Destin Health Coach

It has been a tough summer in England and has brought back a lot of memories.
Darline passed away from breast cancer nearly 15 years ago. Now, the best man I've ever had the privilege of knowing is about to pass from bowel cancer. It makes my own health problems very trivial.

One major difference has been their individual standards of care. Darline, a 32 year old law student in apparent perfect health, was newly insured by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California and 2 months after her diagnosis of stage IV breast cancer her coverage was denied citing a pre-existing condition. We were left to figure it out alone for nearly 4 years, until we had no money left and Medicaid became available. Darline died within a year.

Here in England my Dad is taken care of by the National Healthcare Service, a system horribly vilified in America. All the medications he needs are free, he has a special hospital style bed moved into his room at home, his doctor comes to visit him at home and there are now nursing assistants visiting 3 times a day to help mum. All provided free of charge.

So the next time you hear someone trashing the National Healthcare System please spare a thought for what really happens in America to uninsured people, especially now that Obamacare has fallen apart.
I struggle to afford the healthcare I need for my problem in America (even with work insurance) and the joint replacement surgeries I need are just not an option with co-pays and deductibles. I just think it's wrong.

Stay healthy my friends. I'll be home in 2 weeks to help anyone who needs it and I have learned a lot about what health really means. I would love to help anyone who wants to live a longer and happier life.

Peace and love.

Today marks 4 weeks since I started The Paddison program for RA and all things considered I'm very happy. My meals are now more varied but still 100% plant based. Quinoa, buckwheat, lentils, beans, oats sweet potatoes and basmati rice provide bulk, protein and calories while spinach, kale, bok choy and seaweed provide amazing healing nutrients and digestive enzymes. The only drinks are veggie juices and loads of water. (No caffeine or alcohol for a month!)
I am allowed some fruit now including oranges, blueberries, papaya and pineapple. I had to add blackberries as I find them growing wild in the hedges when I walk back from my morning workout up on the cliffs!
I have so much more energy and really look forward to meal times because I am hungry, which I really haven't been for a long time.

My joint pain has decreased significantly in my hands and knee and my range of motion in my frozen right shoulder is so much better than it has been for years. Medicinally I have stopped taking Plaquenil and sulfazine completely and have reduced methotrexate by 20% and prednisone by 50%. I haven't needed an Advil since I got here. That is all so important to me as I hate how the disease is totally treated by giving patients drugs to lower the immune system which is attacking the joints and causing the pain and joint destruction. Call me crazy but I really want a fully functioning immune system, I think it rather important!Nutrition is never mentioned by doctors,and if I bring it up I see the amusement in their eyes.

My friends and Family keep telling me that they are amazed at my will power, but it is much more about the right motivation. I am so motivated to get well for my children. I have had so many amazing experiences and adventures in my life and the thought of not being able to share some of them with Ryan and Dakota drives me every day.

The best medicine on our planet. The least prescribed.

Darline’s Story. (Part 1)

Darline Fagan was 32, a second year law student at The Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, when a doctor told her in no uncertain terms, that she had about 9 months left to live.
We had met a couple of years earlier at a party in St. Petersburg, Florida where we both lived. At the time she worked in advertising and I was running a gym and teaching scuba diving. I was immediately captivated by her mesmerizing smile and quick wit, we soon started dating.
We were a very fit couple, Darline taught aerobics and rode on a local cycling team while I competed in local triathlons and we spent many hours in the gym training together. Darline appeared to be the picture of health, never sick. No warning signs of the terrible days to come.
Although she was successful in the advertising field, Darline wanted more and decided to sit for the L.S.A.T exam which she passed, to enter Law School. We both loved the thought of living in San Diego for a total change from Florida, and so she accepted a place at Thomas Jefferson and we moved across the country to California. Darline first, and I followed a few months later.
I had been offered a job at a gym in Encenitas and we both quickly fell in love with San Diego. Surfing some of the best waves in the States and enjoying the amazing outdoor world, we were a happy couple, in spite of the pressure Darline was feeling from Law School, with 2nd year finals approaching. One morning Darline rolled over in bed and felt a pain in her right breast, she had a history of fibrocystic lumps and quickly dismissed the pain. Not until the ni**le became inverted did she begin to imagine that there could be anything wrong. She was scheduled for a mammogram that showed nothing. A second mammogram was scheduled the next week and was also clear, in spite of the fact that you could feel a large lump the size of a golf ball. At her insistence further tests were scheduled which revealed Darline had Stage IV breast cancer that had metastazed to her brain, liver and bones. Immediate treatment was scheduled that included aggressive chemotherapy and radiation to shrink the tumor, before a mastectomy to remove the affected breast. When we asked why the mammograms had shown no evidence of the tumor we were told that in women with dense breast tissue, mammograms were not very effective.
About a week before treatment was to begin, Darline received a phone call from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California informing her that because she had not revealed any history of breast problems on her insurance application they were denying her claim on the basis of a preexisting condition. At the time we were absolutely devastated, not realizing that in reality, this was the best thing that could have possibly happened to her. Instead of 9 miserable months of chemotherapy and radiation Darline lived another 5 years. During which time we traveled, got married and had some memorable adventures.


In my next blog I will tell what she did to prolong her life, and what you can do to avoid becoming another sad statistic in the 40 year long war on cancer, declared by President Richard Nixon back in 1971.