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CHAPTER SIX: THE MONONUCLEOSIS/EBV MARKER

6/15/2026

... " Dr. Robert Zivadinov, Professor of Neurology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Director of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) stated that there are 4 risk factors for MS:

EBV Mononucleosis being number one. It is estimated that while 95% of the general population carry the EBV antigen, ALL MS patients carry it.
Genetic: 65% of MS patients carry the HLA-DR15 gene as opposed to 20-30% non MS (if I understood correctly).
Vit D deficiency. Extreme north or south latitude. T cell immunity factors

4; Smoking (My comment: Oxygen deprivation).

Let's start with the Mononucleosis. Yes, I suffered "Mono" spring 1958.when I was 9 years old (*hepatitus too apparently). Nov 1957 I was struck by a severe "Asian flu" A/H2N2 which killed 1 to 4 million worldwide. Then i was destabilized by moving residence before Christmas. So my immune system was probably under stress. Now we know that EBV,, a Herpes virus, is a marker for MS, even the cause, and recent Stanford research has shown why.
How EBV damages the myelin in MS ::
« Part of the EBV protein mimics your own host protein — in this case, GlialCAM, found in the insulating sheath on nerves,” said William Robinson, MD, PhD, professor of immunology and rheumatology at Stanford. “This means that when the immune system attacks EBV to clear the virus, it also ends up targeting GlialCAM in the myelin.”
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/01/epstein-barr-virus...
January 24, 2022 - By Hadley Leggett"

Some MSers have chosen to treat the EBV virus using anti-virals. On the Thisisms forum website tiger1234, after warning against self treatment in self protection, provides much information on anti-virals which is worth reading. His choice over 3 years I find rather extreme given the "side effects". Another Thisisms participant uses Valcyclovir with success. They both report zero MS. Except it's unclear what form of MS they have and the disappeared symptoms.
I recently started taking Parthenolide (Feverfew) suggested by DIM, a TIMS https://www.thisisms.com participant, who does research on EBV to help his wife.
Ivermectin is on the list which I am saving in case I am afflicted with Covid 19 since it is VERY EFFECTIVE as a treatment. Unfortunately the French government forbids French MDs to prescribe it for Covid.

Famcyclovir (Stanford University, Herpes 6)
DIM Acyclovir (half infected B cells)
Valcycyclovir (Valtrex)
Sikonin
Apigenin
Parthenolide (Feverfew)
Ivermectin
Spironolactone https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-…
Dipyridamole

Sometimes I feel something is "eating" at me and I lose function. Is this the reactivation of EBV?

STOP!!!THATS NOT ALL.
The Mononucleosis EBV ALSO damages the vascular system! I consider this a more serious pathology and the origen of CCSVI blood back jets. I don't see how a re-activated EBV virus can have such deletorious consequences. The Vascular pathology is at the origen of stress induced CNS damage as illustrated by my first MS attack which apparently "ate" half of the spinal cord myelin sheath. (See Dr Pallis' observation Chapter One)
I don't' believe anti-virals will prevent the ravages of vascular MS apperently also caused by the Mononuclaosis EBV.. I can see now that whenever severe stress triggers nervous dysfunction I should immediately get a deep tissue massage by anyone available nearby. No need to wait until one can get an appointment for a Shiatsu massage. . .

Below you will find quotes from the SOLVING MS FB page on the vascular question.
"Could EBV be the cause of venous vascular problems in MS
Oct/31/2023
Published on SOLVING MS FB MAY 2024
https://bit.ly/EBV_Veins_MS
Effect of EBV toxic proteins LMP1 and EBER1 on veins
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) can create proteins that are toxic to veins. One such protein is the latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1). LMP1 is expressed in all EBV-infected cells, including endothelial cells, which are the cells that line the inner surface of veins and arteries.
LMP1 has been shown to have a number of effects on endothelial cells..
The combination of these effects can lead to damage to the blood vessel wall… vasculopathy.
Overall, the evidence suggests that EBV can produce proteins that are toxic to veins. These proteins can damage the blood vessel wall and promote the development of vascular diseases.
ACTRIMS 2024
University of Calgary study: 45% of #MS patients had evidence of hypoxia. Functional connectivity diminished in patients with low oxygen levels.
Americas Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2024 during the session titled "Emerging Concepts in MS."
Vascular multiple sclerosis: addressing the pathogenesis, genetics, pro-angiogenic factors, and vascular abnormalities, along with the role of vascular intervention
Priyadarshi Prajjwal et l., Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2023 Oct

Annals of Medicine and Surgery (2012), 14 Aug 2023, 85(10):4928-4938
https://doi.org/10.1097/ms9.0000000000001177 PMID: 37811110 PMCID: PMC10553029
ReviewFree full text in Europe PMC
…Dysfunction in the epithelium, breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, and consequent leukocyte and T-cell infiltration into the central nervous system define Vascular Multiple Sclerosis… Multiple sclerosis (MS) Recent research into vascular anomalies associated with MS suggests that a vascular component may be pivotal to the etiology of MS, and there can be actually a completely new entity in the already available classification of MS, which can be called 'vascular multiple sclerosis'… Unlike the usual other causes of MS, vascular MS is not dependent on autoimmune pathophysiologic mechanisms, instead, it is caused due to the blood vessels pathology."

So here we have the double consequence of Mononucleosis EBV infection.which I called a Double Whammy" in my blog post of May,6, 2024.
1) In defending itself against an EBV protein the immune system attacks a similar protein in the patient's Central Nervous System. (CNS) Solution? Anti-virals to suppress the EBV; (Also prevent oxygen deprivation which re-activates the latent EBV. Like don't smoke.)
2) Vascular multiple sclerosis. Treat as CCSVI? Deep tissue massage..

Anna Macy (that's me) has a blog on CCSVI. She's gotten relief by using massage and a TENS unit to relax her veins"

Tags: MS, Epstein Barr Virus (EBV), CCSVI, Dr. Owiesy,, Hypoxia,, LMP1, EBER1, vascular multiple scerosis.
.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DR SCOTT "ASKS THE BODY"

6/8/2026

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Below I will print Dr Scott's understanding in his own words of what he trademarked as "Health Kinesiology". The mid Eighties we were working together on my healing, working symbiotiquely as he defined it. He appeared to be a leader in the field, giving lectures and demonstrations worldwide. I know he gave workshops with Dominique Monnette in Brussels. Years later 1993 I called Dr Monette in search of a HK therapist since I could find none in Paris. She referred me to Danielle a Belgian woman who I was happy to find. She wasn't impressed by the one other person doing the work in Paris. I attended a Touch For Health Course she gave which refreshed my knowledge of the Chinese Meridians and endpoints, the corresponding muscles as well as Neurolymphatic and Neurovascular Points.
It was good to find someone who spoke a healing language I understood and appreciated. Of course the mechanistic Allopaths want no part of using muscle testing to "ask the body" how best to heal. I myself embarked on a HK training course with Dr Scott but never felt competent to sense "the body's" response, I feel I lack the required sensitivity. I'm amazed at the varied muscles used by Kinseiology therapists in search of the body's response to a question.
Apparently there is predetermined process. One therapist was surprised that a series of emotional questions had already been treated. Were these Dr Scott's questions entered into a universal technique?
One method Dr Scott used I found very helpful was to follow healing progress through a pourcentage; At first Feb 1984 he said my MS registered at 100%. We were happily shocked when it dropped to 17% by the following May. This technique demonstrated the effectiveness of our work, me by following my diet and supplement schedule religiously, he by using the "ask the body" technique to prioritize energy work.
Later when I was overseas and unable to be treated directly, his talented successor Caroline used the pendulum to determine my needs and treatment over the telephone. It might be another Standard Process supplement or a homeopathic remedy. (Another possible technique meant using a surrogate person as a substitute which was also useful in treating a pet or a small child.). I really miss Carolyn's quick understanding of the problem and solution. Again the materialist might scoff at these techniques, but they worked.
Below find Dr Scott's understanding of Health Kinesiology.

