats, and sugar. Time passed. The kids grew up and moved away. We got the job we have now, which was a huge blessing financially. Since we don't pay for housing or utilities, that gives us room to spend money on health... not the doctor route, but the nutritional route.

I had been interested in becoming a vegetarian for a few years. I have been haunted by the plight of animals in our food chain. I believe that animals are here to have joy , just as man is. Yet we keep them in tiny cages, popping out egs when they can hardly even hold their neck up. They are often screaming with fright as they are slaughtered... to make someone a tasty pork chop. Is there any way these "food chain" animals have joy in their posterity? I felt that the day would come when we might need to account for how we treat animals. If we jauntily rush in to buy a dead animal whose very purpose for existence was to end up on our kitchen table, we knowingly, deliberately participate in the suffering of that animal. We keep them from having that joy that God intended them to have. That bothered me.

Then about a year ago, during a fibromyalgia flare up, I was doing a google search on natural cures for Fibromyalgia. I came across a post on a message board, where a woman said since she had started eating only raw, she had no pain from her fibromyalgia at all. The idea of eating raw had never occured to me. It seemed an overwhelming lifestyle change. And to give up my pork chops, my steaks, to not eat enchiladas, or cooked foods? Way more drastic than I was willing to do.

So I continued to get up exhausted. When I shopped, I rode the handicapped cart around the store. I would have starved if I had to walk, because the energy was not in me. Walking was hugely difficult because of the diabetic nerve damage to my legs. I had three TIA's... mini strokes that left me frightened. I had outlived my doctor's predictions, but how much longer did I have? Was I go to have a big stroke that left me unable to talk, unable to care for myself? I was terrified to even be alone. I knew I had to make a lifestyle change.

I started going to a naturopathic doctor. I made some changes. When he diagnosed the celiac disease, I quit eating wheat. At first I replaced it with bread mixes had of potato flour, rice flour, etc. But my brain was urging me to stop, telling me that it was useless to replace one dead food-- the processed wheat in flour, with another dead food.. the processed rice or potato flour. I knew about live nutrients. I just couldn't bring myself to jump in too deep.

I had a very bad flu about 4 months ago that just tipped my body into acidosis. I ended up in ICU. One of the things the doctor told me there was that I had had a heart attack some time in the past. I didn't even know it! He only knew from the enzymes in my blood. This is a somewhat freaky thing that had me worried again. I am only 53!

So then I read this book by a naturopathic doctor. It was all about diabetes and what nutrients will protect you from each complication. What will protect the kidneys, what will protect vision, etc. This doctor did not recommend someone goes vegan. He did not recommend someone goes raw. He just recommend that there are certain vitamins that are vital to the health of a diabetic. But as I read, the Holy Ghost was whispering to me. When I finished the book, the plan was in my mind. I would eat mostly raw foods and keep the enzymes alive. I would change my health not by taking supplements, but by getting what God intended me to get out of the things he had put on the earth.

My husband has been the most incredible support you can imagine. We have been four months about 80% raw. By day 5, my energy had soared. I was totally drenched by a sense of well-being. I felt GOOD!

My weight has consistently gone down. I have lost 45 pounds. I eat and eat and eat. But when you're eating raw fruits and vegetables, you can just flat pig out and it doesn't matter. I now walk in the grocery store, no need to ride the cart. My kids tell me all the time how great I look, one daughter declaring that I have less wrinkles. Way cool! But my blood sugars have been difficult still. Because of the insulin allergy, I never take enough insulin. Yet on the raw diet, I was having more and more insulin reactions. In order to begin to stop the damage to my kidneys I HAVE to get my blood sugars under control. In one day, they will swing from over 600 to 38. Because I'm brittle, I never know what to expect!

So in this raw quest I have been doing, I ran acrossed a few references to a book. Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. I wanted the book because it tells about sprouting, something I was interested in learning. Seeds and nuts have an natural enzyme inhibitor that stops them from growing when condidtions aren't right. But moisture stops the inhibitor, and the enzymes flourish. So I wanted to know more about this. I put the book on my Christmas list, buy I'm not one to wave my Christmas list around, so I didn't get it. (got a lot of other cool stuff, though. LOL)

Last night I went to a raw pot luck in Seattle. It was at the home of some people who have started a food co-op. And they had the book there. I bought it. I came home late. I went to bed late, and expected to sleep late. At 6 oclock I woke up, unable to get to sleep again. So I started reading. And what I read in this book has put another curve in my path. One that I am excited about.

