Betty's House . . . Life After MS
From My House to
Yours
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have MS and are looking for inspiration,
then you have come to the
right place!
It is my
mission to help all people with Multiple Sclerosis believe that
they need
not be a victim of MS, but rather that they can be a victor;
that they can
be "enabled" by their MS rather than "disabled,"
and that the
choice is up to them.
My
name is Betty Iams, and 24 years ago I was diagnosed with Primary
Progressive MS. I welcome you to my house. I am delighted to share my
very positive experience. From multiple sclerosis and the fear and
hopelessness I felt at diagnosis, to developing a successful holistic
management program for myself, and a whole new life.
Today I have been symptom free for many years, and the "uninvited guest," which is what I chose to call my MS, is no longer a factor in my life. I have totally reversed all signs that I ever had MS, and I hope my story may be beneficial to all who visit Betty's House.
MY MESSAGE IS SIMPLE ̶ I DEFEATED MS AND YOU CAN TOO! And I have successfully helped many people duplicate what I have done. The lessons I learned and teach are simple and easy, if one is willing to do the work.
There is a lot of information at Betty's House. Please stay awhile and browse the information here, and check out the "What You'll Find at Betty's House" contents below for details of all the information here, including the books I have written about my experience.
JOURNEY
TO WELLNESS NEWSLETTER:
The most recent issue of my
web-based newsletter,
Journey to Wellness, may be accessed
HERE
You may also check out recent
archives
here
Here are my
three e-books which are available at Amazon's Kindle Store.
If you do not
have a tablet, you may download a free app from Amazon directly to
your
computer and read e-books anytime you like on your computer screen or notebook.
(These
e-books are also available directly from the author
HERE)
TO
PREVIEW AND ORDER FROM AMAZON
FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MS:
CLICK HERE
SELF HEALING MADE EASY:
CLICK HERE
MICHAEL AND ME:
CLICK HERE
FOUR STEPS TO OVERCOMING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS: Everything I have learned, believe and practice in my own journey to wellness that has enabled me to reverse Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis is included in this easy-to-understand e-book. It is easy to read and simple and easy to follow. Remember, if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
SELF-HEALING MADE EASY is the perfect description of what this e-book is all about. For years I have wanted to take what I had learned in my own healing journey and take it to a broader audience outside the MS community. It really doesn't matter what name we give our symptoms; self-healing is available to every one of us. The process is really very simple, AND YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
MICHAEL AND ME: CREATING A HEALTHY, ABUNDANT AND JOYFUL LIFE: I am so very proud of this book. Michael and Me introduces the reader to my special spirit guide whom I first met in meditation many years ago, and who "gave" me much of the text of this book, as well as the book's name. Michael has been my constant companion for about 20 years now. I promise you will not soon forget Michael. The sub-title, Creating a Healthy, Abundant and Joyful Life is exactly what the rest of the book is about, and it includes all the healing techniques I learned and used in my recovery from Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.
Remember, healing and change are synonymous, and whatever you may need to heal, be it your physical body, an unhealthy relationship, or perhaps an unhealthy career choice, healing/change is available to everyone and anyone. It is not some kind of mystical experience, but rather our body is designed to be self-healing. SELF-HEALING IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE.
Private Skype Video Consultations:
If you are newly diagnosed, when
it is so important to get started on a good program before you sustain
significant neurological damage, this is an option you should consider. Or
perhaps you feel "stuck," and have become discouraged. A private
consultation can really kick start your program. These consultations can
either be done by Skype video (if you have a web cam), or by telephone, up to
two hours in length. A coach or mentor can be invaluable in your healing
journey. If you are interested in knowing more about a personal
consultation, please let me know
HERE
and I'll send specific
information, as well as testimonials.
How it all began for me:
At 55 years of age, divorced and in a very successful sales and marketing career, I began to develop a weakness in my right leg. In retrospect it was really preceded by an increasing bladder control weakness, which I at the time attributed to aging and menopause, as well as other elusive neurological symptoms, some dating back as far as five or six years.
