In September 2005, I was at breaking point with poor health and was referred to a specialist rheumatologist after consulting 13 different doctors and practitioners to find an answer to my ill health. I had an array of blood tests done and a month of anxiously awaiting the results of the tests … and I still remember being so grateful that the doctor had ruled out rheumatoid arthritis as a diagnosis. Much to my horror and shock, I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus, even worse.
All I knew about Lupus at the time was that an aunt on my mother’s side of the family had passed away from it. At the time I was 24 years old and in my first year of Fashion school at D.U.T. Despite doing exceptionally well, I had to drop out in the beginning of the second year in 2006, as I became even more ill than I was when diagnosis was given.
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease which is incurable and in which a person’s immune system attacks various organs or cells of the body causing damage and dysfunction. With me, it manifested as pain and sensitivity in my eyes, head, CHRONIC UNBEARABLE pain, swelling and change of colour in my legs, stiffness in my hands, pain in my back resulting in me being unable to walk straight nor stand up right, pain and stiffness in my knees, swelling and pain in my feet, shoulders, arms and sensitivity in skin to the point that I could not wash properly with a cloth or sponge . The lupus affected my spine and nervous system, put strain on my kidneys where I developed pain, weak lungs, constricting of my blood vessels, and it affected my brain too … I become aggressive, depressed, had memory loss and severe confusion.
Lupus is called a multi-system disease because it can affect many different tissues and organs in the body. Some patients with lupus have very mild disease, which can be treated with simple medications, whereas others can have serious, life-threatening complications. I was one of the unlucky people that was severely affected to the point that I could no longer function normally and without pain and therefore had to stop working. I was put on 17 different drugs including chemo type drugs called Methotrexate and Cortisone as well as anti-psychotics and treatment for malaria. Looking back now, I see how misguided, ignorant and desperate I was to have taken all these drugs for a disease that no-one knew the trigger or cure for…… or that is what I was lead to believe.
I was also put onto a clinical trial where the doctor was using me as a guinea pig to test a biologic drug called Abatacept. This was the worst mistake I could have ever made in my path to seeking health. I was told that the clinical trial would “save my life” and put me into remission. The next few years were very rocky health-wise and I just deteriorated day by day, month by month, until I realised that I had watched much of my life slip away before my eyes.
I did experience a short remission before I became even more ill at the end of 2008 with a bleeding colon, swelling in my stomach, even more chronic pain in my eyes and feet, and the inability to keep down food. My stomach was running at the time nearly 20 times a day and by this stage I was bleeding from inside every time my stomach ran. I was weak, suicidal and severely depressed. DESPERATION was also the main emotion of my life then. DESPERATION and FEAR of death. No doctors seemed to be able to help me at all. I could not walk properly and was confined to the bedroom with the curtains drawn as I was extremely light sensitive.
I had been in and out of hospital in 2009. While lupus is a chronic illness, it is characterised by periods of minimal or absent (remission) activity followed by relapses or flares of activity. I had flared on and off for 4 years. When I get sick I am unable to work, walk or function normally. It was terrible. I battled to walk, open my hands, had ulcers in my mouth, shook uncontrollably, was constantly nauseous, always weak and drained, slept 18 – 20 hours a day and was in such pain that I could not wash with a sponge or walk fast because the wobble on my skin hurt too much. I had gained 24 kilograms due to the cortisone and I lived in constant and chronic pain in my muscles and joints. I was not allowed in the sun because it flared the Lupus, and this was devastating for me as I had surfed since I was 13 years old. When I went into the sun, within half an hour, I got so sick that I was in bed for weeks after.
So in February 2009 after spending nearly a month in hospital, another doctor was called on board to deal with my stomach issues. The gastro-enterologist diagnosed me then with a second auto-immune disease called Crohn’s disease. This affected the gastro-intestinal tract, from mouth to anus, as well as the feet, eyes and joints. I lost a lot of weight in hospital as I was bleeding from my colon due to ulceration and the inability to eat anymore. By this stage my jaw was stiffening and I battled to open my mouth.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic illness like Lupus and would be a part of me for the rest of my life – or so I thought. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease. Adjusting to that alone is difficult for many people. It can be very hard to accept that you will be living not only with the effects of the disease but also with the unpredictability of disease flare ups, limitations of your activity, frequent doctor visits, uncomfortable medical tests, and medications and their side effects.
Crohn’s disease is a potentially serious disease. Inflammation in the digestive tract can cause serious complications such as bleeding, holes in the intestinal wall (perforation), pockets of infection (abscesses), and abnormal connections between the digestive tract and other parts of the body (fistulas). Crohn’s disease can also cause inflammation and damage to other parts of the body, such as the joints, skin, eyes, mouth, liver, and bile ducts. It most commonly affects the lower part of the small intestine. The swelling extends deep into the lining of the affected organ. The swelling can cause pain and can make the intestines empty frequently, resulting in diarrhoea.
