Sanoviv: Detox Protocol

Posted on by Sandy

While hubby was at the hospital, he suggested that I do the Detox protocol. This protocol is usually done in concert with one of the other protocols (Lyme, etc.) but it can be done by itself.

By way of full disclosure, the 7 day program is just under $5,000.

The program includes: Lab Tests (CBC, SMAC, C-reactive protein, stool analysis, urinalysis, blood typing); EKG; MaxPulse (HRV & Vessel health); Bioimpedance Analysis; Microscopic Blood Analysis; Ultrasound (liver/gall bladder); Colon Hydrotherapy (one wheat grass, one coffee); Bioenergetic Therapy (e.g., The Quiet Room); Medical consults (M.D., Psych, Dentist, Nutritionist, Chiropractor, etc.); Dental full 3D Xray, mercury testing, evaluation; Nutrition assessment (including fat/water/muscle percentage, building eating program to your lab work); Fitness assessment & private session; Fitness classes (Swiss ball, yoga, water fitness, stretching, tai chi); 2 Spa Treatments daily (swedish, lymphatic, reflexology, Chi bath detox, seaweed body wrap, thalassotherapy, infrared sauna, MRT, parafango); food prep/juicing classes; supplements (Designs for Health GI Revive; USANA Vita Antioxidant, Core Mineral, Hepasil, Probiotics and Digestive enzyme; Heel detox; GI MicrobX); Energy Medicine/Meditation classes; Sound Yoga/Laughing Yoga; nightly lectures.

Of course it also includes your ocean-front room (all rooms are ocean-front), and the detoxification diet, which is the Sanoviv diet as discussed before.

If your doctor prescribes any medication or supplement that is not listed above on the “supplements,” that is added to your statement at the end. By way of example, my stool sample (TMI) showed that while I chewed my food thoroughly enough, some food was still making it into my colon. As such, she said that I needed to boost my stomach digestion, and she swapped out the USANA digestive enzyme for one from Designs For Health, which has HCl in it. She said that, unlike medicines, the digestive enzymes actually help your body to produce your own, so taking it would ultimately “teach” my system to boost the stomach acid enough to dissolve the food enough that it did not make it into the colon. (I will not talk about the colon hydrotherapy and what you “see” with that – suffice it to say that it is eye opening…!)

Since hubby’s program already had me as a Companion, we took 7 x $100 off of the price. I did not have IVs indicated (my Vitamin D, C, DHEA, etc. were “perfect”), but if I had needed them, they are an additional $260 or so.

There is another program at about the same price that has more labwork (can’t quite remember what it’s called) – but when I discussed this with the Coordinator to decide which program to do, he said that if the doctor felt that I needed those tests, I could add them – however, that program didn’t have all the spa and Quiet Room treatments that the Detox program did. That’s why I chose that program.

At the end, you’re giving a binder with all of your tests, a DVD of your dental 3D Xray to bring home, etc. Because my lab work, fitness test, and the like were perfect, my doctor recommended three additional tests for me – although I already have my binder (the program ended Sunday), those results will either come in this week, or might come after we’re back home. She said that she will call and go over them with me, and send me the results. Those tests were a full hormone panel test, a thyroid test, and a test to see if I am either insulin resistant or in adrenal fatigue. Her view is that since my eating is excellent and fitness is excellent, the reason that I have put on weight and can’t rid myself of it is that something is “off” on a more microscopic level.

This post will be looooo-ong. But when I went searching for information on Sanoviv, there really weren’t any blog posts, Instagram posts, etc. that detailed everything. So, that’s what this (and the previous blog posts, actually) have been for. Folks looking for the specifics.

Before You Start…

Read what’s sent to you! You’re instructed to remove all nail polish, acrylic nails, don’t bring jewelry, don’t bring smelly things (from perfumes to essential oils), etc. Come On. Just do it.

guy on the phone, in the pool. come ON.

I’ve been here now over three weeks, and so folks have come and gone. On the “intake day,” I’ve been so surprised at how many women don’t follow these rules. Here’s the deal: If you don’t take off your nail polish, your gel polish, your acrylic nails, your false eyelashes, etc. there is no way to do it here. And some of the protocols very specifically state that you can’t do them if you have not removed these things. The idea is that all of these are not “natural to” your body – as such, in any program (particularly Detox!) you are supposed to be “as you were born” so to say. You have parts that you can’t remove? (Like, for example, metal screws in a bone?) Tell them. Then you can’t do some of the magnetic therapies, but others you’ll be just fine. But if you weren’t born with it, do not come with it. Believe me, no one cares that you have no eyelashes, that your “been under acrylic for ten years” nails are going to be like tissue paper, that without your hair weave you’re nearly bald. (Wo)man up – do what you’re supposed to do.

