John's Story

Co-Enzyme Q10
B-12 Lozenge
Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Lactobacilli Non-Dairy
L-Glutathione
Burdock
Chamomile
Milk Thistle
Green Tea
Bromelaine
Peppermint Oil
Vitamin C
Vitamin E

This is a partial list of the supplements John takes every day. Over 100 pills a day. These supplements cost us an average of $120 per week. He also takes a line up of prescription medications. The co-pays for those? Plenty.

As I mentioned in my previous post, he also sees a naturopath once a week. The cost for that visit? Another hundred. Plus the cost to drive 3 hours one way every Friday, grab dinner on the way back...

Add to that the cost of at least 2 or 3 additional doctors' visits each month. Let's just say that we will have no problem reaching the threshold to deduct medical expenses on our taxes this year.

But the value of John's health? Priceless.

In honor of John's birthday today, and for all of you who asked or expressed joy over his improvement: here is his story.

Two months before Giuliana was born, in October 2007, John started to feel a sharp and stabbing pain in his abdomen. We had no idea the cause of it. It literally came on suddenly, in the course of an afternoon, and has never really gone away since then.

At first we assumed he must have been having some sort of acute attack...gall or kidney stones, something like that. Blood work and ultrasounds showed no cause for the pain. After a few weeks he developed a high fever and was in agonizing pain. He was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with hepatitis A. He was treated for hep A and was released from the hospital a week later. Still in pain.

Over the course of the next year, while taking care of a newborn, John had procedure and test after procedure and test. He had his gallbladder removed. He had a GI procedure called an ERCP that ended up causing acute pancreatitis that left him hospitalized for 2 weeks with a central PIC line. Two weeks later he was back in the hospital to have a stent left over from the ERCP removed and that ended up causing him to be in the hospital another week.

We saw doctor after doctor. Primary care, gastroenterologists, communicable disease specialists, endocrinologists,  psychologists, psychiatrists, anesthesiologists. Countless emergency room visits. Up and down, back and forth, good days and bad days, but no diagnosis, no cure. Always pain.

Eventually, in early 2009, we exhausted all the local doctors and resources. We had tried going up to Syracuse, the closest "big city" but had bad experiences there as well. So, we moved on. We went to Albany to see a neurologist, nada. We were referred to a GI specialist in New York City. It meant leaving our daughter with family, driving down to New York, spending the night with John's aunt in Brooklyn, a long day in the city and another long drive home. They did tests, they tried new meds. It still didn't help. They referred us to an anesthesiologist in the City. He was great and really tried to help. Medications, patches, electrical stimulators. Some of it helped, to a point. But, still, the pain was always there. John took 3 long leaves of absence from work because he was just unable to function. Back and forth, good days and bad days...

By spring of 2010 we were spent. We did not know where to turn. He was hoping to be able to attend graduate school in the fall, but honestly, it looked quite doubtful he would be able to handle it. We were coping day to day, it was tenuous. He still wasn't able to work a full week most of the time. He had no endurance. His energy and reserves were used up and his body was just plain tired from being in pain.

John began to see another psychologist to try to learn to cope with the constant pain. After a few weeks, this psychologist said, "you know, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I see this guy in New Jersey and the only way I can describe him is as a 'miracle worker.' I would like to call him and see if he would meet with you." John came home and we discussed it. "Miracle worker?" I asked incredulously? Really? I googled the man, Roland Ramos, and his office, Hands of Care. Nothing. People were telling us this guy was world famous, worked with celebrities, cured people of stage 4 cancer. But I couldn't find him on the web. I was skeptical. John was skeptical. The psychologist told John the next week, "I called him. He is not accepting new patients. His practice is full. But I explained your situation and he is willing to see you. He will make an exception for you." Another long discussion at home. Should we try it? No way this was going to be covered by health insurance. Who was this guy? The psychologist described him as having "energy" in his hands. He touched you and you could feel it...warmth and healing. Sounds, weird, right? Yeah. It did to us, too.

We really had no other options. It was either go see this guy, reservations aside, or keep the status quo, which was barely maintaining us. So, without much hope that this was going to work, we went in May 2010. We left Giuliana again to spend the night with her grandparents, and made the 3 hour trip to Harrington Park, NJ after work one sunny afternoon. We stopped at a rest stop along the way and spontaneously decided to have 2 chocolate ice cream cones. That turned out to be John's farewell to both chocolate and ice cream...but we didn't know it at the time.

I'm struggling with how to describe to you our experience at Roland's office. I don't want this to come across sounding hokey, or like we found some sort of Messiah or modern shaman. But Roland truly does have a gift. I don't even really know what to call what he does. He's a naturopath and uses herbs and supplements and natural healing methods. But he was also previously a hospital administrator. So he knows modern medicine. He does a lot of talk therapy, but he's not really a psychologist or a counselor. He does incredible energy work with his hands, but I don't know that it's actually reiki  or anything similar. He just does what he has been given a gift to do, and it works. He's also physically not what you'd expect. I was picturing some youngish middle-aged hippie, tall and thin, with long hair, maybe birkenstocks, definitely a crystal hanging around his neck. Nope. He is an average looking grandpa type. Favors argyle sweaters and a comb over. No crystals.

