I know I’ve been remiss (and missing) lately in posting regularly on the blog.

I’ve spent the past five months or so dealing with health issues that were seemingly mysterious, un-diagnosable and rather debilitating.

An Ayurvedic Cleanse with the lovely Tizia O’Connor worsened my symptoms and had my seasoned practitioner asking me to see a Doctor pronto. I’ve always been intolerant of legumes so the kichari cleanse (mung beans and rice) contributed to my discomfort but was definitely not Tizia’s fault. My own intolerance plus weakened system had everything to do with it.

Blood tests for scary possibilities, including lymphoma, turned up negative, blood was all normal, no drastic anemia or anything to cause alarm. The Doctors were as perplexed as Tizia and I.

Finally after relating the onset of this mystery malady to my brother who visited in January, he said, “it sounds like you got food poisoning and have an infection.”

I marched into Urgent Care the next day and was diagnosed on the spot with a bacterial infection and diverticulitis.

A round and then another, of horribly strong anti-biotics took care of some of the issues but not all, and left me feeling sicker than I was to begin with.

Next I put myself under the expert care of Dr Angelika Maria Koch, to assist me in healing the damage done to my system. Strict diet and a very specific protocol of herbal supplements (such as a lysine supplement) and homeopathy had me thinking I was slowly but surely on the mend.

Wrong again. Everything suddenly got worse around mid April, and I found myself spending a week at Holy Cross Hospital here in Taos. For me to go voluntarily to a Hospital, you know it had to be bad. Here’s a woman who has no asprin in the house and has used herbs and tinctures to heal colds, flu and the like over the past 4 decades.

More blood tests, a Cat Scan, X-rays proved without a doubt, lymphoma it was. Again, not the fault of the practitioner but due to the cancer hiding in my lymph system.

Fast forward a bit. I’m getting ready to do a long stretch of IV Therapy at the Oncology Center in Santa Fe. IV therapy is something that can be used for overall wellness as well, as it can treat dehydration, vitamin deficiencies, and many other problems. It is also used for life-threatening illnesses, which is why I’m having it. Not Chemo or Radiation, but a much less toxic protocol that specifically targets the lymph with a high success rate. It’s a rare low-grade b cell lymphoma that could not have been treated any sooner. I’ll support the treatment with a strict, almost Ketone diet – no sugar, low on carbs and grains, moderate blood type friendly protein (I’m a B) with plenty healthy fats – and generous amounts of medical marijuana oils (like those on https://mikroedibles.com/wholesale/), exercise, positive affirmation and visualization plus my indomitable determination to evict it from my system ASAP.

The amusing aftermath of all this is that after all the Ayurvedic cleansing and Naturapathic supplement support, my (original) and current Doctors all concur that 40 years of healthy (mostly organic) eating habits have stood me in good stead, which is why my blood work consistently showed up as normal. I’ll not be adopting any new diets anytime soon. However I learned so much about food combining from Tizia, I’ll never eat melon with prosciutto again!

I’ve learned that there is no “one size fits all” healing modality. That different things work for different bodies and that the mind is uber-powerful and if the spirit is strong, chances are, healing will happen, no matter which type we choose.

I have however quit smoking.

So no, dear readers, I have not abandoned the blog and now that I’m on the road to feeling better and getting stronger, I will be back more often with much more about Taos!

Recently the blog was added to links on taos.org which has brought more views and viewers, and just last week I was approached by Cornelia Seckel the Publisher of arttimesjournal.com, to have taoStyle included in their list of Blog/Web links. Of course I said yes. I’ve shared posts off and on with livetaos and plan to continue. I also want to give a shout out to all my followers from around the world, on Bloglovin’ , and a thanks to Pia Jane Bijkerk, stylist extraordinaire, and Fred at Easy Fashion for adding me to their links from the start – It’s so great to be spreading the Taos Love far and wide!

Thank you for staying with me, for your patience and your support. It is very much appreciated.

This post was updated on May 10th 2016

UPDATE (Sept 13th)

Last Thursday I went for my third (monthly) infusion. I was told I would need them till December. I had started with five weekly infusions of Rituxan in May when I first updated this post. On Thursday I weighed in at my normal weight and blood work showed I was Cancer/Lymphoma free! Because I have what is known as an indolent Lymphoma, I knew I needed to continue with the treatment after the six monthly infusions, every other month for two more years. On Thursday my oncologist skipped me directly to every other month starting in November! I’m still on the diet (it works) and still not smoking (never again) and I am completely well. I am continuing to take marijuna products however, such as oils derived from https://getkush.io/product/lemon-creamsicle/ and similar buds, to ease the process.

I have so much gratitude. So much love for my family without whom I could not have healed as quickly. They took care of all my needs so that I could focus on nothing but getting well. And I did. So thankful for my good friends who have been there every step of the way! Thanks to Jason Pfeifer and Liz Fox f(and Holy Cross), or their support and to all of you, my lovely readers who hung in there even when there was very little to read! Keep checking in, taoStyle is back and better than ever!

Photograph by Lenny Foster