Scleroderma is medically defined as an autoimmune disease that attacks collagen.

Collagen is what gives our bodies softness and stretch.  Some people get collagen injections in their skin to soften wrinkles.  Collagen is in every organ that stretches, and in 37% of the cases, this disease “hardens your heart and lungs, your inspiration and heart desire,” resulting in death. 

Scleroderma is the coolest disease I have ever heard of! 

This case study is Dr. Stone.  I loved Scleroderma!  Meaning I appreciated the symbolism and gave my un-wellness Love.  Well, except the moments it ached and throbbed in severe pain, or when it itched so intensely I tore the hardened skin off my “zombie” hand.  

I loved Scleroderma because it brought me a message.  It said, “love your softness.”

In another healing story, when one or my kiddos had a weepy, ulcerative rash, I posted on facebook, “does anyone know the name of this skin condition the kids have,” along with a picture of our daughter Amory’s arm.  

A caretaker momma quickly answered, “Impetigo.”  I looked it up and sure enough, she was a wise caretaker.  I thanked her and said, “bummer, I was hoping for something more deadly.”    

Someone took that to mean I wished my people would die, or at least suggested that it could be taken that way.  

Misunderstood.  I love healing.

I’ve been misunderstood most of my life.  What I meant was, I enjoy healing, and hoped for a challenge.  I wanted to offer hope where there is none. 

I have cared for many people who were offered no hope, and Nature seems to provide relief and a healing trend, nearly every time.  My softness feels the pain of no hope, so I have an enthusiasm for facing it.  I want to offer relief and demonstrate that we can have faith in Healing, God and Nature.  

My family wasn’t worried or fearful.  No matter what it was.  One time, our kids were using imagination to consider a bad result, and asked what I would do if Westy, our youngest, were killed.  I said, “please get his mother, I don’t know if I could take that pain.”  And Sacred said, “What?  You heal everything.  I bet you could heal that, too.” 

I loved her confidence in me, and said, “You are right, come get me, and I will do my best.“

Scleroderma is one of those hopeless conditions.  I treated a patient diagnosed with Scleroderma, and asked how “the diagnosis” went.   

He said it was like breaking the news of stage 4 cancer.  No hope.  No help. 

But DrStone knows Nature and Healing, so I wasn’t worried about what I couldn’t do, I was excited to experience another level of what I could do.  

Naming diseases is not one of my strengths, so as Scleroderma took over my hand, I had no idea what was happening.  The first sign started around the time of my Appendicitis Adventure, as a little scab on the side of my left index finger.  (If you call that a little scab.)

My first concern was that there was no trauma.  A scrape or cut was my only prior experience of scabbing.  My second concern was that it wasn’t healing.  It just hung around, showing it’s ugliness. 

Whatever ‘that ugliness’ was, really got my attention when it began to spread and crack open.  To that observation, the first named diagnosis I guessed was “flesh eating bacteria!!?”  

I wouldn’t be frightened of that either, because I have faith in God and Nature.  God offered plants, like Larrea, which is the only thing on this planet research documented to kill Naegleria Fowleri, an infection that causes PAM, or Primary Ameobic Meningoencephalopathy. 

What’s that?

It is called the brain-eating-ameoba.  It enters a person through the nose, while swimming in fresh water lakes and ponds in the south, or in hot springs.  This ameoba is attaches to your olfactory nerves, and climbs up into the brain and liquifies it.  Since 1962, only 5 people have survived PAM, and doctors have no better explanation than God.

Sorry to all the Pam’s, I didn’t name it.

Researchers, out of sheer desperation, tested the effectiveness of Larrea against Naegleria Fowleri.  Researchers are healers at heart, and want to help the people stricken with this horrifying infection, but no drug will touch it.  Their only accomplishment to date, was to name it.

Desperation

That seems to be the path to True Health, and it was their path to Nature and a plant called Larrea.  They didn’t have a patient to test it on, because once it makes the climb, you have two weeks to live.  So they carefully preserved a culture of this resilient creature in a petri dish so they could keep trying.  

An antibiotic so strong that it causes vomiting with nearly every dose couldn’t kill PAM.  But Larrea eliminated PAM from the dish, and I have used Larrea to swish in my mouth, because it’s so healing.  

Nature always wins in my experience. I’m sure this amoeba has a purpose in this world, and Nature offered Larrea, just in case you crossed paths.   Awww, She loves us.  (1)

I respond to any vulnerability with strength and healing. 

In my case, which plants will strengthen and heal my poor skin??  I started taking True Yeast Relief, with Cat’s Claw and Pau’D Arco.   It will resolve chronic yeast and candida infection, even without being perfect. Even if you continue bread, alcohol, and sugar, as long as you are reasonable. 

Pau’D Arco gave hope to doctors in Brazil.  In animal models, Pau’D Arco reduced the inflammation and joint damage of rheumatoid arthritis vs a placebo.  

I understand that animals might respond differently than humans, but with no reported side effects, there was no reason to not give it a try.  I didn’t get what I wished for.

My Scleroderma spread and deepened.  It wasn’t deep enough to bleed, but it was weeping so much I had to wear a glove in clinic because five bandaids couldn’t cover it.  

My clinic manager described it accurately as my “zombie hand.”  That was the most accurate diagnosis so far. 

I tested for more strength, and added True Tissue Heal with Calendula and Gotu Kola. 

In my spare time, I was researching.  I searched ‘Gotu Kola and Skin Conditions,’ and found the name of my suffering.  

