So there I was, working away in my new clinic room, enjoying my new career, just six weeks in, when BLAM...COVID-19 hit us with a WHACK! While technically, we were permitted to stay open, as a Practice, the decision was made to close the clinic for the sake of our health, and the well-being of our clients.
I also had concerns for the vulnerability of my Mum, so I pulled Sebastian out of school and cancelled all her carer visits. So there we were at home, all together, not seeing clients or any other visitors. At first it was a novelty, home schooling, working from home, going on daily walks out in the sunshine, but that soon wore off.
Three weeks in, and I felt like I had lost touch with all my clients as they didn't respond to any of my messages. Home schooling became very challenging as Sebastian seemed to take hours to do one small task. I lost my patience with him several times as I slowly lost my mind.
And then, a phone call from a dear friend that I had met through school. She hesitated at first, and then blurted out, my husband is in the RAH (Royal Adelaide Hospital) with a brain tumour, Glioblastoma grade 4, and is having surgery on Thursday. OH MY GOODNESS...this can't be happening...AGAIN! Same cancer, same location, and another young healthy lean man. I reassured her as best I could while I went into "practitioner mode", while trying to keep my composure as I dealt with the shock in real-time.
Once off the phone, I sat stunned as I took some deep breaths. I talked to my Angels, "Really?" I said, "I just started, how can I possibly treat this man and save his life? Surely I need more experience before I start taking on terminal cases?" The answer that came back was simple...You ARE ready, you have been studying and researching brain cancer and toxicity for years, IT'S TIME.
And so it started. I visited the family at home, armed with bags full of "stuff". I had a salt lamp for their bedroom, timers for electronic devices, organic foods, recipes and my laptop to take notes. I quizzed them on mobile phone usage, stress levels and locations of electronic devices at night, and changes were made, right there and then. I also spent a lot of time consoling the family, who were completely falling apart to the thought of losing this wonderful man. What was going to be a 1-2 hour home visit ended up being an entire day and we drove away from their home in the dark, mentally exhausted.
One of the many items in my bag of tricks was my heavy metal scanning device, the OligoScan, that I had just received the day before. I had ordered it six weeks prior, but due to COVID in China, manufacturing and shipping had been significantly delayed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to use it as I had not yet received my software and licence, but, the voice in my head (yes Mark, that's you), kept saying, Just pack it, you never know. I replied back, "but it's Sunday, it's not going to come through today", Just pack it, he insisted. "Ok fine, if it shuts you up, I will pack it".
4pm and I had just finished another round of tears and discussions with the family about what was to come with treatments through the medical profession, and I quickly checked my email on my phone, and there it was, my licence and the link to download and install the software. I did not delay and quickly set it all up, plugged in the device and got to work. I scanned him, and the result was as clear as day. Heavy metal toxicity was indeed a big factor, but I knew it wasn't the ONLY factor.
I supported the family as best as I could as the harsh and invasive treatments continued for weeks on end. He handled them well and I supported him nutritionally to help with the damaging effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. And then, another brain cancer client came along and then another. So now I had three clients to work with, collect data from and assist in their journeys.
By now, the threat of COVID had dramatically reduced in Adelaide and our clinic rooms were open once more. By the second week, I was inundated with new clients and existing clients started booking again. I was elated and overwhelmed all at once, as I worked hard to ensure every client received the answers to their main health question...how did I get to this health state? I was able to answer this question, again and again and I started to feel quite incredible, the OligoScan and blood pathology assisting me almost every time. The only clients I couldn't answer this question for, was my three brain cancer clients. All had high heavy metals, albeit different metals, and I knew stress was a factor, but this was not enough and certainly not grounds for a scientific journal article.
Months went by and my Nutritional Medicine practice continued to gain momentum as my own health started to suffer. I became increasingly tired and I started to ache all over. First it was just a little in my knees, an old injury from my youth, nothing to worry about. But this continued to gain strength and soon my whole body ached, especially in the morning when I first woke up. Then sleep started to become an issue and I had to accept the reality, that the dreaded Fibromyalgia was back to greet me!
One Friday evening, as I sat at the Robotics Club, while Sebastian attended a learning workshop, I decided I needed to tidy up the desktop of my laptop. As an ex-IT Professional, my desktop was rather disgraceful, full of articles and notes to read later. Of course, "later" never came and the desktop became more and more cluttered. I came across some old articles on toxicity and detoxification. I started reading them and all of a sudden, the virtual light-bulb above my head started blinking like crazy. I quickly grabbed some paper and started making notes and joining all those proverbial dots between all my brain cancer clients and Mark. The next week I spent a day working from home and I started putting all my theories together in one article. I sent it to the family who started this whole process and waited for what seemed like an eternity for their response but nothing came. I went to bed thinking, oh well, I'm just a Nutritionist, it's not like I have all the answers.
Next morning I checked my phone and there was the text message from late the night before "Fucking Brilliant" was the message. I jumped for joy, but I needed more validation, so I sent it to one of my "Published" lecturers from Uni and also to the Functional Doctor that I had formed a good working relationship with, as he was able to provide IV Nutrition and Heavy Metal Chelation treatments to my clients, without the need for them to have full consultations. Both responses came back with very positive feedback and I felt ready to share it with my clients and then published it in as many places I could, including my business website and Facebook page, my personal Facebook page, Instagram and LinkedIn. So now I wait for more clients, in particular brain cancer clients. For my hypothesis to become a reality, I need a bigger sample size and survival rates far beyond the medical professions predictions.
I feel the weight on my shoulders, and it's both heavy and elating at the same time. The coincidences just keep on coming. The fact there is a functional doctors literally a kilometre up the road, the timing of everything, the finding of old research and the information that just comes, always when I need it. I continue to live each day with gratitude and to be of service. The more I do this, the more life falls into place. Even the Fibromyalgia is a reminder to keep the balance, to love and care for the self, to find the answers and to heal myself once again.
