Two Years of Lyme Disease Remission – Camino de Santiago – My 900 km walk in 38 days

In a few weeks I will celebrate two years of Lyme free living. I just returned home after  completing the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  It took me 38 days to hike 900 km from St Jean Pied de Port, France to  Finesterre, Spain. Considering that I was sick for over 20 years and completely disabled from 2004 – 2014 this is a true miracle for me. I promised God years ago that if I was ever healed I would do this walk in “thanksgiving”. I am still in shock that I now have the health and physical strength to complete such an incredible hike. I took only 3 rest days in the beautiful cities of Pamplona, Burgos and Leon. All of the other days I averaged about 26 km per day.  Each year of remission, I get stronger and more vibrant. Since my body is no longer fighting active infections, it can put all of its energy into repairing and rebuilding. I healed myself with bowel cleansing, parasite cleansing, Buhner’s lyme protocol, Wahl’s Paleo Diet and nutritional balancing.

It is said that the Camino is split into three parts. The first is physical (penance), then emotional (death) and finally spiritual (resurrection).

Physical – St. Jean de Pied de Port – Burgos –  Penance

This rang true for me. The first 10 days, the body has to adapt to the intensive physical demands of long distance walking combined with climbing over the Pyrenees. There was the daily foot pain, blisters and my calves almost doubled in size. The body has to adapt to carrying a full loaded pack. This places a lot of stress on the hips. There was also the assault of bedbugs, mosquitoes and sand fleas; lack of privacy as we all sleep together in Albergues (hostel dorms); lack of bathroom time. My body was detoxifying like never before. My urine was orange for the first week despite drinking several liters of water each day. In the early days, I suffered headaches and body aches that passed as I completed the worst of the detoxification. Exercise combined with lots of sunshine and fresh air is a winning combination for detoxification.

My Diet on the Camino

Breakfast – Most days I had a big slice of tortilla, which is an egg pie usually filled with potato. This was usually served with a piece of bread. Some days I was very hungry and would eat two of these. Often, I would buy small tins of olives and have these as well. I ate bread every day on the Camino with no gut issues at all. The bread was baked daily and very delicious. Usually, it had a hard crust and was soft on the inside. I don’t eat bread in Canada or Mexico but I needed these carbs while walking. I have researched and apparently many that are gluten intolerant like myself can eat gluten in Spain.

Lunch – Most days, I would order a mixed salad. Often, I would boil up some eggs and eat them for lunch or a snack.  I usually ate 2 pieces of fruit every single day. Nectarines, peaches and oranges were my fruits of choice, as these were in season and delicious.

Supper– On the Camino it is standard to find a “Pilgrims Menu”. It comes with a starter, main, dessert, beverage and bread; usually all for 10 euros. I typically started with an ensalada mixta, which is a big salad with eggs, tuna, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables. I ate mostly red meat or chicken for my main and dessert every night – usually cheesecake or flan as these are typical Spanish desserts. I rarely eat sugar anymore and will definitely not be eating a daily dessert when I return to my normal life in Mexico. I will just continue to enjoy a sweet  treat on special occasions.

I had to eat a carb-heavy diet, as I started to lose too much weight early on. This way of eating in Spain caused me no intestinal issues or loss of energy. I had tons of energy each day and walked mostly with others in their twenties and thirties.  I have never before in my life felt so energized. I was very careful to eat a lot of animal protein with each meal. The food was mostly unprocessed and much of it was homemade and from scratch.

Beverages- I mostly drank water, sparkling mineral water and coffee. I had the odd freshly squeezed orange juice.

Supplements
Magnesium Glycinate and Citrate-  Pure Encapsulations – 1200mg per day
Women’s Multi Vitamin – Mega Food – 2 per day
Blood Builder – Mega Food – 1 per day
Adrenal Glandular – Pure Encapsulations – 2 per day
Electrolyte packets – These were available in the local pharmacy. I needed the extra potassium and sodium with all of the daily sweating. These come in powdered form which I mixed into mineral water.

I really missed my green smoothies and fish oil but managed to survive without them. I noticed my skin didn’t look as nice and was much drier than normal. I also feel that all of the greens really help to whiten the teeth. I am happy to be able to have these again each day.

The Second part – Emotional – Burgos to Astorga – Symbolizes Death

The Meseta is the central Spanish tableland, which intersects the Camino Francés  between Burgos and Astorga. It is a part of Spain known among pilgrims for its wide skies, dry heat and flat desert-like appearance. We had to begin walking very early each day to avoid the scorching afternoon temperatures. The trails are flat, straight, boring and of course, hot. We usually left in the dark under the brilliant stars and moon. Almost every day before the sunrise I would begin to cry as I started to pray. Each morning I was confronted with my life review, which was filled with an abusive childhood, sibling discord, substance abuse, career loss, poverty, relationship losses and chronic illness. I just allowed myself to grieve.

After the tears came the rage. I raged at God for all of my suffering. For the suffering of my children that had to grow up with such a sick mother. My losses and their losses. I raged against all of the ways we are being poisoned with drugs, toxic foods, amalgam fillings, chem trails, flouridated  and chlorinated water, vaccines, toxic sunscreen and beauty products etc, etc, etc.  I stayed with the rage and walked alone in that time. I didn’t want to talk or be with anyone. It was a dark time for me on the trail. I  stayed with these painful emotions, as I knew that this was necessary for a deeper healing to take place. I prayed for those close to me and for all of humanity. I prayed that these evil practises in the name of profits would soon come to an end; that people would continue to wake up and take back their lives and their health. The rage finally left as I walked out of Leon. I knew that something had shifted in me. I was peaceful and lighthearted again.

The Final Phase – Leon to Santiago – Spiritual – The Resurrection

This part of my walk was light and fun. A pilgrim from Ireland joined our little group that formed early on. We laughed and laughed. Laughter has to be one of the best medicines for the soul. I no longer had any blisters, bed bug bites, sore hips, detox headaches or sadness. I really enjoyed this last third of the Camino. I felt hopeful, serene, energized , strong, healed and unstoppable! When we arrived in Santiago it was such an incredible moment of achievement. I was so full of joy and happiness.

 

The Camino Finesterre and Camino Muxia are extended walks that many do. I had absolutely no intention of doing these but decided at the last minute to go. It is an extra 120km and I was really curious about Finesterre. It was considered to be the end of the known world in the Middle Ages and held special spiritual and physical significance. The coastline of the Atlantic is rocky and dangerous and is known in Gallego as the Costa da Morte, or the Coast of Death. This extended walk was very satisfying and I felt like I had thoroughly completed my camino. It was very sad to say goodbye to my closest walking friends from Holland, Sweden, Ireland, Russia, Spain, Italy, Australia and one gal from the United States.

 

I am back with my family and normal life. Soon I will be returning to Mexico. I think I will be processing this experience for the rest of my life. I know that I have received much healing spiritually, emotionally and physically. I am really excited about this next phase of my life. I still believe I am cured of Lyme Disease, co-infections, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Hypothyroidism and all other manifestations of chronic illness.  I will continue to eat a nutrient dense real food paleo diet. I will continue to enjoy lots of strenuous exercise,  fresh air, sunshine and sweating. I will nurture loving relationships, have fun and stay away from pollutants as much as possible.

I think I want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next….(big smiles).

Blessings and Best of Health,

Brenda♥

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