I found a study from Russia that suggested Gotu Kola was effective in the treatment of Scleroderma.  Medicine has nothing to offer, so these doctors looked to our history.  Gotu Kola has been written about for 3000 years, for it’s value in healing skin problems, but there was no published research.  With no known side effects, they said, “let’s see for ourselves,” and gave Gotu Kola to a group of patients with Scleroderma. 

Ulceration, redness and hardening of the skin were all improved.  They witnessed a healing trend and shared their results.  (2)

I vaguely recollect being taught “Scleroderma” in college and I am pretty sure I was not taught a solution.   

I searched ‘Scleroderma’ to help recall what I had learned, which I shared at the beginning of this story.  Medicine acknowledges that they have “nothing that improves disease progression.”  They just wish you luck, and when your stomach hardens they give you acid blockers.  When your lungs harden, they give you oxygen.  And when your heart hardens, they give you a certificate of death.  

But only in 37% if the cases.  Almost 2/3rds of the cases don’t progress to the heart, and your only problem is a skin condition that throbs with pain that pushed my threshold for taking pain, and itched so badly that I scratched chunks of skin off my body.  

Scleroderma, the attack on my softness, was climbing up my left arm, now past the wrist, but I was still certain that Nature could and would win.  

I added more strength.  True Vessel Care, with Southern Prickly Ash.  We offer this blend for hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and to generally improve circulation.   

The CDC lists five fungal infections that are a threat to human-kind.  Southern Prickly Ash is research proven to kill three of them.  (3)  Could it be, that the root cause of my autoimmune disease was a fungal infection, and this plant could resolve the root of my suffering?  

Or, could it bring nourishment to heal my zombie hand because of it’s circulatory benefits?  

Not quite.  I moved into the aching and itching phase.  When it throbbed, I couldn’t move.  I just sat and winced and waited.  Patiently.

When it itched, I couldn’t stop from tearing at my open wounds.  I didn’t want to damage my hand, so I stretched my resources for help.   I have a electronic acu-stim device that I haven’t found a use for in clinic, quite yet, but I was certain it’s use would emerge, evidenced by its purchase.  I personally experienced  this use:  It scratches an itch without damaging the skin. 

With my acu-stim I could deal with the flare ups without damaging my skin further, but I was still losing ground as the ‘un-acceptance of softness’ which Doctor’s named Scleroderma, reached up into my forearm.  

I can’t recall if I muscle tested ‘weak’ to wheat / gluten sensitivity to tip me off or not (I don’t take clinic notes on my own suffering), but somehow I noticed a ‘delayed hypersensitivity reaction.’  

A delayed hypersensitivity reaction is like a food allergy, but it doesn’t reveal the stress until the next day or up to five days later.  That is what my education offered, but I had never seen it in person.  

I have pizza often enough that I noticed  a pattern.  My most extreme flare-ups occurred 3 days after any form of gluten or wheat.  Begrudgingly, I stopped wheat, and added Agrimony.  Agrimony is the plant that helped me through Appendicitis, and what I check most frequently with food allergies and sensitivities.  

In Korea, Agrimony is considered quite useful for healing the hurt of junk food.  They discovered that it works by decreasing the inflammatory effects of processed foods.

Could it be, that I found the perfect strength?

I started Agrimony and stopped wheat for a couple weeks and I clearly saw a healing trend!  

But I hated gluten free pizza, so with evidence of healing, I  ordered a pizza I liked, in celebration.  Three days later, I paid the price.  

You might wonder why I would do something, like eating pizza, when it had caused me such pain.  I agree, I may have been less physically pained if I had waited longer, but my softness wants ‘hearts desire.’    

The discomfort of gluten free pizza coupled with the discomfort of not having what I wanted, was worth the risk.  And, I was pretty certain Nature would get me there, so I kept testing.  

Another two weeks of no pizza.  I added Maca, a root vegetable often offered as a boost to your smoothies.  

Doctors from the Czech Republic read the stories about Maca.  No research, but so many stories.  They decided to see for themselves, and concluded: “Maca possesses fertility enhancing properties.”  (4)

We offer Maca in True PMS Ease.  It has offered many women relief from cramping and moodiness.  

Could it be, that my healing needed the strength of reproduction on a cellular level.  Cell reproduction is how our bodies heal, and Maca offers plenty.  

My healing trend increased pace.  

I still had several more “pizza fails,” but the price was decreasing over time.  I  was winning, so I leaned into the plants that gave me strength, and every 2 weeks, I tested if I was strong enough for pizza.  

Eventually I won. It took me over a year, because I was not taught how to heal incurable diseases in my education to become a doctor. I had to learn by trial and error. 

I still ponder,  would those plants have healed this painful, potentially fatal, incurable disease, had I not appreciated the symbolism and embraced my softness. 

My sensitivity, my awkwardness, the discomfort of my existence.  My feminine.  

Most women are tough, like Betty Davis says, “who the hell decided ‘balls’ was toughness.  Those things are delicate and sensitive.  If you want toughness, grow a vagina.” 

Now that I realized I’m not here for my hardness, I can direct my softness to healing.  I’m just learning, because where I came from, “there ain’t no thing quite like me, except me.”  Or maybe we were all pretending to be something we weren’t, I don’t know.

Just like my allergies, my Scleroderma, created by God, and named by real doctors, still WARNS me of boundaries.  If I push too far, I will suffer.

Only now my reaction isn’t to wheat or pollen, it is to conditional love.  If there is an upset with my partner, a patient, or anyone, a scab pops up, and my knuckles harden.  It reminds me to love unconditionally, and protect the innocent, the mommas, the softness, the feminine, and to heal our warriors.