Errol's Story - Constipation and Colonic Inertia

I am 74 years old. For a long time I was struggling with insomnia and constipation. Otherwise, I was in great health. I exercised every day and ate a healthy diet. But when night time came I felt the dread of going to sleep. And when I awoke in the morning I felt the dread of being constipated. My life became these conditions and I felt that I was sinking into a dark, deep hole in which I could not get out.
 
I managed my constipation with a variety of known methods: fiber powders, stool softeners, enemas and colonic irrigation. It worked for a long time, but last summer 2015, my success came to a halt. I had these roiling gas attacks and was very blocked up. The last colonic irrigation I had did not remove any fecal matter. It just did not work at all. I went to my Internist and she prescribed the medication Linzess which had no positive impact at all.
 
It all came to a head one morning when I felt that I just could not go on any longer like this. I went to the emergency room at the local hospital. They took an x-ray and showed me that I had what’s called a “fecal impaction” which is a large amount of dry hard stool stuck in my rectum and colon. That picture really frightened me. The doctor prescribed the liquid you drink for a colonoscopy prep called Golytely (Go-litely). For the next two days I had diarrhea. But my hopes were dashed when in a few short days I was constipated again.
 
I called my internist and said I need more help. She referred me to Harsha Vittal, MD (I want you to know his name). I went to him with my wife. I filled out many forms. I sat in the consulting room for a while. Dr. Vittal finally walked in and stood up in front of me and said; “You have ruined your colon with stool softeners and enemas. There is nothing anyone can do for you. You will be lucky to go to the bathroom three times a week.  And in ten years you will probably need a colostomy bag.” Essentially he said, “You are doomed”.
 
As my wife and I drove home, I felt like Dr. Vittal gave me a death sentence. The end of my life as I knew it. I was still working and very engaged in life but now I was heading for a DEAD END!
 
But I am a fighter. I never give up. So I went home and said to God, find me someone who can help me! And I began a google search and when I found the name of Russell Mariani, something in me said, “Yes.”  And when I read his website in detail, especially testimonials about people with constipation problems who were healed, I felt a flicker of hope. (Yes, just a flicker of hope because I was convinced I probably had a more severe condition than other people, a belief that was hard to shake even during the beginning of my work with Russell.)
 
I wrote (emailed) to Russell telling him the story about Dr. Vittal that I just shared above and he wrote back to me on July 17, 2015:
 
Hi Errol,
 
“You are not doomed. Thanks for reaching out to me. There is a safe, effective solution. 74 is young. My oldest client with colonic inertia and extreme constipation was 93 and she got better quickly and had normal bms for the rest of her life. She lived to be 99.”
 
“And yes, I do coaching. Teaching people how to heal themselves from a variety of digestive system disorders (including constipation-colonic inertia) is my full-time job and has been for over 35 years.  The cost for an Initial Consultation is minimal. For more information about that, please read the information below and attached. Please feel free to call me any time to discuss your situation. I repeat. You are NOT doomed. All will be well soon, if you let me show you how to correct this problem. It’s safe and it’s easy.”
 
The following week, I attended my son’s wedding - actually I was the officiating minister at that wedding. The word got out that I was going to try to heal my constipation issues with someone I found on the internet. At least five of my friends during that day did their best to dissuade me from this choice. They said to me: How did I know it was not a scam?  How can you trust the internet?  I once tried alternative care and ended up worse than I started. One older woman simply said, “You are too old for this problem to heal, you just have to live with it.”
 
Their resistance to my plan just made my resolve stronger to attempt this path; with the fear that if it did not work, I would have fingers pointing at me saying, “I told you so.”
 
The first strategy Russell used with me was to send me some information to consider and suggested that I read his book. I think he was trying to engage my mind into a new and positive direction. My emotions were skeptical and doubting and I was frightened that nothing was going to work for me. This was a useful first step. Of all the materials he sent me, I really was impressed with the five root causes of all digestive disorders; an essay on his website.
 
If you work with Russell you will soon realize he is the most positive, supportive, encouraging human being you ever met. Well, he was for me.
 
He wrote this to me about a thousand times during our work together; okay, maybe a little less than a thousand times…
 
“Your situation is not different than many of my clients, as you will discover. You will be fine. All we have to do is take one step at a time.”
 
We began our healing journey together at the end of July.  I am not going to comment on my specific routine because I know that is different for everyone. But I did attempt to do almost everything he suggested. Because I was overall pretty healthy, I did not need to make major changes in my diet. Russell said to eat organic quality healthy whole foods. I got the water filter he suggested so our water was pure.  
 
I have always been a disciplined person, so the challenge of taking the various supplements and sending in the reports was not a great challenge. In fact, I felt that the record keeping itself was healing. I actually liked keeping track of things especially when the larger releases (of bms) began to happen. Those reports made me feel successful.
 
And here is an amazing fact: during the first month of my colon cleanse I released over a 100 feet of backed up bms. I began to feel more hopeful and lighter, but still with periodic fears that this positive change would not last. I was to realize that changing the conditioning in my mind was more challenging than releasing the bms from my colon. I remember one time when Russell said, “Your only problem is between your ears.”
 
Now it is January, 2016.  I found something to help me go to sleep at night with a better medicine that has no side effects (another miracle).  And I have been successful for a while now, with periodic days that have had less output.  One phrase that Russell said to me over and over and over and over was: VARIATION IS NORMAL, AS LONG AS YOU STAY WITH THE PROGRAM YOU WILL NOT RETURN TO CONSTIPATION.
 
I have more energy now than I had prior to beginning my healing journey. I used to take a nap every day and now I have enough energy to last me through the entire day and night.
 
One insight that I had during my healing program with Russell was this: I had gotten into the “insulting habit” of my mind taking over and managing my dysfunctional colon. My mind was in charge of selecting the next strategy to get the bms out. My mind decided when I should go to the bathroom and when to go to war with my colon which included sitting on the toilet and straining and pushing out the bms with all my might. I had done these things for years before meeting Russell. It was a breakthrough in my understanding that my mind had to begin trusting my colon to know when it was time for me to go. It was important for my mind to trust that the colon cleanse had actually healed my “doomed” colon and I could trust it now to do the work for me and with me. I learned to cooperate with my body and my colon and stop being in such frantic competition with myself.
 
Today I understand the value of Russell’s program and that it is in fact a safe, effective, step by step intestinal regeneration program. I know because this is exactly what I experienced over the weeks and months we worked together.
 
I have made the decision to continue using small amounts of the herbal products called herbalmucil plus and intestinal formula number one. They are natural, organic, wild crafted products and simply make my elimination better. Russell assures me that as time goes by, I will need these products less and less.
 
I have still decided to measure my bms and keep my charts. Russell did not require this, this is something I did and continue to do because I find it useful.  I am still in the process of encouraging myself when I encounter what I perceive as the slower days. On many days I still release a very large amount of bm. Last week on one day I only released thirty-seven inches but the next day I released eighty inches. Doing my charting keeps me stable and calmer and helps my mind continue to deepen the trust of my healing process.
 
Russell is an amazing support person.  When I began he told me that even after we completed our program successfully, he would be there for me if any issues were to come up. He was there for me for this lifetime!  And he suggested that once a year we reconnect and I do a shorter colon cleanse to tune up my colon and keep it working in the most healthy way possible.
 
I just want to say to anyone reading this: It does not matter how much you have suffered and it does not matter how old you are, Russell will take you by the hand and lead you gently on the path of healing. 
 
Errol Schubot, age 74
Psychotherapist
Saratoga, California
January, 2016