Day 4 - Cooler Weather

As Canadians, and perhaps even more as Northern Ontarians, we're often consumed by what's going on with the weather [we hear it's rained a lot back home since we left... one email we received recently made allusion to Noah's ark : )]  It seems that this part of Australia would be less preoccupied by the weather because by and large, it sounds like it's a lot more predictable.  Most of our time here has been warm & sunny and somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees with two or three days much warmer and one or two days, noticeably cooler.

The view up the hill to our room from the main centre

Today was one of the cooler days - topped out at maybe 23 or 24 degrees with a cool breeze most of the day - and it made it much easier for Tammy to get around.  The higher temperatures tend to reduce her ability to function for very long; though she's done well overall here given the generally warm weather, the cooler days have certainly been that much better!  This morning, she walked all the way up the hill to our room from the main centre on her own!  She also made it back down the hill later, also without any assistance, which she hasn't been able to do in the warmer weather.  Never thought I'd say this, but it will be good to get back into the cooler weather : )

A view along the path heading back down from our room
The surrounding hills in the distance are just visible
above the tops of the mango trees!

Today's schedule included the 7:15am stretch class, breakfast at 8:00am and then a colonic for Tammy at 9:00am, which I sat in on and asked a bunch of questions.  After my 'experience' yesterday, I was curious to find out more of the technical details.


We had our mid-program consultation with Toby for just over half an hour at 12:00pm and then after lunch, Samira, one of our fellow guests who is currently on her third consecutive program, took us in her vehicle to the nearby town of Gympie so we could check out the mall.  Samira was so thoughtful in affording us this opportunity to 'get out' for an afternoon and we enjoyed the drive and conversation there and back.


We managed to snap this picture of one of the beautiful purple-flowering trees that are quite stunning.  The evening's lighting and camera work by yours truly doesn't really do these trees justice, but you'll get the idea - they really stand out!

Best we can tell from the internet, these trees are called "Jacaranda" trees.  Sadly, they can't be grown in Goulais River : (

Moving Two Dimes (a.k.a. "Paradigm Shift")

After stretch class and breakfast Tammy and I attended a treatment with Rodney ('Rod') who's office and treatment room are in the same building as our room.  Rod is known by all staff as a man with very unique knowledge and skills when it comes to the muscles of the body.  Folks have told us that he "turns muscles on and off".  What's that supposed to mean?!

Today, I found out.  

It's a bit much to explain in a 'short' blog post, and after a single session, I'm not sure I'd do that great a job in passing along the details here.  In short, Rodney manipulates the muscles of the body using only his fingertips and what I'd describe as 'medium' pressure.  He first observes the body and it's mechanics and given his experience, he can almost immediately tell where any muscles may not be functioning.  These muscles may have been 'turned off' by the brain as self-protection against an injury and then simply never turned back on, or because we undertake repetitive activity where we don't use a particular muscle properly.   The body then compensates for the 'turned off' muscle by over-using other muscles.  

Rod doesn't try to reactivate such turned off muscles directly because the brain will usually not allow the muscle to start functioning again because of the 'known' history that caused it to turn off in the first place.  Instead, he works to stimulate such muscles by applying pressure to complementary muscles, usually in apparently unrelated and remote parts of the body.  This approach is more subtle in that it allows the turned off muscle to be stimulated without the brain overriding the request for its use.  After the muscle is 'turned on', Rod has the patient use it at least 3 times, which apparently then informs the brain to accept its use once again.  

Knowing that I'm a scientist, Rod decided to demonstrate the 'turning on and off' to me in a tangible way - perhaps to pre-empt any skepticism!  He had me lie down on his massage table on my back with my arms at my side.  He then had me bicep curl upwards against his grip using my right arm.  I could lift against the pressure he applied without a problem.

Right bicep before muscle turned off...

 Rod then 'turned off' my right bicep in about 15 or 20 seconds and then had me try to lift him again.  Though I had the full sensation of flexing the muscle and I 'felt' as strong as before, I couldn't even budge him a bit!!!  That was a strange experience!  He left my bicep like that for 10 or 15 minutes while he 'turned on' one of the muscles in my quads that he noticed I was compensating for!  He then had me try again to lift him up with the right bicep and - nothing.  Same as before.  Mercifully, he reactivated me in just a few seconds and I was again able to lift him off the ground!  

Right bicep after muscle turned off!  [didn't say whose bicep : )]

With Tammy, he was working to restore some range of muscle functioning to her legs and hips, in large part by stimulating muscles in her neck!  There was some improvement, though nothing overly dramatic.  He also spent some time trying to treat the muscles that control her jaw as her jaw does kind of veer off to her right as it's closing.  He showed me the points to apply pressure on Tammy's jaw and we're supposed to do this 3 times a day until we see him again on Friday.  Rod also pressed on those areas on my jaw (I have a bit of the same veer to the right) and does it ever hurt!  Not a lot of pressure, but loads of pain!