So I struggled through from February 2009 till September 2009 with not much hope and faith in ever healing or living a normal life again. I remember the day so clearly that I came to hear of Sevenpointfive. It was the day I had made a noose and was in the act of putting it round my neck, and about to kick the chair from under me when the phone rang. I decided to answer one last call and this turned out to be the call that saved my life, in every sense of the word, from both suicide as well as from the Lupus and Crohn’s disease.
Jane Linley at East Coast gave me the contact for something she thought could help – Sevenpointfive. So in August 2009, I went into meet with Garth and Delia for the first time. I could barely walk into the consulting room, was grey in complexion and in amounts of pain that no words could ever even begin to describe. Delia was like an angel. She was so loving and so concerned – and I mean genuine compassion and care for my situation. I was so desperate that I told Delia, if I did not regain life and health, I would throw myself off Kloof Gorge. The following week after seeing Delia and Garth, I went cold turkey off all 16 chemical meds the doctors had me on and went through withdrawals – severe and frightening withdrawals – especially from the anti-depressants which gave me dizzy spells and heart pulpitations. I began the process of internally clearing up from the chemical toxicity I was now also victim of. No chemo, no cortisone, no anti psychotics. I was shaking, vomiting, writhing in pain, skin itching. I had no pain meds either and went onto Sevenpointfive’s Severe Illness programme. This meant I had to change my diet and life. Let me tell you that it was not easy, but I knew that what I was doing was the RIGHT THING FOR MY BODY !!! My colour returned to my skin, my eyes became brighter and gradually the pain lessened. I regained movement in my joints and I was able to stand up straight again, after 5 very long years. All sorts of weird and wonderful things had begun to happen inside my body as I cleaned up internally. I saw that every 3 weeks or so, I would go back into a deeper level of detox, and the process would start all over again. This lasted from September 2009 to October 2010. In November 2010 I realised that I was in remission. GLORY GLORY HALLELUJAH!!!!! A final breakthrough. I have now successfully been in remission without a single flare for 4 months. Throughout this whole process Delia and Kim were absolute angels in human form. Nothing was too much for them to deal with and the unconditional love and support I received was phenomenal, and also a secret ingredient to my healing – of this I am convinced.
The meds from the specialist poisoned my blood and had kept me ill. I had spent over R150 000 in 4 years on meds that did nothing. They just kept me sick and dependent on chemicals that ate holes in my stomach lining; caused ulcers in my colon, kept me fat due to the cortisone, put strain on my kidneys caused problems with my liver and gallbladder. AND NEVER TOOK AWAY THE PERPETUAL UNCONTROLLABLE AND CRIPPLING PAIN!
The natural meds from Sevenpointfive have done more for me than all the chemicals I consumed under the specialists orders. THEY GAVE ME MY LIFE BACK !!! I have spent much money on the Sevenpointfive meds over the last 18 months. The irony is that I have not been hospitalised once under Delia’s care ever, even when I have had Bronchitis, which I dealt with the natural way.
Auto–immune diseases are very difficult to put into remission and I was told that they were incurable. WHAT RUBBISH! I am free from the grips of hell that the Lupus and Crohn’s had me in.
I have lost 24 kilo’s and have developed muscle tone and definition that I never even had before I became ill. I have never had hair that has grown so fast as it does now and I am surfing again, sometimes spending 7 hours on the weekends in the sun and surf. I have my life back, and an added bonus – I have respect for my body and know how to treat it to get me to a ripe old age. I have become a more positive person and my thinking has radically changed as well as my attitude since my healing began. I have become a stronger person emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually.
Through all this my husband also left me in December 2009 and asked for a divorce and so I had been under loads of pressure worrying about how I would pay for my treatment with Sevenpointfive as I no longer had someone to rely on to help me through the times when things are tough and financially I was so strained, but God provided sponsors for my meds.
It is now time to tell my biggest secret of all – that not even Delia knows as yet … I have managed to drop my meds right down to once a day and am still fine, pain free and in remission. This is incredible as I was on the severe illness programme when I started.
Sevenpointfive has not only saved my life, but has also taken mountains of pressure off my mom in that she does not have to worry about my health anymore. I have also started my own business and surf most days after work and on the weekends. I have done some modelling due to the amazing results from what Sevenpointfive has done for my body – purely on a physical level.
I have attached pictures to show what I looked like prior to Delia and Sevenpointfive cleaning up my body for me. I have also attached pictures of me now – in PERFECT HEALTH, as testament to my journey of healing and humility.
I am so humbled and grateful for what Sevenpointfive, Delia and Kim have done for me. I am in a state of awe of gratitude.
THANK YOU – miracles happen everyday.
INCURABLE MEANS CURABLE FROM WITHIN !!!!
All the love in my heart and soul.
Cluadia