Hello from Canada!

A little about my 'hell-th' journey. Unbeknownst to me it began in 1991 when I got bit by a tick. It was Christmas break during my second year studying television production when the symptoms unleashed.

I’d never been so sick.

I recovered from being bed ridden during the holidays with what turned out to be a nasty case of bronchitis but I then spent the next 19 years going from doctors to tests to hospitals to herbalists to energy healers to specialists to anything and anyone who I thought might be able to help me figure out why I couldn't eat. I even saw George Clooney's herbalist at one point but I still didn't have any answers. My 'favourite' diagnosis was that I had a hiatal hernia and had stop drinking coffee and wearing pantyhose. Neither of which I did.

Now three decades later at the cost of six figures (seeing a functional medicine doctor and various other practitioners) I've discovered Dr. Kruse's work and I'm ready to understand this from a different perspective.

I'm sooooo ready to learn differently and do differently. I'm spent in more ways than one.

Gastroparesis was my gateway diagnosis. I'd been experiencing symptoms since May 1992 and then started seeing a functional medicine doctor in 2005 who sent me for a gastric emptying study which came back positive. Finally, I had something to google!! He then wanted to find out what the underlying cause was. Unlike all the others before, he was committed to figuring me out. I am most grateful for that. I then did more and more tests (3 oversized binders full of lab results over the years) which added more pieces to the puzzle. Since that time, I've been diagnosed with: CIRS (lyme and mold), stage 4 cell danger response, SIBO, SIFO, leaky brain, leaky gut, leaky throat, gut dysbiosis, hypothyroid, pre-diabetes, POTS, brain fog, chronic bloating, insomnia, a gazillion food allergies (was down to eating 9 foods at one point), histamine, MCAS, NAFL, kidney function is starting to slip, C. diff, menopause, undermethylation, anxiety and have antibodies to Alpha-Tubulin + Beta-Tubulin. I also had a very bizarre heart event last fall where for a nanosecond I was disconnected from my body. In the midst of all this I had a financial trauma where I lost six figures, adding more salt on the stress wounds. Didn't think I could do life anymore at that point.

I know I'm a product of my environment, too much screen time working hard trying to pay for doctor's appointments, labs, supplements and medications. Now I'm a former chronic night owl turned morning lark. Tomorrow will be day 39 of my sunrise medicine. Not gonna lie, I do feel a little sleep drunk trying to function throughout the day and not a lot of wind in my sails. I'm making lots of silly mistakes that I otherwise wouldn't. Compliance to my current supplement protocol has waned significantly. Sooooo many pills. Right now I have a standing date with mother nature to see her wake up the world (and my mitochondria) every morning.

I have experienced much collateral beauty in this journey. I've learned so many things about myself that I know I wouldn't have otherwise but now I want my life back.

My leptin is currently 102.2 and my vitamin D is high (238).

I'm sooooo ready!! I'm sooooo looking forward to scheduling a consult with Dr. Kruse.

I'm so very happy to be here.

 

Good luck.
Please keep posting, especially about what helped you best.
.

 

Thank you JanSz. I will definitely share that

 

Welcome to journal land Kari!

You will turn this Titanic around!

 

Thank you for all of your support, Caroline. And yes, I will!!

 

One (or two) of my goals this week is to hardwire my lap top and then my cell (for extra bonus points). Not moving very fast these days

A friend mentioned she used the Belkin F8J227. Curious if that is also what people here have found to work the best?

Any words of wisdom ie are there any ethernet cables that are better than others, for hardwiring a laptop? Is this a relatively painless procedure or is it best to call in the calvary aka professionals?

Needless to say, I'm not super handy.

 

Hi Kari.....

Lot's of ways to skin that cat. Personally at both my home and office setups I typically use a docking station.

I keep the laptop near the docking station and run a hard wired dual monitor, keyboard, mouse set up off the dock. Example of docking station below.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...JOrTjcANvo0ICG8WfuQa9h6U-l30o3WLoDqZKec3Pd-gn

 

I searched for the Belkin adapter you referenced and a lightning one came up. I've got multiples of that one, and it's the best on the market for what it does. Expect it to last months to a year with moderate use. Belkin and Apple are the best for Apple products in my experience. Anker is also consistently reliable and durable for regular USB and USB C to ethernet. Steer clear of non top tier brands.

