oh yes the outside can fool you. have you seen the ads and commercials for women and heart disease? I’ve read a ton of stories about women our age who look healthy, exercise regularly and turn around one day on a gurnie with a heart attack! Our bodies are a gift that we get to live in and should do our very best to care for… but ultimately we are not in control. My best friend found that out this year as well. she was 55 years old… never smoked… drinks very moderately… eats very well and exercises regularly. she went in for what she thought were vague stomach flu type symptoms and discovered a tumor on her pancreas. That was almost a year ago now. one day she’s a healthy active woman and the next she’s basically an invalid. although she’s past the invalid point at this part. she is working out with a personal trainer and doing a great job of taking care of her body to the best of her ability. but boy oh boy it’s the truth that we don’t know what’s around teh corner isn’t it?

Belinda, A friend of mine [Harvard lawyer very successful/fit etc] came down with one of the worst kinds of cancers. Among all the other treatments she drank 2-4 oz of fresh wheat grass everyday from Jamba Juice, Whole Foods or someplace like that. She’d always been very attractive and vibant looking, huge white smile, bright eyes, fit etc, during the chemo etc she looked like a Holocaust survior, really scary. Six months later she looked 15 years younger and at a party of 100 people was the singularly best looking person in the place. Swears it was the wheat grass. I did it for 6 months faithfully [do not like the taste] the fresh out performs anything elese have ever tried…hair, skin, energy everything gets tremendous boost…was also doing lots of workouts [as gave me so much energy a constant mutually reinforcing cycle] that people literally would stop me in stores, on the street and ask if I was a dancer, taught pilates or yoga…”what do you do?” It was the fresh wheat grass…the packaged stuff does not have the same effect. You would have to eat an entire table top loaded with greens to get the benefit of what’s in 2-4 oz. I would never have believed it if hadn’t seen what it did for my friend and me. I need to start back on it just do not like the taste…kind of gags me. But re your situation that has happened to two friends like about…looked fine and all the sudden life totally derailed and both wound up in very critical condition,,,both recovered. Am sure you’ll do well too even though have obviously have gone through a great deal and will take a while to get it all balanced and straightened out…..am sure you’ll do it. Glad you’re still here! Oh, and for a laugh….my Dad sent me this today. Really funny and clever….esp like the Obama part [lol]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWiXy55OHyY

Dear God Belinda- what a nightmare! The good news is that all of those can be taken care of with your determination except the sarcoidosis. That’s the tricky one. You will not even need drugs for any of those once you get them in control. My sister was taking 30 - 40 pills a day for all those same ailments except the sarcoidosis. The pills were basically keeping her alive. But she also had some heart problems with everything else. I think she’s down to a few pills a day now after losing 80 pounds with Dr. B. Many of her issues were weight related. She still has 50 to go. But she is in great spirits. I agree with Carmel that fresh is the way to go. Stay away from anything in cans or any manufactured foods at all. Anything that comes already “assembled” is not FOOD. A piece of fish, a steak, a bunch of vegetables, etc. are actual food. You can actually buy a long window box shaped container full of wheat grass that you cut and process at home. Or make a daily trek to a juice shop as a daily ritual. It does taste horrible but you can mix it with a green apple and a carrot/celery or a beet or a hunk of ginger to tone it down. I had allergy tests and discovered I was allergic to almost everything I ate and everything in my environment. Every grass, every tree, every grain, every flower, etc. The big one was mold. That meant first of all - moving far far away from Saskatchewan, keeping a clean but chem free house, — and then cutting out almost every packaged / in a jar / in a can / frozen food on the planet. Not even ketchup. No yogurt/wine/cheese/beer/booze/tea/coffee! NOTHING. I decided to only eat fresh food and after two years I had only cats and a slight milk allergy left on the allergy list. I was light / strong / clear eyed / and a force to be reckoned with!

Yikes Belinda, you have a full plate. What a blessing that you still have good legs (most days) and that you look healthy from the outside. Imagine how much more discouraging this would be if every time you glanced in the mirror a sick person was looking back at you! I wish you the best managing all these new concerns.