This letter from a reader is remarkable for several reasons:

1. Along with the physical healing protocols, he delved headfirst into emotional healing (which is crucial).

2. Tom was never able to take ANY supplements before using my protocols and addressing his emotional issues.

I love the amount of detail Tom’s wife has given us in her email, and I hope you find it encouraging and also helpful in your own healing journey.

Here is Tom’s story, told by his amazingly supportive wife:

“After 35 years of trying to manage Crohn’s Disease, we have never seen such an improvement in Tom’s health. From 2002 through 2016 he had been on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), experiencing some relief along with flare ups and a few partial bowel obstructions. He weaned off Humira in December 2016. Strictures from an original bowel resection back in ’82 finally brought us to a crossroads in January 2017. We knew how seriously ill Tom was when he lost more than 25 lbs. He was becoming weak and lethargic. I read both books, Listen to Your Gut and The IBD Remission Diet, in order to learn everything I needed to know about Jini’s protocols. Some days I felt I was on overload as I cared for my sick husband while formulating the extensive supplement schedule for him to follow.

Tom began the IBD Remission Diet with a partial Elemental Diet for 4 weeks (the only food he ate was chopped chicken, fish, applesauce, and squash). During this time we slowly introduced all the recommended supplements. By week 4, Tom was ready to go full elemental, consuming 6 Absorb Plus shakes per day. He felt good. No cramps, gas, or bloating. His bowels were loose, but we understood that was part of being on a liquid diet.

All of Tom’s life he has been unable to take supplements, but now he was tolerating Calcium Ascorbate, Quercetin, Grapeseed Extract, Vit. E, Vit. D, Natren probiotics, Joy of the Mountains oil of oregano, George’s Aloe Vera Juice… and everything worked very well! We were excited and hopeful for the future. I referred back to both books on a daily basis, constantly refreshing my knowledge of what to look for and what to do if we hit a snag. And we did hit a few snags and had some setbacks. I ‘chatted’ online with Chris at ListenToYourGut.com, and even phoned in on more than one occasion. Always, I received encouragement and the assurance that we were not alone in this journey!

From Jini’s suggestion in the book, Tom began having Cranial Sacral Therapy and also NAET Allergy Testing. He also does nightly castor oil packs over his stricture area and I perform abdominal massage along with some reflexology. This definitely seems to be softening the stricture and helping things to pass.

Tom has also benefited from Hemmorheal – wow, that worked almost immediately and he was so grateful! But most important, he has been working through some deep emotional issues that he feels sure has contributed to the disease process all these years. That perhaps has been the hardest part of this recovery, but a necessary part all the same. All I can say is that much, much prayer has gone into everything we are doing, and the results speak for themselves.

I would say the only difficulty Tom is having right now is that he has not gained any weight back. Unfortunately he no longer seems able to tolerate Absorb Plus, which is puzzling because he was on one shake a day for the last two years, and then 4-6 shakes during the Elemental Diet phase. We are wondering if he built up an intolerance to whey, because even when I switched over to Vital Whey, he experienced bloating and pain. Gaining weight back is our biggest challenge. He feels good, but just can’t seem to gain weight. (We also tried Sun Warrior rice protein, but he reacted to that as well.)

I would like to share some of the things that have helped Tom make such great progress:

– Moving very very slowly in introducing new foods, eating more fish than ever as it seems easier to digest.
– Continuing Jini’s Wild Oregano Oil Protocol, and taking Natren Probiotics three times per day. Also did the retention enema.
– George’s Aloe Vera, along with all supplements recommended in LTYG
– Nightly abdominal massage along with reflexology on his feet (this has made a huge difference in gas/bloating)
– Weekly cranial-sacral therapy (can’t say enough about these!)
– NAET (Nanputripad’s Allergy Elimination Treatment) to address food sensitivities
– Nightly Castor oil packs (from StrictureHeal protocol)

I believe Jini has made a valid point in her writings: perhaps if the SCD included probiotics (along with natural antibiotics such as Wild Oregano Oil) in its regimen, more people would have success with it. For Tom, this has made all the difference.

