This Blog Has Moved!

For technical reasons this blog is no longer active. For my new blog please direct your browser to: RichardSauder.substack.com

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

A Healing Message In These Troubled Times

My regular readers know that I was the victim of a very serious physical assault in late 2012 here in Ecuador, at the hands of an indigenous shaman. My injuries were so serious that I was hospitalized for more than four months. I suffered grave harm from internal injuries, from a beverage that I was given, physical blows and from the contents of a hypodermic injection that was forced on me by the shaman against my expressed will, when I was thoroughly incapacitated.

I cannot begin to describe the shock, trauma and unrelenting pain that I experienced. I now recognize that I very nearly died. My body had multiple contusions from heavy blows, especially in the lumbar region and the lower extremities, on both sides. My body also had numerous, large bubbles on it. I have never seen anything like it before. It was like something out of a B-grade horror flick. Myriad, small red welts covered the core area of my body. 

I did not urinate for two days. I did not defecate for four days. My body was so swollen and bruised that in the first couple of days I could not even roll over from one side of the bed to the other.  I was unable to stand up unsupported, let alone walk, without falling over. My equilibrium was reduced to next to nothing. I lost control over my feet and ankles. From the knees down everything was very numb. It felt to me as if a cold, glacial wind was constantly blowing inside my ankles and feet for weeks on end.

Mind you, I was walking and moving normally my whole life, with very good feeling in my feet, before the near fatal assault. 

The Silver Lining In The Dark Cloud

Thankfully, I have rebounded substantially in the intervening 21 months. I still have more therapy and healing in front of me, but I can say unequivocally that I am a lot better than I was 21 months ago. The movement and feeling in my lower extremities is gradually returning. The mysterious internal injuries seem to have abated. The help I have received from others, including people who were complete strangers, has been a tremendous boon. I don't know where I would have been without their generosity and kindness . I can only say that I am genuinely grateful for their assistance, concern and support in my time of desperate need.

That definitely includes the nurses, nurse assistants, therapists, janitorial staff, food service staff, technicians, ambulance drivers and doctors in the public hospitals here in Ecuador. They looked after me in the darkly painful hours, days and weeks when I so urgently needed their care, and I am thankful for that.

I am grateful as well for the financial donations from friends and some of my readers over the past year and a half that have meant the world to me. It's been a real life saver. The vast majority of my many thousands of readers have not responded at all, but some of you have, and your generosity has been like a life raft for me, navigating over storm tossed, very troubled waters.

The New Healing Technologies 

One of the readers who has helped me is Glenn Streeter, in Colorado, USSA, of  EnergyMedFit.com Glenn specializes in rehabilitating physical injuries and so is uniquely qualified to advise me on my own recuperative efforts. One of the things Glenn did was to perform a whole being scan with the new, cutting edge, Nu/vision technology. The Nu/vision uses your personal life data to do a holistic scan of your total organism, without your needing to be physically present. It was quite revealing for me, with a few surprises I had not anticipated. It detailed that I was dealing with a broad suite of trauma, including at the spiritual level, as is consistent with a shamanic attack.

For details on Nu/vision readings please contact:

Glenn Streeter, Exercise Physiologist
Energy Medicine for the 21st century
http://EnergyMedFit.com
Boulder, Colorado
303-818-5203

Please note that Glenn offers a variety of healing modalities, including the Avazzia Scenar-like devices that decrease pain and assist the body to repair damaged tissue. Glenn and the manufacturers of the Avazzia Best-Pro 1 made one of these units available to me, and it really does help. If you want or need an Avazzia device of your own, please contact Glenn Streeter. In my experience, the Avazzia unit has helped to gradually restore more feeling, progressively diminish residual numbness and slowly bring back movement to areas of my feet and toes where previously there was no movement or positive reaction in the nerves and muscles. I use it all the time.

