Thank you so much for your kind and supportive response. I really appreciate it. I will keep going with the OMS program and tighten up where I have probably relaxed in some aspects. I think I was slightly seduced by Terry Wahls’ paleo approach (!) and started to eat meat occasionally and limit legumes. My state of mind is improving. Thanks again.

Karen

Thank you for your honesty. We don’t want people only to post positive comments at all. It is much more important to be authentic and real; positivity is not about being cheerful at all costs, come what may. Sometimes frustration and tears and grief need to come out, as they should.

The first thing to say is that people respond differently to the OMS program, just as they do to all the drug therapies in MS. Swank’s research certainly showed that those with early MS did the best, and 95% stayed fit and active for at least 34 years. However, he also showed that no matter how advanced the disability at entry to the study, on average the group adhering to his diet deteriorated much less quickly than those not adhering. 34 years later, they had not deteriorated much, even if they started with quite significant disability, many with progressive MS. Remember however that Swank only focused on diet; at OMS we are about the whole package, diet, omega 3 supplements, vitamin D, sunlight, exercise, meditation, communication, avoiding depression, etc. And our data now show that on average the whole group who come to the retreats is around 20% better at 5 years, so significant recovery is possible. Of course that is an average figure, and some do better, while others do worse.

In your situation, the first thing is to examine how closely you stick to the recommendations. Have you cut out all meat, dairy, and where possible processed food? Is your saturated fat intake absolutely minimal or do you allow yourself small amounts? What was your last vitamin D level? It should be high normal, that is above 150nmol/L (or 60ng/mL if you live in the US, you don’t mention where you are from). Are you exercising 30 minutes a day? Have you actively sought to avoid depression, such as through meditation, counselling, keeping a diary, talking to friends and family about your feelings? How frequently do you meditate? When you review these elements, try to tighten up anywhere you detect some laxity. The whole program seems to work best as a whole. In terms of medications, unfortunately, there is very little available for secondary progressive MS, but you might want to talk to your neurologist or GP about some of the therapies that could be helpful like low dose naltrexone, or fampridine to improve your walking. And remember, Swank showed that the diet took 3-5 years to be fully effective, and our data shows that improvement is still occurring at 5 years; when we have more data, we may well find that this continues for even longer, so it is still relatively early days. Finally, have you considered coming to a retreat, either at the Gawler Foundation (3-4 times a year) or at the Mana Retreat in New Zealand (once a year)? The retreat really helps to embed the whole package.

You are right though Karen. There is an important balance here between hope and acceptance. Ideally, it is best to have both. The genuine grief about the potential or actual loss of independence needs to be expressed, and expressed thoroughly, preferably in the setting of a shared experience based on trust such as at the retreats, or with a counsellor, family or friends. Genuinely accepting the reality of the diagnosis is an important aspect of recovery. But equally, it is vital to have hope. While there may have been some deterioration lately, and this can be extremely difficult to deal with both physically and mentally, hang on to the hope that things can still get better. We have many people who have been to our programs who have improved significantly, even from progressive disease, and as you say, Terry Wahls and McDougall and others certainly provide hope that recovery from advanced disease is possible.

One of the things we stress at the retreats is that we try to offer hope, choices and inner peace. Ultimately, the future is completely unpredictable. While doing everything you can to stay well through every little choice you make every day will often result in you staying well, sometimes it won’t. That is particularly where inner peace comes in, and where meditation can be so helpful. Coming to a state of peace within ourselves, regardless of our external or physical circumstances, is a key to a happy life, and a goal worthy of pursuing whether or not the OMS program proves to be helpful for you.

Wishing you health and happiness Karen

Be well

George

You and Terry Wahls have given me inspiration and hope and I have had times when I’ve felt a little better. In the last few months I have been noticeably deteriorating. The point I want to make is that I had so much hope around the experiences of yourself, Dr. Wahls, McDougall and others. That hope has been crushed by my deterioration and I wonder if I would have been better of being without hope but working on calm acceptance of my potential fate. I’m totally distraught now.

Perhaps your program will benefit the more recently diagnosed – I certainly hope so because otherwise this is a truly miserable illness as you witnessed with your mother.

Please feel free to remove this post from public viewing. Any support or encouragement you could give me would be very great fully received.

Karen

How true are your words George, we all must live in hope and be at peace with ones self, worry users a lot of energy too, I know we dont like the unknown.
I learnt a lot going to Gawler, its been 2 years now on my new lifestyle, have been doing yoga and walking every morning.

Be well

CherylM

I love how you drilled right down and got to the essence of faith and hope. Despite the evidence of Swank, the retreat research, even your OMS research, if we lose our minds and forget all of that stuff we can still have hope in one person who has overcome this monster – you! Then when the doubters come as say ‘well, he was very lucky that he had an easy course of MS’ I can think of another person, and another person, who have all overcome MS through diet. This gives me hope and is very satisfying.

I am still learning the art of faith – doing, believing and trusting without obvious physical evidence. My leg weakness battle flares up every 10 -18 days and this is tricky to deal with especially since I keep telling people that I plan to be well. They just look at me limping and go yeah right. But you are the man, and this is the only program where people get better not worse. That strengthens my faith and keeps me on track.

Thanks for the boost.

Be well

George

Thank you for the book and the website and the positive reinforcement.

Shawn Caroline (In the US)

Anne-Maree Neal