What a miracle to have had 6 years of great health after being chronically ill for over 20 years. It is possible to heal yourself by changing your diet, fixing your microbiome, detoxifying and making lifestyle changes. You can read about everything that I have done in this article to completely recover my health.
A year in review
My hiking holiday in Guatemala
Last year at this time I was on a hiking holiday in Guatemala. I was the oldest woman in our group of 50 to climb Volcán Acatenango, the 3rd highest volcano in Central America. We also climbed Pacaya , Indian Nose and walked countless miles exploring Antigua and Lake Atitlan. I stayed in hostels and explored by horse, chicken bus, shuttle busses and my own two feet. It was a very active holiday and one of my most favorite. The food was amazing and the Guatemalans are such lovely people. I truly felt strong, happy, joyous and free. Hiking is still my most favorite thing to do no matter where I am in the world.
Life in Merida
My most of the time home 1 year ago was Merida, Mexico. There I enjoyed rich culture, museums, stunning architecture, great food and lovely people. Merida is very inexpensive with both food and housing. The downside was a crippling hot climate, traffic pollution and insanely hungry mosquitos that no amount of natural bug killer could deter. I enjoyed wonderful friendships and an active social life. Life was good!
The beginning of Covid-19
Overnight Merida began to shut down. The Paseo Montejo where I walked every single day just shut down. The cafés, shops and restaurants all closed and this once busy street now had this eerie silence. No one was out walking anymore. Just me and the odd police car. I didn’t know what to do. Prime Minister Trudeau, was calling Canadians back to Canada. I began praying for direction. Flights back were insanely expensive and I just couldn’t imagine packing up my entire house and leaving. I didn’t know what to do. So I waited.
At 5 am on Thursday, March 19 I bolted upright out of a deep sleep. I knew intuitively and decisively in that moment that I had to leave Mexico as soon as possible. By 11 am that morning I was deep into a household sale. I posted my things on FB and got rid of everything or gave it away in 3 days. My flight kept getting cancelled and Air Canada’s website kept crashing. I was in a state of panic.
My husband Tony was able to get me a flight booking from Canada. We had been separated for 4 years but we remained close friends and he was always there for me.
There were rumours of the bus lines shutting down so I decided to spend one night in Cancun to be closer to the airport. I stayed in a hotel with over 60 rooms and there were only 2 rooms booked. It was like a scene from an apocalyptic movie. My close friend Stacey spent the afternoon and evening with me. We walked around downtown Cancun and everything was closed. I was so grateful to her. 
In shock and exhaustion I boarded my plane on Monday March 23, 2020. I crammed 6 years of life in Mexico into 2 large suitcases and 2 carry on bags. The Canadian government sent extra planes to collect tourists. It was absolutely surreal and the mood on the plane was low. Not one person dared to cough or sneeze.
Arriving in Canada and Quarantine
Tony picked me up at the airport around 7 pm in Ottawa. He was one of the few that came to meet us travellers. You could see that no one was wanting to go to the airport as people were still unsure of the impact of this virus.
We arrived home and began our 2 week quarantine. Tony and our son Nick quarantined with me for 2 weeks. Now that is love and I was so grateful to both of them. Nick kept us both laughing and Tony prepared unbelievable meals. We were safe and cosy and I was so grateful for their love and care.
Shock
I was in a complete state of shock for the first 2 weeks of returning to Canada. I woke up every 2 hours, full of anxiety. Every now and then I would just break down and cry. I stopped watching mainstream news and began preparing for my new life in Canada. It took some time but slowly I began to sleep through the night again.
Bought and sold a trailer on Round Lake
Tony and I both figured that I would only stay with him until the lockdown was over. I bought this neglected travel trailer on a gorgeous lake. This was the perfect distraction and we spent many hours painting, sanding, washing and ripping up old carpets. The campground changed rules and was now only allowing children under 18 to stay for visits. I wanted our son to be able to spend time at the lake so I sold it. It really was a special place and it sold in one weekend after a bidding war.
Feeling homeless
I knew I needed to find a permanent home in Canada. This consumed me. Again I was waking up at night. I kept praying and asking for direction. I couldn’t afford to buy anything in Ontario, Canada. I wanted to live as independently as possible without any loans or mortgages. My criteria was clean air, low emf exposure, clean water and the ability to grow food. I widened my search and found a really, really sweet off grid river-front cottage on 1.5 acres in Quebec. I placed a much lower bid and it was accepted. This property is like a dream come true for us. This is the view from our deck. Beautiful and serene.