The Health Kinesiology™ System
by Jimmy Scott

After earning my Ph.D. in Physiological Psychology at the University of North Carolina in 1966, and spending four years doing research at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, I found myself on the faculty of the University of California Medical School, first at the Davis campus, later at the San Francisco campus. During this time I published over 30 research papers in scientific and medical journals and developed an international reputation in both sleep research and biofeedback research. Of course, my scientific training included maintaining a skeptical attitude, careful clear thinking, evaluation of available facts, and disbelief of anything not “scientifically proven.”
When I first saw a demonstration of muscle-testing in the early 1970’s I was both fascinated and highly skeptical. Over the next few years, I observed several more demonstrations, some at professional meetings I found them interesting, but on the basis of those demonstrations, I did not see how kinesiology could be useful for me. In the meantime, I made considerable changes in my professional life. While still at the University, I became licensed as a Psychologist and started a professional practice doing biofeedback and relaxation training with clients. I became increasingly frustrated with academic / medical school politics, so I left the University about 1975 to pursue independent efforts.
As a result of working with my clients, I became more interested in what “health” really is. Clients told me stories about how they were getting healthier in ways not obviously related to what we were doing, and I began to analyze what factors contribute to health. This led me into nutrition work, among other things, and the formation of a new non-profit health education foundation. One of the evening lecture programs sponsored by the new foundation was – you guessed it – Kinesiology. We somehow made contact with Chris Harrison, a chiropractor and a Diplomate in the ICAK (International College of Applied Kinesiology). His excellent presentation made it clear how I might utilize these unusual techniques – if they really worked! Chris suggested I begin learning kinesiology by reading some Applied Kinesiology material and taking the Touch for Health (TFH) course (at the time there was only one, two day, TFH course).
Even before I attended the basic TFH course and the TFH Instructors courses in 1978 I was creating new procedures, the foundation of Health Kinesiology™. I had soon discovered that existing kinesiology techniques, although powerful, did not fill my needs. For example, I not only wanted to identify which nutritional supplements a client needed, but also exactly which product would be the very best for them. I wanted another way to assess the progress a client was making, independent of their own subjective report. I wanted to know the most important therapeutic program for my client. I wanted to know the best time to do a procedure. I wanted to know the source of their BioEnergy disturbances. And on and on and on.
I soon found ways to use kinesiology to obtain information directly from the “body.” At first, I used it for nutritional testing. I stopped doing chemical hair analysis, because kinesiology gave me equally valid information, on the spot. Nutritional supplement schedules became truly individualized, something we could only “guess” about otherwise. As a result, my work became far more effective and popular.
My goals were to develop the most effective, robust, permanent methods for change that I could, using my scientific analytic training. With my new version of kinesiology I had a method to compare procedures. I could determine which of two or more approaches was best, not just whether a procedure “worked.” I soon discovered that many commonly used techniques, although temporarily affecting BioEnergy, do not seem to have much lasting effect.
Because the methods I devised were so simple, I did not at first believe how incredibly powerful and effective they were. However, as I continued to work with my procedures, they demonstrated continued effectiveness. Within a couple of years I had fully developed the HK Paradigm – an approach which allowed me to discover any information I needed from the client’s own body to help them achieve greater wellness and functioning. Next was to systematize this material so that anyone could follow the same procedures and achieve comparable results. The basic structure of the HK System was in place by 1981. Since then many refinements and additions have been made, but the systematic, comprehensive, holistic approach is still exactly the same.
Although careful readers will notice the philosophy underlying HK is similar to other, more recently published, material, HK did not “borrow” its attitude. Except for some concepts from Traditional Chinese Medicine, muscle-testing itself, and some uses of various energy reflexes (all pre-dating kinesiology, itself), almost everything else about HK is original, created by imagination, clear, careful thought, research, and thorough empirical and theoretical analysis and evaluation. HK is unlike all previous Kinesiologies.
HK has produced numerous innovations, many of which have now been incorporated into other schools of kinesiology. Despite this incorporation of HK techniques into kinesiologies, HK remains original and unique, and I think it is the most comprehensive, powerful, effective system of kinesiology ever devised. HK offers an approach, a method of discovery, a way of thinking clearly and logically, a philosophy: The HK Paradigm, The Health Kinesiology™ System. It is an extremely extensive system, even though each component itself is simple and easy to do. Some of the major keys to how HK works include:

Empirical Structure. Things are included only when they work better than something else.
Theoretical Development. Concepts about where, why, and how BioEnergy is.
Extensive use of carefully crafted and proper verbal questions.
Carefully Systematized and Structured. Menu system.
Open Ended. HK grows as knowledge grows.
Unlimited Scope. Truly holistic.
Capability of comparing procedures and methods. Only robust methods are used.
Iterative process. Everything is checked; more added if necessary.

I have provided here only a brief introduction to Health Kinesiology™. Our courses comprise over 90 days of basic instruction. This does not include other work such as chemistry, physics, and anatomy & physiology. We do not have courses focusing on specific topics such as relationships, learning disorders, or BioEnergetic allergies, because once students understand the HK System they easily learn how to apply our procedures to any topic. We work on BioEnergy as applied anywhere.

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CHAPTER FOUR: KINESIOLOGY & MISSED OPPORTUNITY

6/8/2026

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Everything was going great until March 1985 when I decided to divorce my husband. I had an « attack ». I knew my mind had decided one thing, the body another. It said « no you aren’t going anywhere. » Carolyn, Dr Scott’s assistant (and future replacement), asked how this could happen ? His response was rather lame. « Something in her body caused the setback ». Unfortunately he failed to « ask the body » what this « something » was. I believe I can answer this now. Obstruction of the veins had sent blood into the CNS OR otherwise impacted proper functioning of the nervous/musculator system. Did the muscle layer of the veins go into spasms as suggested by Dr Owiesy ? Or did the muscles surrounding the veins cramp them shut ? I didn’t think to get a deep tissue « Shiatsu » massage as I did for my first attack. Dr Scott was treating me with TouchForHealth energy work which included running the Chinese Medicine meridians and palpatating the Meridian endpoints and Neurovascular and Neurolymphatic points. That wasn’t enough to release the muscle spasms/cramps affecting the blood circulation. Later I came to realize that one needed treatment DURING the crisis to relieve the spasms/cramps as happened on at least one occasion when I stopped a pending crisis with an acupuncture treatment. Later the treatment mattered less if at all. My Neurologist was disappointed later after he began to recommend acupuncture to his MS patients. My unexpected, impressive recovery was not repeated with acupuncture alone.*
After a year of therapy which included detoxification, diet modification, nutritional supplements and energy work I had entirely recovered from physical handicap as well as vision distortions. I was still taking an elementary ballet class to maintain some physical capacity. One day the ballet mistress cried out « Anna, you are lifting your leg » in arabesque instead of pushing it up. This represented a huge improvement. I had been experiencing « attack » symptoms which were signs of healing. Dr Scott explained that one relives the same symptoms as the original decline, a sort of rewinding back to original function.
My recovery resembled that of the well known Dr Terry Wahls. I will discuss her work later. She emphasized the nutritional aspect of her healing (the Mitochondria) while overlooking the energy stimulation she was using.
I can see that the vascular pathology can undermine the nutritional reform in MS healing.
We need to « ask the body » where the problem lies and the best method to open the blood circulation.
This analysis could also help overcome the weakness of Dr Zamboni’s approach which aims to open blood circulation through venoplasty. Maybe the problem can be addressed by external stimulation without risk of damaging the veins. It’s a complicated issue which muscle testing « ask the body » technique could help decipher. Maybe we can find an HK Kinesiologist willing to do the research.
And now a brief history :
Quotes come from www.oneillcollege.com

Reading the O’Neill College History of Kinesiology, I find this quote :

"1920s: American osteopaths, Frank Chapman, DC, and Charles Owen, proposed that many symptoms of diseases had their origins in sluggish lymph flow..."
"1930s: American chiropractor, Terence Bennett, DO, came up with his own model for restoring health based on proper blood flow.Like Chapman, Bennett had worked out his own set of reflex points. He called these ‘Neurovascular Reflexes’ and his body of work ‘Neurovascular Dynamics’.

1937: Chapman and Owen postulated the existence of a new heretofore unrecognised reflex they called the ‘Neurolymphatic Reflexes’ and their findings were published.

1960s: Detroit-based chiropractor,George Goodheart… pioneered a system that brought together work done by his predecessors: Chapman’s Points (for lymphatic function); Bennett’s Points (for vascular function); his own origin/insertion technique (for muscular problems); cranial bone manipulation after William Sutherland, DO."

Continued Quotes from O’Neill  www.oneillcollege.com

"1972:  Goodheart wrote the “vertebral challenge”, based upon the work of upper cervical specialist, Leon Lewis Truscott, DC, PhD; and his work on the muscle-acupuncture meridian-organ relationship using muscle testing feedback for both diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy. Interest in Applied Kinesiology expanded from George Goodheart’s lectures and Applied Kinesiology study groups being led by his best students formed throughout the US.
This marked the beginnings of the new science of Applied Kinesiology.

1973: Initially there were six of Goodheart’s protégéeswho would gather at his practice, and over time then set up study groups. There was a gathering of these study group leaders who became known as the Dirty Dozen…

1979 (sic-Correct date 1972) Chiropractor, John Thie, one of the “Dirty Dozen”, took the basic techniques that had been worked out in Applied Kinesiology and developed a new system that he called ‘Touch for Health’."

(Dr Thie died in 2005 of Prostate Cancer.)

See Dynamic Chiropractic Sept 14, 2005  A Memorial of Silence for Dr John Thie by Joseph Kating Jr PhD

« Wedding AK with his populist sentiments, John believed that many of the methods of AK could be taught to and practiced as a method of self-care for all people. He repeatedly urged Dr. Goodheart to author a text for the public on AK. Although Goodheart was not averse to dissemination of his emerging methods to nonprofessionals, he grew weary of Thie's nudging. Finally, in exasperation, he let Dr. Thie know that if he wanted such a book, John should write it himself.
The prospect of authoring a book was challenging, but John was resourceful. The first edition of Touch for Health: A Practical Guide to Natural Health Using Acupuncture, Touch & Massage, authored in collaboration with then-chiropractic student Mary Marks, was published in 1972. The workbook has since been translated into more than a dozen languages and has sold in excess of 500,000 copies; the method has caught the attention of laymen and health professionals in several disciplines, and has spawned national and international workshops and certification programs. »

I believe this Book forms the foundation of Dr Scott’s treatment and I highly recommend it.

