Michelle Regained Her Health and is Living Life Again!

In March 2009, Michelle experienced an alarming incident that helped her decide to take control of her health – a heart attack. Michelle’s health had steadily deteriorated since 2005. At the age of 50, she was unable to work or go and do things on her own. Michelle relied heavily on the care of family members to help her. According to Michelle, “I became a true invalid locked in my own home. Many days I was barely able to get out of my bed.” After living with illness, pain and severe chronic fatigue for many years, Michelle decided it was time to change her situation. Within 6 months of implementing food and healing methods, Michelle regained her health, became able to do what she wants on her own and is now living life again!

In June 2009, at the recommendation of a friend, Michelle sought the help of Danielle Heard of Artemis in the City. At the time Michelle was just recovering from a heart attack, had many other health issues which included Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia as well as Low Thyroid, Sleep Apnea and High Blood Pressure. Michelle was also taking 14 medications at the same time to treat her various symptoms. Because Michelle was too weak to attend appointments on her own, her husband attended sessions with her so that he could learn to provide her with the care that she would need in order to get well.

Michelle’s primary health goal that she wanted to achieve from the 6 month wellness program was to just be able to have enough energy and strength to go to the store on her own to buy her grandson toys. “I want to enjoy it and be able to take my time,” said Michelle. “I have not had the energy to do this since 2005.” Michelle also wanted to be able to go and visit friends, go to her shop that she owns, have enough energy to wake up before 10:00 AM without an alarm clock and to still have enough energy to go out in the evening and look good doing it.

Beginning with her first health counseling session in June, Michelle embraced everything that she was being taught and began to make significant nutrition and lifestyle changes. Within a very short amount of time, her body began to respond to the love, care and nutrition that it was receiving and Michelle started to feel better.

Just one month after starting her wellness program, Michelle was able to cut her blood pressure medication in half. She was also sleeping better and without her CPAP machine for sleep apnea. She had more energy and was physically able to walk with her husband and dog around the block. And most remarkably, Michelle went from having EBV symptoms every day which involved running fever, breaking out into a sweat and then becoming so fatigued that she would need to sleep, to just having EBV symptoms one day a week!

By August 2009, Michelle had really turned a corner and had become very conscious of her own body and how food was directly affecting it. She was also very excited because a large dark scar that she had since 2002 was noticeably smaller and less puckered.

Then in November 2009, less than 5 months into her wellness program, Michelle was able to enjoy a vacation in Sedona, AZ. Upon her arrival, she felt energized and was able to go site seeing, shopping and on 2 ½ mile nature hikes with her husband.

Today Michelle’s health and quality of life have significantly improved. She no longer has migraines, brain fog, chest pain, constipation, sleep apnea, severe body pain or insomnia. She rarely experiences EBV symptoms anymore and if she does, her symptoms are significantly reduced and they do not last as long. She has significantly more energy and is still productive past 10:00 PM. She no longer needs naps in the afternoon and has a choice if she wants to go out in the evening. Michelle is now able to go on walks with her husband and dog. She is able to go shopping for toys for her grandson, antiquing, to her shop and to visit friends in surrounding towns - all on her own! She has clearer, brighter and prettier skin. Her old scar is healing and is almost completely gone. Michelle is more comfortable in the kitchen preparing food. Her depression is much better and is more situational now. Michelle has also been able to cut the number of medications she takes in half, and she has lost 10 pounds!

Michelle achieved far more health improvements and goals than what she expected within 6 months. By continuing to implement what she has learned, over time her body will continue to heal. One thing is for sure, there is no going back to the old way of life for Michelle. She now has the power to help herself live a healthy life.

