Three months on and my business related prayers were answered. The colonics clinic that I had been attending since November, agreed that my services as a Nutritionist would be very valuable to their cliental, making a very complementary business fit indeed. In less than 3 weeks, I had moved into a beautiful clinic space, complete with air-conditioning and a clean hard floor. My room was in front and to the side of the clinic waiting room, and I was welcomed with open arms, literally open arms. After years of social distancing and non-touch communication, the opportunity to hug another was so very welcomed.
I couldn't believe how lucky I was, to have been allowed to move into this space, but more importantly than the space, was the people within it, and the healing therapies they practiced. By this stage, I had already referred more than 10 clients to their business, and the results were mind blowing, especially for the cancer patients. The more time I spent at the clinic, the more gut health became front and centre of treatment protocols. Not only that, but those who had regular colonic sessions, scanned much lower for heavy metal toxicity, than those who did not embark on this therapeutic practice.
Referrals were happening in both directions, hugs and emotional support was seemingly "on tap", and the clients starting booking in at numbers I could hardly keep up with. I was, understandably, euphoric. The energy within the building kept drawing me in, and the potential to purchase the colonics business had also been mentioned. So I jumped all in, pushed in all my chips, and started working within the colonics business. Every day I attended the clinic, and as I was the first to arrive, I ensured the clinic rooms were stocked and the reception desk ready to start the busy day. I then started my business day. For months I worked this way, sometimes six days a week, for full days. I was warned to slow down and not do so much, but I wasn't having any of it. "I love it" I kept saying. "This is what I was meant to do". "I'm fine, I couldn't be happier", I repeated over and over, to anyone who dared question me.
A few months later, I was asked if I could help to promote an "Open Day" at the clinic, and of course, I jumped right on in. Personally, I couldn't see why people would want to come, as the weather had turned cold and it was the weekend of Mother's Day. But I completed the task I was assigned. Many Facebook posts, emails and promotions took time out of my now very busy days. On top of that, the date of the event was on a day that Seb and I would usually be at the school market, educating the public about the importance of worms, and selling our worm products. Stressed and concerned for the day, I asked Seb if he would forgo his beloved Robotics club for one week, so he could assist me at the clinic event. Of course he agreed without complaint, but I knew he wanted to be elsewhere.
When the day arrived, I baked and prepared, before setting up our display. The weather was not on our side, with grey skies, chilling winds and the constant threat of rain. This day, to put it simply, went to "Hell in a Hand Basket". No one came, therapists were locked in their clinic rooms, and Seb spent most of the time folding bits of paper into cranes, love hearts and various other origami creations at my desk, while I paced up and down. To say I was guttered, was an understatement, and I hit absolute rock bottom once more, the euphoria well and truly flushed down the preverbal toilet.
I was embarrassed, ashamed, upset and angry at everything and everyone. To top off the day, I was told that the colonics business would not be up for sale, which I was relieved about really, as I actually didn't want to take on another business, when I was still trying to establish my own. But this changed everything, and I began to withdraw, and I scheduled more days off, and spent more days working from home. Reality had well and truly smacked me across the face, and I woke up from what seemed like, the most amazing dream I had ever had.
A few weeks later and Seb had a scheduled student free day, so I took the opportunity to spend the day with him. I had been missing him dearly, and he had adjusted well to High School life, with assignments, new friends, online gaming and homework. While we still played video games together a few times a week, and cuddled on the couch, he was clearly growing up, finding himself and spending more time with his new friends. His independence was wonderful yet terrible all at the same time, as if he didn't need me anymore. But it was great that he didn't need me as much, as it gave me some much needed freedoms with my business, and yet, it was sad that he didn't need me so much. The emotions super conflicting, that's for sure.
That afternoon, he started to feel a little tired and a sore throat developed. I jumped into "Mum mode" and started our standard cold/flu protocol. But by the next day, he really was sick and I pulled out the COVID test kits to confirm the positive result. Oh dear. The day before we had spent the whole day together and much cuddling and gaming on a small couch had occurred. Two days later, and I too tested positive. Both of us were sick for around 48 hours, and I was hit harder, with symptoms of constant nausea and vomiting. I couldn't keep any food down and even struggled with water. A terrible 24 hours for me indeed.
I worried for Mum, as she would often walk through the lounge room on the way to the kitchen, and didn't seem alarmed by our test results or our illness. Luckily though, her living space is quite separate from ours, and she managed to dodge the COVID bullet, much to our relief.
This time at home, away from the clinic, as well as the sickness, stirred my emotional pot beyond recognition. The vulnerability felt overwhelming, and the loneliness was front and centre. I felt angry, sad, hurt, vulnerable and depressed. I wanted to give up on the business, on life and on the future. But clients kept contacting me, and new clients continued enquiring and booking in. This was after all, what I had wanted for the business, and I had no choice but to keep going. When I returned to the clinic, everything felt different. In just one week, there had been many changes, with two new staff, new therapeutic offerings, a reception presence on several busy days, and a new trainee. I returned with a different perspective, and started attending the clinic only when I needed to. I no longer spent half an hour or more stocking clinic rooms, but focused on my clients and my business.
