2018 Updates
2018 - https://www.alswinners.com/2018-updates.html
Jan - Possible ALS causes
Feb - Kim's attitude update plus Hope, Earthing, Sleep, Oils for fungus, black pepper, magnesium
Mar - Kim's update / encouragement
Apr - Easter Message of Hope and Kim's sepsis journey
May - Kim's update, Anthony William on ALS. Detoxing heavy metals.
Jun - Kim's update
Jul - Kim's update. CBD oil information
Aug - Kim's update.
Sep - Kim's update, ALS causes and cinnamon's neuro helps
Oct - Thoughts on Nuedexta
Nov - One Step Enough
Dec - Forgiveness, Gratitude, Service
January 2018
Possible ALS causes
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
As the new year begins, we hope that you are planning on a year with much improvement in your health. The following update represents somewhat of an overview of all we have learned and all we believe. With this, we again emphasize our disclaimer. The only real credential we have for the guidelines offered here-in is that after 6 years of a one year death sentence from Bulbar ALS, Kim is walking, talking, driving, swimming and playing golf. All of the opinions stated herein, though not mainstream AMA certified, are supported by medical minds that have the courage and foresight to look outside the box. We are indeed grateful for them. (Google is a great tool. Use it freely.)
The medical field acknowledges that there are too many free radicals, too much glutamate and too many misfolded proteins in someone with ALS. They prescribe Rilutek/Riluzole for the glutamate but acknowledge that it is not a cure but may give some ALS patients two or three more months to live. They are now trying to address the free radicals with Radicava, which has its own scary list of side effects. I have added what I found about Radicava under our post for August of 2016 that discusses Rilutek side effects and other drugs.
We do believe that most doctors really are caring people, trying to help their patients in the methods by which they have been trained. Neurologist and other specialists are trained to address their specialty. We believe they often fail to look at what else in going on in the body to create the problems. We believe there are many issues going on in an ALS patient that are creating those ALS symptoms. Since the specialist may not look beyond the nerves, we often must become our own detectives or search for a functional doctor that can help identify some of the things going wrong. The following is a review of several major issues we believe can cause ALS:
Free radicals can be created by excessive exercise, excessive stress and excessive music stimulation. Free radicals can be kept in check with adequate magnesium, adequate glutathione, and lots of antioxidants like astaxanthin, Vitamins C & E.
Excessive amounts of glutamate can be created by too much MSG (dangerous food additive) in the food supply, gluten from wheat and other gluten grains and perhaps also dairy. Dietary changes can help address these. (See our April update in 2017 to understand that issue better.)
Heavy metals. These can include mercury from silver fillings, aluminum (everywhere in our environment), fluoride (in our water supply and toothpastes) , lead poisoning, uranium poisoning, etc. Even a heavy iron overload in our bodies can create neurological problems.
Drugs. We believe statin drugs are a cause ALS. There is a book written by a doctor, Hannah Yoseph, MD, about how statins cause neurological issues. Statin drugs kill our glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath, that protective coating around nerves that have been damaged in ALS. Other sources state proof that high cholesterol does not cause heart disease. Our bodies need cholesterol. Our brains are mostly fat and without fat, we have no functioning brain. All drugs are acidic and by law cannot be natural substances. Therefore, it would seem logical that our body has trouble assimilating them.
Issues with the liver. The liver has to be healthy in order to process the toxins from our body. One school of thought is that the liver has become coated with a hard plaque from gluten (which is a glue) thereby preventing the flow of toxins out of the body. Beer made with barley would also be another gluten source.
Lyme disease, Epstein Barr virus, parasites, biofilms, other viruses. Some doctors find that every most ALS patient they treat has Lyme disease. They likely practice in an area that is heavy with Lyme disease. We have heard of people that were injured and then shortly after received an ALS diagnosis but also found to have Lyme disease. It could be that the Lyme was relatively dormant and that the injury flared up in that area and then the ALS diagnosis came about. Lyme and parasites live on heavy metals in the body and also the sugars and grains that we eat. Here is an article on why Lyme is so difficult: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lyme-bacteria-hides-inside-parasitic-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases-300270742.html
Mold and fungus. Living in a moldy environment certainly predisposes us to illnesses and ALS is no exception. You cannot heal the health issues from mold if you remain in a moldy environment. The fungus issue is one that we very likely create from the grains and sugars we eat.
Pesticides, herbicides, Roundup, GMO Foods. All are poisons. How long can we eat foods covered with poison and expect to not have problems?
Digestive problems can be created from the use of too many antibiotics and not enough corrective use of probiotics or probiotic foods like raw sauerkraut. Sadness, grief, anger, depression, and all negative emotions prevent the uptake of nutrition from the foods we eat.
Acidity. Having a highly acidic body, leads to disease of many kinds. Most of the foods we love are acidic while the alkaline foods are fruits and vegetables. Sulphur vegetables are especially helpful for neurological issues, i.e., cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, cauliflower.
Fats. The fats we consume affect our health. All vegetable oils are Omega 6 oils. The fats from all meats produced using corn are Omega 6 oils. The ratio in our diet should be maybe 2 Omega 6 oils to 1 Omega 3 oils. In our modern foods diet the ratio is probably 50 to 1 instead of 2 to 1.
Magnesium deficiency. Our foods have become so depleted with magnesium that it is nearly impossible to get adequate magnesium from what we eat. Magnesium is responsible for hundreds of functions in the body including muscles. When magnesium is trying to rid the body of free radicals, toxins from the drugs the doctors prescribe, toxins from the foods we eat, the air we breathe and the toxins we rub on our skin, then there is very little magnesium left to do its other work. One important job of magnesium is to keep calcium where it belongs. Equal amounts of magnesium to calcium intake is what it takes to accomplish that job. Magnesium can relieve anxiety, panic attacks, even depression. When given the depressing ALS diagnosis, magnesium can be burned right out of the body trying to handle that new challenge.
Life Style. It has been noted that athletes get ALS at a very high rate. Stressing the body physically or mentally creates massive amounts of free radicals. Musicians also are at risk. They do their work in the evening and at night, therefore not getting the proper sleep in the right sleep cycle between 10 PM and 6 AM. Our military is at risk from all the shots they are required to get and the stressful work they perform for our freedom. Those that work in factories or jobs with toxic heavy metals are also at risk. Also dentists that use mercury to fill teeth put themselves and their staff at risk.
Damaged Myelin Sheath. The myelin sheath which is a coating to protect the nerves has been chewed up, probably by free radicals and other toxins. Apples and grapes contain malic acid which make glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath. A supplement that helps restore the myelin sheath is Lion's Mane Mushroom.
Mind power. Our bodies have an incredible ability to heal, but it is our mind that has to give the body those directions. We have been programed to believe that doctors can fix all our problems. Sitting in the doctor’s office and getting an ALS diagnosis is traumatizing. Though most neurologists are kind as they say it, some are not. However, they all say nothing can be done but take my drug, get a feeding tube and go to the ALS clinics which are there to follow you on the downward path. Most of us in life have had challenges that leave us lacking in the joy department. The power of your mind to put behind you the negative thoughts is not easy, but is so necessary if you want to heal. Healing and taking up nutrition can only be accomplished when you are in a positive state of mind. Believing that you can be the captain of your healing journey is where you begin.
To summarize, the path that we believe leads to healing is below. We almost always think all we have to do is to fix the physical and all will be well. Without the emotional, mental and spiritual healing, the physical healing does not come.
Mind power. Includes prayer, meditation, mental imaging, positive mental attitude, positive self-talk, hope, being too stubborn to let ALS get in the way of your plans, determination to win the battle.
Detoxing. Ridding the body of toxins through safe means. An IV chelation can be very dangerous for someone with ALS. There are many methods such as sleeping properly, magnesium, foot baths, cilantro, increasing water intake, etc. Expect a year of detoxing to accomplish the cleansing of the liver. Ozone is likely another great detox system.
Environmental corrections: See our checklist.
Proper Food. Our bodies were designed to eat the food God put on the earth, not all the chemical fakes that our food industry produces.
Proper supplements. After years of eating what we love instead of what we should eat, our body is starving for the foods that help us heal and supplements help us get some of those vital nutrients.
Oxidative therapies. Some doctors say oxygen should not be given to someone with ALS. Kim likely would not be alive without the oxidative therapies he received. The hyperbaric chamber was the first place he felt he was getting adequate oxygen to breathe due to his severe breathing issues. He has been in our hyperbaric chamber over 800 times and he is still doing well. We believe the ozone therapies helped rid his body of toxins. Now that we have started EWOT - exercise with oxygen therapy - he feels that is even more helpful than the hyperbarics as it is giving him safe exercise plus the added oxygen. The cost is just a tiny fraction of the cost of hyperbarics and can be done in your home at your convenience. (We purchased our EWOT equipment from www.ewot-usa.com. A discount is available if you mention Kim's name or ALS, but shop around.) We have also found a much easier system for doing ozone that may be as effective as Kim's ozone IVs. Here is a link to that system:
https://www.becancerfree.com/product/synergy-wps-100-ozone-machine-steam-sauna-package
Sleep. We don't believe you can heal if you don't get proper sleep. That means sleeping in a dark room between about 10 and 6 with no electronics, especially a cell phone. These hours are the time our bodies make melatonin which makes glutathione , our master antioxidant (another detoxing agent.) Turning on a light in the night stops the melatonin production for the night. Sleeping properly will help detox and heal the body.