If you are moving around (with a laptop or other devices), get the best ethernet cables you can. Search for this one on Amazon, it's pretty good:
Cat 8 Ethernet Cable 100ft Shielded, 26AWG Lastest 40Gbps 2000Mhz SFTP Patch Cord, Heavy Duty High Speed Cat8 LAN Network RJ45 Cable- in Wall, Outdoor, Weatherproof Rated for Router, Modem, Gaming

Good luck!

 

Thank you ND Half and EWO! Technician is booked to come in and convert my phone jack to ethernet.

 

Sooooo.....I had the game changing experience of having a consult with Jack this morning.

Most people would be doing cartwheels in their living room if doctor's orders were to go to Mexico for a month.

Holy guacamole!!

I think I've only just stopped crying. Still feel a little queasy. It's for a month but it feels like such an overwhelming thing to make happen, not to mention mustering the energy to pack a suitcase. Inertia is not my friend but I know him so well. Too well. Part of the pathology.

One gem of a sentence courtesy of the wise Jack Kruse that I keep revisiting is, "you'll miss your family but you won't miss your illness". Okay, so that was actually just one of many gems that I am keeping close.

Still figuring out what to tell my parents. And yes, I'm 56 and that is still a thing. My dad is Mr. Safety. That news could give him a heart attack, a dash of hyperbole but he definitely made his opinion known when my niece wanted to go there this summer. Note the past tense 'wanted'. My parents are the best and it still feels soooooo dang hard. And I can't even talk about the thought of having to leave my kitty. She has health issues, too. Can't go there yet.

Anyone who knows me would be doing a double take if they knew I was planning/thinking/plotting a sunny sojourn. My grandmother was from Iceland and all things cool and crisp are my happy place. I'm the person who on June 1 is counting the days until it's October. Ah well, at the end of the day, happy mitochondria wins. I still love me some snow!!! I find it so calming, cozy and comforting. Nothing like the sound of snow. As it happens, my avatar pic is from Alaska. Happy place evidence.

I didn't get too far down my list of a gazillion questions but what I received was so much more helpful. Definitely a lot to metabolize and figure out but with having been tangled up in a 30 year game of whack-a-mole, it really helped to prioritize what I need to do...and perhaps even more helpful, what not to do. I've had the immense privilege of working with one of the greats in the field of inherited family trauma (training with him and marketing for him) and it never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to get caught up in expansion. How challenging, uncomfortable and frickin' scary it is. It does help to see the breadcrumb trail from which it came. Ironically, it was said inherited family trauma therapist and now friend/colleague who told me 12 years ago that all I really needed was to chuck the supplements, doctor's appointments, labs, eat what I want and go to Bali for a month.

Of course at the top of the menu from the consult today was sunlight... as in get outside 'buck ass naked' (now being affectionately referred to as BAN from here on in) and it had to be today regardless of the temperature outside and even for just 10 minutes. So I took the challenge/prescription/dare to heart and layed outside for 60 minutes. I live in a condo and for the most part am pretty secluded (or so I am hoping...will go and scope out the lay of the land tomorrow). Happily, procrastination was on my side as the Christmas tree that's been sitting on my balcony for months waiting until my brother-in-law can help me move it (as I am that tired) proved to be a great reprieve from the 100's of kids who were getting out from the school across the street from me. Haha! Didn't think my timing through.

Off to go and order some DDW now. That's easy on the brain

The rest is still a whirling dervish inside my head and my body but one of my favourite quotes is from Friedrich Nietzsche... "One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star". Here's to dancing and here's to stars. That has to be good medicine.

A thousand thank yous Dr. Kruse.

 

Run to it not from it…….

Spending winters down south is now a permanent fixture in my health plan……

 

Easy for you to do. You speak Spanish.
I have a hard time learning the language. Any language.
Spend a whole year in Brazil, learned maybe one word maybe less.
Head scratching. After my DW died (RIP), sometime later, I should have looked for a company of a Spanish girl. Too late, got a Polish one.

 

I learned and continue to learn just enough to get by on my own for the ES area…not necessary for Mexico boss.

 

We continue to get by in ES with our minute amount of Spanish. We do intend to get a tutor once we move to the coast.

We have been fortunate to meet so many kind and helpful Salvadorans.

Someone always comes to our rescue....

We have made life long friends here - absolutely no regrets - we are living our dream.