There are also some other components to the IBD Remission Diet that made a huge difference in Tom’s recovery. One key player was Absorb Plus which allowed him to go strictly elemental for several weeks, giving his bowel a total rest.
Each of the supplements brought healing as well: L-glutamine, Quercetin, Grapeseed Extract, CoQ10, Udo’s, George’s Aloe Vera Juice…all working together to deliver relief to his gut.” – S.Z.

1 YEAR LATER…

“I’m happy to say that one year later Tom is doing fantastic! We are so grateful to Jini and the staff at LTYG – they encouraged us along a very bumpy road.

I would just like to throw one thought out for consideration…. We recently found what appears to be the missing puzzle piece to Tom’s healing. We were doing everything right diet-wise (SCD) and supplement-wise (Jini’s protocol) but the one thing we never addressed was the Mind/Body Connection. After reading books by Dr. John Sarno and also Dr. Howard Schubiner, we began to see how powerfully the mind can affect the body. Tom purchased Dr. Schubiner’s book Unlearn Your Pain which taught him how to deal with anger, disappointment, even rage that he has suppressed for many years. Having his ilium removed 35 years ago left us resigned to the fact that formed stools were a thing of the past. But once these issues were dealt with, the pain, bloating, and “D” [diarrhea] disappeared!

I feel like my husband is back from a long journey. I can’t tell you how great it is to watch him gain weight, eat well, and feel great. Of course I don’t know if others will have similar results, but I believe Jini makes reference to the Mind/Body connection in her writings, and you may want to give this some serious thought.

Words cannot adequately express our appreciation for all that Jini and the folks at LTYG have done to make Tom’s recovery possible. I truly don’t know if he would be with us today if not for LTYG. Thank you for the support, methods, and tools available through LTYG. — Sincerely, S.Z.”

Our dialogue:

Me: Thank you SO MUCH for this very encouraging account of Tom’s healing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way you emphasize the mind/body connection and it is indeed absolutely crucial. I have put all my posts on this topic into a category here on the blog, so it would be great if you and Tom could work your way through them and continue going deeper on this journey.

One other thing I want to call your attention to – as it’s often ignored, or missed, because so much focus is on the person in crisis, is… How is YOUR healing journey going? What kind of support, massage, craniosacral, reflexology, do you receive on a regular basis? I encourage you now to turn some of your focus to your own body, to little-you, to soldier-you and check in with her – love and thank her, and see what she needs to support her journey into wholeness.

“Thank you, Jini, for your kind response in asking how MY healing journey is going. You are so right in pointing out that caregivers carry a heavy load! 35+ years of digging for answers, experimentation, worry and prayer has definitely taken its toll.

I hopped onto the cranial sacral table soon after Tom started his own therapy. It has been a wonderful, healing process for me as well. Lifelong back issues have cleared up, headaches are gone, Plantar Fasciitis disappeared… I could go on. I have also learned from my therapist how to lay hands on my husband’s abdomen to continue the healing process at home. What a blessing it has been to us both!

I’ve also studied the Mind/Body connection in relation to my own life and have found much emotional healing which will no doubt be good for my future health. So I’m happy to say that “soldier Sally” is definitely doing better than she has in years. God bless you for asking 🙂

P.S. 6 months have passed since I last wrote, and Tom is still doing great! I now make spelt sourdough bread, pasta and pizza… making him one very happy Italian” – S.Z.

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This account encourages me to write more about the emotional/spiritual aspects of healing in my books. I write a LOT about mind/body healing here on the blog, and also in my videos. But as I work on the 3rd Edition of Listen To Your Gut, I am going to bring this aspect out even further.

I am also creating a Workshop series – along with my herd of horses and invited therapists, called DIG DEEP: Healing the Roots of Chronic Dis-ease & Trauma – specifically to assist people along this crucial pathway of whole-body healing. Just make sure you’re subscribed to the blog here and I’ll let you know as it nears completion. 🙂