ZINC FLAG:
I did not find out until months later that mercury toxicity negates your ZINC intake ... artificially raising your zinc requirement. Low zinc levels lead to skin and tissue degradation, loss of sex drive, lowered immunity ... and these encourage emotional depression. My sex drive had drifted into oblivion sometime in October, 1998. I was somewhat distracted with survival at the time and largely surrounded by men the presence or absence of a sex drive was of no concern to a heterosexual.

POTASSIUM FLAG:
I also did not find out until I was recovering that mercury diminishes your ability to utilize potassium which is fundamental for a healthy heart function and many cellular functions. Some researchers have been questioning the potential for mercury toxicity to be indicated in the high rate of North American deaths related to heart failure.

I went to the interview symptom free and drug free.
I actually had 2 interviews and a test in the same evening and was offered a job within hours. Would it last.

THE RESULTS of the changes were outstanding in the first 24 hours!
I did not know why, then, but it worked. All of my pains and discomfort vanished for my first two 8-hour days (orientation) with my new employer. And I could truthfully answer the pre-employment health statement that I was not taking any drugs nor under a doctor's care.

RECURRING SYMPTOMS indicated the presence of a chronic problem.
My doctor ran tests and sent me to a rehabilitation specialist. In the interim, I was given pain killers and anti-inflammatories to help control the pains and spasms. I liked my job and loved the company so I didn't want to jeopardize my position. For me, it was good money, good hours, good people to work with. In the first 6 weeks I was with the company, I progressed as far as some others had taken 3 months to go. I was repeatedly encouraged by members of my team. The drugs either seemed to quickly lose their interim effectiveness, or, they were making the symptoms worse!

I INCREASED THE DOSAGE of the drugs when a regular dose no longer had an influence. In order to keep working during periods of chronic illness in my past, beginning in my pre-teens, such an approach had been the only choice made available to me. When the dosage seemed extreme, I went back to my doctor. She warned me of the dangers of the one drug (ulcers) and took me off it, to try another. I thought I was buying time until the physiotherapy worked. These were not the best approaches I was aware of, nor the one's I preferred --- they were the best I could get.

THE REHABILITATION SPECIALIST, after getting and reviewing some x-rays, advised physiotherapy 3 times per week for a period of at least 6 months. I never considered for a moment that MY recovery would take half that long, in light of my background of successful recovery. The clinic was at a distance and only open at times which came close to conflicting with my work schedule. Still, I managed to eventually include a month of visits. Much of the treatment was deep tissue ultrasound which stimulates the muscle cells and circulation. I became progressively WORSE.

My physiotherapy visits had not been optimally spaced so I tactfully suggested to my manager a negotiation of 3 weeks time off so I could concentrate on getting this problem out of the way. My manager suggested I do half shifts for a while and then work longer as I recovered. Sounded excellent. I agreed. Several weeks later, my manager came to my workstation and requested a formal meeting. I was terminated, effective immediately, for undependable health, June 1st.

MONEY WAS TIGHT again!
I had just made enough money to get a few things, pay my bills, and pay off some small loans. With the physiotherapy not helping and the drugs not my first choice, I followed my Higher Self Guidance to go to an acupuncturist whose notice I had recently seen. She spent perhaps 1-1/2 hours with me. For acupuncture to be effective, I was advised that 3 times per week for perhaps 3 months was optimal. It was the first time I had received acupuncture and I did not expect much. To my surprise --- ALL of the pains, stiffness and readiness to spasm of my muscles went away, and stayed away for 6 days. No drugs!

ACUPUNCTURE WAS EFFECTIVE!
Unfortunately, with socialized medicine in the Province of Ontario, acupuncture is NOT 1 penny covered by the healthcare system, so, it is all private payment. After several treatments, and dwindling funds, I needed financial help to recover, or, accept permanent poverty and disability. I wrote a letter of recommendation for my acupuncturist. I e-mailed a copy of the recommendation with a covering letter to 6 mass media and over 100 provincial politicians. I gave a copy to my Social Services worker and doctor. Ten or more days later, not one reply.

BUREAUCRACY
I contacted the Manager of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)--- who referred me to the office of one of the directors of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) --- who referred me around the office, and, back to my Members of Parliament. In a bureaucracy, everybody passes the buck. You would think I could accept that by now, and I did. Even so, as I have been Spiritually Guided repeatedly in the past 6 six years, I was to give the human system every opportunity to be effective first ... and then, hopefully, find something more constructive and practical. That would provide me with experiences similar to what many other persons must endure. I used the last of my monies for 5 more treatments spread 8 to 10 days apart.

MY DIET WAS MODIFIED again from mid-June according to my Spiritual Guidance. Finances and worsening health were the probable necessity. I wasn't thinking of the correct questions so answers to other questions placed me in a situation such that my choice of questions was narrowed down to the important one. My diet was to include cider vinegar ... lots of it. Normally, I might use 1/4 cup of cider vinegar over a years' time. Now, I was using 1/4 cup or more a day!