Service, joy, gratitude, forgiveness. Lastly, we feel these four positive attributes are necessary in the healing process. Giving of any kind of service to others helps you forget your challenges and focus on lifting others. Joy brings love to your heart and to others; Gratitude shows God that you believe he has given you so much; Forgiveness is critical for a positive mental attitude. These attributes are best taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether or not you are Christian.
Which of these do you need to work on along your path to healing? We believe they are all important. You can't leave out good sleep and heal. You can't leave out good food and heal, and so on.
Our love and prayers are with you.
Kim and Kay Cherry
Disclaimer: We are not medical experts. We are just sharing the insights we have gathered since starting this healing ALS journey. We cannot tell you what to do, only what we have done. You must study and determine your own best course of action.
February 2018
Kim's Attitude update
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
If you have hope, you can look to the things God has given us to heal, real food, the power of faith and the knowledge that he loves us. You may say that he doesn't love you or he would not have given you ALS. God didn't give it to you, you created it. You didn't create it intentionally, but indeed did create it. Some of it may have come from circumstances you could not avoid, but nevertheless, some has come from the foods/drinks you consumed or the activities you engaged in. The very air we breathe and what we rub in our skin affects our health. Marketers are so concerned with the almighty dollar, that they seem not to care who they harm in that path. Can you track your path to ALS? I have prepared a document I put together to give some clues. You can't keep standing in a fire and not get burned. Corrections in your lifestyle are necessary for the body to heal. It is not all inclusive list but gives you an idea how damaged our bodies can get. I can't seem to add it here, so email me and I will send you the pdf.
I have been collecting some great information to share. All month long, I gather ideas and try to decided which you might need. Here are a few of them. You don't have to review them all at once, maybe one per day or one per week. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Apply what you thing is important to you. Kay
Earthing, helps reduce the positive charges from all the electronics we are immersed in modern living
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/
Get Proper Sleep Nightly, a critical component to healing from anything, ALS includedhttps://draxe.com/health/cant-sleep/
Essential oils for fungus. Probably all PALS have a fungus issue and need to find ways to correct it. Our most important ways to reduce Kim's fungus issues was to eliminate sugar and gluten grains, in addition to most grains most of the time. https://drericz.com/antifungal-essential-oils/
Black Pepper Benefits, may help with mucus overload.
https://healthfreedomidaho.org/black-pepper-health-benefits?mc_cid=6f2876d9a9&mc_eid=c05927e1e4
Increase Your Magnesium Intake. The more I read about magnesium, the more I realize that caregivers need it as well as PALS. https://draxe.com/nutrition/9-signs-magnesium-deficiency/
To Our Dear Friends,
As usual, Kay has asked that I proof her update. It concerns me that so much of what she presents, and indeed, what we do, either goes against traditional AMA thinking, or is at least ignored or deemed worthless by traditional medical practitioners. I therefore reiterate our constant disclaimer. I am our only credential.
The friend that sent a hope message has watched us travel this road just the last three years. He always tells me my greatest strength is my "attitude". It's funny that I have been told my whole life my attitude is my the problem.
Our hope is that each of you will research, study, seek Divine direction, and then decide if the materials presented in this website is of value on your Road To Recovery. Develop an "ATTITUDE" of healing, if you do not already have one. Always know and remember that the only person that can heal one of ALS is the person with ALS, in conjunction with the Almighty. All others are simply a member of your team, as important as they may be.
May God bless and guide each of you as you journey this road is my most humble prayer.
Kim
March 2018
To My Dear PALS and those that love you,
Kay does a phenomenal job of writing this posting most months. We feel this is a good time that I again express some thoughts and feelings about my continued battle against our common monster, ALS.
I am intrigued as I frequently meet old friends and acquaintances I have not seen for a while, especially as we move back and forth from our summer and winter homes. They often express amazement that I appear to be “better than the last time I saw you.” I think what they are seeing is the lack of digression they feared would take place, which interprets into “You look so much better”.
It is a great blessing in my life that I no longer fear digressing to a vegetative state with ALS. That does not mean I no longer have bad days. Thus speaking, my last “bad day” was just over a week ago, when I apparently reacted to an overdose of ozone during a treatment session, resulting in seizure like uncontrolled body shaking for the better part of an hour. It left me extremely weakened to the point I even used my cane for a public gathering we had scheduled that evening. The cane was a life saver, most certainly preventing a bad fall. But the next day, after a good night’s rest, the cane went back to the closet corner, and the strength and stamina gradually returned to the point that I walked a nine-hole golf course just a few days later. Granted, it was a relatively short course, requiring just under 8000 steps, but I was thrilled to realize I had no hip or knee pain after the round, a frequent issue in the past due to my continued heavy drop-foot that sends shock waves up my legs. Another amazing thing is I did it without a fall. Just a week earlier, I had 5 or 6 falls in a golf round, and had significant hip joint issues by the last hole.
My point in sharing these thoughts is to reiterate that this struggle is ongoing. As much progress as I have made these past 6+ years since my diagnosis, I can take nothing for granted. Though the enemy is on the run, I must always be wary, realizing he can stop, turn, and shoot back. I would like to believe one day I can completely forget about the possible negative impact ALS could have in my life. The more realistic view is that I must be vigilant the remainder of my days, which I fully expect to be many.
I continue to be a believer in the use of EWOT (See May and June 2017 updates). I do the program at least three times per week, 20 to 25 minutes each. The important thing is that I just feel good. I believe this is key to my walking those rounds of golf. In fact, I am considering a new push golf cart, with thoughts of wearing it out.
Of all the things we have done, the therapies we have experimented with, all the supplements, the oxidative therapies, and even the diet, they would all have been in vain except for the power of my positive mental attitude. I simply refused let ALS define me, or to submit to the devastation it was supposed to impose.
My challenge to all PALS is the same as it has always been. Stay strong. Believe in your ability to beat ALS. Push your limits to continue to live your life on your own terms. Stay happy. Fill your life with music. Enjoy funny and/or uplifting movies. Read good books. Love everything and everyone. Refuse to let negative comments, especially from doctors and others supposedly in the know, invade your mental or emotional sphere. Remain always the Captain of your healing team and make certain all others know you are leading the charge. Serve and lift everyone you can, especially those who are serving you.
It may be that my age and my own life’s experiences have better prepared me for this vicious battle I am winning. However, I truly believe each PALS has within himself or herself, the power with God’s help, to do likewise.
As always, we share freely what we are doing in our battle. We encourage each PALS to study, to research, to seek divine guidance, then to formulate your own personal protocol. Be diligent, tweaking as necessary. But never think that you cannot succeed.
Please know that we are here, should any wish to FaceTime, Skype, or just to have a telephone chat. We do answer all emails, as well, and love personal face to face visits when feasible.
That God will bless and guide each of you on your path to healing, is my deepest desire.
Kim
April 2018
Today is Easter Sunday. To us it is a celebration of the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ who gave his life for us, that we might live with God again. He paid the price for us by giving his life and broke the bands of death. In return, we feel it is important to serve God's children in any way we can. As we serve you, you bless our lives. As you serve in any way you can, blessings will come to you in ways you will not imagine. The sacrifice that Jesus made for us gives us the ultimate HOPE of a wonderful life in the eternities. The hope that we try to give to all our PALS is to find ways to heal your body that you may serve until the mission God has given you has been completed. We believe that it is God who can best direct you in your healing path.
We actually had a March Madness month in our lives that did not involve basketball. Kim went into the hospital in St. George, Utah on March 13th. He had developed sepsis, a major blood infection, from his IV port that became infected. The infection also collected around scar tissue on his mitral valve in his heart from his open heart surgery in 2010. The port was removed, but he will require 6 weeks of antibiotics that will hopefully clear the infection in his heart. We are also adding other therapies like garlic, essential oils and Aloe Vera juice to give the body all the tools it needs to fight off this infection.
We dodged a bullet in our journey, in that we were not aware of the sepsis. Had it not been discovered, it could have created some very consequential issues. We actually went to the doctors on March 8th because of a fall Kim suffered on the golf course, possibly caused in part from weakness from the infections. If not for the fall and the resulting discoveries, we could have been facing a major stroke or heart attack.
Probably one of the big things we learned is that it is crucial to have follow-up care from competent medical professionals. There are some great medical professionals out there that are willing and able to be of great service to us in our battle against ALS. But they need to be people that will listen and will be a part of our healing journey. It is true that perhaps we have received a benefit from being almost 6 1/2 year survivors of this monster, and continue doing quite well. Our doctors have been impressed with our winning efforts. It is important to find professionals that will be part of a winning team not just monitors of decline.
Antibiotics can definitely be life-saving though we need to be cautious and discrete with their use. We are also aware of the need to rebuild the digestive health during and following this course of antibiotics. We have become aware of the need to keep a primary care doctor on our side. In the hospital, Kim was seen by a primary care doctor, cardiologists, a cardio thoracic surgeon, pulmonary specialist, phlebotomists, and an infection disease specialist (maybe even others). We needed to transfer care back home to a primary physician and get a team of new specialists. Thus, right out of the hospital, Kim drove our RV the 700 + miles home. We are in the process of building a new team.
Most all the medical professionals we have dealt with have been quite amazed at Kim's ALS healing journey. We have also learned that it continues to be important to not just listen to the doctors but to use our intuition in what will be best for Kim. We are entitled to that. As children of our Heavenly Father, we can call upon Him to help us with our earthly needs.
Again, a strong mental attitude is crucial every step of the way. Kim has another tee time scheduled for this next week. Since he just graduated from a walker to a cane since leaving the hospital last week, he is a bit concerned how this will affect his game. The important issue is that he continues to move forward. We will see how the golf game goes.
