Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Hot Flashes Gone After 5 Days!

Flashes and fans beware!

Janice Heid
Janice Heid at the Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle
Center in Plant City, Florida
2012 for me was a year of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments after receiving a diagnosis of re-occurring breast cancer. I also turned 50 that year and as we rang in the 2013 New Year, I noticed I had less “hitch in my giddy-up” as well as a host of other “I never had this before” types of issues. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me towards a need to cleanse from all the medical toxins in my body, as well as get a kick start back to a healthier diet. I had known about the Hallelujah lifestyle since 2000 when my Dad was sick and I have “dated” the lifestyle on and off ever since. It was time to make a commitment and in comes Plant City, Florida’s Hallelujah Acres Health Ministers, Dave, Sherry and Amberlee. My experience was so much more than I could have hoped for as we daily dove into devotionals, exercise, demonstrations, hands-on meal preparation, educational sessions, as well as a field trip to a Holistic food store. The food was delicious, the fellowship was sweet, and my fellow sojourners are now so dear to my heart for having shared this wonderful experience. I left feeling abundantly blessed and equipped to finally commit to the Hallelujah Lifestyle!

Since the chemo had put me into menopause, I have carried about a hand-held fabric fan for the past year for those daily surging’s of hot flashes. I noticed the day after I returned from my Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle Center experience that I had not hot-flashed the entire day! A day has now turned into a week, and I have not picked up my fan once. I know the Lord has given me what Sherry calls a “God Wink” – He is letting me know He is restoring the temple from the inside out. To God be all the glory –“He loves us with an everlasting love and draws us with loving kindness.

Janice Heid with Dave & Sherry Orcutt
Janice Heid with Dave & Sherry Orcutt of the
Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle Center in Plant City, FL

I also began to experience "tachycardia" (fast heart rate) immediately following my first chemotherapy treatment. My cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker which addressed the symptoms I was experiencing. Twice I tried to wean myself off of the meds once my chemo treatments were finished (after having consulted with my doctor) but each time the symptoms returned.
During the third week of making the Hallelujah diet a lifestyle, I forgot (which I now know was the Holy Spirit!) to take the beta blocker and the symptoms did not return! So for the third and last time, I spent the week easing off the drug and in the words of our Lord - "It is finished"!!! All praise and glory to our Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)!

"My MS doctor told me I don’t need him anymore!"

Karen Pine
Karen Pine at the Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle
Center in Plant City, Florida
In April 2012 I had been fighting doctors for years on various illnesses and symptoms of disease that I was experiencing. I could not swallow properly; I had ear troubles and could not hear which resulted in a surgery which did improve my hearing. I also had horrible skin rash breakouts and something called “sticky blood.” This condition would cause my blood to clot which could cause a heart attack or stroke at any time which meant I lived in fear of that possibility. My vision was severely compromised because the sticky blood caused plaque behind my eye causing vision loss. Another problem was every time I would look down; my whole body would go numb. I experienced pain in my neck and for two years, the vertigo was so horrible and unbearable I was not breathing properly. All the doctors would come to the same conclusion – it was caused by stress. I think the biggest thing was that I was fed up with their conclusions. I knew I all this was not my imagination! Finally, after a trip to my Chiropractor, he advised me to go to a Neurologist who specialized in MS, and he confirmed with a MRI that I had ten plus MS brain lesions and one 2 centimeter lesion going down my spine. At least I had an answer. I knew the symptoms I had been feeling for years was not just stress and that I finally knew the reason for my discomfort.

2011-2012 was a very stressful year for me. I was in severe neck pain and my neck would “creek.” My doctor said I had a choice, “you can take the meds or you can do like the others, not take meds and not get well.” I subjected myself to five shots in a five day period, costing $20,000. The success of this was only for 10 days. Two weeks later my symptoms were worse and I had an exasperation that was so severe it hurt to do anything. I was given Prednisone for this MS exasperation which did slow down the symptoms. Prednisone made me mean, I was not myself and I did not like what this drug was doing to me. Once I started the Hallelujah Diet, these exasperations had lessened in severity and occurrences.

My friend was very concerned about me. She went on line and found The Hallelujah Acres Lifestyle Center in Plant City, Florida. She wanted me to go but I was fearful that I would not get much out of the program as my memory was not retaining information very well and I feared I would not be able to take notes fast enough. She said she would go with me and be my brain and note taker. I spoke with owner, Dave Orcutt, who overcame MS in 2002 and has not had any MS symptoms for eleven years now. He was such an encouragement to me. We signed up for the next program in August 2012.

It’s amazing to walk through the doors and to immediately feel like family. We stayed in the themed Lighthouse Room and were immersed into the program of educating us how to eat, how the body works, how to detox the body, how to prepare the foods and the best part was eating it all! Oh my gosh – this food was so good; not what I was expecting at all. I think the grocery trip and the restaurant trip was most enlightening for me. It showed me that we can live a very normal lifestyle and still adhere to the Hallelujah Lifestyle. Sherry is good at showing us tips, notes and gizmos on how to make life in the kitchen simple, fast and efficient.

Now for the good news. On December 6, 2012, four months after we left Plant City, I went to my MS doctor for a checkup. He did his normal routine testing and was shocked to see that all my mobility and agility tests were normal. He couldn’t believe it. I had energy, I spoke regular sentences, and my immune system had suddenly started working. He told me that I would not need to come back for checkups anymore. Woo Hoo! Another surprising thing; my body weight is quite low in the 90’s and I’ve actually gained on “this diet.” I now weigh 93 pounds. All the above mentioned symptoms are gone except for an occasional tingling in my fingers and toes and that only seems to happen if I eat a little something “off diet.” Living without stumbling, without vertigo and without MS has made this journey worth it. This is my new “LIFE DIET.”

People out there, “This is so doable. It takes some time to get into the mindset that this is a Lifestyle Change, not a diet. You can live a normal life on this plan and my biggest advice to everyone would be “to never give up.”

Karen PineEditor’s Note: I remember when Karen first arrived, how depressed she was about her condition. I told her we were a ministry of renewed hope, that there are other ways to heal the body, that God was in control of it all and that I had great expectations that she could do this, just like Dave did. Her first taste of BarleyMax was hilarious, as pictured. But today, she realizes that this is life-giving nutrition. I’ve never quite seen someone make such an amusing face at the consumption of it. Within a few days, we started to see some energy emerge and by the end of the five day stay, Karen was very excited to go home and apply all that she had learned. I told her she had the dedication and devotion required to get the job done and get rid of disease. I knew you could do it, Karen.

See part of Karen's testimony on the following video: http://youtu.be/31lToud2sv8