So now we have points for neurovascular function as well as points for neurolymphatic function, and it is exactly these functions which CCSVI treatment addresses. So apparently I was being treated for CCSVI inadvertently by Dr. Scott.

The damage of the March 1985 attack wasn’t too important (mainly MS « hug ») and I was forced to retire from active life into contemplation for six weeks. My husband was irritated, I had to patiently explain to him that I had MS and was having an « attack ».  His attitude didn’t help his case, it only re-inforced my decision to leave him which I did three years later.
My legs remained strong. Spring 1988 I walked many kilometers across Paris without faltering. This amazes me. Why did I ignore subsequent stress over the following years when I should have known how to how to treat it ? Because I failed to recognize deep tissue massage as the treatment and by the time I did understand, it was too late, much damage had been done.

Please find below a continuation of quotes from the O-Neill College
History of Kinesiology (Quotes from www.oneillcollege.com)

"1982:  Alan Beardall established the concept of the body as a “Biocomputer”. This concept determined that the subconscious appears to process data in a binary way…this simple “yes” or “no” response of the muscle is the summation of all the factors influencing the brain and central nervous system, from the level of your structural alignment to your nutritional and emotional status. In addition, the subconscious readout of muscle function is the interface with the other energy systems of the body, including the meridian systems. As such, these “yes” or “no” responses can also indicate states of energetic balance.
Energetic Kinesiology established.
…the muscle response is used primarily as a form of biofeedback. Hence, in these systems you are “monitoring”, not “testing” muscle function. The redefinition of the term “muscle testing” to “muscle monitoring” is to denote that we are now accessing only the integrity of the muscle response, and not its strength. »  My emphasis

These concepts of Biocomputer and Biofeedback describe well Dr. Scott’s work as I understand it. As one can see by the dates, he was working, and doubtless contributing, to the development of Applied Kinesiology.
He told me he began his development of HK Health Kinesiology in 1978. See healthkinesiology.co.nz/origins-of-hk/dr-jimmy-scott/

I began working with Dr. Scott in January 1984. My progress was impressive up to the March 1985 « attack ».
What a missed opportunity ! Consistent with his « ask the body » theory Dr Scott should have used muscle testing to understand the origin of the crisis. If it was a venous blood back jet, which veins, where ? Had I been aware of the CCSVI issue, I could have better addressed the « attack ». What I find strange is that he failed to « ask the body ». The above discussion indicates Kinesiology was aware of vascular and lymph flow pathologies. He used neurolymphatic points neuro vascular points in balancing the meridians and body energy. So why did the CCSVI issue escape him ?A comptent Health Kinesiologist should be asked to study the CCSVI question in detail. Where can I find someone competent and open to the idea ?I’ll conclude this post with more from the History of Kinesiology. www.oneillcollege.com

"Mid 1980s: An expert in electronic aircraft guidance systems, Richard Utt, added to the growing number of kinesiology systems by developing Applied Physiology... Richard Utt’s recognition of the significance of resolving these ‘hidden’ compensations via muscle balancing techniques was a significant development and led to longer lasting results for clients.

Late 1980s: American scientist, Charles Krebs developed LEAP (Learning Enhancement Acupressure Program)…In the 1990s Energetic Kinesiology continued to evolve with an increased emphasis on resolving physiological issues long term.

From these beginnings, kinesiology has blossomed to become a diversity of different types of kinesiology-based treatments.These new systems were developed by people who saw the incredible potential of the techniques because generally, they were not locked within the rigid Western medical and physiological models."

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, Dr. John Thie, Touch For Health, Dr. George Goodheart, Applied Kinesiology, Dr. Jimmy Scott, Muscle Testing, Standard Process,

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CHAPTER THREE: THE ALLOPATHS 1983

6/4/2026

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Exhausted after the Christmas rush, January 1983 I traveled north to visit my mother in Seattle. Though I didn’t limp and my MS apparently wasn’t visible, I felt like I was wading through knee high water when I walked – slowly. I remember going downtown with my mother on a cold foggy day, my nerves, frazzled by the humidity, felt like crossed electric wires. My energy was low, I gave up any idea of trying on clothes. As we sat high up on the mezzanine of the Rainier center a young man strolled up to the grand piano below to play Chopin’s soulful music. I began to cry. The tide was out, this was a low point in my life.

O.K., the Chinese Doctor hadn’t healed me. I was determined to change my life so I could devote all my energies to healing.
Step One: Close the business. I had left San Francisco to get a grip on my life. . The first and most obvious step meant closing the perfume boutique. Running it was killing me. I knew my husband would be disappointed, even angry, but it wasn’t destroying his health and financially it was more of a drag than a benefit for us. His uncle had warned him against opening a business, considered it foolish given my husband’s profession as a civil engineer. What was he doing, why had he imposed this on me? The lease was up August 1, 1983, so I could close the shop and bow out gracefully

Step two: Gather information: My mother wasn’t given to tender sympathy, but over the year she had collected articles on MS, some she had found, some offered by friends and her mother. One newspaper article showed a young man highstepping beside a wheelchair his arm held high in victory. He had recovered his legs by taking vitamins and adopting a gluten free diet. I took the article but I didn’t believe in the “cure”. I reflected soon after reading about it that if I had to stop eating wheat I couldn’t use batter to fry my chicken. Talk about dumb. This is to say, I too resisted changing my diet and lifestyle. Being sick is bad enough, having to deny oneself culinary treats seems one misery too many. I didn’t read the information gathered by my mother until after my return home in San Francisco. It offended me a bit to be seen as someone with a disease. But I did digest the information, slowly.
It would take another year for me to find a kinesiologist/nutritionist who could work up a personalized nutritional program. But even more importantly, he would act as a partner to goad me into healing.

Step three: Take nutritional supplements. That same January 1983 I took another feeble step towards healing by ordering a vitamin/mineral supplement being sold by my sister, the Neo-Life Stress Pak. Neo-Life is a multilevel marketing company (which my father derisively called a pyramid scheme), but since I didn’t know how to work up a balanced vitamin/mineral program on my own, and to help my sister, I ordered it. Not ideal, but better than nothing.

February 28, 1983 I purchased Dr. H.L. Newbold’s book MegaNutrients For Your Nerves (1975) where I found many good ideas, but I wasn’t yet ready to change my diet. Nor was I ready to embark on the Mega-doses of vitamins and minerals he recommended. The Neo-Life Stress Pak was clearly inadequate, but his ideas seemed too drastic for me to try alone. (See my blog post “MS Food” August 19, 2016). I also wasn’t ready to accept his cynical dismissal of current medical practice as “Cookbook medicine”. Personal experience had led him to understand that the American diet and lifestyle weren’t normal for human beings resulting in poor physical and mental health. I was still thinking that since the HMO was collecting money to care for my health, it was simply up to their MDs to do their job. I needed to find an MD who would seriously consider my symptoms and health history and find a solution. I seriously believed this was possible.

I discovered among the material my mother had collected articles on Evening Primrose Oil. A pamphlet written by a PhD candidate discussed the virtues of Evening Primrose Oil to treat MS. I’ve lost the pamphlet so I can’t give credit to the author. The active substance GLA gamma linolenic acid, an Omega 6 fatty acid, can’t be made by the body and at the time it was believed that the only other source was mother’s breast milk. Important in activating liver function. (I wasn’t breast fed.) I didn’t try the supplement until April 1983, 3 months after first reading about it. I was so close to collapse, I feared the slightest disturbance would send me over the edge. Another magazine article in my mother’s stash recommended the supplement to treat pre-menstrual stress syndrome (PMS), a miserable condition I had developed the year before. Hmmmmmm.

On a lovely sunny spring morning that same year I was in my perfume boutique when a beautiful young woman walked in. A mass of flaming golden red hair swept back from her lovely face. She stared at me with incredible green eyes. I wanted her to stop staring at me so I could stare at her, but she may have felt the same about me so we just stood staring at one another. Suddenly she blurted out that she had PMS and had just purchased EPO to treat it. Eureka! This was the same substance recommended for MS and I too suffered from PMS.

Shortly thereafter I dreamed a white coated Doctor recommended the Evening Primrose Oil for me, that it would be good for me. This was my instinct speaking. So I began taking a 200 mg pearl 3 times a day. It took about 3 weeks for my symptoms to smooth out and become somewhat more tolerable. This was an important step in healing.

Step Four: Find a personal physician. The HMO preferred one choose a personal physician to coordinate one’s care. This wasn’t easy. Late January I was able to make an appointment with Dr. H,, the earliest opening being April 21 (3 months later). He had signed my marriage medical documents years earlier and seemed to be a civilized person (though during my appt I did notice he rather rudely dismissed a female patient on the telephone) On my return home from Seattle I began making a series of medical appointments, I was determined to get someone to study and hopefully solve my myriad health problems.

At my March 9, 1983 return visit, my Gynecologist Dr. S suggested I note my basal body temperature upon rising in the morning to see how my menstrual cycle corresponded to my symptoms since I felt that the temperature rise at ovulation triggered the MS symptoms. This was an excellent idea. I kept a daily symptoms journal in parallel to the temperature chart and came to understand the pattern of my symptoms. I kept the journal/chart from March 11, 1983 through May 3, 1984. Reading this today I am reminded of how sick and miserable I was at the age of 34, even though the MDs noted consistently that she “looks well”.

