Need some inspiration? Consider these testimonials from Dr. Swank's patients. Read the letter from Julie, who sent her husband out to find Dr. Swank's MS Diet Book for her after her diagnosis in 1987, and has since gone on to continue her Nursing Career and cross country bicycling!
Do you have a story to share about your experience on the Swank MS Diet? Tell us about it!Email the Swank MS Foundation today.
If we feel your testimony might help others, we will post it on this site.
Donna is one of our most enthusiastic long-time Swankers, and is one of our wonderful volunteer mentors. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading her story!
How Dr. Swank's Work Saved My Life.
April 17, 1989 was one of the darkest, life altering days of my 32 years on the planet. Two years after achieving my goal of stopping a 17- year smoking habit and adopting a rigorous physical fitness regimen, I truly felt on top of the world. Nothing could stop me. I'd just begun life as a student again at a local community college with my new found level of confidence in tow. Those successes empowered me to continue striving and believing in myself (something that had never come easily for me). This was a new era for Donna. Little did I know, at that time, that the confidence that had grown within me was about to be sorely tested.
As the number one aid to curbing the withdrawal cravings, I began working out in a "real gym" with seriously strong, fit people around me. One of them, a Marine drill instructor and "Mr. World" contender, became my personal coach. He took a personal interest in my goals. Each day, he would encourage, as well as educate, me in this, his arena just a bit further. It made the experience fun and I began to feel guilty if I didn't go to the gym that day. A new addiction had been spawned.
Fast forward three years of daily trips to the gym. Pushing beyond previous levels routinely, I spent almost three hours per day in that environment. I also received many new ideas as to making dietary changes and did so gladly. I'd never felt better in my entire life. What a revelation! The dietary changes came easily to me. Living in California at the time, fresh produce was not only abundant, but available year round. This prepared me for the changes to come after my diagnosis.
One morning upon waking, I was shocked to find that my left leg collapsed under me. It felt heavy and would not support my weight. I erroneously passed it off as something like a pinched nerve. My doctor couldn't find any reason for it, so it was "watch and wait." I dragged that leg around for more than 6 weeks. Continuing to work out as I had been, never missing a day the entire time, I was unknowingly worsening my condition daily. Almost as soon as that symptom began to wane, a new symptom of tingling on the right side of my body began. More doctor visits and tests were ordered, but nothing was determined.
Again, I had roughly 6 weeks of very odd sensations on one side of my body that couldn't be explained. Additional tests followed. I continued to believe it was harmless. How could anything bad be happening to me now? I was certainly on a high of optimism. So much so that I ignored all the signs that my body was giving me and continued on in the gym. Nothing was going to stop me!
When the fourth symptom, very fuzzy eyesight in one eye, occurred, I was sent to an eye doctor. He diagnosed "optic neuritis" and suggested that I see a neurologist ASAP.
My family doctor scheduled an appointment with a neurologist in Phoenix, Arizona at a well-known neurological institute. He warned me ahead of time that the physician that he was referring me to did not have a "good bedside manner." He’d been told this by many, but this doctor was very proficient in his field. Hmmm... I soon learned what he meant, and he wasn't overstating it at all.
How can one hour, one day, change a person's life so dramatically? The MRI was performed and the follow-up went something like this. "This shows that you have multiple sclerosis. You have in the top third of the worst cases we've ever seen here. You have a few good years left." Talk about devastating! The fact that I had four exacerbations (new word for my dictionary) within a 5- month time frame further impacted a dismal prognosis. He delivered this news with much the same compassion and sensitivity as one would state the weather report for the day. Is this the way of one, whom we entrust with our care?
My mother had died of systemic Lupus at the age of 33. Here I was, at 32 years, thinking, "I guess . . . this is it. "When asked if there were any possible dietary modality's, an emphatic, "No" was given. I was told that they'd just treat exacerbations with high-doses of steroids, given in the hospital. I wanted nothing to do with hospitals, or doctors, ever again, having watched my mother go through her agonizing decline.