Kay
May 2018
Kim's update. Thoughts from Anthony William on ALS. Detoxing heavy metals.
In the article, Mr. Willliam discusses his help with someone diagnosed with ALS and determined that he had aluminum poisoning. We believe that there can be many sources of toxins in someone with ALS, not just aluminum. Each toxicity including emotional toxicity has to be addressed.
We have said it before but believe that it is important not to "own" ALS which is what Anthony is saying. https://www.facebook.com/medicalmedium/posts/1050938765041301
Here is a link to his blog page on his website" http://www.medicalmedium.com/medical-medium-blog
Note from Kim:
Though I heartily agree with what Anthony William states in the Facebook link, I have serious doubts as to the authenticity of his divine source. I suppose it is just the engineer in me. I would recommend any that are inclined to accept him as having direct communications with Divinity, to read the following review from RealityMaps.com:
http://www.realitymaps.com/2016/05-medicalmedium.html
Lastly, we often get asked about detoxing the body. We believe it must be done carefully and should take about a year. It should be noted that it can be dangerous to do an IV chelation for someone with ALS as their liver may be coated in a plaque which is not allowing toxins out of the body. Too many toxins passing through the liver at once could be dangerous. We believe that there are many different methods to detox, one of which is actually sleeping properly through the night.
June
Kim's update
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Last month, we thought we were going to be all through with Kim infection. On May 7th, he had another TEE that looked at his heart with a camera down his throat. It looked good. He finished his round of antibiotics on May 9th and played golf on May 10th. Then on Monday May 14th, he began having problems again. By early Tuesday morning, he was back in the hospital where he remains. The infection has taken up residency in his brain. They have been able to clear it from his blood and his bad kidney issue has improved. They say the only way to resolve the infection in his heart is open-heart surgery. The antibiotics can't get to the heart as it has created a biofilm (protective layer) around the heart infection, called vegetation.
Kim has times when he is better and showing improvement, and times when he has issues. He continues to think he can get through this new challenge. He has been moved to rehab which is a positive step.
I have not had research time this month, but it remains important to be positive. We understand, even more so now, that it is very hard to do with ALS or any other illness, but critical if you want to heal.
Kay Cherry
July 2018
Kim's update and CBD oil information
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Short report on Kim's health: He had open heart surgery on Tuesday, June 26 after being on an antibiotic for 5 weeks (the second time around). He came through the surgery well. He had his mitral valve replaced. They found staph in the valve and another bacteria that they were not aware of. His recovery is coming along well. Through all of this this, his residual ALS symptoms - drop foot and particularly right leg weakness have not worsened except in the sense that the overall all weakness from the infection and surgery would create. He will return to the rehab section of the hospital on Monday from the Cardio Vascular ICU where he has been for 12 days. This is for his final rehab preparation for going home. Can you hear me shouting HURRAY all the way from Idaho? He has been charging up and down the halls of the ICU the last couple of days and using their exercise machine whenever he can get someone to help him get on it. A nurse told us yesterday that Kim is the only person she has ever seen use that machine. Thank you so much for those who have offered prayers in his behalf.
New Subject: Some of you have asked if we know anything about the use of CBD oil or marijuana with ALS. It is not legal in our state so we have not used it. Some have tried it with some success and others have not had success. It may be because they were not using the correct kind. I really don't know about that. Here is a website of a man who has used it successfully: https://illegallyhealed.com/keeping-als-at-bay-with-cannabis/
Cathy Jordon from Florida has smoked marijuana for many years to correct the phlegm in her throat in the morning as she gets up. Here is a link with a short bio on her and there may be a longer one on one of the blog entries. https://healingals.org/healedhealing-pals/
It is always our prayer that you will find the right answers for you as everyone has different health issues that need correcting in order to heal.
Kay Cherry
August 2018
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Kim's update and the importance of quality meats.
Kim's update. We finally were able to bring Kim home from the hospital on July 18. He had been there for two months. He continues one antibiotic until August 7th. He is hoping to begin feeling a lot better after that. It is a very powerful antibiotic that makes him very lightheaded so he is looking forward to being off of it. It was required to clear up the bacteria they found on his heart valve that they did not know was there until that valve was replaced. He is counting the days to September 18th when he hopes to be back on the golf course.
In just a few days, he will start doing hyperbaric dives again and return to using the EWOT therapy that he has not used for a few months. We still have an ozone or two therapy we can use. We are getting probiotics back into him and are increasing his probiotic foods.
The article below is rather scary as it explains a lot of what Kim has been through. For the two months in the hospital, he was not able to get the proper healthy protein he needed. We lived too far away from the hospital for me to drive home three times per day and get the food back to the hospital in a fresh manner.
All the meats he ate were filled with antibiotics. I felt the affects of it also. I found a probiotic by Jigsaw Health which helped us both. Meat growers give their animals antibiotics as it makes them put o weight faster and they can get them to market faster, thus making more money. The problem is that the overuse of antibiotics is making bug resistant to antibiotics and we are being set up for health problems that the medical field will not be able to resolve.
Be sure that the meat you consume is of good quality without antibitoics.
Kay
September 2018
Kim's update, ALS causes and cinnamon's neuro helps
Dear PALS and caregivers,
Just another quick update on Kim. In healing ALS, it seems like that there are layers and layers of issues to heal. It also seems that that is the same issues are at stake in healing what he has been through the last few months. The new heart valve is working well though he did have to have a shock treatment to get it in proper rhythm. One of the stokes he had in the hospital took the hearing from his right ear and with it his balance. Though he has made improvement since being home, he has a ways to go. Yesterday, we got him some forearm crutches so he is using those mostly instead of the 4-wheeled walker. It has given him new freedom and he actually went to the store by himself today. We are working on getting him a cochlear implant for his right ear and waiting (and waiting) for an appointment with a pulmonologist and sleep study so we can get a c-pap that will help with his sleep apnea. He has an appointment to begin therapy to help retrain the brain so he can balance again. Making improvements is great therapy.
New subject: here is an excellent synopsis of some of the causes of ALS. Great article:
https://www.evenbetterhealth.com/als-causes.asp
Did you know how good cinnamon was for you?
Cinnamon and Neurodegeneration
http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine/article/2862-cinnamon-reduces-neurodegeneration
We continue to pray for each of our PALS whether we have met or communicated with you or not. We send each of you our love and prayers and thank you so sincerely for those who have offered prayers for Kim these last several months.
Kay
October 2018
Thoughts on Nuedexta
Dear PALS and caregivers.
We have always been so opposed to medications, that when a caregiver asked me about this drug a year or so ago, I gave my standard answer that all drugs are toxic. That may be true, but Kim has gone through months of being on drugs and although we are working out way off the drugs, they have saved his life. Most we have eliminated, but one heart med for a bit longer to keep his new heart pumping correctly and a blood thinner, again we hope for only a short amount of time. Kim has made some significant improvement in September, even played a short round of golf last week. Can't say he played well, but he did it. He continues to work on his therapy to help his balance and has an appointment on November 15 to get a cochlear implant.
Also, yesterday, 10-1-2018, he had a stem cell therapy. We have always felt like the body needed to be clear of toxins before that could be done and our local doctor here does them for a very reasonable price. We will let you know next month about the improvement he may be feeling. Our doctor did say that some feel improvement right away while other don't feel the improvement for 3-4 months.
April 12-2019. Update on the stem cell therapy that Kim did: He had no improvement from the treatment he had. We understood them to be stem cells from a placenta that was donated by a mother, but later learned that that may not have been the case. He was to return to get another stem cell treatment in 3-4 months but we were in Yuma, AZ at the time and it was too cold to be in Idaho. They indicated that it could take 3-4 months to see any improvement, but since we didn't see any, we didn't go back for another treatment.
Now the information on Neudexta.
The following information is from Deborah Wotherton, a very scientific lady in north west Canada who lost her sister to ALS. You can google Nuedesta and research the information on it. A very low dose may be helpful to PALS.
Nuedexta information by Deb Wot
I think this is very important. My sister had bulbar ALS, and the research consistently shows it to be a more aggressive form of ALS. As per this summary of a study on how ALS affects the brain, "Patients with bulbar involvement, meaning problems with swallowing and speech, were especially prone to have worse scores all round."
I absolutely recognized during my sister's illness that she lacked her reasoning skills in addition to the inability to control emotion. For example, when we found a doctor who did tests that found a bunch of problems, but it was obvious that we needed to seek a wider range of expertise, and at this point we knew about how our cousin's had started to have motor neuron problems and the doctor they worked with to fix them, she just never did go see that doctor, although she did have a phone consultation about 3-4 months after I had suggested going to see him. Or when she went to Europe, and was planning a tour of several countries, I suggested going to Portugal to see a doctor who had stopped his son's progression but she was adamant she was not going to go see him. I tried to get her to go see the naturopath that Derek Swinnard credits enabling his 20ish year survival, and she refused that as well. She went off her entire program and did not make an association that the extreme problems she was all of sudden dealing with could be related to that. For testing they liked people to stop taking stuff for 3 days, she went off her program for about 2 months and it was her fastest decline. She had been on her full program and Cowden for a month and I could understand her better a month later than I could the month earlier and that was dismissed, and that was when she went off the rest of her program and just did Cowden. Then she concluded Cowden didn't work or help her, so that was the end of that, and really, she only did Cowden properly for a month. There just also seemed an inability to actually move forward on following a plan without help setting it up, which was something you'd never have expected her to have a problem with.
When she went on nuedexta she did decide to try something that I had wanted her to try a year earlier, but at that point it was only six months from when she passed away. To me, she also understood the why.