After being advised by several assorted health care practitioners that the leg weakness related to an old back injury, I continued my hectic life style. After a couple of years, however, during which I noticed some sense of loss of balance and hyper reflexes on my right side, as well as an increase in my right leg weakness, I began a serious search to discover the source of my problem. It became increasingly difficult to continue my state of "denial" when my friends and associates were asking me why I was limping! My excuse of "new shoes" was getting weak. And some days I was just too fatigued to make it through a full day.
It took several neurologists and other medical specialists, numerous MRIs and other neurological tests to finally make a diagnosis of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. That was just two months after my 58th birthday. I was told I had almost made the record books. It certainly was a distinction I could have done without! MS usually strikes young adults between 20 and 45 years of age.
I was devastated and terrified. My mother had experienced her first MS symptoms when I was in my late teens, and she had been confined to a wheelchair at the time of my diagnosis for over 25 years. My mother's MS was the relapsing remitting kind (quite different from mine), so her symptoms were not at all similar. I have since learned that no two people experience MS exactly the same way. MS is a degenerative process wherein the myelin sheath surrounding the spinal chord and brain develops lesions or hardened areas called a sclerosis (scar), hence the name multiple sclerosis, or many scars. The individual symptoms vary widely depending on severity and location of the lesions.
Today I am 82 years old and have no MS symptoms whatsoever.
I often
write about what I know for sure, and I promise you that
I absolutely
know for sure that
YOU
CAN DO IT TOO!
My Search for Meaning and Answers:
I believe the human body is designed to heal itself. Science calls this the Spontaneous Healing Response. When you cut your finger you can easily see this automatic healing taking place. And your body doesn't know the difference in healing a cut finger and something you or I would consider far more difficult to heal. It is only our perception that makes one hard and the other easy. I believe the body has its own innate intelligence, separate from our conscious mind, and it knows what is wrong and how to correct (heal) itself. The person who has relapsing remitting MS experiences this healing response during a period of remission.
I believe we all possess a Spirit which is connected inexorably to the one Universal Divine Presence. I believe that at some level we all create our reality. Because of that deeply embedded belief, and after being told by my neurologist that there was/is absolutely nothing allopathic medicine can do for primary progressive MS, I began to search for alternative possibilities.
I tried just about everything, and the first year and a half spent over $20,000 - all to finally reach the all-important conclusion that the answers I needed were all inside of me! I researched medical literature. I surfed the Internet for weeks and months on end. I downloaded reams of scientific data. I read every research paper I learned about. In a few months I came to know more about the MS degenerative process than any neurologist I have yet talked to.
The important things I learned were:
First: Voila! There were things I could do to stave off advancement of this degenerative disorder. Well, needless to say, I was sure glad to learn that! I share them with you through the pages of this website, and more importantly each month through my Journey to Wellness newsletter and the books I have written.
Second: The most important thing I learned early on to do for myself was to meditate each day, and thereby "tune in" to the infinite part of my nature. I call it the God within, but whatever one calls it does not matter. I just know that the process changed my life in a very positive way. I recommend it for everyone. Meditation is also widely accepted by the medical community as a very effective way to reduce stress. If you would like some help with meditation, be sure to read this meditation report.
"Awaken the medicine within, and restore the natural
self-healing capacity of
body, mind, and spirit."
Dr. Jahnke suggests the most effective way to activate this formula is the regular practice of four essential self-care strategies:
These techniques are easy to learn, easy to apply, require no special knowledge or training, and can be practiced daily by everyone.
My copy of The Healer Within is highlighted and marked up throughout. I am very grateful for what I learned from Dr. Jahnke early on in my own journey to wellness. Still today I frequently refer to this incredible book. Follow the Amazon link above for more information on The Healer Within.
What I believe today about MS:
Just beneath the surface of our being each one of us has a unique self-healing ability. It is somewhat like a built-in self-repair system that never sleeps. That ability is always knocking on the door of our consciousness, attempting to communicate with us. The secret to our ability to decipher this communication is in developing the ability to interpret that unique language. I call this communication ability our Internal Guidance System (IGS).
