How I conquered Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Background
About a year back, I was at Big Creek elementary School for Nithin’s orientation/academic day, where the class teacher would tell what the students would learn and also our responsibilities as a parent. Mrs. Mary Ellen Drone, the teacher, is an amazing person - let me put it this way, I never came across a teacher anywhere close to her.
At the beginning of her presentation, Mary just made a casual reference to her husband (Randy), who happened to be in the same classroom. Mary said “Randy has MS and is off the medicine for six years” and continued on. Hold on!! I was surely baffled and confused, did I hear it wrong? How can someone with MS be off the drugs. I was even tempted to interrupt her presentation, but decided to wait till the end. I convinced myself that the MS referred by Mary Ellen has nothing do with Multiple Sclerosis. To be honest, I didn’t pay any attention whatsoever to her presentation. To keep the story short, I rushed to Randy after the presentation to confirm what I heard. That’s how I came to know Randy and Mary Ellen Drone.
If you have never heard of MS, please stop your reading, get yourself acquainted with MS first. Most of us have a chronic illness, or at least know someone who does. I would rank MS as the king of all diseases. Let me put it this way, it’s even worse than cancer. With cancer, you either make it or don’t make it - family members get over it as soon as you call it quits and start your journey, of course after death, to the other side of this parallel universe. Multiple Sclerosis, on the other hand, stays with you causing serious damages to your nervous system and brain. It’s a double whammy, attacking both physically and emotionally. If you want to know about MS, read Blindsided by Richard Cohen. It’s a reluctant memoir of Richard’s own experience with MS. Who is Richard Cohen? He is the husband of Meredith Vera. Meredith Vieira is an Emmy Award winning journalist, television personality, and game show host. She currently co-hosts NBC’s Today as well as continuing to host Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in syndication and a contributing anchor for Dateline NBC.
Few more facts about MS:
- Multiple sclerosis (also known as disseminated sclerosis or encephalomyelitis disseminata) is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system, leading to demyelination.Disease onset usually occurs in young adults, and it is more common in females. It has a prevalence that ranges between 2 and 150 per 100,000. MS was first described in 1868 by Jean-Martin Charcot.
- There is no known cure for MS. In other words, the patient is doomed.
- MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other. Nerve cells communicate by sending electrical signals called action potentials down long fibers called axons, which are wrapped in an insulating substance called myelin. In MS, the body’s own immune system attacks and damages the myelin. When myelin is lost, the axons can no longer effectively conduct signals. The name multiple sclerosis refers to scars (scleroses – better known as plaques or lesions) in the white matter of the brain and spinal cord, which is mainly composed of myelin. Although much is known about the mechanisms involved in the disease process, the cause remains unknown. Theories include genetics or infections. Different environmental risk factors have also been found.
Meet Randy Drone
Even though things were crazy with my startup (myGPSid), I made sure to personally meet Randy and learn the truth. Still, I couldn’t believe someone with MS is off of drugs. Believe me, it’s a miracle - talk to anyone who has or knows about MS. So, we finally meet at a Starbucks for, of course, coffee. I started off with “Is it true? tell me what are you doing to stay off drugs“. What a bad way to start a meeting! Anyhow, after exchanging few personal history and details, we jumped into it. Following is a short synopsis of our meeting:
Randy got diagnosed with MS way back in 1995, shortly after his marriage to Mary Ellen. Up until the diagnosis, Randy was a typical American dude or call it regular Joe - you know what that means. Both him and Mary Ellen had to endure the same trials and tribulations as Richard Cohen/Merdith Vera. Randy was put on numerous drugs as usual. You have seen people with diabetes and cholesterol taking numerous drugs on a daily basis. Just imagine how many tablets a MS patients had to take - ($2500.00) a month. As with any chronic disease, Randy’s situation only got worse and lost muscles strength on the leg, had to resort to crutches. Meanwhile, Randy also tried many other things - physical, medical, etc, - and nothing worked. Randy was not a religious or spiritual person until then. Someone then recommended Randy to find solace with religion and god. Remember he had nothing more left lose, so he decide to explore the religious avenues.