Anyway, I do recommend nuedexta and with what I saw in how her behavior changed from ALS and how much she came back to herself with nuedexta and the improved decision making, emotional control and reasoning skills. I genuinely believe that the effects on her brain did cause poorer decisions. I think she would have had her independence even longer than she did. She did better than more than 90% of bulbar patients, but I think it would have improved her decisions and reduced the stress in her relationships. What she wrote to me after getting onto nuedexta was heart breaking, that she was destroying all of her relationships with the people she loved and I don't think she could have written that before getting onto nuedexta. Further, I always knew it was the disease and some of her behavior was hurtful, but I didn't take it that personally because I knew it wasn't her, and going onto the nuedexta allowed us to have that conversation that nothing she could do would ever diminish my love for her, and I never considered any of it to be her, but all of it to be about what the disease was doing, and I know that meant a great deal to her.
https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/deficits-worse-als-stage
We include our prayers for each or you to find the right answers to heal your body so the ALS can resolve.
Kay
November 2018
One Step Enough
Dear PALS and caregivers,
With some of the challenges we have faced this past year, we felt it would a good time for me (Kim) to take the lead and write what I hope will be an inspirational message for our November update.
One of the greatest challenges we faced in life came with the diagnosis of ALS. It has been our great privilege to be associated with hundreds of PALS who are currently at some stage of their battle with the ALS diagnosis, the threat of a diagnosis, or some other major health issue.
If you have spent time on our website, you already know that we do not claim to have the magical answers to help others stop, or even reverse the symptoms of this disease, as I have done. We can only tell you what we have done and pray that you have similar results. I would say that of all the dozens of things that we have incorporated in our battle, possibly at least half of them have had no positive effect. I wish I knew which half we could have dismissed.
As we have clarified numerous times, we believe the greatest power in our fight has been the power of a positive mental attitude. An integral part of this philosophy is the spiritual strength and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ, that has been a constant companion, despite our faults and shortcomings.
At a recent church conference, a brother shared the story of an Englishman named John Henry Newman. In 1833, as a young priest, he was traveling in Italy where he became ill and was detained for a number of weeks longer than anticipated. Eventually, he was able to leave and found passage on a small boat.
Not long after the ship set sail, the breezes dropped, and the ship became engulfed in fog. With no wind, the ship was stalled for a week in that damp gray darkness. In that bleak situation, he pled for help as he wrote these words: (Lead, Kindly Light, Wikipedia)
Lead, Kindly Light, amidst the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
As we face the challenges and trials of life, or more specifically, ALS, we must place our trust in our Heavenly Father, believing that He will give us enough light to see the next step.
Having passed the sixth anniversary of our diagnosis, we were feeling confident all was well. A new set of trials resurfaced when a sepsis infection from a placed IV port lead to three months of IV infusions, several mini strokes, 11 weeks of hospitalization, and a second open-heart surgery in late June of this year. Though I have some debilitating issues with these latest challenges, the outpouring of love and support from countless friends and associates has lifted us up and on, believing that all really will be well.
From the words of other church leaders, To all who find themselves in the thick fog and darkness of depression, which can so easily come with the ALS battle, the words of the hymn, “Lead Kindly Light” remind us that when all is dark…when our own personal ship is stalled with no wind in our sails…there is an unfailing and kindly source of divine guidance, power, and light. It is the “light of the world” (John 8:12). It is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to dispel all darkness. He is, “a light that shineth in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). The Lord said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life”.
Though the struggles we have faced this past 7 or 8 months are not yet fully resolved, I am confident I can find the courage and strength to face them. The beauty of hymns and other music, and the love and support of countless friends and family are crucial to moving forward when we cannot see the distant shore, knowing that one step is enough. It is our prayer that each and every PALS have the strength, the love and support, and the faith to do the same.
Kim Cherry
December 2018
Forgiveness, Gratitude and Service - 3 Key Principles in Healing ALS
When we get an ALS diagnosis (or any other diagnosis for that matter), our first inclination is that we have to fix the physical problems involved. That is what doctors are trained to do. However, they are mostly trained to dispense drugs to cover symptoms. Drug companies don't want a cure for anything as then they could not sell as many drugs.
So our advice to begin with when we started this journey was to change the foods you eat (getting rid of the thousands of poisons approved to be included in processed foods), clean up the toxins in your cleaning supplies and personal care products and being mindful of the air you breathe, being aware of the activities - especially stress (physical or mental) - that could have, in part, led to your diagnosis. These are all important factors, but there could be other factors that prevent you from healing that must be corrected.
The emotional and mental aspect of disease must be resolved. You must deal with your negative emotions if you want to heal . This may be the biggest component for healing. I repeat: You must resolve all negative emotions for healing to come.
Let's begin with stress. Stress includes both physical stress (being highly physically active) and mental stress. Stress of any kind creates massive amounts of free radicals that can damage cells. Stress suppresses the immune system and we become more likely to catch a bug or develop an illness. What can cause stress? Athletes quite frequently develop ALS. They are physically stressing their body and not getting adequate magnesium to handle the free radical creation. Physical illness to the body can come from living in a home with mold, a poison you breathe with every breath you take. Stress can come from your work load. Stress can come from disagreements with family, friends or work associates. Stress comes with raising children and trying so hard to guide them in a good direction in life. Stress can develop after a serious accident or injury. Stress can come from being raised in a negative environment or from circumstances of life - divorce, loss of loved ones, being bullied as a child or even as an adult. Stress can come from our own negative feelings we have about ourselves, that we are not good enough, that we are too heavy or too thin or too quiet or too bossy or not smart enough or not organized enough or not as good or as pretty as a neighbor or just about anything that brings our thoughts of ourselves into a negative zone. Probably one of the biggest stresses you have felt is getting the ALS diagnosis with the likely worsening of symptoms directly afterwards. Staying in a stress mode prevents healing and aggravates disease.
In no way are we indicating that we think you are a bad person for any reason that you may feel stress. We personally believe that we are all children of God and that he loves us and sent us here to learn how to overcome stress and become a better person worthy of returning to His presence.
Forgiveness - What does forgiveness have to do with healing stress? Being unwilling to forgive others or even yourself, creates negative emotions in your body. Those negative emotions whether from last week or from years and years ago affect your health. It is like feeding your body poisonous food. There is a quote in the scriptures that says: "As a man thinketh, so is he." The cells in your body listen to your thoughts and speech. Your thoughts affect your well- being. If you have negative thoughts toward anyone including yourself, you are feeding your body disease. Jesus taught his disciples that you must forgive not seven times but seventy times seven. On the cross, he asked His Father to forgive them (his crucifiers) for they know not what they do. The Lord has informed us that He will forgive whom He will forgive, but we are to forgive all men (and women). We just heard about one lady who was diagnosed with ALS early this year. She had to quit her job as an educator, but she had had a huge conflict with one of her work associates. When she was instructed about the importance of forgiveness, she made amends with her associate and also a brother she had a disagreement with. And guess what? She began walking again.
Gratitude - You may wonder how you can have gratitude when you are experiencing such terrible physical problems. But as you find gratitude in your life, you find joy in what you do have. Express deep gratitude to those who are helping you through this current struggle. Express wonder at the beauty you find around you, in the love of your family, the beauty of the earth, the amazing foods God put on the earth. Have you ever wondered how God made so many different fruits that all taste different? Not long after Kim's diagnosis seven years ago, a family came by our house to visit. The little girl handed Kim a little booklet and told him it was his gratitude book. He was to write in the book what he was grateful for. We don't recommend a little booklet for you. We recommend a big one and suggest you fill it with what you are grateful for. Here are some excellent thoughts on gratitude from Dr. Axe:
https://draxe.com/health/benefits-of-gratitude/
Service - Everything good that you put out comes back to you to bless your life. When Kim started finding ways to heal and get better from his ALS symptoms, he became passionate about helping others. So we started our website. We have learned much since then. In the beginning, we mostly focused on the physical aids to heal the body, but didn't realize that giving of ourselves to others was a powerful part of Kim's healing. We have also noticed that others who have healed are also those who are helping others find a way to heal. We have had a rather difficult time this year in giving service to others as Kim spent so much time healing from non ALS issues. He continues to heal as he is able to give you hope that healing can happen. We continue to have a desire to speak with you and let you know that we love you, even when we might not know you and that we pray for you every day. You are our PALS even if you have not contacted us.
In this season of celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we must remember that he died for us and paid a huge price to pay for our sins so we can return to live with God. He is there for us in this difficult journey through life and can guide you to better health and happiness, but we believe that he requires forgiveness, gratitude and service even if diagnosed with ALS. In our church, we are encouraged to "Light the World" or be a light to all around us. Can you put your "light" out there to bless others?
May this Christmas season be a special blessing in your life as you learn to forgive, have gratitude and give service to God's children.
Kim and Kay Cherry
2018 - https://www.alswinners.com/2018-updates.html
Jan - Possible ALS causes
Feb - Kim's attitude update plus Hope, Earthing, Sleep, Oils for fungus, black pepper, magnesium
Mar - Kim's update / encouragement
Apr - Easter Message of Hope and Kim's sepsis journey
May - Kim's update, Anthony William on ALS. Detoxing heavy metals.
Jun - Kim's update
Jul - Kim's update. CBD oil information
Aug - Kim's update.