I suppose everyone who lives with MS develops their own theory or theories about the cause or causes of MS. If dealing with MS, first with my mother for over 40 years, and then myself, plus many, many hundreds of hours studying everything I can get my hands on about not only MS but so-called autoimmune problems in general, classifies me as an expert, then I believe I am entitled to an opinion on what it is not, as well as what it is.
First of all, I do not believe MS is either an illness or a disease, as we generally define those words. I believe it is rather a degenerative process, and a syndrome of otherwise unexplained neurological symptoms, most usually sharing the characterization of lesions (hardened areas) in the myelin which insulates the spinal cord and brain. I also believe that what we call MS today is probably a group of different but closely related neurological problems. I believe the cause/causes are multifaceted. I think that given an underlying genetic predisposition or factor which is not yet understood, there are a number of triggers which can precipitate the presentation of from one to several neurological symptoms which ultimately are called Multiple Sclerosis. I believe some of these triggers are societal, while others are personal.
Some of those common triggers are stressors of various kinds - psychological, environmental toxins, food allergies, physical traumas, etc. Sometimes it seems that several of these stressors being present at a given time, when an underlying predisposition exists, pushes the body "over the edge" and we end up with a diagnosis of MS. In other words, it is simply lifestyle related. As with many other physical disorders, MS is a demonstration of a body out of bio-chemical balance. The challenge, of course, is how to return our body to a state of perfect balance, or homeostasis.
Because there is no single cause of MS, there will, in my opinion, never be a real cure, until the genetic predisposition is unraveled. Most scientific and allopathic medical research into MS has been directed toward a "magic bullet," which after hundreds of millions of research dollars has failed miserably to help the vast majority of people with MS. Given the unfortunate status of MS research today, those who live with it as part of their daily lives are on their own. Fortunately genetic research is today beginning to open the door to understanding a whole host of physical challenges which have a genetic origin (predisposition) of some kind.
But for now, in order to manage MS where we can live relatively normal, healthy lives — and I truly believe that we can do that — we need a multi-faceted approach. In the "Suggestions for the Newly Diagnosed" section of this website, you will find an extensive guide for starting on a holistic program to manage what we call MS. Actually, this information applies equally to both the newly diagnosed and the person who has dealt with MS for a longer period of time. However, the earlier one begins this program after the onset of MS symptoms, the better the chances of preventing major neurological damage.
I also strongly recommend this program for anyone with any degenerative or so-called autoimmune physical challenge. I believe all will respond positively. With each passing year I become more and more convinced that Qi Gong, the healing form of Tai Chi, which involves gentle movements together with breath work, and meditation are the most important aspects of my personal wellness program. A non-inflammatory diet also played a crucial role in my program. Please be sure to read the Qi Gong Report and this Meditation Report.
PLEASE NOTE:
Archives of recent issues of Journey to Wellness are always available here. If you are newly diagnosed or not familiar with my work, I suggest you take one archived issue each week and really study the material covered. Over a period of a year Journey to Wellness covers just about every aspect of the healthy natural lifestyle that I recommend for MS.
I welcome
any e-mails you may
wish to send to me; please be sure to use one of the following as the
subject:
"Order"
if you are writing concerning an order
"From
a Newsletter Subscriber"
for all other correspondence
Remember to do that and your e-mail won't be
lost in the never-never land of hundreds of pieces of spam!
~~~~~~~
I continue to work at my own progress, and more and more I am convinced of the powerful healing benefits of meditation and Qi Gong/Tai Chi, as well as gentle yoga postures. (See Exercise Videos). I also include ExerStrider exercise poles in my personal exercise program. They are much like ski poles, but are designed to give a full body workout from walking. These poles also greatly assist with balance. You may check them out at the www.ExerStrider.com website.LAST UPDATE
May 19, 2019
Contact Information:
Betty Iams ● Davis, California ● USA
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