One day a young new client entered my rooms and told me her health story. She was a perfectly healthy young woman, around the age of 30, newly married and in love, working, enjoying sport and thinking about starting a family. Until one day she woke up, and couldn't get out of bed. A wave of a type of chronic fatigue washed over her, her condition so bad, she could not walk, bath or even feed herself. Bounced between doctors and specialists, and tests galore, no one had answers for her. Eventually, her body started to regain its strength, seemingly on its own. The only medical intervention was extreme pain medication, but nothing else. No anti-biotics, no anti-virals, nothing. For nearly 12 months, she battled with her body, eventually regaining enough strength to walk again, and was able to return to work. However, as her body had not returned to its prior strength, she often needed the aid of a walking stick nearing the end of her eight hour shift. This was unacceptable for her employer, and in a cruel twist, she was fired from her job.
She sat on my couch, in tears, telling me this story. This beautiful young blond, with her whole life ahead of her. In that moment, I knew I had to stop my little pity party, and get on with finding the answers to her illness. Her Heavy Metal and Nutrient scan showed a relatively healthy individual, however, her blood work and digestive symptoms provided the answers she had been seeking. With a little more investigative work, reviewing line by line of her pathology, I found the underlying problems, relating to an infection, of some kind, some hormonal imbalances, and the biggest folate deficiency I had ever seen. The more I uncovered, the more health concerns she disclosed, and soon I could map out the whole clinical picture.
On her second visit to the clinic, I explained my discoveries and we both found ourselves in tears. She had returned back to her doctor to ask for a fresh set of blood work, as the data I was working with was over a year old. Her doctor, who she had really liked and respected, simply rolled her eyes, and said, "You don't need these, you are fine"! So apparently, losing your job because you don't have the strength to stand all day, is medically defined as "fine", and asking for new pathology twelve months later, is deemed as unnecessary blood testing by our health system.
This lit my fire once more, however, it also makes me so angry. It seems everyone who comes into my clinic room has a similar story of heart break, dismissal for their symptoms, or even harm caused by the medical system. One of the biggest cases of harm recently encountered, was having a chemo treatment for breast cancer, with a side effect of liver cancer two years later, in an otherwise healthy individual. So many patients tossed aside or given even more radical, harmful treatments, with the promise of a few more extra months of life. How is this a way to live and how is this acceptable medicine? If I show anyone from the medical system, how I analyze data and save lives, they simply laugh it off. What would I know? I'm just a alternative practitioner that tells people how to eat.
I find myself constantly saddened by these stories, and by fighting the medical system. People are so invested in this system, they cannot see the harm it is doing to them. Women in their 50s and 60s given calcium tablets for poor bone health, some also with vitamin D, but their vit D levels are never checked, and they have big mineral imbalances and high blood pressure from the calcium build ups, and just given more medications to manage the blood pressure. Total madness everywhere I look.
My challenge now is to find a way to practice my craft, without taking on the emotion from the client. A way to protect myself, stay clear headed and ensure my clients continue to thrive. I know the word is spreading, and people are starting to become more and more aware. As to how many people have to die before this happens, is anyone's guess, and again, I can't take this on single handed. So I focus my attention on the people in front of me, and look for opportunities to mentor other practitioners, or do more public speaking events, to spread the word that people have the right to take charge of their own health.
At a recent public speaking event, I gave a talk on how to "read and understand food labels", and how to look past clever marketing tactics. Most of the attendees where over the age of 50 and I was inundated with questions around cardiovascular health, blood pressure, bone health and medications, despite the subject matter being food labelling. The demand for people wanting to learn more about the health of their body, does seem to be growing, and this gives me hope, as that is exactly my goal. I don't want my clients to become dependent on me, but to arm themselves with the knowledge on how their body's work, demand the testing that they are entitled to, and have a better understanding on what their medications are for, and how they can best influence their health by eating the right way.
So I dig deep yet again. Pull up those big girl pants, take a deep breath, refocus, and get on with the job. I think about the successes I have had. The cancer patients, the elderly with cognitive decline, the younger folk with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, and all the other conditions that doctors have little to no answers for. I know I have made a huge difference to people's lives and my clients are not just living, but actually thriving. Even when they go back to their doctors or oncologists and tell them what they are doing, it is just dismissed as being "good luck". I know my work is important. I know I must continue. I know its lonely work, but I must collect myself and maybe, one day, there will be some acceptance in my work, my knowledge, my training and our skills recognized and form part of the Allied Health System, and not labelled as "alternative". The work I do is far from alternative. I simply identify the imbalances, using standard blood testing and correct them. I identify the heavy metals that cause the imbalances and correct them too. In Europe, the device I use is commonly used and recognized as a valued diagnostic tool, and there is nothing alternative about that.