On April 21, 1983 I presented a detailed basal body temperature chart and analysis to my hoped for personal physician Dr. H. I thought we could save time and facilitate communication if I wrote up my health history accompanied by my current status. My study infuriated him. He threw the papers back at me, telling me to describe my symptoms “in your own words”. Discouraged, I did the best I could.

The following are his notes in my medical record which reflect a respect for my paper which he didn’t display in person.

“Problems of severe pelvic pain, fever, worsening of MS symptoms, insomnia, about 2 bad weeks, then has a few good days and the cycle repeats on a monthly ‘There’s obviously a hormonal imbalance, or some infection to be found”. Interested in Prostaglandins – particularly Evening Primrose Oil of England which she thinks is used in England to treat menstrual pain and MS.
MS., frequent cystitis Rx Gantrisin – good control, Hysterectomy 1972 endometriosis, ???????, chronic constipation…
Helped by acupuncture MS onset 1980, able to dance for awhile, affects legs, some difficulty getting around, bladder problems,"
He performed a standard medical exam – blood pressure, heart/chest exam, eyes, ears etc. He wrote

"Looks well…MS Stable
The ???of her thesis is –I think- that her hormones allow a slight rise in her body temperature which triggers her MS s/s Discussed possibility that hormonal manipulation such as Progesterone would eliminate this cycle. Would appreciate endo consultation and advice. Thanks, H”

He then waved at my papers and said, “Other than these things, you are in perfect health.”
Dr. H did enter the papers and temperature chart into my file.

Below I quote part of the papers I asked him to read. I confess they were probably too long given the HMO time constraints.

Anna Nicolai. Age 34. April 20, 1983

Page 1 of 4 (Temperature Chart and Diary not included)

Reasons for seeking Medical Care

I have been for some time been suffering from serious health problems which include the following: Multiple Sclerosis, Endometriosis, cyclic insomnia (probably due to hormonal imbalance/pre-menstrual stress syndrome), chronic debilitating fatigue, bladder infections, lowered resistence to infection leading to frequent viral infections (colds, sore throats etc), poor blood circulation, and most recently pain and distorted vision in the Right eye.

It is my belief that the root cause of this general pattern of poor health stems from hormonal/menstrual dysfunction and endometriosis. After a brief “History” I will describe a typical monthly menstrual cycle. A Basal Body Temperature Record chart beginning March 11, 1983 then follows, accompanied by a state of health “diary”...

A more detailed study will be attached in an appendix. Now I believe the MS exacerbation originated more in the cramping which impeded fluid circulation than the rise in temperature at ovulation.
« The most serious MS flareups begin as the pain of the endometriosis “attack” peaks and the temperature rises, and they continue during the following 2 weeks...The intensity of the MS flareup generally corresponds to the intensity of the endometriosis “attack” (my note today i.e. painful CRAMPING). To make matters worse, the feeling of “speed” causes an insomnia which results in a lack of sleep and a generally rundown feeling

HEALTH PROBLEMS IN 1983

Hormonal Imbalance/Pre-Menstrual Stress Syndrome/Insomnia
Possible Ovarian infection at time of Ovulation

Endometriosis « ENDOMETRIOSIS WIKIPEDIA : Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the endometrium —the lining of the uterus (womb)—grows elsewhere in the body. The tissue most often grows close to the uterus, such as on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or the lining of the pelvis. It can also appear on the bowel, bladder, and in some cases on the lungs or skin. »
Multiple Sclerosis
Bladder Infections
General Poor Health/Fatigue/Dizzineness
Constipation
Right Eye Pain (Appt. May 18, Opthalmology)

Poor blood circulation

All the MDs who considered my case in 1983 suggested hormonal therapy, maybe removel of the ovaries, and more Danazol for the MS. That, of course, reflects their training, but for my overall health it was all wrong. On the other hand, they were TRYING and may have found for example my refusal of birth control pills to be unreasonable. When I last took them summer 1969 I thought my head would explode and swore if I survived the night I would never take another one. When I took Danazol I felt nauseous and sick all morning to recover only by 2 p.m. Eventually my veins puffed out when I was traveling in France and recovered their normal aspect only after I had stopped. So I wasn’t totally resistant to the Allopaths. But not only did they lack a plausible solution, their solutions threatened undesirable complications. (Note they appeared to impact the vascular system.)

I visited the Gynecologist Dr. S. again on April 26 who wrote
Endo and BBT chart, Very detailed chart of BBT and symptoms.Pain related to ovulation, insomnia and ‘speed’ effect tied to luteal phase. Takes B6 (200 mg day) Suggest Danazol and vaginal suppository progesterone.

May 18 I visited an opthamologist recommended by my contact lens optometrtist, a very kind lady who listened to me and suggested resources. Dr. B. didn’t feel the right eye vision distortion was MS related.

May 25 I visited Dr. E. I don’t remember him. Unhappy with Dr. H, was I trying to find a personal physician ? His summary is intelligent.
“long, complicated history, has endometriosis, past 15 (sic) years has PMS. Recently began Evening Primrose Oil used in England to treat MS and PMS. Her symptoms improved after 3 weeks. Discussed Danazol (has migraines, advised against birth control pills) Progesterone therapy? Ooophmectomy? Return 3 to 4 months.”

June 22 I visited the Gyencologist Dr. S. again. He mentions "primrose oil 40 gr linoleic acid, symptoms better, to close business, refuses BCP, PMS study."

In 1983 I was very far from solving these problems. The Evening Primrose helped smooth out the hormonal swings slightly. I closed the perfume shop August 1, 1983 and that relieved me enormously, I was being poisoned by the “fumes”. As it turned out, I did have a chronic infection, a hydrosalpinx (liquid filled fallopian tube) attached to my bladder which had been left behind after my uterus was removed in 1972. The HMO Gynecologist saw this fluid filled object in a Sonogram performed April 1980 just during my first MS attack. He didn’t tell me about it, didn’t treat it and only after my French Gynecologist discovered it on a Sonogram was it removed Feb 1997. Frankly sloppy health care which shocked my French surgeon. The ONE thing the Allopaths could have done to help me then, they didn't do.

My own analysis now of these problems is that the constant pain and infections (bladder, hydrosalpinx etc) caused my body to seize up, to cramp, which hampered blood/fluid circulation leading to MS “attacks” or ongoing symptoms. I probably didn’t have an ovarian infection, but a chronic inflammation in the pelvis/bladder area.

To jump ahead of my story, February1984, after 5 days of avoiding substances and foods the Kinesiologist had tested as negative for me, the right eye problem completely disappeared. After 6 months my intestines functioned normally, within the year the MS nerve damage had healed and the endometriosis had disappeared. Most of the above health problems more or less disappeared. The pathology was essentially one of TOXICITY and poor nutrition. Let's say each problem had been treated separately by the HMO Doctors. Prednisone for the MS, Danazol for the Endometriosis, Progesterone for the menstrual disorders, (maybe removal of the ovaries!!!!!!!) laxative for the constipation, sleeping pill for the insomnia, antibiotic for the cystitus, something to speed me up, something else to slow me down. I would have ended up even more of a basket case than I already was.

However, for the most part I can’t reproach the HMO Doctors for practicing the Allopathic medicine they had studied in medical school. They could have been more respectful and tactful. I did find a solution eventually, but in alternative medical circles.

June-July 1983 I was highly stressed preparing closure of the business. I had to replace my best employee who left on vacation to France. I found a buyer for our fixtures, but the owner refused to lease to him. The clearance sale was a huge success, but I was a basket case. My foot arches “fell” so I wore running shoes to support them even though they didn’t enhance my “look”. I endured the pressure, focusing my attention on August 1, the day of liberation.

It was just now that a Devil seemed to take hold of my husband. He said the most awful, hurtful things. He began to pick at me more than usual, telling me I was looking dowdy and needed to improve my wardrobe. Said I was getting too old for him (I was 34, he was 54), losing my looks, he needed to turn me in for a new model, what would I do without him. He wouldn’t leave me the space to finish up the business and recover some energy. I began to feel like I was trying to keep up on an accelerating treadmill unable to get off.

In October I would discover the name of the Devil. Good old fashioned Sex. Though the discovery broke my heart, it also freed me. More later.

Annonce.

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CHAPTER TWO: THE CHINESE CURE 1982

6/4/2026

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Early December 1981 my Neurologist finally told me he thought I had MS. Remember, this was before the MRI. The steroid Prednisone was the recommended treatment which I didn’t even consider since it wasn’t a cure. A friend who was acting as a caretaker for an MS victim had described the ruinous consequences of Prednisone for his client, the physical and especially emotional toll. She gained weight, her face assumed a round puffy aspect and she cried all the time. And she continued to go downhill anyway. So what was the point?

December 10, 1981 I dreamt the following:

Walking along a pathway, sinking into the fertile earth almost up to my neck, I found moving forward extremely difficult. I was forced aside as a pack of people raced past, sirens blaring. As I sank into the earth I was reminded of planting tulips in the autumn chill. The Tarot card Princess of Disk appeared which I understood as a symbol of fertility and creativity. I was aware that the illness had forced me off the fast track as the world rushed past.

