Diabetes Testimony

Written By Lindsay S. Nixon

Earlier today I posted my story about being a lawyer practicing medmal defense (medical malpractice defense). Below is my friend Natala's story, giving the "patients perspective."

I started having health problems around the age of 11 when I gained almost 100 pounds in one year. Every doctor told my parents that I needed to just eat less, move more, the same old story.

Fast forward, at 25 and over 300 pounds, I developed T2 diabetes. I found myself in an Emergency room with blood sugar over 1000 and my body shutting down. Things were serious. Thankfully, I survived the night (barely) and soon after, started my long quest of diabetes doctors, medications, nutritionists and trying everything possible to help with the diabetes.

I went five years with severe, out of control diabetes. I gained a lot of weight, which made my diabetes even worse. I went to doctor after doctor, who all told me the same thing "More animal protein, less carbs."



I then developed an infection on my leg and my doctors thought it could lead to a partial amputation. At the time, I was over 400 pounds, my sugar was in the 500's (that is really bad if you know anything about diabetes) and I was on 12-15 different medications. Some were temporary prescriptions for temporary problems, but most of my problems were caused from diabetes.

I was then put on more medication, to deaden the nerves and help with pain in my legs, but the medication caused severe depression as a side effect, so severe, that I wanted to end my life. Things were horrible.

In the meantime, my diabetes got worse. I stuck to the plan my doctors gave me: eggs for breakfast, low fat cheese and turkey for lunch, fish or lean meat for dinner, broccoli or spinach if I wanted it. More or less, if it was an animal protein, it was okay to eat. Olive oil was also encouraged. But my diabetes was (clearly) not getting better.

At my darkest moment, a friend suggested a plant-based diet. I thought she was insane, in fact I got pissed at her for suggesting it. After all, my Doctors had my best interest at heart, they wouldn't have have suggested a diet high in animal proteins and high in fat if it didn't work. Still, I was desperate, so I decided I had nothing to lose (except my leg!!) so why the hell not?

In just a few days on a plant-based diet, I had to drastically cut back my insulin. In a little more than a month, I was off insulin. In the meantime, the infection on my leg finally started to heal. A little while later, I had to go to my Endocrinologist for some blood work, and a follow up, and he was shocked when I handed him my new and improved blood sugar numbers. My doctor was very impressed with himself and was very happy that the higher insulin dose he prescripbed was helping me, except, I was no longer on insulin!

That's when I then dropped the bomb on him. I told him I was no longer taking insulin and his jaw dropped (seriously). When he asked, "What did you do?" I told him I switched to a plant-based diet, and that my numbers had greatly improved. He said "Well, that makes sense." I replied, "What do you mean 'that makes sense'?" He said, "We know that a plant-based diet will help reverse T2 diabetes, but it's not practical."

I was filled with rage (seriously, rage!) and asked him if losing my leg at 30 years old was 'practical'. What about going blind, or killing myself... were those things practical? I then told him I would not be needing his services anymore and walked out of his office.



In that moment I realized that he was doing his job. He was trying to save my life - like he would if I walked into an ER - when you walk into an ER you don't really expect to hear about proper nutrition, and I think that is how most doctors work, they do what is necessary to keep someone alive through medicine, but with no regard to changing lifestyle habits.

I am happy to say that my doctors since then have been very supportive for the most part, some even have given me high-fives! My husband and I travel full time so we end up at various doctors, and I'm glad to say that the message that type 2 diabetes can be reversed through plant-based nutrition is definitely getting out there.

But what about for the doctors it hasn't reached? And what about all of the people that have suffered because of bad nutrition advice from their doctors?

My Grandmother died when she was 57, because of complications from diabetes, she also got an infection in her leg that was going to lead to amputation. She decided to stop fighting, and stop all medications, and let herself die. I live with that thought every day, her laying in a hospital bed, in her last moments, suffering from a disease that I now know can be reversed. I think, what if just one doctor told her there was an alternative? She would have danced at my wedding, but instead, her life ended tragically, and it could have been different, like it was for me, if just one person had told her there was another answer.

Sweet Dulce

Taking Tennis Too Seriously

I'm Glad I'm Vegan

Everyday I'm more thankful I'm vegan. Scare tactics? You be the judge. This is not an over the top video about how animals are treated on our factory farms, but a process of rendering essentially dog food for human consumption.



Here's the article

ph balance in the human body

This is an excellent video about ph balance in the body.



Also, related to this video is a theme called Homeostasis. Developed by Walter Cannon of Harvard.

Awesome--Overused & Meaningless

I'm getting to the point where when I hear the word awesome, I want to kill myself. Stop it! Please. No more.

Gingrich--Opening Comment, Must See

Gingrich exposes Elite Media at beginning of debate. I don't watch the Main Stream Media, for I have nothing but deep contempt. I think they are for America's destruction. And even though I don't watch the MSM, I would bet this was never shown on the networks or any of the leftist news outlets:



It may be hard to believe my above comment, but take a look at this.

“We are done responding like Pavlovian dogs to your bells; we no longer trust you; we understand that you are no longer a press that is free, but one that is enthralled to its own ideologies and agendas. From this point on, a candidate is going to rise or fall on the substance of their ideas and abilities, not on your prosy gushes about his brilliance, or stern warnings about her stupidity. You savaged George W. Bush you savaged Sarah Palin and you got away with it. You carried your own preferred, utterly inexperienced, passionate ideologue into the White House with over-effusive rhetoric and you have buffeted him from inquiry (tax returns? Hell, we’d just like to see Obama’s college transcripts!), or what you perceive to be damaging stories, but you elevated your favorite at the cost of your own credibility, and now it comes back to bite you. Because a press with no credibility has nothing to offer us. It has nowhere to go, now, except into the arms of the political machine it has loved. Just like Pravda, actually.”