If you have jewelry that has some “energetic value” to you, bring it but then ask for it to be charged for you in the Quiet Room. “You” say that this jewelry is great for you. How do you know? I personally have a pair of earrings and a necklace that I wear about 99.9% of the time, but I left them at home because you are instructed not to bring any jewelry, except your wedding ring if you “have to have it.” (No, not your big rock engagement ring.) I wish I had brought them, because I would have liked to have done the charging on them in the Quiet Room, but this is a special service. I personally wore a Qalo wedding ring to really follow the rules. Hubby wore a bracelet that I got him for his treatments last year, which he has had charged and does wear. But please, please don’t be “that girl” that has her mega-rock (and false eyelashes, and acrylic nails). Anything you weren’t born with is supposed to stay at home. And you know what? Maybe at the end of all this, you might re-think putting that back on your body . . .

Day One (Monday): Admitting Day

nom nom cacao banana almond flour muffin with nut butter

My day was a little different than the “usual,” as I had gone through all this with hubby. You will get your room, your Sanoviv clothing, an orientation, and a tour. In the afternoon, you’re likely to report to Special Care (the hospital floor/floor 2) for an EKG and your admitting consult. Other than that, you do what you’ll be doing every day: 6:40 a.m. go to the Mansion to get lemon and cayenne water; 7:00 do the class (laughing yoga, meditation, energy medicine, etc.); 8:00 do the fitness class (stretching, rebounding, etc.); 8:30 go to breakfast; 9:56 get your “green drink” (wheat grass, chlorophyll); 10:56 get your snack (today it was raw cacao almond flour muffins with nut butter NOM NOM); 1:00 pm Lunch; 1:35 Quick Food Prep Class; 2:56 green juice (this isn’t a “wheat grass” it’s a juice made up of like celery, cilantro, carrots, etc.); 4:56 “healthy beverage” (this can be golden milk, hot hibiscus tea, etc.); 6:00 dinner; 7:00 lecture.

On my Day One, we had Laughing Yoga for the 7:00 a.m class. It was GREAT. HERE is a link to a number of articles on the chemistry of laughing. My psychologist (Dr. Fernando) leads this. As he said, one must always remember that Motion creates E-motion. As such, in the exercise, if you can’t actually laugh, then make a false laugh. If you can’t even do that, then smile and if that even doesn’t work, then make a fake smile. There is a scientific basis for all of this. The idea is to have fewer words and more gestures, plus to have eye contact. When we use words we are in our head and “rational,” which has been clinically proven to be that you are “out” of your body. Especially these days, we don’t take enough time to be in our body and to Honor our Bodies. That is what this class is about.

The great thing about Laughing is that it is a social phenomenon – it’s “catching.” It’s also important to realize that you don’t need something humorous (words/watching comedy) to laugh. If you look at young kids, they can just laugh and shift. By way of example, you’ll see a couple kids fighting and a second later they’ll be laughing. It is our nature to be joyful like the child. There has been a lot of work done in this area, not only with respect to Laughter itself, but with respect to Compassion and Kindness. They are all “catching.”

Laughing yoga really was fun. You start off in a circle, and you have exercises that help you to look foolish and work “up to” laughing. The first exercise, by way of example, you move throughout the circle with your finger tilting your nose up like a pig. You make a “HA-HA-HA-HAAAAA!” sound, then move on to another person. By the end, just by looking at how silly your partner looks (and imagining that you look just as silly), everyone is really laughing. There are other exercises, but at the end, everyone’s heads are in a circle, feet out. Dr. Fernando has a great laugh. He starts up, and you can’t help but start laughing. The laughter will die down for a bit, and then someone will snort, or laugh, or breathe funny, and it will all start back up again. By the end you are wiping your eyes, holding your gut, and feeling so connected with everyone. What a great practice! On the schedule right now, Laughing Yoga is every Monday.

Mondays have a quick food prep class after Lunch, and a Breath, Detox and Relaxation seminar in the evening.

Day Two (Tuesday): Labs, Doctors, Spa

Day Two you start off fasted, and go down and get your blood drawn. You will be given a collection vial for stool and urine samples, which you’ll do that day and drop off at the lab.

my bloodwork, from my binder

They take a lot of blood, but my phlebotomist (Arturo) was outstanding. I mean, I’m the worst person to get blood from. My veins roll, they are tiny, they close off, etc. He got his gallon without breaking a sweat.