After lunch, I had my first experience with a colonic - a treatment we decided to add for the benefit of my health, and so Tammy could make fun of me!  Seems to have gone well and been quite 'productive'!  I have another one on Friday.  Oh, goody (not sure what emoticon to use to convey sarcasm...)

After supper, we stayed for Gary's lecture on foods and menu planning.  Once again, very interesting information!  LVS promotes a high fat, high protein, low carb diet.  While this is exactly the opposite of the diet we've followed and promoted for years, the science and experience behind the high fat/protein, low carb diet is surprisingly (for our long-time vegetarian minds) quite compelling!  It would take too long to outline all of the points in a blog post like this, but suffice it to say, we will be testing this dietary approach over the next several months to see for ourselves how it works!

R2D2 : )

No, not the robot, but 'Round 2, Day 2' for us at Living Valley Springs!

With the arrival of the new group and the start of a new week, Mark is once again holding daily stretch classes in the chapel at 7:15 each morning.  We started our day with his class, had breakfast at 8:00am, then lounged in our room until 10:30, when Tammy had her first treatment of this second program: a colonic!  She is scheduled to have 4 colonics and 2 clay wraps this time around.  She's also going to have 2 treatments with Rodney this week, looking at any structural or muscle problems he may be able to correct.

[In a disturbing development, I'll also be receiving 2 colonic treatments this week... definitely mixed feelings about these!]

In the afternoon, Gary had the HR Manager here, April, drive us the 1/2 hour into Noosa so Tammy could have a jaw x-ray taken at the hospital there.  This is in preparation for our consult with Dr. Eric Davis, the renowned biological dentist in Brisbane whose work has been key to the recovery of several MS patients who've attended LVS in the past.

Here's what Dr. Davis will look at for our consult.  Anyone willing to offer an amateur opinion? : )

Round 2 - Day 1

The new group of guests began arriving this morning : )  Those of us who were here over the last break had our naturopath consults earlier in the day, freeing up the afternoon consult times for those arriving later.  Tammy and I met with Toby at 9:30am and spent about a half hour catching up on how things went over the break (e.g. steams and vitamin C flush) and confirming the plan for the week ahead.

We then met with Jess again, another one of the naturopaths at LVS and she reviewed Tammy's live blood analysis and re-measured her body composition.  Neither of these techniques is used in mainstream medicine, however, they are not uncommon in alternative medicine practices.

Jess pricking Tammy's finger to draw out a wee drop o' blood

The darkfield microscope, camera and screen used for the analysis

Live blood analysis involves pricking the patient's finger, transferring a drop of blood to a glass slide and then viewing the blood using a darkfield or phase contrast microscope.  The theory behind this test is that there are a number of characteristics to be observed that are considered indicators of certain conditions (not specific diseases) in the body.

This is definitely a controversial analysis and is not accepted as legitimate by 'traditional' medicine.  Simply using the old noggin', it does make sense that diseases could/would manifest in some cases in the condition of the blood; the question then becomes, to what extent can you reliably interpret what is observed?  There is enough info on the internet, both for and against, that anyone interested can look up and make their own decision.

For our part, we've been comfortable that LVS' use of this test has been objective and balanced and isn't being used to 'jump to conclusions'.  It's simply seen as one of many indirect indicators of what's going on inside!

A low mag view of the blood sample taken Oct 21st

For Tammy, Jess did note a larger-than-usual number of white blood cells called eosinophils, which indicate a greater-than-usual immune response in the body.  These are the larger, bright white cells present in the field of view.  

Jess also noted a fair amount of variability in the sizes and shapes of Tammy's red blood cells (the majority of the cells visible - the simple, round circles).  It's hoped that dietary changes we're making here, perhaps along with some of the supplementation, will help Tammy's body build cells such that there are fewer variants - and therefore, the blood 'works' better.

Tammy's blood on October 7th - 1st day of the 1st program...

Tammy's blood on Oct 21st, viewed at the same mag as the Oct 7th pic.

Can you see any difference between October 7th and 21st?  There wasn't much to differentiate between the quality and condition of the eosinophils (white blood cells) and the red blood cells.  However, the red blood cells have a life span of 3 to 4 months, so any improvements in cell formation would only be expected to show up after a few months time.

What was different on today's analysis was the amount of smaller white particles present in the field of view.  On the live view these were moving around quite a bit.  Apparently these smaller bits are nutrients (fat?) being carried about in the blood - products of digestion from a recent meal.  The October 7th pic was taken several hours after breakfast but before lunch whereas today's analysis was just over an hour after breakfast...

Tammy didn't have any other appointments today (Sunday).  Given that it was a really hot day again, which limits Tammy's ability to get around, we spent most of the time between meals in our room with the AC turned up!