Dr. Cousins, the author of the book, talks about how Louis Pasteur, the man who discovered germs, had a deathbed debate with a couple of other doctors. His dying words were, "Claude Vernard was right. The microbe is nothing. The terrain is everything." Funny thing is, I already knew that before reading this book. I had learned the difference between Chinese and Western medicine: Think of the body as a pond of water. When the water if full of filth, only harmful parasitic fish can live there. Western theory has us busy trying to catch all the bad fish and pull them out. Chinese theory says to clean up the pond, so that the healthy fish can live in it. We take medicine after medicine, addressing the symptoms and adding new ones. Watch the commercials on tv.... first they tell you how it's supposed to help you. Then they tell you the side effects: may cause dry mouth, constipation, and headache. Why? Because what ever is in that medicine is harmful to the part of the body that controls saliva, the colon function or healthy brain function. Why are we doing this??? It's nuts. The issue is about nutrition.

Anyway, after reading Dr. Cousins book for a couple of hours this morning, I am ready to take another bend in the road. He says that the critters that live in us and that we get in our food and our water thrive on sugar. Any kind of sugar, natural or processed. Our bodies were designed by God to fight off these naturally occuring microorganisms. And back when men ate correctly, that is what happened. But when we eat like I ate most of my life, we deprive our body of the tools it needs to fight. We become sick. And while we're getting sicker, they're getting stronger, fed by the sugars.So in order to get my body back to the stage where it can fight again, I'm going to follow his program. Actually I will start it in 8 days. Tomorrow I start a juicing fast, with a colon and parasite cleanse. Give myself a running start before starting the program in his book. Then I go on 100% raw vegetables for 3-6 months. For a somewhat healthy person, it can be accomplished in 3 months. I'm really not somewhat healthy. I suspect it will take me more than the three months. But I am wholly willing to eat nothing but raw vegetables for 6 months. Then I will add back fruits. I doubt that I will ever add back cooked foods.

I still have a host of "incurable" diseases. But I don't feel upset or gyped at having more than one. They didn't come from "stinking bad luck." They came from ignorance. From following a typical American diet, at least one that most people without much money eat. They come from being preyed on by food companies who ONLY care about how much money they make, even knowing that their product is creating generations who grow sicker each year. They come from poor choices, from taking the easy route, the lazy route, and the cheap route.

But I don't feel bad about that. I feel empowered. I feel determined and hopeful. There is a new day coming for me. I see it, I feel myself rising towards it. I believe the day will come when that blessing will be fulfilled: I will be able to be a missionary. I will have the needed health and energy. I will be able to run and not be weary, and walk and not faint. I believe that my diabetes will go into remission, that all of the chronic "incurable" diseases I have will BE cured. I am amazed. Not a disbelieving amazement, but I joyful expectation type of amazement.

My biggest thought is, "Praise God from whoom all blessings flow!"

I have tried many of your recipes from this site. Thanks... you all have taught and encouraged me, even when you didn't know you were doing it!

KathyT

Wow Kathy, that's is some life story. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us.

You are an inspiration, for me, and I'm betting for others..not just for working on health issues thru raw foods, but for your heartfelf joy of life even when it was tough. I think people that keep love thru-out their ordeals, reap the benefit of good Karma, or their spirituality.

Keep us posted..we'd love to keep hearing from you.

Love,
Prism

CONGRATULATIONS KathyT !!! Thank you for posting your story - as Prism said - it is very inspirational!

You are very encouraging and my hat's off to you for not beating yourself up about all the mistakes of the past - but for looking forward with determination and hope! I believe that you WILL make all the progress that you are hoping for and will go on and help others - in fact - you already are.

Also, thank you for reminding us that we are teaching and encouraging others - even when we don't realize it! Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

Please keep up your "joyful expectation" - it's such an important component of the journey!!

Please do keep us all posted on your progress!

Life Is Good!

alive!

hey kathy T

keep us posted on how you are doing
also, involve your entire family so you're not the one doing all the work
i know that victoria boutenko's kids wrote a book on raw recipe for kids
i didn't get it though cuz i don't have any kids
but it seems logical to me that once you get kids involved
they kind of put in a new energy to it

also, victoria wrote about how her husband was dead set against changing to a raw diet but then he saw how well he was doing so he changed as well and now
he and victoria do tours/lectures on raw foods

but initially
maybe you will have to go it alone
by yourself
and just focus on yourself

because you alone are enough

i know you can do it
the word "incurable"
is not even a word
i don't know what it is

that's like saying a person has the powers to see into the future
how would ANYONE know if something is not incurable

victoria boutenko's son got rid of diabetes
and that was the JUVENILE diabetes
that is thought by all M.D' to be "incurable"
so that is a pretty powerful testimony

people have gotten rid of a lot of "incurable" diseases from going raw
like epilepsy,diabetes,etc.

i'm not saying that it will be an easy road
but you said the "holy ghost" was speaking to you

so you already know

I think it's wonderful what you're doing - not just for yourself, but for the example you're setting for your kids and your community.