Everyday we experience random acts of kindness from the Saladorian people.

Our friends back in Oz were convinced we would be murdered in the streets.

Actually we feel more safe here because people watch out for each other and they are kind and generous.

Now - if someone could fix the AUD .......it is killing us.

 

@Kari Dunlop thank you for sharing and i can see you dancing under the stars with immense health improvements.

I think many people who have found Jack were at their wits end with poor health from the many stories I have heard that will all empathise with how you feel at this moment.

I hope my sharing some of my journey below over the last twelve months helps you a little, it won't help you do what you need to, but i still hope it gives you courage and energy to get your journey on track and know you aren't alone.

Personally I know where you are coming from as I came across Jack about four years ago and knew what he was saying to be true but it was too hard and there were always reasons why I didn’t implement any of this work, or constantly told myself I would ‘come back to it when I had time’, wow, I never realised what those words would mean in years to come, however the universe works in mysterious ways and a health crisis resulted in our first consult with Jack twelve months ago, meaning I could no longer ignore any of his teachings.

His advice to my partner and myself were along similar lines to your rx – ‘go north and see how he goes in a better environment and when you can then 'get the hell out of Australia as soon as they open the borders'!

Very daunting prospect, we have a small business and commitment to employees who rely on us and we have a blended family of six adult children and five grandchildren so no easy task for Vince to leave his daughters and grandchildren, what about my children, my mum, i'm so tired how can i do all of this …………blah blah blah!

I also found the thought of taking a very unwell man half way around the world where, like you, we don't speak the language nor know anything about the culture and we would be alone to be a monster task I didn’t have the energy to undertake (not realising I had my own health challenges) yet the more I thought about it the more the idea seemed not so daunting. I was making it harder than it should have been. The gauntlet was thrown down, was I up to the challenge?

I thought about all the excuses I would bring up - it was difficult to leave family, friends and a life I believed was good me, a city I loved…..and the more the excuses kept coming, the more I analysed everything, the more I realised I was sabotaging myself & both our recoveries, so for the first time in 56 years (yay for 1966 babies) I decided to put myself first and Vince needed to do the same.

Jacks words again rattled around in my head ‘who are you good for if you’re not good enough for yourself!’

None of the family, friends, acquaintances, business, staff and everything else we used as excuses not to leave or change in the past would bring back our health. It was harder to stay here as we were than to make these changes and leave.

I realised I needed to take a leap of faith and believe in myself, and that I am exactly where I am meant to be. I took Jacks advice to do this for myself and my partner to allow him to have his journey as well.

I also realised its only as hard as I make it and the little voice inside my head always told me it would be too hard to do this, that people relied on me, that I couldn’t leave but that was fear speaking and through all of this I found my voice and courage within. I realised my thyroid cancer and now pituitary tumour were because of a lifetime of this sort of thinking, sabotage, stress and more that i had allowed to fester. It’s time to tackle this. I drew my line in the sand.

I decided to look at everything it in small chunks to lessen overwhelm and now am so excited by an adventure that we will undertake for the next 12-18 months. Take it in small periods of time and small tasks.

I started with decluttering the house, one room at a time, sometimes just one drawer or one cupboard was all i could manage. Sometimes i would go for a week and not be able to do anything and when i felt like it i achieved what i could. It was all moving in the right direction and i told myself that something was better than nothing and that it was all moving me forward towards my goal. The biggest thing troubling me was how was I going to pack up and move this whole house in the state I was in, so thinking outside the box I decided that I don’t need to pack it, the solution is that I would hire packers & movers (less work and stress for me). I have enlisted children to help after we leave so I really don’t have to worry about it. I have donated half my house to charity and many of the ‘kids’ got first dibs to the artwork, exercise equipment and furniture while many friends and cousins have all adopted my plants, expensive clothes, more furniture and china that are going to good homes. They were all weighing me down.

The more I did this the more weight I felt lift off my shoulders and I felt better knowing everything I never used that was a burden to me had gone to good homes where they were needed and appreciated. So, I kept going and it got easier, it will for you too.

As far as our business I spoke with two of my senior staff and offered them a significant pay increase to undertake all the physical work for our business that I took on once Vince got too unwell to do it, explaining we didn’t want to shut it down but would lean on them to manage part of it and I would do the rest at a distance, and they were so excited to step up and take it on board and help us while benefitting themselves, tick, another mammoth obstacle out of the way and a feeling of empowerment to our team and a huge relief for me – I can now either do the admin or handball that too but the big advantage is that I can work from anywhere, now there is freedom and excitement for the journey ahead.