At this time Tony and I were not reconciled but with time and healing we reunited with much love and commitment.
Our move
In September, 2020 we packed up and moved out to our new home. It is the most idyllic setting and we absolutely love it. We are completely off the grid and rely on wood heat. Propane is used for our kitchen stove, refrigerator, and clothes dryer. A small freezer, lights, computers are all run off of the solar panels. We also have a generator for the cloudy days, weeks and dark winter months. There is very good fishing and hunting in this area. We had several large pines cut down as several were diseased and dead. This has completely opened up our land for gardens and fruit trees.
It has been a very steep learning curve. Tony is one of those guys that can fix almost anything. He is the one that understands how this place runs. All I know is that when the sun shines I can slow cook soup bones and wash clothes.
Dealing with Co-vid
Like most I experience a wide range of emotions dealing with this virus. We have made staying healthy our number one priority. We take several daily supplements and live a very healthy lifestyle. I am not afraid of Covid or any other infection, as I make my health my number 1 priority. I will not be getting any vacks**ine. In my opinion there is no reason to get an experimental shot for a virus that has a 99% recovery rate. When I left allopathic medicine 8 years ago, I began to heal and completely regain my health. My intuition tells me not to do this. I have seen too many injuries and deaths from this v acks**ine, so have decided it is not the right choice for me. I wear a mask once per week when we shop for groceries as we are mandated to do so.
My faith is stronger
My faith was tested so many times in the last year. But things always work out when I pray and ask for direction. Every day I turn my will and my life over to the care of God. I know that He knows what is best for me even when I don’t. In faith we are walking through this Covid madness. I still believe everything will work out for the best but the world may need to suffer deeply before this happens.
Goals for 2021
We are going to build many raised beds for our vegetable gardens. Set up our greenhouse and get busy raising chickens. It is our hope that we can become as self-sufficient as possible. We eat 6 eggs each day so it would be amazing to have our own healthy free range supply. We go through a ton of veggies and are looking at building some kind of cold storage for next winter. We are really excited about all of these upcoming projects. Food security is very important in these troubling times that we find ourselves in.
Hopefully we can travel again. This is the one thing that I miss the most. But our health and safety must come first.
My maintenance protocol
I would have to say despite the stress of the last year I feel pretty good. I live each day pain-free, fairly fit and active for a 58 year old woman. My mood is good and and my outlook is bright.
Our diet remains paleo with intermittent fasting. We either have a soup bowl or big salad for the first meal (11 am) and some type of cooked organic free range protein for dinner (5pm) with lots of veggies. We bought a side of beef and about 20 chickens. Typically we have organ meats at least once per week. Tony is an amazing cook and loves to eat this healthy way. Almost every meal we look down at our food and marvel at how well we eat. The only reason we have to drive into town every week is to buy more vegetables.
Supplements I take are digestive supports, cod liver oil, magnesium, whole food multi vitamin, dessicated liver pills, Vit d3/k2, nutritional yeast, iodine and a multi mineral.
I still do a thorough parasite cleanse every 6 months with my recipe. You can find the recipe here.
Every year I do a hair test to keep an eye on my mineral levels.
Despite the cold temperatures we try and get out for a 4-5 mile walk at least 4 times per week. I would say I am better cold-adapted than I was 4 months ago. We love to get a good sweat on at least once per week in our woodfired sauna.
I also try and do some resistance training the other 2 days each week. There are lots of YouTube videos with many different exercise videos.
If you are still sick
You can recover your health. The problem is most humans have strayed so far from a healthy diet and lifestyle. If you are still struggling you may need to find the last pieces of your healing puzzle. There are many pieces to fix before good health can return. You have to take away all of the bad stuff and add in a bunch of good stuff. Take a look at this older article. It might give you some clues.
Never give up and keep the faith!!
Blessings and Best of Health!
Brenda♥
Everything that I have done to regain my health is available for free on my blog. If you would like some extra help I offer health coaching and hair tissue mineral analysis. Please go to this page to book a consult.
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