Sep - Kim's update, ALS causes and cinnamon's neuro helps
Oct - Thoughts on Nuedexta
Nov - One Step Enough
Dec - Forgiveness, Gratitude, Service
January 2018
Possible ALS causes
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
As the new year begins, we hope that you are planning on a year with much improvement in your health. The following update represents somewhat of an overview of all we have learned and all we believe. With this, we again emphasize our disclaimer. The only real credential we have for the guidelines offered here-in is that after 6 years of a one year death sentence from Bulbar ALS, Kim is walking, talking, driving, swimming and playing golf. All of the opinions stated herein, though not mainstream AMA certified, are supported by medical minds that have the courage and foresight to look outside the box. We are indeed grateful for them. (Google is a great tool. Use it freely.)
The medical field acknowledges that there are too many free radicals, too much glutamate and too many misfolded proteins in someone with ALS. They prescribe Rilutek/Riluzole for the glutamate but acknowledge that it is not a cure but may give some ALS patients two or three more months to live. They are now trying to address the free radicals with Radicava, which has its own scary list of side effects. I have added what I found about Radicava under our post for August of 2016 that discusses Rilutek side effects and other drugs.
We do believe that most doctors really are caring people, trying to help their patients in the methods by which they have been trained. Neurologist and other specialists are trained to address their specialty. We believe they often fail to look at what else in going on in the body to create the problems. We believe there are many issues going on in an ALS patient that are creating those ALS symptoms. Since the specialist may not look beyond the nerves, we often must become our own detectives or search for a functional doctor that can help identify some of the things going wrong. The following is a review of several major issues we believe can cause ALS:
Free radicals can be created by excessive exercise, excessive stress and excessive music stimulation. Free radicals can be kept in check with adequate magnesium, adequate glutathione, and lots of antioxidants like astaxanthin, Vitamins C & E.
Excessive amounts of glutamate can be created by too much MSG (dangerous food additive) in the food supply, gluten from wheat and other gluten grains and perhaps also dairy. Dietary changes can help address these. (See our April update in 2017 to understand that issue better.)
Heavy metals. These can include mercury from silver fillings, aluminum (everywhere in our environment), fluoride (in our water supply and toothpastes) , lead poisoning, uranium poisoning, etc. Even a heavy iron overload in our bodies can create neurological problems.
Drugs. We believe statin drugs are a cause ALS. There is a book written by a doctor, Hannah Yoseph, MD, about how statins cause neurological issues. Statin drugs kill our glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath, that protective coating around nerves that have been damaged in ALS. Other sources state proof that high cholesterol does not cause heart disease. Our bodies need cholesterol. Our brains are mostly fat and without fat, we have no functioning brain. All drugs are acidic and by law cannot be natural substances. Therefore, it would seem logical that our body has trouble assimilating them.
Issues with the liver. The liver has to be healthy in order to process the toxins from our body. One school of thought is that the liver has become coated with a hard plaque from gluten (which is a glue) thereby preventing the flow of toxins out of the body. Beer made with barley would also be another gluten source.
Lyme disease, Epstein Barr virus, parasites, biofilms, other viruses. Some doctors find that every most ALS patient they treat has Lyme disease. They likely practice in an area that is heavy with Lyme disease. We have heard of people that were injured and then shortly after received an ALS diagnosis but also found to have Lyme disease. It could be that the Lyme was relatively dormant and that the injury flared up in that area and then the ALS diagnosis came about. Lyme and parasites live on heavy metals in the body and also the sugars and grains that we eat. Here is an article on why Lyme is so difficult: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lyme-bacteria-hides-inside-parasitic-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases-300270742.html
Mold and fungus. Living in a moldy environment certainly predisposes us to illnesses and ALS is no exception. You cannot heal the health issues from mold if you remain in a moldy environment. The fungus issue is one that we very likely create from the grains and sugars we eat.
Pesticides, herbicides, Roundup, GMO Foods. All are poisons. How long can we eat foods covered with poison and expect to not have problems?
Digestive problems can be created from the use of too many antibiotics and not enough corrective use of probiotics or probiotic foods like raw sauerkraut. Sadness, grief, anger, depression, and all negative emotions prevent the uptake of nutrition from the foods we eat.
Acidity. Having a highly acidic body, leads to disease of many kinds. Most of the foods we love are acidic while the alkaline foods are fruits and vegetables. Sulphur vegetables are especially helpful for neurological issues, i.e., cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, cauliflower.
Fats. The fats we consume affect our health. All vegetable oils are Omega 6 oils. The fats from all meats produced using corn are Omega 6 oils. The ratio in our diet should be maybe 2 Omega 6 oils to 1 Omega 3 oils. In our modern foods diet the ratio is probably 50 to 1 instead of 2 to 1.
Magnesium deficiency. Our foods have become so depleted with magnesium that it is nearly impossible to get adequate magnesium from what we eat. Magnesium is responsible for hundreds of functions in the body including muscles. When magnesium is trying to rid the body of free radicals, toxins from the drugs the doctors prescribe, toxins from the foods we eat, the air we breathe and the toxins we rub on our skin, then there is very little magnesium left to do its other work. One important job of magnesium is to keep calcium where it belongs. Equal amounts of magnesium to calcium intake is what it takes to accomplish that job. Magnesium can relieve anxiety, panic attacks, even depression. When given the depressing ALS diagnosis, magnesium can be burned right out of the body trying to handle that new challenge.
Life Style. It has been noted that athletes get ALS at a very high rate. Stressing the body physically or mentally creates massive amounts of free radicals. Musicians also are at risk. They do their work in the evening and at night, therefore not getting the proper sleep in the right sleep cycle between 10 PM and 6 AM. Our military is at risk from all the shots they are required to get and the stressful work they perform for our freedom. Those that work in factories or jobs with toxic heavy metals are also at risk. Also dentists that use mercury to fill teeth put themselves and their staff at risk.
Damaged Myelin Sheath. The myelin sheath which is a coating to protect the nerves has been chewed up, probably by free radicals and other toxins. Apples and grapes contain malic acid which make glia cells. Glia cells make myelin sheath. A supplement that helps restore the myelin sheath is Lion's Mane Mushroom.
Mind power. Our bodies have an incredible ability to heal, but it is our mind that has to give the body those directions. We have been programed to believe that doctors can fix all our problems. Sitting in the doctor’s office and getting an ALS diagnosis is traumatizing. Though most neurologists are kind as they say it, some are not. However, they all say nothing can be done but take my drug, get a feeding tube and go to the ALS clinics which are there to follow you on the downward path. Most of us in life have had challenges that leave us lacking in the joy department. The power of your mind to put behind you the negative thoughts is not easy, but is so necessary if you want to heal. Healing and taking up nutrition can only be accomplished when you are in a positive state of mind. Believing that you can be the captain of your healing journey is where you begin.
To summarize, the path that we believe leads to healing is below. We almost always think all we have to do is to fix the physical and all will be well. Without the emotional, mental and spiritual healing, the physical healing does not come.
Mind power. Includes prayer, meditation, mental imaging, positive mental attitude, positive self-talk, hope, being too stubborn to let ALS get in the way of your plans, determination to win the battle.
Detoxing. Ridding the body of toxins through safe means. An IV chelation can be very dangerous for someone with ALS. There are many methods such as sleeping properly, magnesium, foot baths, cilantro, increasing water intake, etc. Expect a year of detoxing to accomplish the cleansing of the liver. Ozone is likely another great detox system.
Environmental corrections: See our checklist.
Proper Food. Our bodies were designed to eat the food God put on the earth, not all the chemical fakes that our food industry produces.
Proper supplements. After years of eating what we love instead of what we should eat, our body is starving for the foods that help us heal and supplements help us get some of those vital nutrients.
Oxidative therapies. Some doctors say oxygen should not be given to someone with ALS. Kim likely would not be alive without the oxidative therapies he received. The hyperbaric chamber was the first place he felt he was getting adequate oxygen to breathe due to his severe breathing issues. He has been in our hyperbaric chamber over 800 times and he is still doing well. We believe the ozone therapies helped rid his body of toxins. Now that we have started EWOT - exercise with oxygen therapy - he feels that is even more helpful than the hyperbarics as it is giving him safe exercise plus the added oxygen. The cost is just a tiny fraction of the cost of hyperbarics and can be done in your home at your convenience. (We purchased our EWOT equipment from www.ewot-usa.com. A discount is available if you mention Kim's name or ALS, but shop around.) We have also found a much easier system for doing ozone that may be as effective as Kim's ozone IVs. Here is a link to that system:
https://www.becancerfree.com/product/synergy-wps-100-ozone-machine-steam-sauna-package
Sleep. We don't believe you can heal if you don't get proper sleep. That means sleeping in a dark room between about 10 and 6 with no electronics, especially a cell phone. These hours are the time our bodies make melatonin which makes glutathione , our master antioxidant (another detoxing agent.) Turning on a light in the night stops the melatonin production for the night. Sleeping properly will help detox and heal the body.
Service, joy, gratitude, forgiveness. Lastly, we feel these four positive attributes are necessary in the healing process. Giving of any kind of service to others helps you forget your challenges and focus on lifting others. Joy brings love to your heart and to others; Gratitude shows God that you believe he has given you so much; Forgiveness is critical for a positive mental attitude. These attributes are best taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of whether or not you are Christian.
Which of these do you need to work on along your path to healing? We believe they are all important. You can't leave out good sleep and heal. You can't leave out good food and heal, and so on.
Our love and prayers are with you.
Kim and Kay Cherry
Disclaimer: We are not medical experts. We are just sharing the insights we have gathered since starting this healing ALS journey. We cannot tell you what to do, only what we have done. You must study and determine your own best course of action.