I am just about done!

And I did it and survived, and the benefits of this journey have been numerous. So many happy people who feel part of the journey and part of the solution helping us to get out of here, so much love, faith and trust in ourselves and each other and everyone around us has bought us all closer. So many who are so excited to come and stay with us in FNQ and Central America – sounds like we have helped so many to become excited about life again and travel to be with us to create new memories and undertake new adventures.

So, we are booked in to leave Melbourne May 30th. We fly to Far North Queensland to a resort at the 17th latitude for 6-8 weeks.

We will both rest and destress and focus on light, water and magnetism and see how we both go, this is our precursor to heading over to Miami, Mexico and El Salvador for an extended period of time all dependant on how Vince’s health holds up. We will get there in better shape having done all of this when the time is right for us.

I believe it will be amazing and we will both thrive, and I am so excited about this new adventure.

As per my own training and Jacks words the truth that ‘you can’t get better in the place that made you sick!’ can’t be denied. I knew that but chose to ignore it at my own peril.

I can’t wait to get to the other side of the world sometime later in the year around September/October all things going well. I have learned to pivot and find ways to solve problems, because they can always be solved.

I see this journey as a gift, and look at it as an adventure and new beginnings and a different life than the one we were told was how we had to live via societal and cultural norms. I am so, so very grateful for covid and the great reset for highlighting this all as bullshit and to Jack and others for helping me to see this and for a future I had never envisioned. I have started listening and laid the foundations for our health and wealth.

I really hope I get to meet you over there one of these days and give you a big hug, along with the rest of the cult members (haha) relocating down to that part of the world that sound like my people, the people I always needed rather than what I allowed myself to settle for.

Reach out for support and motivation when the little voice says it’s too hard, rest when you are tired as it may take longer but you will cope far better, because I can tell you that there are great lessons in all of this, you have to stop for long enough to realise them and there are so many people who want to support you, if you only allow them to. I can now say this from the other side of this experience, I learnt so much about myself and others around me, I did it, I survived and I am continuing to do it with renewed energy and excitement.

You are going to be great, you can do this, we are all here cheering you on.

 

Love this ^^^ y’all got this!!

I am the rip the bandaid off type person. We moved three weeks after our consult with Dr. Kruse while I didn’t end up in Mexico but instead farther south and in a low population area... about 3 years in I had reversed about 6 autoimmune conditions and no longer suffer from severe EHS!! All thanks to Dr. Kruse teaching me to follow Mother Nature’s rules! Since today is Mother’s Day.... I encourage everyone to spend sometime loving Mother Nature she is truly amazing! What we give her is mirrored back in us... meaning the more time we spend with her the healthier we become and the more time disconnected from her the more unhealthy we will be. Yes... it is that easy!

 

@5G Canary beautiful post and what a spectacular image!

I have started to read your journal, my goodness, you truly are so very inspiring, thank you for sharing your journey and lighting the path along for others to follow ❤️

 

lots and lots of spectacular people here who all add so much to our journey to optimal health!

 

WOW this is amazing!

Next year is my year of Black Swan travel, I will crack the online biz thing and see you beautiful humans in Mexico ;-)

This is an amazing story I am happy to read it

Ravi

 

well said my very dear friend. You and Vince are amazing humans.
We have all learned so much on this journey.
We have learned we are more resilient than we thought.
We have learned that we can do the hard stuff - one baby step at a time.
We have learned to trust our instincts.
We have learned that our openness and willingness to move forward attracts people to us and also inspires others to do better.

The other day we were shopping in a department store in San Salvador. Generally the staff don't speak English at all - but they always race around to find someone on the staff that does speak English.
A lovely young woman joined us - we are generally like a travelling side show in this store because we need so many things....
Andrea asked us where we are from and we said we are moving to ES from Australia.

Her first question was "because of bitcoin?" We said yes! and because of being closer to the equator - for health
She knows about magnetism and light and the benefits of the sun ...and she loves bitcoin!
She is young but she has just bought a house. She is a graphic designer and also designs handbags and clothes.
She is so open to everything so she can improve the conditions of her existence.
Andrea was an absolute pleasure - she radiated positive energy and kindness.