My Freshman year of college, my arms and legs began tingling and falling asleep. I would wake up in the middle of the night panicked because I couldn't move an arm or a leg; I couldn't feel it either! I could see it, but it didn't even feel like it was there. When eating at the cafeteria one day I went to stand up and couldn't because my leg was completely asleep. I began to have constant headaches, and I had gained about 30 pounds. I went in to see doctors and specialists who couldn't explain the symptoms. We checked for tumors and to see if there was nerve damage, but there were no more answers. We knew my liver was functioning very poorly but didn't see many other obvious issues.

   These symptoms were all completely foreign to me, as I had been very healthy all my life. At age 5, I resolutely declared myself a vegetarian and stuck to that pretty strictly. When I was young, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis; she wasn't able to brush her daughters' hair or even to vacuum. Her thinking was cloudy and she couldn't remember her thoughts. She had 5 young children who were homeschooled; she needed a solution. She began an intense study of health, and found Dr. Swank's diet, which explained that with multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath in the brain is damaged and the transmission of nerve impulses are slowed even to the point of stopping or jumping across into other demyelinated axons. He had great success when patients cut out all saturated fat, eating a whole foods plant based diet, and supplementing with superfoods such as flax (high in good fats) and blueberries, which had been shown to specifically help they myelin sheath repair itself. No saturated fat meant to meat and no dairy; but this sacrifice was completely worth it, as my mom's health returned. She is still vibrant and healthy today! 

   Back to my college health crisis. When my husband and I went to Russia, we both I developed apthis ulcers in our throats and began to sleep incredible amounts and still feel horrible all day though we were only 20 and 22! My stomach felt horrible for a year, worse than first trimester pregnancy. 

   Thanks to natural doctors, we found out that I had developed a lot of allergies in Russia when we were immersed in horrible air from rampant wildfires. My body overreacted and was overloaded, so I developed the allergies and stomach problems. We also found out our apartment had radon and black mold. With these major health crises averted, I decided to get pregnant. 

I had seemingly never-ending yeast infections and urinary tract Infections that I couldn't cure that entire pregnancy. It wasn't until my that summer that mom gave me a book that she thought might help. That book was Dr. Fuhrman's "Eat To Live." It introduced me to a whole new way of thinking, seeing the science behind a whole-foods plant based diet. I began juicing every morning for breakfast and my husband and I went completely plant based (vegan) for 3 months. Our health improved dramatically and my yeast infections finally vanished. 

We have continued this whole food plant based diet for the most part of the last 4 years and my health had been much better. 

I still had some problems with my back and neck -- I was in agony at night and couldn't fall asleep for hours. I would try sleeping without a pillow, going to our chiropractor, and just simply complaining a lot to Dan.