So we arrived. The office is a beautiful and cozy complex on a quiet side road in the middle of suburban New Jersey. There is a gorgeous landscaped koi pond in the parking area and a peaceful meditative garden filled with gnomes. The office is a part of Roland's house which is show-stoppingly beautiful. And it all works together to create a peaceful and healing environment. Still, I was skeptical when we walked in the door.

Roland had John lay down on a massage table. He told us he uses his hands to heal and not to be alarmed if John felt a very warm sensation as he touched him. He also looked John dead in the eye and said, "You are going to be healed. I have no doubts. It might take some time, and you have to do everything I say, but you will be healed." Ummm. Ok.... I didn't know what to make of that statement. John and I both described his pain and the ordeal he'd been through over it. Roland listened and asked a few probing questions but mostly he moved his hand over John's body, about an inch above him, concentrating on his abdomen. All of the sudden he yanked his hand away as if he was pulling something out of John's body. Roland never touched him, and John had his eyes closed. But John's whole body physically jerked and he let out a little yelp. Roland told him to be calm and just continue talking. Roland kept sweeping his hands over John's body concentrating on his abdomen and his head, every so often jerking his hand away. Everytime, John jumped. It was eerie.

After several minutes of this, Roland stopped John. He told him that he had felt, through his hands, that John has a very severe allergy to milk and milk products. He told us that this allergy was eating John's stomach and intestines up and they were filled with toxic by-products. He said, "let me guess, you love to drink milk...probably chocolate milk, am I right? And you eat a lot of pizza with cheese, ice cream, cereal?" Hmmm. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. He said, "you have to completely cut out dairy. No milk products. None at all." This was probably one of the worst things, in John's opinion, that he could have said. John looooooooves chocolate milk and drank gallons of it. He is Italian, so most meals include something dripping with cheese. A bowl of cereal is one of John's comfort foods, what he turns to when he is in pain and needs to eat but can't handle anything heavy. Not anymore, according to Roland. And he made this determination without a single test, scan, or scope.

Roland told us he wanted to meet with John once a week for a while until they were able to get things under control. He gave him a list of supplements to take every day and again stressed completely cutting out milk, along with, for the time being, beef and citrus, to give his stomach a rest.

The drive home that evening was interesting. We had a long talk about whether to give this a shot or not. I mean, how could he possibly know that John was allergic to milk without doing any tests? But what about that weird energy work he was doing? John said he could feel his hands moving over his body even though Roland wasn't touching him. He said he could feel his pain welling up and concentrating under Roland's hands, and when he pulled his hands away, John could feel energy and pain pull from his body. He said when Roland held his hands over John's head, he felt peace and relaxing energy. So we didn't really know what to make of it. My advice was, you've tried everything else and nothing has worked, why not give it a shot? If it doesn't work, what have you really lost? But maybe there's a chance it will work. And I also said, "if you decide to do it, you have to really do it. You have to listen to him and do everything he says."

And he has. For 9 months now.  He takes all the supplements. He found a carob rice milk that staunches his craving for chocolate milk. He hasn't had cheese, ice cream, a bowl of cereal or any other milk product since that last ice cream cone (including chocolate! I couldn't do that!) He is just now adding beef and citrus back into his diet in small amounts. And it's worked!!!! In the first 2 months John dropped 25 lbs. He said he could feel toxic sludge leaving his system. He has been able to cut back on the prescription medications he takes and his goal is to eliminate most of them over time. He is completely off of narcotic pain relievers. He is able to work and play with Giuliana and help me around the house (we even scraped and painted our garage this summer which was a huuuugggeee project. He never would have been able to do that 2 years ago.) And he is going to grad school, something else he wouldn't have been able to handle before. He is enjoying life again.

We continue to see Roland once a week. It's still a long trip to make, but about 6 months ago we started taking Giuliana with us so we didn't loose so much time with her each week. She loves going to "Dr. Rowand's" and is an absolute angel on the trip. She occupies herself for the entire car ride, mostly looking out the window and talking to us. She has made friends with the people in the office and feels at home there. And she looks forward to our dinner date afterward, often ordering her own food when the waitress comes to the table :)

And I have turned into a believer. This guy, as weird as it sounds, really does have a gift. He is a miracle-worker. We have met other people who he's worked with, people who have recovered from multiple sclerosis, stage 4 cancer, thyroid disorders and chronic pain. Roland, Dawn, and Lisa are becoming family. The office is like a welcome respite each week.

This sign hangs in the entrance hall at Roland's office. It sums up the feeling and atmosphere there pretty well, because the healing Roland does is not just physical, but spiritual and emotional as well. John still has a ways to go, there is still break through pain now and then. But the transformation has been amazing. I am more grateful than I can express.