“I want you to know that I am getting more help with my body than I have ever had in my life,” said Michelle. “No one has ever helped me before and actually meant it. My health and well being has been an afterthought for anyone I have ever asked for help. So much so, that I no longer believed I deserved help. My life has completely changed in the last 6 months. I now have the energy to go and do things on my own. I am also more comfortable with things as the frustration level is not there anymore. Danielle has helped me so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

(Update: Michelle has been able to run her business and work again, she is able to enjoy a social life which includes lots of traveling. During the 11 months since she completed her 6 month program, she has only had one episode of EBV which was triggered by food that she ate while on a cruise. She is doing great!)

Michelle's before and after photos:

Michelle's Testimonial:

"Hello. My name is Michelle Cook. I am a type A overachiever. I have always worked, even when I am not in an office setting. If I am not working, I am going to school or teaching. I have been hard on myself, guilt ridden in fact, and when I am unable to live up to the goals in my head, I emotionally destroy myself with the physical side effects soon to follow.

In 2005, I contracted the Epstein Barr Virus. Six months and four doctors later when I finally got a doctor to listen to me, without his eyes glossing over, I got the full diagnosis: EBV, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Thyroid Disease. Throw in a little high blood pressure, a pinch of depression, and a dash of hormonal imbalance, and you have a recipe for disaster. For years I barely lived. I became a true invalid locked in my own home. Many days I was barely able to get out of my bed. Walking from one end of the house to the other exhausted me and going up or down the stairs was impossible. Often I couldn’t stand up, because I would fall down.

Except for my husband, who saw the real struggle, my family wrote me off to being lazy. Then in 2008, I had a stroke. Hmmm. One doctor poked his head up. Do I hear medication anyone? ‘Let’s give this one a shot. No that’s okay you won’t need to contact me. Any other health problems? No? Great!!’ In 2009, the medication that this doctor put me on caused my heart attack.

You have heard this story before. The medical system has failed me. It is time for something that won’t.

I had my first meeting with Danielle Heard on June 11, 2009. I have been skeptical about nutritionists because I really didn’t think my eating habits were that bad. Danielle was very patient with me, but by the end of our very first meeting I could see that even the ‘healthy’ deli food and pizza I normally ate, as opposed to eating out, was actually the cause of a great many of my problems. And that was just the beginning.

There was so much about food that I didn’t understand that I finally realized that I was actually afraid of it. I am not a cook and never really have been. I have never had a cooking lesson and have cooked out of necessity all of my adult life from recipes handed down, that were meant to be ‘hearty’ or ‘filling.’ I now know that that means, a lot of starch and a lot of simple carbohydrates, because those are the foods that most young families can usually afford. Unfortunately as those families mature we seldom see a change in those cooking and eating habits and thus you see the state of the American family today. I am a prime example, and I am pleased to see that now my own family does not eat the way I learned to and the way they were taught.

Danielle has set me straight about varieties of foods, and value of food, what is best for your body, when it is best and why, why your body needs it, how it uses it, stores it, processes it, how to cut it, buy it, cook it, and eat it. So many things she has taught me about, not just food, but my own body.

On December 28, 2009, I had an appointment with my cardiologist, one of the few doctors in this town that I trust, and he gave me a clean bill of health. Blood pressure is good, lungs are clear, weight is down 10 pounds, heart sounds good. I have gone from taking fourteen medications per day to seven, and I believe in the next six months I can cut another two off of that.

My original goal with Danielle was to find a reason to want to live again. She was the end game for me. By three months I knew I was going to live and then my goal became to be well. Do you know that I have never once dieted on this diet? I have never once counted calories or even stood on the bathroom scale. I weighed in the doctors office last week and I was stunned at the weight loss. That was just an added bonus.

So what more can I say about Danielle and how she has helped me? I am not sure. Except that she is filled with love for her fellow humans and wants nothing more than to share her life sustaining knowledge with you. She has shown me how to help myself. I want to live again and now I can.”

— Michelle Cook, Longview, TX

Thank you very much for reading my blog and please continue to visit often.

I wish you good health, happiness and love!

Danielle

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Michelle Regained Her Health and is Living Life Again!

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