Russell Mariani, Digestive Wellness Expert and Author of Healing Digestive Illness
Mark's Story - Ulcerative Colitis
If you're reading this testimonial, you're likely in a place where I was late in 2007 and early 2008. At 47 years old, athletic all my life and in excellent physical condition. The last thing I was thinking when I went in for a routine colonoscopy in November of 2007 was that the procedure was going to trigger a much bigger problem. In fact, I had a routine colonoscopy 14 years earlier that was uneventful. So, digestive disease was not even close to being on my radar screen. I was prepared for the slight bleeding on the second day after the procedure. I went online and saw that this is common and I recalled a little blood after the first colonoscopy 14 years ago as well.
What I wasn't prepared for was the severe inflammation that took over my digestive system over the next 4 months as a result of the procedure. Funny, the doctors kept telling me that my ever worsening condition "couldn't" have been caused by the colonoscopy; that ulcerative colitis must be something I had been walking around with for awhile (without symptoms) and that something had "triggered" the onset of the unbearable digestive system dysfunction I was experiencing.
All I kept thinking was "Sure Doc, that something that triggered the problems WAS the colonoscopy!" I think my primary care physician of 15 years was most honest when he said that it was possible the colonoscopy could have been the trigger that caused the ulcerative colitis, but unlikely. Well I was convinced. I had no symptoms before the colonoscopy and everything was perfectly normal. Right after the colonoscopy? Well things went downhill fast. I had all the classic Ulcerative Colitis symptoms: abdominal pain, gas, frequency, urgency, bloody stools, mucous discharge and my mood and overall energy were getting less and less and darker and darker.
Two weeks after the colonoscopy came the biopsy results and a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Then came the traditional medical playbook to stop the inflammation, discomfort and 25 visits to the bathroom each day. After the first 30-day medical treatment I knew I was in trouble, big trouble. I can honestly say that after each successive 30-day period of 1) Canasa 2) Mesalamine 3) Cortaid prescription, I was considerably more symptomatic and significantly worse off than I was prior to beginning each new drug. In fact, way more symptomatic!
After scouring the web looking for commonality between my experience and others (it appeared I was at least in a large minority, if not majority when it came to my condition) I stumbled onto the www.healingdigestiveillness.com web-site. Was I desperate? You bet. With a wife, three active kids, a dog and company to run (I'm self-employed), not to mention a busy social life; I had already started down a path that looked like I would be losing all of these wonderful things. I was not a happy camper.
It's hard to even describe the negative thoughts and feelings I had back then because today I am completely fine. But back to my story.
It also appeared likely I was destined for a life of prednisone, non-alcoholic beer (now that's harsh), and maybe even surgery to remove part of my colon.
Now some of you reading this may be thinking to yourself; "Gee did this guy REALLY have the best doctors, diagnosis and treatment?" A personal friend of mine is a gastroenterologist at Mass General Hospital (one of the nation's leading research hospitals) and he was able to get me in to see THE top doctor (performing leading edge research) for my condition. I'm here to say that, after spending over an hour discussing my condition with him after another examination. I was convinced that best intentions notwithstanding, the good doctor had very little more to offer me in terms of treatment than the gastroenterologist that performed the routine colonoscopy. Interestingly enough, it was about this time that I learned that ulcerative colitis in children is
effectively treated (by modern medical practitioners) with diet. That was all I needed to hear.
I ordered Russell's book in March, read it, and started on his program immediately. I made some progress on my own but made significantly more progress once I started working with Russell directly over the phone. By end of June I was 100% asymptomatic; nada, nothing.
Actually, now that I've gone through the program I realize that my digestive system is working far better now than it was before I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I continue to adhere to a few common sense fundamentals that I learned from Russell; I stay hydrated, I eat slowly, I chew thoroughly, I take my supplements every day but other than that I can eat or drink anything I want at any time. I'm free and I am me again.
My humble opinion: If you're sick and feeling that there is no hope, then you having nothing to lose by putting yourself on Russell's program; except your digestive illness.
Cheers!
Mark from Massachusetts
age 47, September 2008
What I wasn't prepared for was the severe inflammation that took over my digestive system over the next 4 months as a result of the procedure. Funny, the doctors kept telling me that my ever worsening condition "couldn't" have been caused by the colonoscopy; that ulcerative colitis must be something I had been walking around with for awhile (without symptoms) and that something had "triggered" the onset of the unbearable digestive system dysfunction I was experiencing.
All I kept thinking was "Sure Doc, that something that triggered the problems WAS the colonoscopy!" I think my primary care physician of 15 years was most honest when he said that it was possible the colonoscopy could have been the trigger that caused the ulcerative colitis, but unlikely. Well I was convinced. I had no symptoms before the colonoscopy and everything was perfectly normal. Right after the colonoscopy? Well things went downhill fast. I had all the classic Ulcerative Colitis symptoms: abdominal pain, gas, frequency, urgency, bloody stools, mucous discharge and my mood and overall energy were getting less and less and darker and darker.
Two weeks after the colonoscopy came the biopsy results and a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Then came the traditional medical playbook to stop the inflammation, discomfort and 25 visits to the bathroom each day. After the first 30-day medical treatment I knew I was in trouble, big trouble. I can honestly say that after each successive 30-day period of 1) Canasa 2) Mesalamine 3) Cortaid prescription, I was considerably more symptomatic and significantly worse off than I was prior to beginning each new drug. In fact, way more symptomatic!
After scouring the web looking for commonality between my experience and others (it appeared I was at least in a large minority, if not majority when it came to my condition) I stumbled onto the www.healingdigestiveillness.com web-site. Was I desperate? You bet. With a wife, three active kids, a dog and company to run (I'm self-employed), not to mention a busy social life; I had already started down a path that looked like I would be losing all of these wonderful things. I was not a happy camper.
It's hard to even describe the negative thoughts and feelings I had back then because today I am completely fine. But back to my story.
It also appeared likely I was destined for a life of prednisone, non-alcoholic beer (now that's harsh), and maybe even surgery to remove part of my colon.
Now some of you reading this may be thinking to yourself; "Gee did this guy REALLY have the best doctors, diagnosis and treatment?" A personal friend of mine is a gastroenterologist at Mass General Hospital (one of the nation's leading research hospitals) and he was able to get me in to see THE top doctor (performing leading edge research) for my condition. I'm here to say that, after spending over an hour discussing my condition with him after another examination. I was convinced that best intentions notwithstanding, the good doctor had very little more to offer me in terms of treatment than the gastroenterologist that performed the routine colonoscopy. Interestingly enough, it was about this time that I learned that ulcerative colitis in children is
effectively treated (by modern medical practitioners) with diet. That was all I needed to hear.
I ordered Russell's book in March, read it, and started on his program immediately. I made some progress on my own but made significantly more progress once I started working with Russell directly over the phone. By end of June I was 100% asymptomatic; nada, nothing.
Actually, now that I've gone through the program I realize that my digestive system is working far better now than it was before I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. I continue to adhere to a few common sense fundamentals that I learned from Russell; I stay hydrated, I eat slowly, I chew thoroughly, I take my supplements every day but other than that I can eat or drink anything I want at any time. I'm free and I am me again.
My humble opinion: If you're sick and feeling that there is no hope, then you having nothing to lose by putting yourself on Russell's program; except your digestive illness.
Cheers!
Mark from Massachusetts
age 47, September 2008
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