But he does give me a test session and it hurts. It hurts bad, really, really bad. But when it is over, I feel great. He says it is because of the endorphins and we add E Stim to my physical therapy. I discovered the Institute for Functional Medicine. I take a course on neuroprotection. I have a longer list of supplements that support my mitochondria and then I have an aha. What if I redesign the paleo diet that I have already been following for five years? What if I redesign it based on all the supplements that I’m taking? That is more research and I begin this new way of eating. December 26, 2027. Now, at that time my trigeminal neuralgia has been relentlessly worse. A breeze, a light touch when it is turned on can trigger the pain. Chewing, swallowing can trigger the pain. I’m very afraid that I will soon be permanently on where speaking and swallowing would trigger the intense electrical pain. I am weak. I cannot sit up anymore. I’m in a zero-gravity chair with my knees higher than my nose. I have one where I stuffed the raynesys because I’m too weak to see patients directly. I have another one at home and I’m in that zero-gravity chair for my meals and times with my family. I am beginning to have brain fog and the fatigue is severe. I know I will soon be having to apply for a medical disability and I start this new way of eating this highly structured paleo diet. December 26th and in January, at the end of the month, my physical therapist said, “Terry, you are getting stronger.” He advances my exercises and I realize that my fatigue is less. My mental clarity’s improved.
And then in February, I begin walking first with two walking sticks and then with one. And then I tell my family, “I would like to try riding my bike.” Something I have not done for six years. And Jack says, “Well, maybe in the fall, if things continue to go well. “ But two weeks later, on Mother’s Day, I tell my family I really want to try. And Jackie tells my big 16-year-old son, six foot five football player sack, you run alongside on the left. And she tells my 13-year-old daughter, Zeb, you run alongside on the right. We all get in position. Jack gives the signal. I get on my bike and I pedal around the block. You know, that big 16-year-old boy, he is crying. That my 13-year-old, she is crying, Jackie’s crying and I cried. And tears come to my eyes every time I tell that story because it was at that moment that, the understanding of secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, I knew it was incomplete. That, who knew how much recovery might be possible. And I began biking a little bit more each day. I did my physical therapy and then in October, Jackie said, “Let us sign you up for the courage ride. Its 18.5 miles, however far you go, will be a triumph.” And once again, when I cross that finish line, my kids are crying, Jackie’s crying, I am crying. And it changes how I think about disease and how it will change the way I practice medicine and the focus of my research. I am Terry Wahls. I am a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa.
I do clinical research, testing my protocol and others with progressive M.S. secondary progressive, primary progressive, relapsing, remitting. We have been able to show that, yes, other people can implement these complicated regimens and that they can experience reduced fatigue, reduced anxiety, reduced depression, improved quality of life, improved walking function, hand function. They too can get their lives back. So if I can come back from such profound disability there absolutely is hope for you that you can come back, that you can get your life back. And that is why I’m hosting this summit. So you can learn from other clinicians, and other scientists that there are interventions under your control that can stop the damage and set the stage for repair and that you can begin the process of restoring your mental clarity, restoring your energy, reducing your pain, improving your quality of life. I have written several books that will help you in your journey. The first book, Minding My Mitochondria, told my story and discussed the experiments that I was just beginning to conduct. My very first study. The next book that I wrote, came out are, The Wahls Protocol which describes the Wahls diet and the various levels from level 1 to 3 elimination diet that you can take your current diet and steadily improve at the pace that you and your family can achieve. We also talk about the supplements that are used, the detox pathways, the electrical stimulation of muscles, and the functional exercises that are used for my recovery and behavior change. How we can improve our self-care routine so that we can make forward progress and the supplements that are used.
And my rationale, this is much more than just a diet. This is a comprehensive roadmap that I used for my own recovery, and I’ve used for thousands of others. And then we also, because food is such a big part of your healing journey because the food you eat will become the body, the nerves, the spinal cord, the brain, the cranial nerves that you have tomorrow. We need proper nutrition to maintain and repair ourselves to help make that easier. We wrote a cookbook, The Wahls Protocol: Cooking for Life. That is a marvelous resource to help you learn how to prepare meals that it is not complicated cooking. It is food that you can make even if you are fatigued, even if you have only your local grocery store in rural small-town America. We have had thousands of individuals, hundreds of thousands of individuals whose lives I have touched through my books, who have used my books to deepen their understanding of what is possible, that there is so much that they can do. And in the gifts for you, we have copies of the first chapter for Minding My Mitochondria, for the Wahls Protocol, and from the cookbook we will have some recipes from the cookbook as well. Now, once again, I am so thrilled that you were here. The Summit, Multiple Sclerosis, and Neuroimmune. You will hear from other clinicians and scientists who have used these concepts to help their patients stop the damage, begin their recovery and begin getting their lives back. I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome, the Summit will change your life.
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