Riehl--Why I'm Backing Gingrich

For conservatives, I'm a might tired of the weenies who prance around on the Internet as if they're spoiling for a fight, then when someone with a little fight in them comes along, they start sounding like pussified Republicans. Oh, God, no, we can't have that go on!!

One of the Left's big advantages is, they aren't afraid of a little passion in their politics. They're also more willing to take risks. Well, there's a rule of thumb that applies, higher risk is required for higher reward. Look it up in your capitalist manifesto, when you climb down off your high horse and stop defending it, when it wasn't under attack in the first place.

I didn't start out backing Newt Gingrich. Perry was my guy. He's gone and you go to war with the army you've got, or you can sit in your tent and pick your ass, while government continues to grow and we continue the long, slow slide into statism that's been going on for almost a century, now.

It is inconceivable that we will see any serious Right-leaning reform from a guy like Mitt Romney. He may work hard at some things when it suits him, but he has no history of fighting for anything other than perhaps parochial interests when the current is seriously against him. And the current in Washington and the media is most definitely against conservatism.

Romney will make Bush's Compassionate Conservatism look like the real thing. At this point in our nation's history, what in the hell is there worth fighting for in that? We may as well turn out the government approved light bulbs and hand over the keys to an establishment GOP every bit as invested in big government, as are the Democrats. They just like to tinker around the ever expanding edges of it on their own behalf.

Well, I'm not down for that. And most certainly not now. We do not have four or eight years to fritter away on Obama-lite, which is precisely what Romney is. So much so, in fact, he may not be able to win the general as his record indicates there isn't really enough difference to warrant throwing Obama out in the eyes of many voters.

Say what you want about Gingrich, one can look at his record and see someone who actually was once involved in some serious reform of the right kind in Washington. I watched the debate last night and all the others, sorry, but Santorum does not impress in this regard. I'm sure he's a fine man and I have resisted criticizing him, but that dog won't hunt, most especially in any general election. So, get over it.

The Rest

Shooting Giraffes For Fun

Tourist trophy hunters are paying thousands of pounds to go and shoot giraffes with high-powered guns and bows.
The gentle giants are loved around the world for their comical appearance and gentle nature.
Just like character 'Melman' played by Friend's-star David Schwimmer in Disney's Madagascar, they are a hit with kids who love their long necks and eyelashes.
But shocking images show how scores of big-spending men and women - and even families - travel from across the globe, some even from Britain, to kill them for sport.

For the whole article:

Environmentalism--Keystone Pipeline

This week President Obama handed down what may prove to be one of the most fateful decisions of his entire administration when he rejected the plan to build the Keystone XL Pipeline carrying oil from the tar sands of Canada to the refineries of Houston. The decision did not win him one new vote but was crucial in protecting his environmental flank. The movie stars and Sierra Club contributors were getting restless and had drawn the line in the sand.
In turning down Keystone, however, the President has uncovered an ugly little secret that has always lurked beneath the surface of environmentalism. Its basic appeal is to the affluent. Despite all the professions of being "liberal" and "against big business," environmentalism's main appeal is that it promises to slow the progress of industrial progress. People who are already comfortable with the present state of affairs -- who are established in the environment, so to speak -- are happy to go along with this. It is not that they have any greater insight into the mysteries and workings of nature. They are happier with the way things are. In fact, environmentalism works to their advantage. The main danger to the affluent is not that they will be denied from improving their estate but that too many other people will achieve what they already have. As the Forest Service used to say, the person who built his mountain cabin last year is an environmentalist. The person who wants to build one this year is a developer.

Rest of Article

How Doctors Die

By Ken Murray

Years ago, Charlie, a highly respected orthopedist and a mentor of mine, found a lump in his stomach. He had a surgeon explore the area, and the diagnosis was pancreatic cancer. This surgeon was one of the best in the country. He had even invented a new procedure for this exact cancer that could triple a patient’s five-year-survival odds—from 5 percent to 15 percent—albeit with a poor quality of life. Charlie was uninterested. He went home the next day, closed his practice, and never set foot in a hospital again. He focused on spending time with family and feeling as good as possible. Several months later, he died at home. He got no chemotherapy, radiation, or surgical treatment. Medicare didn’t spend much on him.
It’s not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don’t die like the rest of us. What’s unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently.

For the rest:

Canada No, Venezuela Yes

Paula Deen Makes Cheesecake

VDH--So Why Read Anymore?

Boy, I read this article and I realize there is so much great literature to read. Here's an excellent article by Victor Davis Hanson on "So Why Read Anymore?".

Is Reading Good Books Over?

There is great “truth and beauty” in Homer’s Iliad, but I would not try to make his sale on such platitudes. Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire remains a classic. But I confess it can be hard to get through. Conrad’s Victory or Knut Hamsun’s Growth of the Soil, if authored by writer X this year, would be trashed on Amazon.

So what are the reasons, in this age of the iPhone, Xbox, and PlayStation — or Fox News blondes and HBO — to sit down and read old stuff for an hour or two each week?

For more:

Dr Caldwell Esselstyn TED

Dr Caldwell Esselstyn is my hero. He will win the Nobel Prize for medicine. My wish is that it happens while he's alive. Watch this mind blowing 14 minute video of Dr Esselstyn speaking about coronary heart disease being nothing but a toothless paper tiger. Imagine that!



Rated #3 Greatest Doctors Ever from the Cleveland Clinic.
Best doctors in America