Just to let you know in advance, there may possibly be times when you slip up or at the very least, you may find it difficult to follow the Cousens regimen exactly. For those times, try to stay raw, and stay vegan. If staying raw seems momentarily too difficult, then try having some steamed greens or peas or even corn, and if that doesn't doesn't satisfy, then just try to stay vegan. You already have the vegan compassion, and that will help a lot.

Most of all, if you do slip up, don't be too hard on yourself, don't blame yourself, try to learn what you can, and then get right back into the saddle.

Congratulations on your very intelligent decision, and on your wonderful progress so far, and please keep us posted.

Thanks so much for your story.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2007 07:52PM by suncloud.

Kathy you mentioned you got diabetes after age 30,
so how long have you had it now?

I personally believe the length of having a disease is a determining factor.


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/19/2007 07:58PM by rawdev.

Wow, Kathy, what an amazing story. Like the others have said, thank you so much for sharing all of it with us. I am so glad you are doing better every day! Best of luck to you and please keep us posted.

xoxo - Kim

Yeah Kathy, I forgot to mention that you are just awesome for sharing your life's journey.

You and your family deserve the best.

Peace & Harmony!!!!!!


Why Vegan?
Because I have the most love and admiration for all animals of the earth!!!
a rawvegan hopeful, rawdev4life!!!

Thanks for your responses. I appreciate the words of counsel. And the encouragement!

la_veronique, my children are all adults, mostly off living their own lives. One daughter does live with me... in fact, she moved here to just help me with the vegan diet. At first, I was just going to go vegan because of the damage to my kidneys... animal proteins cause creatnine to stack up in your blood when the kidneys can't filter it out. A normal creatnine level is .4-.8, when you get to a 10 you have to go on dialysis. Mine was a 2.0 when I went raw; by avoiding animal products I hope to get that down. So my daughter moved in with me... I work a 10 hour day, and frankly at the end of the day I didn't have energy to cook, so we were either buying fast food, or maybe throwing a potato and a piece of chicken in the oven. My daughter needed to change apartments, so I asked her if she wanted free room and board in exchange for cooking for us. LOL-- little did we know at the time that "cooking" would turn to "preparing." Having her with us is a godsend right now!

I am very pleased to say that this IS having a positive impact on my family. One daughter has been listening for quite some time. She has a two year old that has never eaten sugar. This little girl will come to my house, and if I open the fridge, she's right there saying "I want a pepper". She will walk around eating a sweet pepper the same way other kids eat cookies. She does not eat processed white flour, milk, hydrogenated fats, and her parents are working on going raw. It was actually my son-in-laws idea after he watched us for a couple of months. Most of our children are trying to eat healthier, and I am excited about that. Some of junk food junkies, and I worry.... I have one daughter who is a mother of 6, and all of them eatly really poorly.... their parents have seen the change in me, and want to do lots more raw, but the kids throw fits, so they just keep feeding them the junk diet. I'm hoping to be able to influence that!

My husband is also benefiting from this... he has also lost about 45 pounds, and while he hasnt' felt the energy increase, his arthritis has quit hurt him. He used to hurt alot from it, so being about of pain is well worth it.

We have 'fallen off the wagon' at times. Interestingly, when we have, we didn't like it. Once we decided we just had to have pizza. I couldn't eat one slice, it felt so awful in me. I don't think I'll crave pizza again. After that I was craving chicken... bought four pieces, cooked them up and was revolted by them. I nibbled on mine, couldn't eat it. My husband gobbled him down and regretted it, said it made him feel ill.

For holidays, we had wild alaskan salmon, and enjoyed it. It didn't make us ill, and we may do it again. I guess we'll see where we're at when next Christmas comes around.

I have been a type 1 diabetic for 24 years. I have been insulin dependant since day 1.

I am going to put a post on that under the thread of the person who was newly diagnosed.

Thank you to everyone who gave me some good guidance.

KathyT

wow! Kathy T-that was inspiring.thanks so much for this.I pray u and fmaily continue on the road to health.it is the most precious thing we have.good luck to u and your dear family.hugs taylor

kathy T

you are cool !

Bump..for other people to read and be inspired

Love,
Prism

another bump...