I am sure you are all wondering about magic. In order to keep things in a non-religious perspective, I have taken the liberty of condensing my discussions with Randy. Here it is, according to Randy.
The root cause for all the problems were the negative thoughts (Specifically “Self-Hatred”) and it’s internal manifestations. Or call it negative energy which makes things go from bad to worse. MS is real, but I was making it worse with my actions and path of self-destructing emotional andNon-spiritual thoughts. Exposure to Christian Spirituality and God, with the help of my pastor’s teachings about the spirit/soul/ body connection, helped me to put things in perspective, I started to manage my spiritual thoughts and energy, which took me off the self-destruction path. As I started to better manage my thoughts, I slowly started reducing drugs to point where I don’t need MS drugs anymore.
To someone who does not know MS, Randy or his personal experience, the above statement would sound like a big baloney. Believe me, MS is real and Randy is also real. For me, what Randy has achieved through positive thoughts and Spiritual Growth and is amazing, call it a miracle.
Note: If you would like talk or meet Randy in person, write us an email. We’ll forward your requests to Randy, if appropriate. Please include the reason why you would like to meet him. Currently, he lives in Cumming, Forsyth County, Georgia, USA.
Thanks for this article, it is a great affirmation and inspiration. We are on the brink of a new era in healthcare, an era that more fully accepts and understands the relationship between body mind and spirit.
Hi, Randy.
It’s been such a long time since I saw you last! I remember driving up to Cumming so you could try to sell my vehicle for me.
I am so glad for you and Mary Ellen. God is so good. He uses us for His own purpose, and I hope more people will come to know Christ because of you.
Blessings,
~Joyce C
Thanks for writing up about MS. Randy’s story is very inspiring.
One small note: I wouldn’t call MS as the king of diseases, but it certainly qualifies for the spot. Just my 2 cents.
Thing to remember is that your body is breaking itself down and putting itself back together, always. Even the nervous system regenerates. It’s sort of like a great suspension bridge that always needs to be painted. MS acts as a vandal. So you need to be at your best state — super diet, high in vit D and omega 3’s , and low in sat fat and other toxic foods. And yes — attitude is everything. Because STRESS, worry, doubt, takes an enormous toll on the body, especially the nervous system.
So many new treatments have opened up for MS that the future is actually bright. MS is many diseases, the cause uncertain. But the process of renewal is the same for everyone, MS or no.
Story. True story. A doctor’s father had a dreadful stroke, and it was thought he would never recover. He couldn’t walk, talk. But his son didn’t give up on him. He looked at his dad and thought — he’s quite like a baby. So he treated him like a baby. He helped him learn to raise his head again by repeating the movements and reminding his body how to do this. Then he worked on scooting, sitting up, walking. Repeat repeat repeat the movement. Work it. And the father went on the recover to the point that he had a second life… remarried, was productive. And when he eventually died, his son’s friend called after he’d done the autopsy: “Come and see your father’s brain!” The son declined, but the friend insisted. What he found was that the father’s brain was a mess. The stroke’s damage was there. But the brain and nervous system had rewired itself, making new pathways.
Don’t you give up hope. Don’t stop moving, above all. Keep working your body anyway you can. Swim, dance. Do it.
Hi,
Your spiritual base is one area that must be addressed when fighting any disease naturally. Naturopathic medicine says, “Look for the root, it is in the basics beginning with what is on your fork, what toxins are in your body, what exercise do you do, what stress is in your life, what is your spiritual base”. Autoimmune diseases like MS are interesting there are approximately 80 to 100 with another 40 waiting for a name and if you get one you will get another and so on. Medical science cannot explain why we have this autoimmune epidemic or why you have even one of these diseases. You can trigger one of them just by having an auto accident, taking aspirin or medication or by starting a new exercise routine, even too much stress says latest research. Scientific arrogance has led us down the wrong path we better stop and take a close look at what is happening. This month 150 new chemicals will be added to the 85,000 in the environment which are part of the autoimmune problem. They will be added too industry with no oversight control at all. Autoimmune disease is the worst kind of contradiction; for a sufferer you are attacking your body with your immune system, a world upside down. God bless you in your search.
Sincerely
Paul
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