EnergyMedFit.com also offers Delta Pulse pulsed electromagnetic field therapy for pain relief and tissue regeneration, as well as the OndaMed, "an advanced biofeedback system that quickly detects infectious agents and areas of inflammation in the body with no blood work or urinalysis, and corrects them utilizing specific frequencies." Additionally, EnergyMedFit performs heart rate variability and electro-interstitial scans, and more.

The Healthy Nutrition Angle

Another lucky aspect of my rehabilitation is that I am in Ecuador, a tropical country with a ready supply of fresh vegetables, fruits and other foods and nutrients that have helped my recovery.

I consume a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, juices, nuts, seeds and oils. A partial list of my diet includes:

walnuts
almonds
cashews
peanuts
chocolate (Ecuador produces a lot of chocolate)
squash seeds
chia seeds
oatmeal
cinnamon
dried stevia leaves
dried mushrooms
turmeric
oregano
red onions
asparagus
tomatoes
black beans
avocados
raw parsley (by whole big bunches -- not just a sprig or two)
raw cilantro (a lot at a time)
coconut (raw meat , shredded/dried, coconut juice and water)
milk
ricotta cheese
eggs
fresh carrot juice (lots of it)
avocado oil
olive oil
sacha inchi oil (from a plant that grows in the Amazon forest)
lots of fresh water
blueberries
tangerines
watermelon
magnesium chloride (sold over the counter by the bottle in local pharmacies) 
etc.

You get the idea. The diet seems to be working, in that I feel a lot better than I did a year and a half ago and I have more energy, strength and vigor. I was gaunt and haggard after so many months in the hospital, but in recent weeks I am starting to feel more my normal self.

Don't Forget Exercise

An essential part of my rehabilitation regimen is a lot of walking (slow and awkward -- but it's not an issue, because I do slow and awkward very well!), including climbing the numerous, long, stone staircases of Quito, and a fair amount of more structured exercise, whether that be an informal exercise session in one of the local parks or an hour or two in a local gymnasium. I wasn't up to visiting the gym a year, or a year and a half ago. But recently I sensed that my body was ready for, and needed, a higher level of physical intensity, so I increased my level of physical activity.

I still don't have normal feeling and functionality in my calves, ankles, feet and toes, but I'm getting there. All of the factors I've listed above have been a help -- the human factor,  the Avazzia Best-Pro device, quality nutrition and exercise.

It also helps that I never give up. Even on the darkest, most pain-filled days, when someone asked me how I was doing or how I was feeling, I always told them that I was getting better, that I was better than the day before, or the week before, or the month before.

My Current Situation in Ecuador
 
After more than a year and a half, the shaman who assaulted me has been indicted and arraigned. In the first court hearing in August the presiding judge determined that there was sufficient evidence to proceed to a trial, which will occur next week. If my assailant is found liable for causing me bodily harm he is likely to be jailed. 

I have been pushed to the wall by this ordeal, to my physical and financial limits and beyond. The case is actually bigger than me, in that there certainly are other victims of shamanic abuse in the Amazon region. I am not the only victim. Indeed, I have heard from another victim of the same shaman who has nevertheless declined to pursue justice or even to support me in my case. But unlike 99% of the others, I have elected to stand up and fight back, no matter the odds. 

I have no illusions about what I am up against. I was almost killed. I was hurt very badly. I was hospitalized for more than four months. I am still recuperating and receiving therapy more than twenty-one months later.

What happens in the Amazon is vitally important to what happens on this planet. The shamans of the region theoretically have an essential role to play in healing the Amazon and showing the way for humanity to deeply bond with the natural world -- but not if they themselves are abusive to the very people who come to the region to consult the sacred power plants in search of hyper-conscious communion with Mother Nature. 

And so I gratefully accept your assistance. This is what I do. I write. I comment on the big issues of the day. I am an activist. That is why you come here. I certainly do need your support. I know that some of you are more than able to assist me. For USA dollar contributions please e-mail me at: dr.samizdat1618@gmail.com  and I will tell you how to send a donation.