February 2018
Kim's Attitude update
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
If you have hope, you can look to the things God has given us to heal, real food, the power of faith and the knowledge that he loves us. You may say that he doesn't love you or he would not have given you ALS. God didn't give it to you, you created it. You didn't create it intentionally, but indeed did create it. Some of it may have come from circumstances you could not avoid, but nevertheless, some has come from the foods/drinks you consumed or the activities you engaged in. The very air we breathe and what we rub in our skin affects our health. Marketers are so concerned with the almighty dollar, that they seem not to care who they harm in that path. Can you track your path to ALS? I have prepared a document I put together to give some clues. You can't keep standing in a fire and not get burned. Corrections in your lifestyle are necessary for the body to heal. It is not all inclusive list but gives you an idea how damaged our bodies can get. I can't seem to add it here, so email me and I will send you the pdf.
I have been collecting some great information to share. All month long, I gather ideas and try to decided which you might need. Here are a few of them. You don't have to review them all at once, maybe one per day or one per week. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Apply what you thing is important to you. Kay
Earthing, helps reduce the positive charges from all the electronics we are immersed in modern living
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/
Get Proper Sleep Nightly, a critical component to healing from anything, ALS includedhttps://draxe.com/health/cant-sleep/
Essential oils for fungus. Probably all PALS have a fungus issue and need to find ways to correct it. Our most important ways to reduce Kim's fungus issues was to eliminate sugar and gluten grains, in addition to most grains most of the time. https://drericz.com/antifungal-essential-oils/
Black Pepper Benefits, may help with mucus overload.
https://healthfreedomidaho.org/black-pepper-health-benefits?mc_cid=6f2876d9a9&mc_eid=c05927e1e4
Increase Your Magnesium Intake. The more I read about magnesium, the more I realize that caregivers need it as well as PALS. https://draxe.com/nutrition/9-signs-magnesium-deficiency/
To Our Dear Friends,
As usual, Kay has asked that I proof her update. It concerns me that so much of what she presents, and indeed, what we do, either goes against traditional AMA thinking, or is at least ignored or deemed worthless by traditional medical practitioners. I therefore reiterate our constant disclaimer. I am our only credential.
The friend that sent a hope message has watched us travel this road just the last three years. He always tells me my greatest strength is my "attitude". It's funny that I have been told my whole life my attitude is my the problem.
Our hope is that each of you will research, study, seek Divine direction, and then decide if the materials presented in this website is of value on your Road To Recovery. Develop an "ATTITUDE" of healing, if you do not already have one. Always know and remember that the only person that can heal one of ALS is the person with ALS, in conjunction with the Almighty. All others are simply a member of your team, as important as they may be.
May God bless and guide each of you as you journey this road is my most humble prayer.
Kim
March 2018
To My Dear PALS and those that love you,
Kay does a phenomenal job of writing this posting most months. We feel this is a good time that I again express some thoughts and feelings about my continued battle against our common monster, ALS.
I am intrigued as I frequently meet old friends and acquaintances I have not seen for a while, especially as we move back and forth from our summer and winter homes. They often express amazement that I appear to be “better than the last time I saw you.” I think what they are seeing is the lack of digression they feared would take place, which interprets into “You look so much better”.
It is a great blessing in my life that I no longer fear digressing to a vegetative state with ALS. That does not mean I no longer have bad days. Thus speaking, my last “bad day” was just over a week ago, when I apparently reacted to an overdose of ozone during a treatment session, resulting in seizure like uncontrolled body shaking for the better part of an hour. It left me extremely weakened to the point I even used my cane for a public gathering we had scheduled that evening. The cane was a life saver, most certainly preventing a bad fall. But the next day, after a good night’s rest, the cane went back to the closet corner, and the strength and stamina gradually returned to the point that I walked a nine-hole golf course just a few days later. Granted, it was a relatively short course, requiring just under 8000 steps, but I was thrilled to realize I had no hip or knee pain after the round, a frequent issue in the past due to my continued heavy drop-foot that sends shock waves up my legs. Another amazing thing is I did it without a fall. Just a week earlier, I had 5 or 6 falls in a golf round, and had significant hip joint issues by the last hole.
My point in sharing these thoughts is to reiterate that this struggle is ongoing. As much progress as I have made these past 6+ years since my diagnosis, I can take nothing for granted. Though the enemy is on the run, I must always be wary, realizing he can stop, turn, and shoot back. I would like to believe one day I can completely forget about the possible negative impact ALS could have in my life. The more realistic view is that I must be vigilant the remainder of my days, which I fully expect to be many.
I continue to be a believer in the use of EWOT (See May and June 2017 updates). I do the program at least three times per week, 20 to 25 minutes each. The important thing is that I just feel good. I believe this is key to my walking those rounds of golf. In fact, I am considering a new push golf cart, with thoughts of wearing it out.
Of all the things we have done, the therapies we have experimented with, all the supplements, the oxidative therapies, and even the diet, they would all have been in vain except for the power of my positive mental attitude. I simply refused let ALS define me, or to submit to the devastation it was supposed to impose.
My challenge to all PALS is the same as it has always been. Stay strong. Believe in your ability to beat ALS. Push your limits to continue to live your life on your own terms. Stay happy. Fill your life with music. Enjoy funny and/or uplifting movies. Read good books. Love everything and everyone. Refuse to let negative comments, especially from doctors and others supposedly in the know, invade your mental or emotional sphere. Remain always the Captain of your healing team and make certain all others know you are leading the charge. Serve and lift everyone you can, especially those who are serving you.
It may be that my age and my own life’s experiences have better prepared me for this vicious battle I am winning. However, I truly believe each PALS has within himself or herself, the power with God’s help, to do likewise.
As always, we share freely what we are doing in our battle. We encourage each PALS to study, to research, to seek divine guidance, then to formulate your own personal protocol. Be diligent, tweaking as necessary. But never think that you cannot succeed.
Please know that we are here, should any wish to FaceTime, Skype, or just to have a telephone chat. We do answer all emails, as well, and love personal face to face visits when feasible.
That God will bless and guide each of you on your path to healing, is my deepest desire.
Kim
April 2018
Today is Easter Sunday. To us it is a celebration of the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ who gave his life for us, that we might live with God again. He paid the price for us by giving his life and broke the bands of death. In return, we feel it is important to serve God's children in any way we can. As we serve you, you bless our lives. As you serve in any way you can, blessings will come to you in ways you will not imagine. The sacrifice that Jesus made for us gives us the ultimate HOPE of a wonderful life in the eternities. The hope that we try to give to all our PALS is to find ways to heal your body that you may serve until the mission God has given you has been completed. We believe that it is God who can best direct you in your healing path.
We actually had a March Madness month in our lives that did not involve basketball. Kim went into the hospital in St. George, Utah on March 13th. He had developed sepsis, a major blood infection, from his IV port that became infected. The infection also collected around scar tissue on his mitral valve in his heart from his open heart surgery in 2010. The port was removed, but he will require 6 weeks of antibiotics that will hopefully clear the infection in his heart. We are also adding other therapies like garlic, essential oils and Aloe Vera juice to give the body all the tools it needs to fight off this infection.
We dodged a bullet in our journey, in that we were not aware of the sepsis. Had it not been discovered, it could have created some very consequential issues. We actually went to the doctors on March 8th because of a fall Kim suffered on the golf course, possibly caused in part from weakness from the infections. If not for the fall and the resulting discoveries, we could have been facing a major stroke or heart attack.
Probably one of the big things we learned is that it is crucial to have follow-up care from competent medical professionals. There are some great medical professionals out there that are willing and able to be of great service to us in our battle against ALS. But they need to be people that will listen and will be a part of our healing journey. It is true that perhaps we have received a benefit from being almost 6 1/2 year survivors of this monster, and continue doing quite well. Our doctors have been impressed with our winning efforts. It is important to find professionals that will be part of a winning team not just monitors of decline.
Antibiotics can definitely be life-saving though we need to be cautious and discrete with their use. We are also aware of the need to rebuild the digestive health during and following this course of antibiotics. We have become aware of the need to keep a primary care doctor on our side. In the hospital, Kim was seen by a primary care doctor, cardiologists, a cardio thoracic surgeon, pulmonary specialist, phlebotomists, and an infection disease specialist (maybe even others). We needed to transfer care back home to a primary physician and get a team of new specialists. Thus, right out of the hospital, Kim drove our RV the 700 + miles home. We are in the process of building a new team.
Most all the medical professionals we have dealt with have been quite amazed at Kim's ALS healing journey. We have also learned that it continues to be important to not just listen to the doctors but to use our intuition in what will be best for Kim. We are entitled to that. As children of our Heavenly Father, we can call upon Him to help us with our earthly needs.
Again, a strong mental attitude is crucial every step of the way. Kim has another tee time scheduled for this next week. Since he just graduated from a walker to a cane since leaving the hospital last week, he is a bit concerned how this will affect his game. The important issue is that he continues to move forward. We will see how the golf game goes.
Kay
May 2018
Kim's update. Thoughts from Anthony William on ALS. Detoxing heavy metals.
- We should give a brief update on Kim's health. He continues his antibiotic treatments for a few more days and then will have another test to determine the vegetation (the growth of bacteria) on his heart valve. We believe that we will get it cleared up. Medicine only knows drugs and surgery. We have other tricks up our sleeves. We are, however, very grateful for the help they have given him to date. He was not in good health 6 weeks ago. He is feeling good and continues to believe that he will heal this issue also.