This was December 1981, I set the MS diagnosis aside and went to work in my perfume boutique. Statistics show that the last 10 days before Christmas account for 50% of perfume sales for the year, so I couldn’t take a break. Work, work, work and more perfume toxicity. December 18 I visited the Gynecologist who noted problems in emptying the bladder, perhaps a worsening of the endometriosis. I now understand the dreadful consequences of this female disease which impacts the hormonal balance and cramps up the bladder and body in general, thus impeding blood/cerebrospinal fluid circulation to trigger MS symptoms.
Wipedia Endometriosis Endometriosis is a sickness that is caused by womb tissue that begins growing outside the womb. [1][2]

December 30, 1981 I took a ballet class. Barely a week after Christmas, exhausted as I must have been, I actually drove off to the studio in the Mission as though nothing had changed in my life. I struggled through the barre and the variations only to stop after a few ridiculous grands jetés (leaps with both legs stretched out in the “splits”). People looked at me askance. After class, flushed but ever enthusiastic, I announced that I was suffering from a virus in my brain but would soon be on the mend. I exited the industrial building into the frigid night air. That would be my last class as a “dancer”.

When I read posts by the newly diagnosed, I am reminded of myself. Like Icarus, I had been flying high when struck down, feeling all powerful and without limit in my aspirations. Nothing was going to stop me, I would overcome this obstacle as I had overcome so many before. Above all this malady wasn’t going to change me, I didn’t need to change. Well, it did change me, it got the better of me. So much for all that bravado.   Transformation was the name of the game. But before I could become an actress in my own transformation, I did a last gasp effort at refusing responsibility. I handed myself over to the Chinese Doctor to be “cured”.

My MS diagnosis came well before the Internet, there was little advice available beyond the very conservative MS Society which I didn’t trust.

January was always a bad month for me and I now understand why, this irrespective of the Perfume business stress. Over the holidays I ate rich, sweet, fattening foods. All that Chocolate, Butter cookies, Champagne could only make me sick, whatever my particular ailments. So it was so on January 15, 1982 when I visited the HMO Neurologist. He noted that I had been overdoing it physically and emotionally over the past month and that there had been little improvement in my overall status though there hadn’t been an overt“attack”. He noted a mild exacerbation and that the left leg and arm were weak, the gait clumsy. (This amazes me now because my left side entirely recovered several years later and it is now the Right side which is handicapped.) He wrote that he advised me to slow down and rest. Reading one’s medical file is a lesson in cognitive dissonance. What the Doctor says he said often has little relation to his actual behavior. It’s as though he writes for a school exam, but when the professor isn’t looking he cuts loose with what he must really feel, like why does he have to put up with these sick people’s demands? Don’t they know there is nothing I can really do even if I wanted to?)

My Chiropractor had referred me to Dr. Cheong at my request for a Chinese Doctor of herbal medicine. I remember stopping by the Doctor’s storefront off Chinatown one cold foggy January evening with my friend Richard. Somewhat rundown, the window display featured a plastic skeleton covered in black dots connected by lines running over the body, a fading poster with Roman Numerals referring to more dots connected to more lines, and some dried herbs spilling out of a basket. An old world mystery beckoned from this display, I remember telling Richard I was confident I would find help there.

I developed a cordial, even family like relationship with the Doctor and his Chinese-American wife Jenna. The Doctor told me he had begun training in Chinese Medicine at the age of 10 under the guidance of a Master in China. Towards 1975 he migrated to California with his parents and set up practice. This was only a few years after Nixon’s 1972 “opening” to China and a few years before Deng Xiao Ping’s modernization revolution which has totally transformed the country. So Dr. Cheong belonged to an older, traditional China (even if officially the Chinese Government called themselves Communist.) Dr. Cheong amused me with his immigrant stories. Friends told him that when one makes a dinner invitation, guests expect to have napkins on their plates. So he carefully unwrapped the napkins he had purchased. And his friends laughed when they saw the table decked out with female sanitary napkins.

He was by far the best Acupuncture Doctor I have ever had. My appointments always began with me sitting opposite him at his desk to discuss my condition (and, it was hoped, progress). Then he had me lay my left wrist palm up on a small Chinese embroidered pillow to take the 6 pulses leading down from the thumb, 3 yang on the surface and the 3 profound yin.   Then he did the same with my right wrist (for a total of 12 pulses relating to the 12 meridians. I would study the theory later.) After that he examined my outstretched tongue, observed the color of my skin and then my eyes, all the while writing Chinese symbols in black on a large white paper pad. I can’t remember how he described my condition using the five elements in Chinese medicine. (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). Water (Kidney/Bladder) was certainly a major factor but how it related to the others, I can’t remember. He was the only Acupuncturist who did a proper diagnosis. At the first appointment he assured me he could treat my condition with Acupuncture and Herbs. So we set to work right then and there.

He had at least 4 cubicles with a bed in each where his patients lay exposed in their underwear, a blanket and a small electric heater keeping them warm. In this way he could treat 4 people in an hour, giving each one an hours treatment as he passed from one to the other. (That was the theory. He didn’t usually have 4 patients at a time. Sometimes my appointments lasted 2 hours, he really did his best to help me.)

We began with me on my back as he worked over the front of my body. I always held my breath in anticipation of pain at being pierced, but mostly his work didn’t hurt. He was a bit rougher than some Acupuncture Doctors, but the anticipation was most always worse than the reality. After placing the needles, he used tiny clips to attach wires leading to an electrical stimulation apparatus, and then he slowly increased the current until I couldn’t tolerate anymore. Sometimes, after the meridians had been stimulated, the points became more sensitive (which meant the meridian energy had opened up) and I would ask Jenna to turn down the current. He almost always treated the Gall Bladder 34 point outside the knee, saying this Meridian was always important in treating MS. Points on the head and/or face, points down the middle of the chest, points in the abdomen, then on to the leg down to the feet, maybe 20 needles in all for the front of my body.

After at least a half hour of treatment Jenna would remove the wire clips and needles so that I could turn over and he then performed the same procedure on my back, always placing needles down the bands of muscles parallel to my spine I now recognize as the Bladder Meridian (Water). Sometimes when I had cystitis he worked on the buttocks around the tail bone. That hurt. And the Kidney 1 point in the middle of the palm of the foot was a killer. I forbade him to use it again.

He preferred Western clients because they paid his fee of $30 (which wasn’t high you’ll admit, although at first I think I went four times a month which did stretch my finances.). He complained about old Chinese ladies who paid with “lucky money” tucked in a small red, gold embossed envelope. He couldn’t refuse these envelopes and usually would find only $1 when he opened them. “Lucky” for them, not so much for him.

After the treatment I dressed to go into the front room where Jenna filled the Herbal prescription Dr. Cheong had written out (in Chinese of course). A many drawered cabinet held the “herbs”, which included much more than seeds and dried leaves, including dried insects, snake skins, dried up body parts I couldn’t identify. These were the real thing. (Later in France the “herbs” would be ground down and mixed into a fine powder.) Jenna gave me several packets in a brown paper bag, telling me to boil down the contents of each packet, repeating the process with the same “herbs” the following day so that each packet lasted 2 days. While the fragrance of the herbs was “pungent”, their taste was ghastly after having been boiled down into a thick, dark brown “tea”. But I dutifully followed the directions to the letter, determined as I was to heal.

January 9, 1982  “Have been thinking about the loss of the use of my body. Can no longer dance, find even walking difficult. I will no longer know the pleasure, the pure delight of my own physical well being and prowess. How did this happen? Tendency to be drawn into nebulous, ultimately destructive love ties ending in ruin… am absolutely finished as a dancer. I haven’t quite believed it, or dealt with it.
January 13, 1982 “ I am entering uncharted territory , I can’t return to my former self. Everything is new and fraught with danger, pitfalls There are no longer any established certainties. I must begin anew, forge a new personality.”.

My diary entries are pre-occupied with stressful interpersonal relationships, virtually nothing about healing. What futility.   A brief mention late January of an appointment with the Chinese “herbalist” though nothing about what he did, about acupuncture.

February 21, 1982 “Very painful 10 days. Foreboding.” So after a month of acupuncture treatments my abdominal pains were worse, not better. I now think the treatments were stimulating the Endometriosis bleeding. I reluctantly asked the Chinese Doctor to stop working on the pelvic region and the meridians related to gynecological disorders. On March 31, 1982 the HMO Gynecologist noted I had had an episode of pelvic pain accompanied with a bladder infection 6 weeks previously, but though he considered the endometriosis to be residual, he put me on Danazol. Quote from Wikipeda “The agent is fat-soluble. It is an isoxazole of testosterone with isolated weak androgenic activity and no estrogenic or progestagenic effects.” It suppresses ovulation, thus preventing development of the endometrium which is sloughed off every month in menstrual bleeding. It can cause ovarian cancer. (Great)[2]

No diary entries between Feb 26 and April 1, 1982.

