There was recently a major twist in Heather's journey. We successfully treated the mold issue and Heather feels great! However the bulging disc issue never went away, even with chiropractic. During the last 3 months, Heather twice attempted to resume her swim training. She could only get up to a certain level and then the terrible pain started again in her neck. She had to completely stop all training for several weeks both times.
It was very frustrating for her. The conventional docs were worse than worthless. Remember- one even gave her a cosrtisol shot! The chiropractors were only partially effective. What to do?
Somebody mentioned to me that Atlas Orthogonal treatment solved his longstanding cervical and shoulder issues. I investigated online and decided to give it a try. It seems to have been a foundational issue that was never addressed.
The Atlas is the C-1 vertebrae that joins the first cervical vertebrae to the cranium. It carries the weight (avg. 19 lbs) of the head. Many things can cause it to assume an unnatural and unhealthy position, such as whiplash, blunt trauma, bad posture, emotional stress, etc. If the Atlas is out of position, then the body must try to compensate in some way.
In Heather's case, her Atlas was impacted upward into her cranium by 8 mm. This is over one quarter of an inch! it was also torqued and tilted severely. This in turn caused the bulge in the disc between C-3 and C-4. It also caused her hips to be tilted, which in turn caused one leg to be .75 inch longer than the other leg.
There were x-rays taken and precise measurements taken of her head and spinal structure. A gently non-invasive procedure was performed to normalize the Atlas position. Then she returned for 3 consequetive days to check to see that the procedure "held". She also received normal chiropractic adjustment on those 3 days.
On the first day when the Atlas Orthogonal treatment was performed, Heather's head felt warm and an increased blood flow to her head. She also felt a bit nauseous and sleeped almost all day. Since that time she has reported definite changes in her physical structure, and the way that her body rests in the water when she is swimming. We feel that the potential is there for her to achieve unprecendented progress in her swimming.
We took Heather back for another treatment yesterday which is almost 3 weeks since the initial exam and treatment. The doc reports that heather's left ribcage is "
opening up". which Heather has confirmed. The doc also said that healing will continue for 90 days. Even damaged nerves can heal.
I did some internet research and discovered what may be a relevant fact. One of the nerves that pass between the Atlas and the cranium actually services the Pituitary Gland. Heather had been officially diagnosed with "Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency" 2.5 years ago after she had already been suffering from low energy for over 5 years. Her Pituitary Gland was not sending adequate amount of ACTH hormone to her Adrenals for energy production. We tried every natural remedy, but nothing was effective. We finally agreed to low-dose hormone replacement therapy, which has been revolutionary for her. Is it possible that the longstanding Atlas problem is responsible for causing the Pituitary Gland to malfunction, thus adversely impacting the Adrenals? if so, does her Pituitary Gland have the capacity to reacquire the ability to correctly signal the Adrenal Glands in a normative fashion? We shall see.
I will soon start a separate thread about
the Atlas, as it is almost certainly involved in many of your illnesses here on the forum. My point in constantly bringing new ideas up is to raise awareness of the many issues that may be pertinent to becoming well again. This also raises another question in Heather's situation. What was the relationship of the mold to the Atlas problem? I think that it would be overly simplistic to choose one or the other. I think that the mold took occasion by the Atlas problem. I have been adamant all along that Heather has been overtraining for many years, and that these illness take occasion by exploiting vulnerabilities in the body. The mere fact that she had an out-of-place Atlas, bulging disc, and runaway mold in her body suggests that there is a cause and effect relationship, not merely that they are mutually coincidental issues.
If Heather's Pituitary is able to resume normal function, thus perhaps facillitating normal Adrenal function, then I would consider Heather to be completely healed, with no known permanent physical issues. My reporting is not quite over until I gain a perspective from which to report perhaps 6-12 months from now on her Adrenal progress-if any.
Don
Post Edited (Heathersdad) : 6/5/2015 11:30:31 AM (GMT-6)