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DIET matched that of the acupuncture.
But neither could contain whatever was dragging my health down.
My bowel function gradually and almost imperceptibly worsened.
I just did not get the need to pass stool. And as my intestines filled and the contents began to stagnate, I began to feel heavy, anxious, stiff, and my muscles began to become sore. So, doing what I had found necessary some years earlier with another chronic situation, I used a daily enema to wash out my colon. When the symptoms returned and the bowel was not the problem, within SECONDS of drinking some of the soup my muscle aches, tension, headache, and tiredness lessened dramatically. Something was happening but I did not yet know what.

COMPUTER USAGE with an old monitor (electromagnetic radiation) increased from minimal in April, May and June to much of my short days during July and August. The parallel between the increased computer use and the increased requirement for sleep and rest was not noticed until after I had my first troublesome amalgam filling replaced. Almost immediately, from the time my computer use increased, I required 12 to 15 hours of sleep every day. When healthy, I usually take 7 hours of sleep. When I have been super healthy, 3 to 4 hours has been enough.

ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION hastens the degradation of mercury amalgams. Mercury toxicity encourages feelings of fatigue and tiredness --- which encourage sleep. This correlation, even though I knew of the research for the previous 2 years, did not enter my conscious awareness until AFTER I had my worst (most leaking) amalgam removed.

BEFORE MY FIRST ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT, I was in pain much of the time and not sleeping well. After the first visit, with the pain-stiffness-spasms controlled, I slept soundly, as I had for much of my life. After the 6th visit, late July, large blisters formed near many of the acupuncture points ... and stayed for 8 days. I now accepted that my health was so bad that waking up the next day was no longer an expectation. That is not a great way to live. Whether significant or not, mercury burns the skin. If it were being drawn out by the acupuncture and herbal salve used by my acupuncturist, that would explain the welts and their longevity.

FINANCES had dwindled so much that I had to forego returning to the acupuncturist for 20 days ... a great separation from an optimal 3 times per week. My soup could only do so much. Pains and stiffness began to seep back and I continued to require a lot of sleep. Several days before returning to my acupuncturist I had a long and violent (verbal) confrontation with my landlord. It was highly uncharacteristic of me.

ACTING OUT - AGGRESSIVENESS - INTOLERANCE
Only when reviewing my notes and triggering old memories could I remember several other similar but not as severe disagreements. They had happened during the former period of toxicity. 36 hours after the incident, I could not believe that I had been so utterly stupid, for it was then obvious that future events supporting either success or failure would make the discussed issue irrelevant. I openly expressed this awareness and regret to both the landlord and several friends.

SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES & COMPASSION
What might happen with someone else (male or female) who was by nature, habit, and upbringing more physically or spiritually abusive? What if it had been an employer, or, a spouse? If the outcome had been more destructive --- guilt feelings and poor coping skills might have encouraged a reliance on substance abuse and addictive behaviors to temper the toxic shame. Such changes in communication are typical of increasing mercury toxicity and might have arisen much earlier with someone else and have become a chronic behavior pattern.

A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM
In late August, 20 days after my earlier treatment ... and several days after my argument, my shoulder and neck muscles were on the verge of spasm. During the treatment, the muscle tension, pain and near spasms left. But the diagnosis was not good. I was in worse condition on August 24th than I had been on June 11th. Originally, several of my meridians, including the Kidney one, were greatly affected. Now, ALL of my meridians were a disaster. And that led to two important discoveries.

IF ALL of my meridians were distressed, the problem was SYSTEMIC.
I knew from the beginning that I had no "energy blocks" as I understand them, --- and so none could be contributing to the problems. The symptoms could no longer be considered as related to one or more organs "wearing out" (which I expected from my challenging and active life history) --- and, no one has ALL of their organs wear out at once --- except in death.

CANCER was a possibility but also unlikely.
I had expected some form of cancer since the beginning of June.
I had been guided almost 2 years earlier that a cancer-like illness in my lower back region would become life-threatening. I had tried to get doctors to find something then, but was unsuccessful. How do you tell a doctor that you are getting something that is cancer-like but you don't have any symptoms yet that you are aware of. Dramatic symptoms had not arisen, so I had forgotten about it until now.

Check out the KIDNEY meridian info I have recently (September, 1999) gathered and you will see that this guidance was accurate ... yet difficult for me to understand or interpret until AFTER I was recovering. Kidney meridian weakness is associated with bone marrow weakness and blood anemia. Some bone cancers have similar symptoms. And, if every cell in your blood is de-energized because of the influence of mercury toxicity (blood cells are a major point of accumulation) you will have a situation in which your blood is acting AS IF it were a cancer --- drawing energy away from all your other cells (muscles, organs, bones).