I continued acupuncture treatments for the MS. On at least one occasion I came to my evening appointment with severe nerve symptoms in my right foot so that I feared being unable to walk. Ninety minutes later when I left the Doctor’s office the symptoms had entirely disappeared. What does that have to do with an immune system “attack”, I asked myself. Now I can clearly see the blood must have been backing up to injure the brain or spine and the “energy” therapy revived the proper circulation. The treatments did not always lead to such a dramatic improvement, but in general they kept me going. When I next visited the neurologist on July 12, 1982 he noted “patient believes acupuncture helps her MS symptoms”. He concluded that the MS was the same as at my last visit (in Jan?) and I was put on a 6 month return schedule.

April 1 I dreamed that a fellow dancer told me I wanted to be mothered. Yes, this was true. And this raised the question of taking care of myself, of nurturing myself. My husband Jacques began to wear me down with his negative carping. I was “spoiled” “lucky to be with him”, in a word, dependent and worthless, especially now that my dancer’s career was ended. While I was aware of a difficulty in walking and occasionally the use of my hands, my handicaps weren’t visible, I didn’t then limp and my husband could entirely ignore my health problem, which he did - other than be annoyed at my “lazy” inexplicable fatigue. I continued to have “mother” dreams.  My sister “always felt acutely this lack of being mothered. It must count for something. I always felt an orphan, that I was on my own, that I raised myself…No mother.”   I was still going downhill. Running the perfume boutique exhausted me leaving me no time for writing or any other creative project. I desperately missed life in the theater which was obviously a thing of the past. I needed a creative outlet and was being buried alive in a business my husband had wanted me to open. And I was SO tired. My husband wanted no part of any MS disease, he ignored it.

On July 26 the gynecologist notes I was being treated for endometriosis, he had prescribed in April a 6 month course of Danazol , and that I would be going to Paris in October.

My husband and I did travel to France for 5 weeks October-November 1982. I was amazed that, in spite of the exhausting long flight and jet lag I was reasonably strong, in some ways I felt better. The reason is obvious, I had escaped the “toxic” perfume fumes (not to mention the shop itself.)

I had had to admit the Danazol calmed the endometriosis with all its complications – terrible cramps, pelvic pain, cystitis and MS flare-ups which a year later I would analyze in great detail. But during my French trip I noticed that the veins in my arms and legs had swelled up so that I feared some kind of stroke complication. I attributed this to the Danazol and stopped taking it and, indeed, the symptoms disappeared. I recalled that I had stopped taking birth control pills in 1969 for fear my head would “explode”, and that I also had suffered from migraines. All of this impressed upon me the connection between hormonal therapy and the vascular system and the potential for a stroke like incident, even though the Danazol was designed to suppress female hormones.

I hit bottom after the 1982 Christmas rush. I was a ruin, could hardly move for at least a week after Christmas and dragged around for months thereafter. I was forced to admit that the CHINESE DOCTOR HAD NOT CURED ME. While the the Acupuncture seemed to diminish the MS symptoms thus slowing the creeping paralysis, I continued to weaken. I didn’t think the herbal teas were helping me, they began to make me nauseous and I asked to stop taking them. The Doctor wasn’t pleased, he said I needed them. I stopped the herbs before the end of 1982.

1982; TERRIBLE YEAR. Encometriosis attacks so painful, generally debilitating, invaliding, that I could barely recover from one before the next one began. These “attacks” impacted adversely on the MS, not only by weakening the nerves in particular, but by undermining my general health such that I was continually subject to infections (sore throats, colds, bladder infections). Even as MS symptoms improved, endometriosis “attacks” would set me back again. Under care of Dr. of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Herbs/Acupuncture). Treatment seemed to improve general vitality and MS affected nerves. However, the endometriosis/hormonal problem proved intractable.
April 1982-October 1982: Took Danazol. Improved Endometriosis in general and the MS simultaneously.
December 30, 1982: Endometriosis “attack” severe, renewed swelling of ovaries which led to an MS attack in January 1983.

I now understand that these endometriosis “attacks” exacerbated the MS because they stressed and cramped the body so that the central nervous system fluid circulation must have been severely restricted. These attacks undermined my health in general which could only further reduce blood/brain perfusion not to mention cerebrospinal fluid circulation from the back. The back musculature was so seized up and rigid that it seemed to pull the vertebrae out of alignment. The cramping also hindered flows through the urinary tract leading to infection. In 1981 the MS began to flare up along with the endometriosis. I can now understand why. Contrary to received wisdom, I now believe that the primary problem doesn’t lie in the immune system so much as in the fluid circulation bathing the Central Nervous System. This might strike some as simplistic, but I consider MS to be largely a question of fluid mechanics which ARE quite basic. I was ignorant of the blood circulation factor (CCSVI) until summer 2010 which provided a cogent explanation of the above symptom cycle. It now makes so much sense.

For men as well, whatever ails them to cause the body to seize up or restricts blood/CSF circulation may trigger MS “attacks”. I now understand that the Acupuncture opened the blood/cerebrospinal fluid circulation. It relieved body tension and energy flows in general. There are those who say “I tried Acupuncture and it didn’t work for me. So there.” Acupuncture was developed in China over thousands of years of observation and practice. Some Doctors practice a bastardized form of Acupuncture by integrating it into the allopathic model. One begins with an allopathic diagnosis and then uses formulas to treat it. I’ve found that formula Acupuncture doesn’t work, that those who follow the Chinese model are likely to be most effective.
Another critical observation. AN ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT CAN HALT AN ONGOING ATTACK by opening blood /CSF flows.   However, during a period of calm, the treatment results may not be so dramatic. I believe later my Neurologist was disappointed when his patients didn’t know the same improvements as myself.

By January 1983, after a year of treatment by Dr. Cheong, I realized “Father” couldn’t fix me. That realization was the FIRST BIG STEP towards healing. Many people make the mistake of handing themselves over to an authority to be “fixed”. No, I needed to “fix” myself, take care of myself. Of course expert therapists will be called upon. But I needed to assume responsibility for myself, to change what needed changing, to become involved. In this sense Multiple Sclerosis is a health inducing disease because there is no competent authority to effectively treat it, it is considered “incurable”. Once the patient realizes this, she can set out on the path of healing.

And the healing was HOLISTIC. For me, the Multiple Sclerosis “cure”, cured everything else.

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CHAPTER ONE: DR PALLIS AND SHIATSU MASSAGE

6/4/2026

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I was performing with a small Concert San Francisco Ballet company when I first fell ill. I was happy but under stressful pressure. First odd sign came as a burning sensation on the right side of my neck.

Then I began to experience weakness, numbness and
tingling in the right arm, neck and shoulder. An irritating pins and needles
sensation developed as though the blood circulation had been cut off. The right
side of my torso felt cold and clammy, spongy and waterlogged. Then I began to
drop things from my right hand. I
didn’t stop to rest, we were rehearsing and a good trooper didn’t quit. I became
feverish and terribly weak which I attributated to the sore throat virus.During
the Saturday morning pre-performance class it became clear I had lost control of
my right arm. I could raise it overhead but once there I didn’t know where it
was or what my fingers were doing. I was told they waved about oddly. Worse, I
had begun to experience coordination problems in my legs. Nonetheless I
performed tolerably well on Saturday April 26. My last performance April 27 was
a near disaster. In one day the paralysis had seriously weakened my legs. It was
a Sunday matinee and my husband couldn’t fetch me so I took the bus home. A kind
gentleman helped me off the bus because I couldn’t steady myself with my right
arm.

The performance season over, I thought I
could relax and recover especially since I had recovered from the sore throat
virus. Though my symptoms seemed bizarre, I more or less ignored them and kept
going. I watched in amazement as my right arm deteriorated as though it were a
foreign object attached to my body. If I extended it before me and closed my
eyes I found on reopening them that the arm had moved up or down or sideways,
the hand usually having dropped without my knowledge or volition. In time I
couldn’t use the right hand at all, it curled up useless at my side and was a
source of acute embarrassment. I am left handed and could continue to write, but
practical tasks became impossible. And too there was the discomfort of the
nervous system run wild. My arm was all pins and needles, the skin on my right
neck burned fiercely while the right side of my torso remained cold and clammy.
Gradually the pins and needles irritation developed in my legs. I tried my best
to ignore the symptoms in the belief they would subside once the “brain virus”
had run its course. I was run down and tired, but not so tired that I had to
remain in bed all day. I drove to a friend’s house, we laughed a bit at the
anarchy which seemed to have taken over my body.

I had scheduled a meeting for Tuesday April
29 with the residents across the
street to help them deal with the conversion of their apartments to
Condominiums. Since my successful appearance blocking 2 abusive conversions at
City Hall the year previous I was seen as an “expert” by tenants in
spite of myself.
The day following April 30 I typed a letter
for the apartment complex residents with my left hand since the right was now
useless. Towards 5:30 p.m. just as I finished my task with the pleasure of a job
well done, there came a knock at the door. I opened it to have a 30 day eviction
notice thrust into my hand by the landlord’s son. It appears my tenants rights activities made me an undesirable tenant.
My husband Jacques seemed
oblivious to what was happening to me. The stress precipitated a crisis. My
spine in the upper back burned terribly which seemed to trigger off the pins and
needles sensation in my good left hand and elbow.That evening as my spine and
neck and legs burned painfully and I began to lose my left hand and arm I wept.
I didn’t know what was happening to me and feared the worse. Jacques called the
HMO emergency and the Doctor asked to speak with me. I described my symptoms and
he recommended I come to the emergency room. At the hospital I was given a
spinal tap which was negative. They apparently were looking for meningitis. The
Doctor sent me home after recommending rest, vitamins, gradually increased
exercise and a visit with a neurologist. He thought the problem would eventually
go away.