Fortunately, within a short amount of time, information came to me of a Dr. Roy Swank, Md., Ph.D., head professor of neurology at Oregon Health Sciences University. I learned that he'd studied M.S. since 1946 and, based on his scientific findings, treated M.S. in an entirely different way through diet (According to the "expert," this couldn't be done). His track record and credentials were impeccable. I was truly fortunate that he was, indeed, still practicing in his 70's. I saw him for the remaining ten years of his practice. Yes, I traveled to see him, but at the point of desperation I was, I'd have gone to Indonesia if need be.
His success at controlling the progress of the disease through dietary measures was remarkable. I had to do this. I studied the program intensely, because my very life depended on it. I eliminated almost all saturated fats and trans-fats and added lots of clean, whole, unaltered foods. It's never been something I looked at as a diet. It's a lifestyle, one that I enthusiastically embraced. My lifeline had been found!
As broken spirited and emotionally shattered as I was when first I met him, Dr. Swank's words to me were the most healing balm for the soul there could have been. "f you do as I say, Donna, you can live a normal life." With those words, he gave me back my life.
We spent a great deal of time together in that first appointment. I also spent time with Barbara Dugan, his nurse and dietary guide, to answer all of my questions. Part of her job was to monitor the patients' diets and to steer them through the learning curve. As time passed in that first year, I not only regained all the functions that I'd lost, but felt increasingly better. I had become much more proficient at the diet.
It's been 18 years now. I need no aids or devices of any kind. I do take the daily rest breaks that Doctor Swank strongly advocated, and am grateful for each day of health that I enjoy. I volunteer at a local hospital and manage a home, cooking healthful and tasty meals for my very supportive husband and myself. I consider that a success story. As my way of giving back, I volunteer for the Swank Foundation in being a mentor, via e-mail, to the people who find their way to the Swank program, or those who simply need a friendly ear, comfort or consolation.
To Dr. McDougall, a heartfelt "Thank you!" for your dedicated efforts to continue the work of Dr. Roy Laver Swank. The legend lives on because of you. I've since adopted the McDougall plan, as another layer to health restoration/preservation. To quote Hippocrates, the father of medicine, "Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food." Isn't that appropriate? That is certainly the message in your work.
Without leaders like Dr. Swank and Dr. McDougall, who are reminding the establishment of their duty, we would all be in dire circumstances. Wouldn't we?
Thank you Dr. Swank!
My story.
In 1985, I was 29 years old and just accepted into a nursing school program. My life had finally found a purpose and my future was bright. In October, two months into the nursing program, I was lying in bed, cuddled with a relatively new electric blanket (Michigan Winters were so cold), when I felt a sharp, electrical-type pain shoot up my great toe. I moved my foot around the bed but the stabbing pain intermittently continued. In the morning I mentioned it to my husband and we both agreed the blanket must have an electrical short in it. We threw the blanket out. We bought another and all was well... for a month. The sharp electric toe-pain returned. Interesting enough, I was not worried about it. In fact, I laughed out loud at the remembrance of throwing out a perfectly good electric blanket! Besides, the pain in my toe wasn’t constant and eventually stopped all
together.
On one day in January 1986, I was sitting at my assigned desk at school when my right hand felt odd and as the morning progressed, a cold sensation began in my pinky-finger and the palm area just beneath it. It soon became extremely sensitive to any stimuli to include air. It was so bothersome that I could not comfortably rest that hand on the desk. Within that same day, this annoying symptom spread to the next finger and half of my palm. These symptoms lasted for two weeks followed by a numbness traveling up the arm. The weakness I felt in that hand would prevent me from holding onto a cup or opening a catsup-pack.
So began my year-long routine of tests and conjectures of "what's wrong with Julieanne"? The first few weeks were eliminating any life-threatening possibilities like Guillian-Barre or a brain-tumor. The symptoms worsened as numbness advanced into my face causing a slight drooping on my left side. Now I was really scared.