- We have had a couple people send us this link to a Facebook entry by Anthony William. Anthony is a medical medium and uses the gift he has been given help people resolve their health issues. You may not agree with his methods, but we believe very strongly in exactly what he is saying in this Facebook post. Regarding the foods he suggests, we learned from Dr. David Perlmutter over 6 years ago that bad fats cause brain cells to go hard and that it was important to eat good fats. Changing the fats and getting rid of gluten (and most grains) and sugar were our first diet changes. We do eat fresh fruit with every meal and get our avocado daily. Our potatoes are organic. We incorporated more vegetables after listening to Dr. Terry Wahls success turning around her progressive MS with foods (greens, Sulphur veggies and brightly colored fruits and vegetables.) We eat gluten free and mostly grain free. We do eat grass fed proteins that are free of antibiotics but not in large amounts. We eat cage free eggs and small amounts of dairy, but you must be careful with the dairy if you have speech issues.
In the article, Mr. Willliam discusses his help with someone diagnosed with ALS and determined that he had aluminum poisoning. We believe that there can be many sources of toxins in someone with ALS, not just aluminum. Each toxicity including emotional toxicity has to be addressed.
We have said it before but believe that it is important not to "own" ALS which is what Anthony is saying. https://www.facebook.com/medicalmedium/posts/1050938765041301
Here is a link to his blog page on his website" http://www.medicalmedium.com/medical-medium-blog
Note from Kim:
Though I heartily agree with what Anthony William states in the Facebook link, I have serious doubts as to the authenticity of his divine source. I suppose it is just the engineer in me. I would recommend any that are inclined to accept him as having direct communications with Divinity, to read the following review from RealityMaps.com:
http://www.realitymaps.com/2016/05-medicalmedium.html
Lastly, we often get asked about detoxing the body. We believe it must be done carefully and should take about a year. It should be noted that it can be dangerous to do an IV chelation for someone with ALS as their liver may be coated in a plaque which is not allowing toxins out of the body. Too many toxins passing through the liver at once could be dangerous. We believe that there are many different methods to detox, one of which is actually sleeping properly through the night.
June
Kim's update
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Last month, we thought we were going to be all through with Kim infection. On May 7th, he had another TEE that looked at his heart with a camera down his throat. It looked good. He finished his round of antibiotics on May 9th and played golf on May 10th. Then on Monday May 14th, he began having problems again. By early Tuesday morning, he was back in the hospital where he remains. The infection has taken up residency in his brain. They have been able to clear it from his blood and his bad kidney issue has improved. They say the only way to resolve the infection in his heart is open-heart surgery. The antibiotics can't get to the heart as it has created a biofilm (protective layer) around the heart infection, called vegetation.
Kim has times when he is better and showing improvement, and times when he has issues. He continues to think he can get through this new challenge. He has been moved to rehab which is a positive step.
I have not had research time this month, but it remains important to be positive. We understand, even more so now, that it is very hard to do with ALS or any other illness, but critical if you want to heal.
Kay Cherry
July 2018
Kim's update and CBD oil information
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Short report on Kim's health: He had open heart surgery on Tuesday, June 26 after being on an antibiotic for 5 weeks (the second time around). He came through the surgery well. He had his mitral valve replaced. They found staph in the valve and another bacteria that they were not aware of. His recovery is coming along well. Through all of this this, his residual ALS symptoms - drop foot and particularly right leg weakness have not worsened except in the sense that the overall all weakness from the infection and surgery would create. He will return to the rehab section of the hospital on Monday from the Cardio Vascular ICU where he has been for 12 days. This is for his final rehab preparation for going home. Can you hear me shouting HURRAY all the way from Idaho? He has been charging up and down the halls of the ICU the last couple of days and using their exercise machine whenever he can get someone to help him get on it. A nurse told us yesterday that Kim is the only person she has ever seen use that machine. Thank you so much for those who have offered prayers in his behalf.
New Subject: Some of you have asked if we know anything about the use of CBD oil or marijuana with ALS. It is not legal in our state so we have not used it. Some have tried it with some success and others have not had success. It may be because they were not using the correct kind. I really don't know about that. Here is a website of a man who has used it successfully: https://illegallyhealed.com/keeping-als-at-bay-with-cannabis/
Cathy Jordon from Florida has smoked marijuana for many years to correct the phlegm in her throat in the morning as she gets up. Here is a link with a short bio on her and there may be a longer one on one of the blog entries. https://healingals.org/healedhealing-pals/
It is always our prayer that you will find the right answers for you as everyone has different health issues that need correcting in order to heal.
Kay Cherry
August 2018
Dear PALS and Caregivers,
Kim's update and the importance of quality meats.
Kim's update. We finally were able to bring Kim home from the hospital on July 18. He had been there for two months. He continues one antibiotic until August 7th. He is hoping to begin feeling a lot better after that. It is a very powerful antibiotic that makes him very lightheaded so he is looking forward to being off of it. It was required to clear up the bacteria they found on his heart valve that they did not know was there until that valve was replaced. He is counting the days to September 18th when he hopes to be back on the golf course.
In just a few days, he will start doing hyperbaric dives again and return to using the EWOT therapy that he has not used for a few months. We still have an ozone or two therapy we can use. We are getting probiotics back into him and are increasing his probiotic foods.
The article below is rather scary as it explains a lot of what Kim has been through. For the two months in the hospital, he was not able to get the proper healthy protein he needed. We lived too far away from the hospital for me to drive home three times per day and get the food back to the hospital in a fresh manner.
All the meats he ate were filled with antibiotics. I felt the affects of it also. I found a probiotic by Jigsaw Health which helped us both. Meat growers give their animals antibiotics as it makes them put o weight faster and they can get them to market faster, thus making more money. The problem is that the overuse of antibiotics is making bug resistant to antibiotics and we are being set up for health problems that the medical field will not be able to resolve.
Be sure that the meat you consume is of good quality without antibitoics.
Kay
September 2018
Kim's update, ALS causes and cinnamon's neuro helps
Dear PALS and caregivers,
Just another quick update on Kim. In healing ALS, it seems like that there are layers and layers of issues to heal. It also seems that that is the same issues are at stake in healing what he has been through the last few months. The new heart valve is working well though he did have to have a shock treatment to get it in proper rhythm. One of the stokes he had in the hospital took the hearing from his right ear and with it his balance. Though he has made improvement since being home, he has a ways to go. Yesterday, we got him some forearm crutches so he is using those mostly instead of the 4-wheeled walker. It has given him new freedom and he actually went to the store by himself today. We are working on getting him a cochlear implant for his right ear and waiting (and waiting) for an appointment with a pulmonologist and sleep study so we can get a c-pap that will help with his sleep apnea. He has an appointment to begin therapy to help retrain the brain so he can balance again. Making improvements is great therapy.
New subject: here is an excellent synopsis of some of the causes of ALS. Great article:
https://www.evenbetterhealth.com/als-causes.asp
Did you know how good cinnamon was for you?
Cinnamon and Neurodegeneration
http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine/article/2862-cinnamon-reduces-neurodegeneration
We continue to pray for each of our PALS whether we have met or communicated with you or not. We send each of you our love and prayers and thank you so sincerely for those who have offered prayers for Kim these last several months.
Kay
October 2018
Thoughts on Nuedexta
Dear PALS and caregivers.
We have always been so opposed to medications, that when a caregiver asked me about this drug a year or so ago, I gave my standard answer that all drugs are toxic. That may be true, but Kim has gone through months of being on drugs and although we are working out way off the drugs, they have saved his life. Most we have eliminated, but one heart med for a bit longer to keep his new heart pumping correctly and a blood thinner, again we hope for only a short amount of time. Kim has made some significant improvement in September, even played a short round of golf last week. Can't say he played well, but he did it. He continues to work on his therapy to help his balance and has an appointment on November 15 to get a cochlear implant.
Also, yesterday, 10-1-2018, he had a stem cell therapy. We have always felt like the body needed to be clear of toxins before that could be done and our local doctor here does them for a very reasonable price. We will let you know next month about the improvement he may be feeling. Our doctor did say that some feel improvement right away while other don't feel the improvement for 3-4 months.
April 12-2019. Update on the stem cell therapy that Kim did: He had no improvement from the treatment he had. We understood them to be stem cells from a placenta that was donated by a mother, but later learned that that may not have been the case. He was to return to get another stem cell treatment in 3-4 months but we were in Yuma, AZ at the time and it was too cold to be in Idaho. They indicated that it could take 3-4 months to see any improvement, but since we didn't see any, we didn't go back for another treatment.
Now the information on Neudexta.
The following information is from Deborah Wotherton, a very scientific lady in north west Canada who lost her sister to ALS. You can google Nuedesta and research the information on it. A very low dose may be helpful to PALS.
Nuedexta information by Deb Wot
I think this is very important. My sister had bulbar ALS, and the research consistently shows it to be a more aggressive form of ALS. As per this summary of a study on how ALS affects the brain, "Patients with bulbar involvement, meaning problems with swallowing and speech, were especially prone to have worse scores all round."
I absolutely recognized during my sister's illness that she lacked her reasoning skills in addition to the inability to control emotion. For example, when we found a doctor who did tests that found a bunch of problems, but it was obvious that we needed to seek a wider range of expertise, and at this point we knew about how our cousin's had started to have motor neuron problems and the doctor they worked with to fix them, she just never did go see that doctor, although she did have a phone consultation about 3-4 months after I had suggested going to see him. Or when she went to Europe, and was planning a tour of several countries, I suggested going to Portugal to see a doctor who had stopped his son's progression but she was adamant she was not going to go see him. I tried to get her to go see the naturopath that Derek Swinnard credits enabling his 20ish year survival, and she refused that as well. She went off her entire program and did not make an association that the extreme problems she was all of sudden dealing with could be related to that. For testing they liked people to stop taking stuff for 3 days, she went off her program for about 2 months and it was her fastest decline. She had been on her full program and Cowden for a month and I could understand her better a month later than I could the month earlier and that was dismissed, and that was when she went off the rest of her program and just did Cowden. Then she concluded Cowden didn't work or help her, so that was the end of that, and really, she only did Cowden properly for a month. There just also seemed an inability to actually move forward on following a plan without help setting it up, which was something you'd never have expected her to have a problem with.
