I first started feeling ill in 1996. It took the doctors a year to diagnose my illness as ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. So, there I was in the doctor’s office in August of 1997 and the doctor told me that there was no help for me – no treatment and no cure. I sat there trying to think of something intelligent to ask. So, after a minute I thought, well I’ll ask him what he would do if he were me. I asked him and he said, “Well, I would retire from work, go to Florida, buy a trailer and wait to die.” I drove home very depressed.

Shortly after that visit to the doctor I kept an appointment with my chiropractor, who was also a good friend, and talked to him about my diagnosis. He talked to me at length about taking antioxidants and I started on them immediately. For the next nine months I read everything there was to read about vitamins. I ordered vitamins from companies all over the world. The problem was, with every combination of vitamins I took, they worked well for a while and I would feel better – then they would seem to stop having any effect after a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, my overall general well-being was deteriorating and it was getting more and more difficult to keep a positive attitude. I have always been self-sufficient so it was difficult for me to begin to lose the edge of my independence as the disease progressed. My wife was very supportive, as were my stepchildren and the faculty at school. But even with their help it was becoming hard to stay upbeat. You see, it was as if my life was on a timeline and I was looking for a way to stop the deterioration and live again in such a way that I didn’t have to think about the ‘timeline’ every day.

By August of 1998, a year after diagnosis, I was experiencing severe symptoms of ALS. I could only walk sixty-six steps without stopping and resting. My mouth severely drooped on the left side and I was losing my ability to write or button my buttons with my right hand. I refused to allow anyone to help me dress and learned to use a pair of needle nose pliers to grab the button and push it through the button hole on my shirts. My left foot tingled with ‘pins and needles’ all the time and I had a very noticeable limp with a ‘drop foot’. My balance was seriously affected and my speech was extremely slurred. As bad as all of that was, the fact that I had extreme difficulty swallowing was the worst part. For most people swallowing is a natural reflex and they don’t even think about it. In July of 1998, in order for me to swallow I had to consciously concentrate on what my throat was doing. I was constantly in danger of choking – and it had become life threatening. Most ALS patients choke to death on their own phlegm.

Then, one day in late July, while doing some work on a lady’s house I met a gentleman. He saw me limping around and when I took one of my frequent breaks, he and I struck up a conversation. He said, “You need to be drinking more water.” I agreed, but told him I didn’t like the taste of water. He offered me a glass of water with X2O in it and it tasted great! He sold me a one-month supply and I started using it every day. Approximately two weeks after I began using it on a normal maintenance program, I started to feel better.

Shortly after that first meeting with him he introduced me to the owner of Xooma Worldwide’s parent company, The Health Network. After hearing about the products, I began using several of them on a daily basis. About a month later I could tell the difference in my body as the deterioration had seemed to stop. After another conversation a few weeks later, I doubled what I was taking. I had started with X2O and now regularly take Berry Balance, Omega 3/75 and Assimilator.

I have been using Xooma’s products for 17 years. My symptoms are almost completely gone. I no longer have any difficulty swallowing and the drooping in my mouth has almost completely disappeared. My once noticeable limp has now gone away and my speech has greatly improved and is only very slightly slurred. I can walk unlimited steps and my balance is only a “little off” once in a while. My writing has returned to normal and I no longer have any difficulty buttoning my buttons. I am working full-time in my position as a high school guidance counselor, I continue to paint houses on the side, and I take regular vacations.

Xooma has given me my whole life back. For my continued health and well-being, I have made a commitment to taking these products for the rest of my life. The only thing I have changed in my diet since beginning my regimen of Xooma’s products is that I no longer drink any soft drinks or coffee. I take Vitamin C and Vitamin E on a daily basis. I get a deep muscle massage once a week to release toxins from my muscles, and I have a fifteen-minute Reflexology session following the massage. I want to stress to those reading this that I am not saying if you take vitamins for a few days you will be cured. As I said earlier, this is a lifetime commitment to wellness.

Amazingly, there are people who, while watching my progress into wellness, have actually suggested that I was misdiagnosed and never had ALS at all. My response to them is, “Does it really matter?” You see, I know that I was very ill and near death. Now I know that I am better and getting better every day. What does it matter what they call something if there is nothing they can do about it? I had all of the symptoms of ALS and that is what doctors at MCV (Medical College of Virginia) diagnosed me as having.

If it hadn’t been for Xooma, I believe I would be dead or in a wheelchair by now. Out of five people I know who were diagnosed about the same time as me, two have died and two are in wheelchairs with failing health. I am the only one who is still up and walking around and feeling great.

I have tried to get others with ALS to listen to my story about Xooma’s products and, sadly, the answer I most often receive from them is, “I am going to do exactly what my doctor tells me.” Many years ago I might have agreed with them, but not today. Now, I have decided two things. First, a person’s health is totally up to them. Nobody is going to care about your health the way you do. The second is no matter how you feel you cannot really, one hundred percent, describe it to anyone else. So, only you can really see the differences going on in your life. Doctors have a place in our society. But when they tell you there is nothing they can do for you, then you have to look elsewhere and not give up. Doctors are valuable, but they don’t know everything about how to heal oneself naturally.

My goal today is to live a healthy life. I refuse to settle for a wheelchair or an untimely death. With Xooma, a positive attitude, and the rest of my daily regimen, I believe that I can do what it takes to be healthy for a long time to come. I am so grateful to my family, and the faculty at my school, as well as everyone at Xooma for being positive and supportive of me. Even when times were very difficult and it was hard for my wife and my peers, they did their best to help me keep a positive outlook.

I strongly urge anyone to take a look at what Xooma has to offer, no matter your disease or health condition. It may work for you just like it has for me and thousands of others!