As everyone knows, our major goal at Four Flags Journal is freedom . . . independence . . . some even call it personal sovereignty.

We approach that goal from several directions. This is why many of us diversify our lives into different countries so that whatever happens in one country at this point in history, we have options somewhere else. We do the same with financial assets. We diversify, not only into different investments, but in different jurisdictions so that everything is not at risk in a single one.

Some of us plant gardens. Some have managed to go off the grid. And some of us, perhaps including you, just want to retire and nothing more.  That’s okay too.  A part of our overall goal is medical independence.  We don’t take kindly to the idea of living in an old folks home with someone taking money out of our wallets. We don’t even like to check in at the local pharmacy for the same purpose.

Your editor has published about being critically ill in 1994, diagnosed with an abdominal tumor and scheduled for surgery, having had skin cancer for years, excised surgically–and now this. But I am well today–no surgery, no chemo, no radiation, no cancer. Not even skin cancer. But it isn’t just cancer that responds to a healthy immune system.  We appreciate doctors and if we ever got hit by a truck or broke an arm, we’d be looking for one. But otherwise, we’ll take a different route.  It takes more than waving a fairy wand. It requires going back to nature’s way of eating, mild exercise, sunshine, fresh air and a few other things. But please take notice. All of it is completely free. You know my story. Today the Backowies tell theirs:

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RECOVERY FROM RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
by Pat Backowies

The year was 2008. My husband, Bob, and I had lived north of Denver, Colorado for over 25 years. Life was good, our business was doing well, everything was normal. We decided to take a break and fly the short distance to Las Vegas, Nevada.

About one day into our vacation, Bob began to complain of sore hips and difficulty walking normally at times. We dismissed it as just typical aches and pains that sometimes come with age, as people say..

But throughout our vacation he was uncomfortable. Then, when we returned to Colorado, the pain became intense. Of course all the foods that we had eaten that are associated with inflammation did not help. But at that time we didn’t know anything about what causes inflammation.

The following week my husband set up a doctor appointment and to our horror he was diagnosed with “probably rheumatoid arthritis.” The M.D. prescribed Prednisone and then they ran tests on him.

As the days passed the pain became unbearable. The medication offered no relief. In fact, he was suffering more bad effects from the drug than anything else. The medication was destroying his health, but not healing this disease. He had days and nights of excruciating pain. I would be up every night by 3 a.m. rubbing healing oils on his joints as he tried to deal with the intense pain.

The doctors could offer no help. But they not once said anything to us about diet and lifestyle.

Bob continued the doctor visits but only ended up with a lot of frustration. Then one arthritis specialist wanted to try chemo. That was a turning point. We knew we had to do something else, because we all know what chemo will do in the long run.

Finally one of the doctors recommended that he look into the natural alternative world of healthcare. So Bob went on a mission to find someone in the natural healing field. He did find that there was one in our area who was, indeed, highly recommended for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory illnesses.

On our first visit with this wonderful practitioner, we were informed that we would be eating very good food but instead of a grain-fed hamburger or steak like we normally would eat, the beef had to be grass fed.

There were eating guidelines to follow that were easy to understand–nothing at all complicated. One of the first things I did was to go through my pantry and dispose of everything in it that was toxic to us.

I then went shopping for all the healthy foods and ingredients that we would be eating and we started our journey into recovering from rheumatoid arthritis. I also purchased a couple of cookbooks through our healthcare provider that gave me many good ideas. We were eating organic foods, grass fed meats, free range chicken eggs, everything gluten-free and chemical free. Dark greens and healthy salads from them were very beneficial to the healing process. Both of us began to feel much better.

I myself had been experiencing some inflammation which was causing pain and those symptoms completely disappeared on my husband’s eating plan, He was taking a variety of supplements and also detoxing.

We only drink healthy water–nothing from the tap or bottled water that we did not know anything about. As my husband was going through the healing process, every so often his healthcare person would have him go to the medical clinic and have blood work done to see where the RA levels were. Of course the longer he ate the proper foods and took the recommended supplements, the RA levels of his bloodwork continued to drop.

During this time of healing naturally, his natural health care provider recommended that he continue to take the Prednisone but lessen the amount slowly through the healing process. Eventually he was able to throw that Prednisone bottle away!

Approximately one and a half years passed and Bob  was back to his old self. During each visit to the gentleman who was healing him, he would also have therapeutic massages that helped very much with the pain and inflammation.

This person was very knowledgeable.

We learned so much about food and what our enemies in it are. Grains are an enemy to our bodies as are  sugar, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, dyes, gluten, and chemicals. Our bodies are not meant to have all this put into them.

All you need for good health is clean food. You may still have that steak. Just purchase grass fed as I had mentioned earlier. To this day we like the good healthy foods and do not care to go back to any of what we used to eat. I, myself, still do not have any inflammation and pain like I did before Bob and I started eating healthy.

It is sad to see so many people in our country who are suffering from this debilitating disease and yet the medical world will not take the time to learn and care enough about their patients to heal them. Instead, people are prescribed nothing more than just more chemicals that create more harm and inflammation in the long run. They never recover even when recovery is within their reach. Only they don’t know that.

My husband is still working and will be for quite some time. I, also, am still free from the inflammation and pain that I had before Bob and I changed our lifestyle.

To this day we like the good healthy foods and do not care to go back to any of what we used to eat. But the best part is that both of us are pain free again.

Pat and Bob are residents of Colorado. Bob has been owner and  operator of a welding and supply in Denver, Colorado–Gases & Arc, INC –for 25 years. Pat makes lotions, lip balms, and soaps.  That venture began as a hobby and turned into a small business. They currently have one foot in Colombia, but with a going business in Colorado it would be difficult, and probably not wise, to leave it until they retire—or have a very pressing reason to do so.

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Wishing you the best of health, until next time . . . ,

Arlean
info@fourflagsjournal.com