The Rest of the Rest

We're into the 2nd 10-day program now after enjoying what was a quiet break.  As mentioned in earlier posts, we used the steams a couple of times and did a vitamin C flush, each of which took some energy out of Tammy.  On Friday, we had a ride arranged by Living Valley to go to the Australia Zoo.  Tammy and i and one other guest - Rosalyn, went together and... we finally saw kangaroos!  We also saw lots of koalas and plenty of other cool animals.  Australia Zoo has done a great job of having spacious, natural areas for all of their animals - very impressive.

Because it was stinkin' hot and we knew we'd be moving around for a few hours, we brought along LVS' wheel chair so that Tammy could take it easy and still see the entire zoo - worked out beautifully.  That, and I'm managing to perfect my work mule sounds : )

A 'red' kangaroo gives me 'the stare'.  The grey kangaroos are smaller, cuter and apparently more common.

Mmmm, corn & pellets!  

A happy customer!  After the 'roos ate the pellets & corn, they immediately turned to their native diet - grazing!!

These guys sleep 20 to 22 hours each day!  Why?  Apparently because of all the energy
that it takes their bodies to digest eucalyptus!  From where we were looking,
this little guy looked like he might've been expired!

On Saturday, we spent a quiet day on the grounds, taking a few naps, sitting out on the deck, reading various books and enjoying the company of the other guests at mealtimes.

And then Sunday, back to the grind!

How Many Different Ways Can You Flush Bowels?

Because cleaning out the bowel is so important when detoxifying, there are several different approaches to getting this done: isotonic water flush, laxative tea, natural laxative capsules, enema, colonic irrigation, to name a few.  Tammy has done these many times over now and today's approach was a first-time experience for her:  The Vitamin C Flush!

There are a few slight variations on the process depending on where you look it up, but for the most part, this flush involves taking a teaspoon of vitamin C powder (sodium ascorbate) in 250mL of water, on rising.  You repeat this every 20 minutes until you get diarrhea!  Once you get to this point, you take 1tsp of charcoal in 250mL of water and the whole show stops pretty much right away.  Simple, eh?

It typically takes a person 4 to 7 servings of vitamin C before 'liquidation' occurs, but per Tammy's usual practice with bowel flushing (i.e. sluggish), she got all the way up to drink #10 and still no action!  This is a challenge because, like an isotonic flush solution, the concentration of vitamin C 'salt' in the water is similar to the concentration of 'stuff' in the blood, so the liquid doesn't absorb through your intestinal wall.  You can imagine the bloating that occurs after drinking 2.5L of water; this is 1/2 litre more than the isotonic flush! 

Gary suggested we stop for an hour after 10 servings and see where things went.  After about 45 minutes, it seemed like things were starting to 'gurgle' and we did one more serving of the vitamin C.  Maybe another 1/2 hour afterwards, we had a 'breakthrough'!  And then about an hour later, the rest of the flush came out and we used the charcoal to stop the treatment.  

From the time we started until we used the charcoal was about 6 hours.  While Tammy just rested during the entire treatment, it still took the mickey out of her and she was a little weak and tired the rest of the day.  We of course took it easy; I wheeled Tammy down to the main centre and back for lunch and dinner.  

Now, she can add another bowel cleansing technique to her resume!  Of course, there are more left to try: next program, Gary suggested we may do the Ghee flush...

Interlude...

Today was our first full day off following the first 10-day program.  It's very quiet around here with only 6 of us guests staying over to the next program (that's more than usual, though) and only one staff member assigned to look after us from morning till night.  After Gavin's heroics with the pumpkin soup last night, June was on the grounds at 5:30am to turn on the steam baths and to start working on everyone's breakfast!  All day long she's plugged away in the kitchen on her own and she's done a great job!

June prepared breakfast, then a mid-morning whey & water drink for four of us, then lunch at 2pm, then a mid-afternoon whey drink, then a supper soup for some, protein shake for Tammy and fruit & yogurt for me : )  The quantity of food that Tammy's expected to eat is certainly more than she's used to; so much so that she asked if she could have the protein drink for supper instead of food!

Tammy and I tried the steam bath again around 11am and she was once again able to do a 10 minute session, this time followed by a cold shower rinse and 10 minutes of rest lying down.  Our second go 'round was only for 5 minutes then a rinse and a rest.  Today, as opposed to yesterday's experience, Tammy lost a fair bit of motor control because of the heat.  She regained a good amount by the time we finished everything, but even by bed-time, she wasn't fully recovered.  In part, we think her recovery was poorer because we used the steam during the heat of the day (30C today, or thereabouts).

That being the case, I brought Tammy up to our room and then carted meals and protein shakes up here from the kitchen and we just relaxed in the shade, on the deck next to our room!  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Besides June, there are a few cleaning and maintenance staff here and there getting things cleaned up and ready for the next program beginning this Sunday.  Gary and Toby were also intermittently in their offices today, catching up on a few things they haven't had time to complete this past week.

Gary was also finalizing a revised nutrition plan for Tammy based on the consult we had with he and Toby on Monday.  We're planning to do a Vitamin C flush tomorrow morning... stay tuned!!  [insert dramatic music here...]