Approaching This From a New Angle

A few years ago, Colleen got in touch with a person who marketed himself as someone who will (not may - WILL!) cure just about anyone of any stomach ailment known to mankind.   His approach was mostly military style - following his plan from beginning to end with no deviation was the only way his system would work - and, of course, if you didn't get better as the program went along, it must have been something you did, not something wrong with the system itself.  This is one of the oldest tricks in the book for a snake oil salesman - "It works 100% of the time!"  Of course it does - because the only results you publish are the success stories.  Everyone who wasn't a success story failed because they were too weak - or drank 9 ounces of a beverage when they should have only sipped 8.5.   That last example may be a bit dramatic - but it lets you know exactly how this individual operated.    Think about being someone who is sick - you reach out to someone who asks for a lot of money upfront (uh oh), and in return, you get a Gastrointestinal Bully - someone who refuses to accept the fact that perhaps his program isn't for everyone, and isn't willing to adjust things based on the "patient" he is attempting to treat.  

On top of that, Colleen reached out to this man a few months after she stopped the program because she was going through a rough time.    The answer she got from him was along the lines of "If you aren't feeling well, go to the ER".   That is when everything came together a bit - he has our money already, so he doesn't care if Colleen is feeling well (SUCCESS story!) or weak (Colleen's fault!).  All he cared about was the bottom line.

So, how does the above story relate to a new approach?   It doesn't directly - it is meant to show what types of people you are going to run into in your journey, and the types of people who will try to con you when you are at your most desperate point.  Do not feel bad if you have fallen for the various cons out there that are supposed to treat this disease - for one, you are not alone.  For another, having this disease is so horrible that it is a perfectly natural human reaction to try just about anything that is promoted as a "cure".   The bottom line when it comes to this disease is that there really is not a known cure - and no bottle of apple sauce with a "mystery ingredient!" will change that.

The new approach Colleen is taking, however, is a lot more promising than what is described above.   The reasoning is simple:  It makes a lot of sense.

Recently, Colleen found a Facebook site dedicated to "Healing Gastroparesis Naturally".   Let me start by looking at the title of the page itself:  Healing.   Healing is such a strong word in its own sense; it packs a different kind of punch than "Curing" does.    Healing is more of an approach to healing your body - healing the inflammation within your body - rather than try a drug with questionable side effects or go through a risky surgery that may or may not help you.  (Please do not take this as meaning "If you are feeling great taking Domperidone, STOP and try this other approach!"  Of course not - if anything you are doing is actually working, you shouldn't stop.  If you had a surgery and your life is back to normal, I am definitely not saying the surgery was a waste of time.   This is more geared towards those who have tried so many things with absolutely no relief).

So, what does this entail?  It entails a complete diet change - at least initially, though many of the ideas are the types of ideas you should probably follow for life.    Sure, even the healthiest person will occasionally buy a bag of cookies made with 150 ingredients.   But when you are in a situation like Colleen is in, you really cannot be even eating one crumb out of that bag.   Giving up processed foods is probably the #1 thing in her new diet, along with completely getting rid of dairy products, white flour, white rice, etc.    This won't be the easiest thing for Colleen to do; she is an ice cream nut, uses yogurt-based butter as a spread on things she eats, and has used white rice many times when all else has failed.     On top of that, as I am sure many other people with motility disorders have experienced in the past, you will sometimes have those good days where your first thought is: "Screw it - I feel good so I am going to eat half of that cherry pie!"   I think everyone knows that this probably is not the wisest idea; but, by the same token, it is an understandable position - you go months or years not being able to eat the things you want to eat - the moment you are able to, you probably aren't going to reach for the organic green beans in your refrigerator.  You want the sinful stuff!  I get it - Colleen can relate to that - and it will probably be one of her biggest challenges when she does have a good day.  But for now, the key for her is making those good days come more consistently  - until she gets to the point where there isn't anything but good days.

It also entails something called Essential Oils.    I have told myself many times in this blog to not even pretend to write about stuff you don't completely understand; it doesn't do the reader any good, and it takes away from my overall credibility.  So, given that, I am not going to try to pretend I understand everything that Essential Oils are supposed to do.   You can look them up online, or try the site that Colleen is using (http://www.essential7.com) to gain a better understanding of what they are designed to do.

There have already been success stories in using this approach to try to fight off Gastroparesis, or whatever the motility order may be.   However, the one thing you gather from this program is that the person running it isn't guaranteeing your health - or saying that if you follow her program, you are going to feel completely healthy within months.     She isn't being pushy, isn't sending e-mails asking us to buy this or buy that, isn't steering us towards high-cost stuff that isn't anything more than water with a few vitamins mixed in, etc.  Instead, she is letting her products do the talking, and letting her clientele pretty much do what they want to do with the information she provides (while also willingly answering questions from people on Facebook).  Also note that her life isn't dedicated to Gastroparesis, per se - her essential oils do cover a broad spectrum of problems.   But, for the purposes of this blog, the digestive system is the most important thing.

Obviously, I will report any findings we have from this approach - with the disclaimer that any findings we have with any approach are not "one size fits all".  If Colleen does this and starts feeling awesome, I am not going to guarantee that you will feel awesome as well.  If Colleen does this and has little or no change to her symptoms, I am not going to say the program doesn't work.  I would just say the program didn't work for COLLEEN.  That is as far as I can personally go with any of my reviews, which also includes the review I gave for the program in the beginning of this blog post.

As a loved one, you just have to continue to support the patient - anything they try to make themselves better are things you should not only support, but things you should get a better understanding of yourself.  I now understand what a snake oil salesman is like, and it isn't pretty.   Become your own expert on whatever is ailing your loved one - because it is the only way you will even begin to understand what they go through every day.