I was laid low the next few days with a
horrendous headache just as the Doctor had warned.
a heavy weight on the top of my skull seemed to crush the brain tissue if
I tried to rise from a horizontal position. The symptoms in my left hand
subsided. It was as though I willed the symptoms out of my left hand into my
right which by now curled up useless at my side.

Tuesday May 6 I obtained an emergency
appointment with the Neurologist while he was doing his Hospital rounds. A
friend drove me there, I felt and looked like death, though I believe it was
more the spinal tap which had laid me low than the illness itself. I had already been
treated by the Neurologist for migraine (or tension?) headaches. This seems an
appropriate prelude to the MS since migraines are also a vascular pathology linked to brain/blood/fluid circulation.
I decided to get a Shiatsu massage at the Kabuki Hot Springs on Friday May 9.
After undressing I was led to a square blue tiled pool where the kindly Masseuse
bathed me with a large, soft sponge, pouring tepid water over me from a bucket.
Then she helped me into the steam machine where I was left to “cook” and relax.
Then I was led to the sauna where I lounged for about 10 minutes, luxuriating in
the wood scented dry heat. Finally, thoroughly heated and relaxed, she treated
me to a massage with her firm competent hands. The tensions of the previous
months flowed out of me. Shiatsu works down the bands of muscles parallel to the
spine which I know contain the “Bladder” meridian in Oriental medicine.
I now believe this massage actually stopped the MS attack. (I’ll explain more later.) I
felt transformed, so wonderful, a sense of total relief. I returned home in a cab and went to bed. Walking into my building I met one of the tenants from across the street and I told him I couldn’t help them anymore
with the Condominium conversion project, I was too sick. I had to let everything go.

Then I totally fell apart. My nervous system
seemed to run wild, all the symptoms of burning, tingling, pins and needles,
paralysis and shroudlike chill were in full throttle. I couldn’t understand why
I felt so much better on the one hand and so much worse on the other. It was the heat of the steam bath/sauna
of course which exacerbated the symptoms of nerves exposed by the MS
“attack”. Yet I now believe the massage stopped the blood reflux – hence the
attack – though it would take time to become apparent.

I now know that a deep tissue massage releases toxins embedded in
the muscles so that generally one feels terrible the following day. I felt terrible
all week-end and on Monday May 12 I saw the Neurologist in the clinic for a
scheduled appointment. I still felt lousy, was frustrated and frightened. He
dully listened to me as I described the exacerbation of my symptoms, making no
move to examine me. It was obvious he took me for an hysteric. I burst into
tears. “What’s this?” he sneered. I was angry. “I am sick and you are well, at
least you could be more gracious about it.”

He finally rose to examine me and as he
worked his attitude changed, he grew more intent. He took my reflexes, asked me
to reach out my arms in various ways, to perform certain manipulations. He asked me to touch my finger to my
nose and then reach his own finger which he held at arm’s length away to the
side. I performed this several times and then he asked me to repeat the
procedure with my eyes closed. To my horror, I couldn’t find his finger. He
examined my legs as well, asking me to balance on one leg and to walk heel to
toe, among other things.

The examination complete, he told me there
appeared to be some involvement with the brain and would order various
diagnostic tests including a CAT brain scan and an EEG electrical brain scan.
(The MRI wasn’t available at the time.)

The Neurologist entry of May 14 reads
“patient seems better” Cat Normal. EEG mild Right? (EEG report of May 14 “motor
and sensory disorder of right body mildly abnormal, not epilectic”).

What strikes me here is that by May 14
“patient seems better” IN SPITE OF THE FACT I HAD UNDERGONE A CAT SCAN AND
EEG which normally would have worsened my condition. To me this implies the
Shiatsu massage really had stopped the attack. The lab tests may have
delayed my recovery, but the worst was over.

Wed May 21 I visited the Neurologist again. In his notes he mentions Prednisone, an anti-inflammatory Cortisone which was the treatment of choice at the time. However, he didn't mention it that spring. .Apparently contrary to his expectations, my condition began to improve.

I next visited the Neurologist on June
10. The Neurologist told me mine was an unusual case he would
like to present to a famous British Neurologist who would be giving a “master”
class the following week at the HMO. Perhaps he could cast light on my
problem. I agreed to come. My Doctor was unusually civil when he made this
request.

On Monday June 16 I arrived at the hospital
and my Dr was pleased to see me. Dr. Christopher Pallis was gruff and arrogant. He stood at
the head of a classroom of white coated Doctors before a chalk board and asked
me to sit on a small grey folding chair. He asked me to perform certain
manipulations with my arms and hands after which he asked me to remove my boots
to continue the examination of my legs and feet. He then drew on the board a tube like
structure, making a partial “bite” in it. He explained that this was an unusual
case since the lesions didn’t go all the way through as evidenced by the fact
that the right leg was not affected like the right hand. (I reflected that if
they had, I would have been unable to walk.) He
then turned towards me and very assertively said that I would entirely recover
save for some residual clumsiness in my right hand. Just as assertively I
insisted “When?”which caused the class to chuckle. “In a few months” he answered
before abruptly dismissing me.

My Neurologist wrote that Dr. Pallis thought I
had a spinal cord lesion (which is what he must have drawn on the board.) The
consensus was that MS was likely, though a parainfection process was still
possible.

How is it that the “attack”didn’t “eat through” the entire spinal
cord which would have left me unable to walk? My answer. The Shiatsu massage of May 9.

My notes show that when I went to the
Emergency room on May 2 my upper spine burned fiercely. After the massage I felt
a total relief, even though the heat triggered off symptoms for a few days. The
massage must have stopped the blood reflux onto the spinal cord. By May 14, even
though I had undergone a CAT scan and EEG (which from experience should have worsened my
condition) I was feeling better.

Perusal of my medical records I see mention of virus, MS, BT (brain tumour) parainfection June 18 my office 4 weeks return, steroids (if worse?)

On July 15 I visited the Neurologist again.
“Slowly improves, no new symptoms. ? clear, gait normal, right arm less, no
drift arm. Slowly resolving right arm sensory disturbance. Possibly MS Return 3 weeks, Avoid fatigue.
The Neurologist never mentioned the words MS which is probably for the best.. I assumed I had had some kind of brain virus from which I had entirely recovered.

By early July 1980 I had recovered from the April-May crisis. I then made a
terrible mistake. If I had rested and done everything possible to recover my
strength and health I believe I could have avoided any further MS attacks. I’ve
been told one can have one attack and never another which seems plausible. (Dr.
Pallis appears to have been operating on this idea. This was years before Dr Zamboni proposed the CCSVI blood reflux theory that an acute stress
can force the blood back up into the central nervous system. It’s possible one
may never suffer another incident like that, hence never another attack. I
should have been told that I had suffered a potentially serious disorder and
should avoid strenuous activity for at least a year.)

Early July the owner of a boutique on Polk
Street at the foot of Russian hill said their rental would be available as of September 1 and were we interested. My husband wanted me to open a French perfume shop and we had asked
the owners to reserve the space. The decision upon us, I had great misgivings.
My husband’s uncle during our visit to France the previous spring had told him
the shop was a terrible idea and tried to dissuade him. He said “You have a lovely
young wife who is an artist and you make a good living as an engineer, why are
you doing this? You are going to ruin your life.”
His uncle was right, the shop DID ruin both our lives. My
husband wanted a business importing French products. I told him of my misgivings
but he insisted on going ahead. I consulted the I Ching: The Book of Change of ancient Chinese divination which warned
Hexagram 36: Darkening of Light, Injury.

Yes, it would be exactly that. Running a
business is difficult enough, but what made the perfume business particularly
dangerous for me was the TOXICITY factor. I would be bathed in toxic fumes all day
(agreeable as the scents might be) and this toxicity created a terrible stress
with predictable results.

The lesson of Chapter 1 is that I inadvertently saved my legs by
getting a Shiatsu massage. I believe any deep tissue massage would have done. If I had
avoided the heat of the steam bath and sauna, I could have avoided the temporary
nervous system aggravation. My Neurologist was puzzled, he was getting ready to
launch me into steroid treatment, but then the whole process stopped. No one
asked if I had done anything to arrive at this. I now believe at the first onset of MS symptoms
one should get a massage. Why not? I can’t see any possible harm, and the
benefits may be beyond anyone’s expectations.

Let this be a cautionary tale.