When she went on nuedexta she did decide to try something that I had wanted her to try a year earlier, but at that point it was only six months from when she passed away. To me, she also understood the why.
Anyway, I do recommend nuedexta and with what I saw in how her behavior changed from ALS and how much she came back to herself with nuedexta and the improved decision making, emotional control and reasoning skills. I genuinely believe that the effects on her brain did cause poorer decisions. I think she would have had her independence even longer than she did. She did better than more than 90% of bulbar patients, but I think it would have improved her decisions and reduced the stress in her relationships. What she wrote to me after getting onto nuedexta was heart breaking, that she was destroying all of her relationships with the people she loved and I don't think she could have written that before getting onto nuedexta. Further, I always knew it was the disease and some of her behavior was hurtful, but I didn't take it that personally because I knew it wasn't her, and going onto the nuedexta allowed us to have that conversation that nothing she could do would ever diminish my love for her, and I never considered any of it to be her, but all of it to be about what the disease was doing, and I know that meant a great deal to her.
https://www.alzforum.org/news/research-news/deficits-worse-als-stage
We include our prayers for each or you to find the right answers to heal your body so the ALS can resolve.
Kay
November 2018
One Step Enough
Dear PALS and caregivers,
With some of the challenges we have faced this past year, we felt it would a good time for me (Kim) to take the lead and write what I hope will be an inspirational message for our November update.
One of the greatest challenges we faced in life came with the diagnosis of ALS. It has been our great privilege to be associated with hundreds of PALS who are currently at some stage of their battle with the ALS diagnosis, the threat of a diagnosis, or some other major health issue.
If you have spent time on our website, you already know that we do not claim to have the magical answers to help others stop, or even reverse the symptoms of this disease, as I have done. We can only tell you what we have done and pray that you have similar results. I would say that of all the dozens of things that we have incorporated in our battle, possibly at least half of them have had no positive effect. I wish I knew which half we could have dismissed.
As we have clarified numerous times, we believe the greatest power in our fight has been the power of a positive mental attitude. An integral part of this philosophy is the spiritual strength and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ, that has been a constant companion, despite our faults and shortcomings.
At a recent church conference, a brother shared the story of an Englishman named John Henry Newman. In 1833, as a young priest, he was traveling in Italy where he became ill and was detained for a number of weeks longer than anticipated. Eventually, he was able to leave and found passage on a small boat.
Not long after the ship set sail, the breezes dropped, and the ship became engulfed in fog. With no wind, the ship was stalled for a week in that damp gray darkness. In that bleak situation, he pled for help as he wrote these words: (Lead, Kindly Light, Wikipedia)
Lead, Kindly Light, amidst the encircling gloom
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
As we face the challenges and trials of life, or more specifically, ALS, we must place our trust in our Heavenly Father, believing that He will give us enough light to see the next step.
Having passed the sixth anniversary of our diagnosis, we were feeling confident all was well. A new set of trials resurfaced when a sepsis infection from a placed IV port lead to three months of IV infusions, several mini strokes, 11 weeks of hospitalization, and a second open-heart surgery in late June of this year. Though I have some debilitating issues with these latest challenges, the outpouring of love and support from countless friends and associates has lifted us up and on, believing that all really will be well.
From the words of other church leaders, To all who find themselves in the thick fog and darkness of depression, which can so easily come with the ALS battle, the words of the hymn, “Lead Kindly Light” remind us that when all is dark…when our own personal ship is stalled with no wind in our sails…there is an unfailing and kindly source of divine guidance, power, and light. It is the “light of the world” (John 8:12). It is our Savior, Jesus Christ. He came to dispel all darkness. He is, “a light that shineth in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19). The Lord said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life”.
Though the struggles we have faced this past 7 or 8 months are not yet fully resolved, I am confident I can find the courage and strength to face them. The beauty of hymns and other music, and the love and support of countless friends and family are crucial to moving forward when we cannot see the distant shore, knowing that one step is enough. It is our prayer that each and every PALS have the strength, the love and support, and the faith to do the same.
Kim Cherry
December 2018
Forgiveness, Gratitude and Service - 3 Key Principles in Healing ALS
When we get an ALS diagnosis (or any other diagnosis for that matter), our first inclination is that we have to fix the physical problems involved. That is what doctors are trained to do. However, they are mostly trained to dispense drugs to cover symptoms. Drug companies don't want a cure for anything as then they could not sell as many drugs.
So our advice to begin with when we started this journey was to change the foods you eat (getting rid of the thousands of poisons approved to be included in processed foods), clean up the toxins in your cleaning supplies and personal care products and being mindful of the air you breathe, being aware of the activities - especially stress (physical or mental) - that could have, in part, led to your diagnosis. These are all important factors, but there could be other factors that prevent you from healing that must be corrected.
The emotional and mental aspect of disease must be resolved. You must deal with your negative emotions if you want to heal . This may be the biggest component for healing. I repeat: You must resolve all negative emotions for healing to come.
Let's begin with stress. Stress includes both physical stress (being highly physically active) and mental stress. Stress of any kind creates massive amounts of free radicals that can damage cells. Stress suppresses the immune system and we become more likely to catch a bug or develop an illness. What can cause stress? Athletes quite frequently develop ALS. They are physically stressing their body and not getting adequate magnesium to handle the free radical creation. Physical illness to the body can come from living in a home with mold, a poison you breathe with every breath you take. Stress can come from your work load. Stress can come from disagreements with family, friends or work associates. Stress comes with raising children and trying so hard to guide them in a good direction in life. Stress can develop after a serious accident or injury. Stress can come from being raised in a negative environment or from circumstances of life - divorce, loss of loved ones, being bullied as a child or even as an adult. Stress can come from our own negative feelings we have about ourselves, that we are not good enough, that we are too heavy or too thin or too quiet or too bossy or not smart enough or not organized enough or not as good or as pretty as a neighbor or just about anything that brings our thoughts of ourselves into a negative zone. Probably one of the biggest stresses you have felt is getting the ALS diagnosis with the likely worsening of symptoms directly afterwards. Staying in a stress mode prevents healing and aggravates disease.
In no way are we indicating that we think you are a bad person for any reason that you may feel stress. We personally believe that we are all children of God and that he loves us and sent us here to learn how to overcome stress and become a better person worthy of returning to His presence.
Forgiveness - What does forgiveness have to do with healing stress? Being unwilling to forgive others or even yourself, creates negative emotions in your body. Those negative emotions whether from last week or from years and years ago affect your health. It is like feeding your body poisonous food. There is a quote in the scriptures that says: "As a man thinketh, so is he." The cells in your body listen to your thoughts and speech. Your thoughts affect your well- being. If you have negative thoughts toward anyone including yourself, you are feeding your body disease. Jesus taught his disciples that you must forgive not seven times but seventy times seven. On the cross, he asked His Father to forgive them (his crucifiers) for they know not what they do. The Lord has informed us that He will forgive whom He will forgive, but we are to forgive all men (and women). We just heard about one lady who was diagnosed with ALS early this year. She had to quit her job as an educator, but she had had a huge conflict with one of her work associates. When she was instructed about the importance of forgiveness, she made amends with her associate and also a brother she had a disagreement with. And guess what? She began walking again.
Gratitude - You may wonder how you can have gratitude when you are experiencing such terrible physical problems. But as you find gratitude in your life, you find joy in what you do have. Express deep gratitude to those who are helping you through this current struggle. Express wonder at the beauty you find around you, in the love of your family, the beauty of the earth, the amazing foods God put on the earth. Have you ever wondered how God made so many different fruits that all taste different? Not long after Kim's diagnosis seven years ago, a family came by our house to visit. The little girl handed Kim a little booklet and told him it was his gratitude book. He was to write in the book what he was grateful for. We don't recommend a little booklet for you. We recommend a big one and suggest you fill it with what you are grateful for. Here are some excellent thoughts on gratitude from Dr. Axe:
https://draxe.com/health/benefits-of-gratitude/
Service - Everything good that you put out comes back to you to bless your life. When Kim started finding ways to heal and get better from his ALS symptoms, he became passionate about helping others. So we started our website. We have learned much since then. In the beginning, we mostly focused on the physical aids to heal the body, but didn't realize that giving of ourselves to others was a powerful part of Kim's healing. We have also noticed that others who have healed are also those who are helping others find a way to heal. We have had a rather difficult time this year in giving service to others as Kim spent so much time healing from non ALS issues. He continues to heal as he is able to give you hope that healing can happen. We continue to have a desire to speak with you and let you know that we love you, even when we might not know you and that we pray for you every day. You are our PALS even if you have not contacted us.
In this season of celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we must remember that he died for us and paid a huge price to pay for our sins so we can return to live with God. He is there for us in this difficult journey through life and can guide you to better health and happiness, but we believe that he requires forgiveness, gratitude and service even if diagnosed with ALS. In our church, we are encouraged to "Light the World" or be a light to all around us. Can you put your "light" out there to bless others?
May this Christmas season be a special blessing in your life as you learn to forgive, have gratitude and give service to God's children.
Kim and Kay Cherry