Saving Livia

The backstory of Livia's health history (with updated link of raw video footage from 2013).

This week of double heart-related procedures didn't happen overnight, of course.

In fact, 35 seconds into the Saving Livia trailer you'll see a very different-looking Livia. This was circa 2013, when she was 20-25 pounds heavier. This was Livia's normal appearance and weight, I'd say, throughout her 50's, 60's, and 70's. A long time.

This portion of the trailer was shot in light of the second of two scary events that prompted us to do a "kitchen clean-up," where I transitioned Livia overnight to a heart-healthy plant-based diet. She agreed to it because she was frightened by what had happened to her.

The prompting events were fainting spells - or so they were labeled by the doctors in the emergency room. All along, I doubted that these were innocent events due to fatigue and dehydration, as they explained.

Bu****it, I thought. I was so pi**ed that any concerns of heart disease were chronically dismissed by physicians. And after a discovery by me that her cholesterol had been chronically in the 290-300 range with her doctor saying, "Everything is OKAY" to my face, I knew something had to be done. It was time she took charge of her own health. With my help.

And it made sense. I was already teaching others in my community how to do it. I had recently become a certified plant-based chef through Rouxbe, I owned and ran my own plant-based meal delivery company where I was head chef, and I had become a local owner/operator of The Wellness Forum, teaching a 10-hour Wellness 101 course which essentially educated people in principles in how not to die.

My mother would become a student and food service customer of mine!

So, for the next year and a half, she did fantastic. No more scary events. Happy Momma.

That is, until I shut down Modern Vegan and The Wellness Forum (Portland, Maine) in late 2014. Then, things quickly turned back to normal for Livia. Homemade pies, cakes, ice cream, breads - sweet and otherwise, scones, muffins. Anything and everything. Unlimited animal products. Gluten galore. Fat, sugar, salt in any form. It just didn't matter.

Over the last 6 years, I saw her blood pressure become chronically high for the first time ever, her cholesterol go back up to a moderately high range from the cozy 180 I had gotten it down to, and then...in April 2019, the acquisition of two autoimmune diseases, massive inflammation, and...the dreaded massive and sudden cognitive loss and change in personality.

And then - if you know our story - I stepped in all over again with the biggest intervention of her life, where I moved in and we began the Bredesen protocol in November 2019.

Not wanting to sit idly by, I put her back on a plant-based diet using the Mama Sezz meal delivery service in May of 2019 and I kept it going until late September, when it was clear to me that she had stopped consuming the meals and was lying/confabulating about it. The months during which she was consuming the meals were critical and I am convinced that this kept her from falling deeper into "disrepair."

So, here we are now. In the hospital awaiting her 2nd procedure this week.

Please take care of yourselves.

More soon. Thoughts and prayers for Livia's safety, please.
Chris xoxo

P.s. if you're wondering what I'm up to now in my career, stay tuned. I'll do another post on that.

**Raw video footage from 2013 that I haven't watched in ages so some of exact details from above may be slightly off. A great watch!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C7tO7Lh4jUI&feature=youtu.be

"Saving Livia" Trailer

The food and service at this hospital is magnificent. Better than a hotel. To say we are being well taken care of is the understatement of the century. Unbelievable place.

The staff is so extensive, well coordinated, attentive, thorough, kind and warm, and as Mom's family member, I am equally tended to. No separation between my needs and hers. They literally customize each meal to our needs every day, a.k.a. Okay, we can make your carrot soup with almond milk and air fry your tortilla chips. I have a comfortable bed with everything I need. Even slippers.

Those of you who know me know that when I say that I'm SO glad we're in Mexico for this and not in the US, I am dead serious.

I once fell off a motorcycle into concrete in northern Thailand while touring the region and had to go to the ER. Not only did I walk right in (because there was no one waiting in line...same with the ER here in Mexico), but the whole visit including doctor exam and the mending of my knee took an hour. It cost $24. No insurance. Paid cash 😄

I can't even tell you how much I'm enjoying this rest.

Updated post (new photo showing actual sunshine which I sat in for 20 minutes prior to taking this photo):

Cortisol. The stress hormone.
It's a very sneaky thing.
You simply cannot talk about healing without talking about cortisol.

When I asked Dr. Rudy what did the correlations all mean from yesterday's analysis of Mom's best, most optimized, least disturbed nights of sleep (measured in terms of apneas), here's what he said.

They all impact cortisol.
Ah!

*Walking barefoot on the beach, or grounding as he called it
*Sunlight
*Spending time with friends and family who lift you up, make you feel good, and with whom you laugh.
*Infrared sauna
*Hyperbaric chamber

One of the first tests we did in Nov 2019 upon starting the Bredesen protocol was a cortisol test. It measured Mom's cortisol at 6 or 7 points throughout the day (including 3am, which I did not appreciate very much! 😝).

It showed almost no cortisol throughout the day minus a huge spike from 11am to 1pm. This is not what a day's cortisol SHOULD look like. Nowhere close.

In fact, the lab called our attention to this saying we may have made an error in collecting the samples. Nope, I can assure you we didn't.

She was having massive trouble waking up in the morning, staying awake mid-afternoon, and her overall energy level was really low. Let me tell you, starting out a rigorous protocol in this fashion was a bucket of monkeys! (What is the expression?? LMAO)

We retested her cortisol a month ago and although we did not test at the 6 or 7 points across the day, it showed cortisol in the normal range now. This was HUGE!

I suspect there may still be irregular patterns throughout the day. Reason being...I've got those irregular patterns already. I took an Everlywell test recently. And I have been aware of my problem with cortisol since the early 2000's. More on that later...

So let me bring this back around.

>>>>Laughter, sunshine, positivity, and joy.
It really is the best medicine.

Cortisol. The stress hormone.
It's a very sneaky thing.
You simply cannot talk about healing without talking about cortisol.

When I asked Dr. Rudy what did the correlations all mean from yesterday's analysis of Mom's best, most optimized, least disturbed nights of sleep (measured in terms of apneas), here's what he said.

They all impact cortisol.
Ah!

*Walking barefoot on the beach, or grounding as he called it
*Sunlight
*Spending time with friends and family who lift you up, make you feel good, and with whom you laugh
*Infrared sauna
*Hyperbaric chamber

One of the first tests we did in Nov 2019 upon starting the Bredesen protocol was a cortisol test. It measured Mom's cortisol at 6 or 7 points throughout the day (including 3am, which I did not appreciate very much! 😝).

It showed almost no cortisol throughout the day minus a huge spike from 11am to 1pm. This is not what a day's cortisol SHOULD look like. Nowhere close.

In fact, the lab called our attention to this saying we may have made an error in collecting the samples. Nope, I can assure you we didn't.

She was having massive trouble waking up in the morning, staying awake mid-afternoon, and her overall energy level was really low. Let me tell you, starting out a rigorous protocol in this fashion was a bucket of monkeys! (What is the expression?? LMAO)

We retested her cortisol a month ago and although we did not test at the 6 or 7 points across the day, it showed cortisol in the normal range now. This was HUGE!

I suspect there may still be irregular patterns throughout the day. Reason being...I've got those irregular patterns already. I took an Everlywell test recently. And I have been aware of my problem with cortisol since the early 2000's. More on that later...

So let me bring this back around.

>>>>Laughter, sunshine, positivity, and joy.
It really is the best medicine.