By August 1986, I had completed all required course work and graduated as a Practical Nurse. My health was not good and fatigue was a daily battle. The symptoms had advanced into my right leg and the pain in my right thigh was teeth grinding. My right foot was extremely numb making walking difficult at times. The medical tests had slowed down and I was a baffle to my physicians. Possible diagnoses were tossed round: Post-viral Syndrome, Polio, Multiple Sclerosis, and so on.
By the end of 1986, I could barely walk to and from our curbside city mailbox without holding on to the car or experiencing total exhaustion once back inside the house. I spent a good deal of time either in bed or on the sofa.
The diagnostic testing started again with a new set of physicians; MRI, ECG, blood work, spinal tab…clinic exams. In December 1986, I spent 3 weeks in
the hospital running these tests and hooked up to IV medications in search of relief. At the end of that 3 weeks, the medical team shook their heads
and said something like this; "We are very sorry to tell you but we are pretty sure you have Multiple Sclerosis and you may be in the 1% of those that decline quickly and do not recover. We are sending you home. The good news is we will hook you up with a pain-management clinic to help with the pain."
So, I went home and went to bed. Just prior to leaving the hospital, however, I visited the hospital library to research MS. It was there that I first read Dr. Roy Swank's M.S. book.
I don't remember how long I remained in bed before beginning my fight back. It was shortly thereafter that I began reading anything and everything about MS and how the body can fight against autoimmune disorders. My nursing training, along with my childhood memories of Tigers Milk and Adele Davis, lead me to begin my research with nutrition. I remembered the book I'd briefly read written by Dr. Swank. I remembered that Dr. Swank had done a lengthy research project with MS patients and from that research, had developed a dietary regime that improved symptoms of MS. I sent my husband out to find that book. In 1987, there wasn't the Internet to locate such rare finds. Nevertheless, my husband knew this was important and he eventually found it.
Those early months of recovery were filled with fear as well as with hope. From my bed I began plotting my road to restored health. I included three elements in my daily routine. Dr. Swank's dietary regime, positive thinking and God's grace. For one year I did exactly as Dr. Swank suggested...I did not deviate...it was too important.
Within just a few months of following Dr. Swanks diet and incorporating positive thinking into my life, I made significant improvements. I even took my first part-time nursing job. I was absolutely exhausted after each shift and the pain was still debilitating but I felt it was important to be in the land of the living rather than at home where all I could do was focus on my losses. By the summer of 1987, I was ready to start cycling again. Bicycles and I had a long love relationship. I'd toured on my bike while in high school and had a dream of cycling across country some day. There were many days in 1985 and 1986 I thought that dream would never happen. Now, I had hope. My husban surprised me with a Specialized Mountain Bike that Summer of 1987. I'd always had road bikes but I wasn't able to tolerate the drop handlebars and height of a thin-tired road bike. The Mt. Bike was much more stable and manageable. My right foot was still severely numb, so to compensate, pedal cages locked my tennis shoe in place. The trick was to dismount on my left side otherwise I would come crashing down when coming to a stop. Remember how important I felt laughter was? Well, when I would stop suddenly on my bike and forget to dismount on my left, my right foot was not cooperating and tucked into the pedal cage causing me to tip over and crash to my right. While it sometimes hurt, the laughter would rise up...after all, it must have been a funny sight!?
I got better and better about riding this bike and learning how to compensate for the numbness of my right foot. By the end of the summer, I was able to ride 10 miles with frequent stops. By the end of that yearlong change in my dietary intake, coupled with my determination to see the cup always as half filled, I was working full time,
riding my bicycle most weekends and feeling very good. Thank you Dr. Swank for giving me back my life!
Julieanne
Postscript: I did cycle across the United States in 1996, starting on the
coast in Washington and ending on the Atlantic coast in Georgia.
Every patient is different. Information on this site does not constitute medical advice or treatment.
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