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CHAPTER FOUR: HEALTH KINESIOLOGY OPPORTUNITY

6/3/2026

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Everything was going great until March 1985 when I decided to divorce my husband. I had an « attack ». I knew my mind had decided one thing, the body another. It said « no you aren’t going anywhere. » Carolyn, Dr Scott’s assistant (and future replacement), asked how this could happen ? His response was rather lame. « Something in her body caused the setback ». Unfortunately he failed to « ask the body » what this « something » was. I believe I can answer this now. Obstruction of the veins had sent blood into the CNS OR otherwise impacted proper functioning of the nervous/musculator system. Did the muscle layer of the veins go into spasms as suggested by Dr Owiesy ? Or did the muscles surrounding the veins cramp them shut ? I didn’t think to get a deep tissue « Shiatsu » massage as I did for my first attack. Dr Scott was treating me with TouchForHealth energy work which included running the Chinese Medicine meridians and palpatating the Meridian endpoints and Neurovascular and Neurolymphatic points. That wasn’t enough to release the muscle spasms/cramps affecting the blood circulation. Later I came to realize that one needed treatment DURING the crisis to relieve the spasms/cramps as happened on at least one occasion when I stopped a pending crisis with an acupuncture treatment. Later the treatment mattered less if at all. My Neurologist was disappointed later after he began to recommend acupuncture to his MS patients. My unexpected, impressive recovery was not repeated with acupuncture alone.*
After a year of therapy which included detoxification, diet modification, nutritional supplements and energy work I had entirely recovered from physical handicap as well as vision distortions. I was still taking an elementary ballet class to maintain some physical capacity. One day the ballet mistress cried out « Anna, you are lifting your leg » in arabesque instead of pushing it up. This represented a huge improvement. I had been experiencing « attack » symptoms which were signs of healing. Dr Scott explained that one relives the same symptoms as the original decline, a sort of rewinding back to original function.
My recovery resembled that of the well known Dr Terry Wahls. I will discuss her work later. She emphasized the nutritional aspect of her healing (the Mitochondria) while overlooking the energy stimulation she was using.
I can see that the vascular pathology can undermine the nutritional reform in MS healing.
We need to « ask the body » where the problem lies and the best method to open the blood circulation.
This analysis could also help overcome the weakness of Dr Zamboni’s approach which aims to open blood circulation through venoplasty. Maybe the problem can be addressed by external stimulation without risk of damaging the veins. It’s a complicated issue which muscle testing « ask the body » technique could help decipher. Maybe we can find an HK Kinesiologist willing to do the research.
And now a brief history :
Quotes come from www.oneillcollege.com

Reading the O’Neill College History of Kinesiology, I find this quote :

"1920s: American osteopaths, Frank Chapman, DC, and Charles Owen, proposed that many symptoms of diseases had their origins in sluggish lymph flow..."
"1930s: American chiropractor, Terence Bennett, DO, came up with his own model for restoring health based on proper blood flow.Like Chapman, Bennett had worked out his own set of reflex points. He called these ‘Neurovascular Reflexes’ and his body of work ‘Neurovascular Dynamics’.

1937: Chapman and Owen postulated the existence of a new heretofore unrecognised reflex they called the ‘Neurolymphatic Reflexes’ and their findings were published.

1960s: Detroit-based chiropractor,George Goodheart… pioneered a system that brought together work done by his predecessors: Chapman’s Points (for lymphatic function); Bennett’s Points (for vascular function); his own origin/insertion technique (for muscular problems); cranial bone manipulation after William Sutherland, DO."

Continued Quotes from O’Neill  www.oneillcollege.com

"1972:  Goodheart wrote the “vertebral challenge”, based upon the work of upper cervical specialist, Leon Lewis Truscott, DC, PhD; and his work on the muscle-acupuncture meridian-organ relationship using muscle testing feedback for both diagnosis and therapeutic efficacy. Interest in Applied Kinesiology expanded from George Goodheart’s lectures and Applied Kinesiology study groups being led by his best students formed throughout the US.
This marked the beginnings of the new science of Applied Kinesiology.

1973: Initially there were six of Goodheart’s protégéeswho would gather at his practice, and over time then set up study groups. There was a gathering of these study group leaders who became known as the Dirty Dozen…

1979 (sic-Correct date 1972) Chiropractor, John Thie, one of the “Dirty Dozen”, took the basic techniques that had been worked out in Applied Kinesiology and developed a new system that he called ‘Touch for Health’."

(Dr Thie died in 2005 of Prostate Cancer.)

See Dynamic Chiropractic Sept 14, 2005  A Memorial of Silence for Dr John Thie by Joseph Kating Jr PhD

« Wedding AK with his populist sentiments, John believed that many of the methods of AK could be taught to and practiced as a method of self-care for all people. He repeatedly urged Dr. Goodheart to author a text for the public on AK. Although Goodheart was not averse to dissemination of his emerging methods to nonprofessionals, he grew weary of Thie's nudging. Finally, in exasperation, he let Dr. Thie know that if he wanted such a book, John should write it himself.
The prospect of authoring a book was challenging, but John was resourceful. The first edition of Touch for Health: A Practical Guide to Natural Health Using Acupuncture, Touch & Massage, authored in collaboration with then-chiropractic student Mary Marks, was published in 1972. The workbook has since been translated into more than a dozen languages and has sold in excess of 500,000 copies; the method has caught the attention of laymen and health professionals in several disciplines, and has spawned national and international workshops and certification programs. »

I believe this Book forms the foundation of Dr Scott’s treatment and I highly recommend it.

So now we have points for neurovascular function as well as points for neurolymphatic function, and it is exactly these functions which CCSVI treatment addresses. So apparently I was being treated for CCSVI inadvertently by Dr. Scott.

The damage of the March 1985 attack wasn’t too important (mainly MS « hug ») and I was forced to retire from active life into contemplation for six weeks. My husband was irritated, I had to patiently explain to him that I had MS and was having an « attack ».  His attitude didn’t help his case, it only re-inforced my decision to leave him which I did three years later.
My legs remained strong. Spring 1988 I walked many kilometers across Paris without faltering. This amazes me. Why did I ignore subsequent stress over the following years when I should have known how to how to treat it ? Because I failed to recognize deep tissue massage as the treatment and by the time I did understand, it was too late, much damage had been done.

Please find below a continuation of quotes from the O-Neill College
History of Kinesiology (Quotes from www.oneillcollege.com)

"1982:  Alan Beardall established the concept of the body as a “Biocomputer”. This concept determined that the subconscious appears to process data in a binary way…this simple “yes” or “no” response of the muscle is the summation of all the factors influencing the brain and central nervous system, from the level of your structural alignment to your nutritional and emotional status. In addition, the subconscious readout of muscle function is the interface with the other energy systems of the body, including the meridian systems. As such, these “yes” or “no” responses can also indicate states of energetic balance.
Energetic Kinesiology established.
…the muscle response is used primarily as a form of biofeedback. Hence, in these systems you are “monitoring”, not “testing” muscle function. The redefinition of the term “muscle testing” to “muscle monitoring” is to denote that we are now accessing only the integrity of the muscle response, and not its strength. » My emphasis

These concepts of Biocomputer and Biofeedback describe well Dr. Scott’s work as I understand it. As one can see by the dates, he was working, and doubtless contributing, to the development of Applied Kinesiology.
He told me he began his development of HK Health Kinesiology in 1978. See healthkinesiology.co.nz/origins-of-hk/dr-jimmy-scott/

I began working with Dr. Scott in January 1984. My progress was impressive up to the March 1985 « attack ».
What a missed opportunity ! Consistent with his « ask the body » theory Dr Scott should have used muscle testing to understand the origin of the crisis. If it was a venous blood back jet, which veins, where ? Had I been aware of the CCSVI issue, I could have better addressed the « attack ». What I find strange is that he failed to « ask the body ». The above discussion indicates Kinesiology was aware of vascular and lymph flow pathologies. He used neurolymphatic points neuro vascular points in balancing the meridians and body energy. So why did the CCSVI issue escape him ?A comptent Health Kinesiologist should be asked to study the CCSVI question in detail. Where can I find someone competent and open to the idea ?I’ll conclude this post with more from the History of Kinesiology. www.oneillcollege.com

"Mid 1980s: An expert in electronic aircraft guidance systems, Richard Utt, added to the growing number of kinesiology systems by developing Applied Physiology... Richard Utt’s recognition of the significance of resolving these ‘hidden’ compensations via muscle balancing techniques was a significant development and led to longer lasting results for clients.

Late 1980s: American scientist, Charles Krebs developed LEAP (Learning Enhancement Acupressure Program)…In the 1990s Energetic Kinesiology continued to evolve with an increased emphasis on resolving physiological issues long term.

From these beginnings, kinesiology has blossomed to become a diversity of different types of kinesiology-based treatments.These new systems were developed by people who saw the incredible potential of the techniques because generally, they were not locked within the rigid Western medical and physiological models."

Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, Dr. John Thie, Touch For Health, Dr. George Goodheart, Applied Kinesiology, Dr. Jimmy Scott, Muscle Testing, Standard Process,

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CHAPTER SIX: THE MONONUCLEOSIS/EBV MARKER

CHAPTER FIVE: DR SCOTT "ASKS THE BODY"

CHAPTER FOUR: KINESIOLOGY & MISSED OPPORTUNITY

CHAPTER THREE: THE ALLOPATHS 1983

CHAPTER TWO: THE CHINESE CURE 1982

CHAPTER ONE: DR PALLIS AND SHIATSU MASSAGE

CHAPTER FOUR: HEALTH KINESIOLOGY OPPORTUNITY

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