The morning class on Tuesdays is Sound Meditation. I’ve discussed this before, when I did it with the hubby. Dr. Sandra from the Psych department leads it. It’s great. You will meet your doctor team on this day. Unfortunately you only get one “date” with your therapist and the Body/Mind person, and also only one with the chiropractor, on this program. (I am paying for a couple more sessions this week, while hubby is back on his cancer program, but that’s unusual.) You will see your M.D. a few times, and your Nutritionist at least two times (because they look at the results of your lab work and tailor things to you). You see the Dentist on your second day to get your Xrays, check your teeth, etc., but you will see him or her later on to get the results. All folks who see you meet every single day, to tailor your experience.

On Tuesdays, there is a Cooking Class in the Mansion, and Tai Chi in the fitness room in the afternoon. The evening class is on Digestion and Detox.

My first spa treatment was a Lymphatic Massage. Your lymph system – a separate “waste carrying system” in your body – doesn’t have a pump like your blood system does (your heart). The only way to get lymph “moving” is by moving your body. That means more than just walking – it means things like stretching, yoga, etc. The entire lymph system can only be “engaged” by moving every part of your body. A Lymphatic Massage, however (“rich man’s exercise”) engages your lymphatic system by working all the muscles with light, “petting” strokes that end at your lymph nodes (neck, under the arm, thigh) so that your lymph system can “clear out” anything that was stuck in your lymph system. You have to drink a lot of water at Sanoviv (1/2 your body weight in ounces a day), and it’s particularly important to do so after you have any sort of Detox treatment.

I had my Quiet Room intake also, using the Max Pulse. Here’s a machine that won’t work correctly if you have on nail polish, etc. It measures your sympathetic (SNS), parasympathetic (PNS), physical stress, mental stress, stress resistance, etc. levels. The photo that you see above is mine. As you can see, my body stress is okay, stress “handling” is okay, but mental stress is “off the chart” – and my “fight or flight” (sympathetic/SNS) system is also off the charts. My parasympathetic system (relaxation/PNS) is basically non-existent. Whoops…. 🙂 After doing the MaxPulse, I had my first Quiet Room treatment, which was on the Super Tuning machine.

The Super Tuning machine will also charge your water (it will remain charged for 24 hours), and any jewelry that you might want to charge. It is a German machine, and is called “Effective Biotriggers” in Germany.

The idea is that all living systems are supposed to have a natural “frequency” and resonance, but we deviate from it. For those of you who have been friends for a very long time, you might have read my short story after we returned from hiking the French Alps (from Mont Blanc to the Mediterranean) where we had no cell phones, etc. for the entire period. When I returned, I tried to wear my Blackberry near my body, but I had a serious reaction to it. The doctor (yes, a real M.D. at Kaiser!) told me that’s because I had been so far away from electronics, that my body had “returned” to “direct current” which is what we’re meant to be. But, since we’re nearly all water, if we have “alternating current” items near or around us, our bodies will match that “alternating” current. The doctor back then explained that this is why I couldn’t put the Blackberry near my body without feeling a headache within 15 minutes – that my body had returned to “direct” current and was fighting the ‘AC’ current of the device. He also said (which is how I ended my short story) that I should “not worry,” because “in a few days, you’ll be back in alternating current, and won’t feel it at all.” (Cue “Flowers for Algernon”)

The Copen Super Tuning System was developed from space travel research, sensory deprivation research, and biochemical work at the Max Planck Institute. It detects and balances your energetic systems, by using octave colors according to didactic simplicity, e.g., red, orange, yellow orange, yellow, yellow green, green, turquoise, blue, indigo, violet purple, deep red.

How was it? Um . . . I immediately fell asleep 😉

Day Three (Wednesday): Rinse, Repeat

The morning class is the Kundalini Yoga, which I have discussed before. There is a Stretching class after (it said Rebounding on the schedule, but it was Stretching), a Cardio and Strength class before Lunch (I had doctors’ visits), and a Psychology lecture after dinner.

My Spa treatment today was the Body Wrap, which is 90 minutes. I would just like to say that there is nothing as sexy as the little blue paper bikini that you’re required by law to wear.

First, you are dry scrubbed with almond-based meal that smells like pumpkin pie spice or chai tea. This is then washed off with a five-headed rolling water “faucet” of hot water.

You are then taken to the deep soak “sit” tubs. One is filled for you with hot water and a bath addition that I didn’t catch the blend of (but I think she said it includes Hawaiian lava salt). After you have soaked for a while, you’re taken out of the bath, washed by a hose with cool water front and back, then (gasp) you’re required to dip yourself three times (over your head) in the plunge cold bath. IT’S COLD!

  • bed & “faucets”
  • deep sit baths
  • the evil sauna lair
  • the middle of the sauna (standing back to the windows)
the evil cold plunge

You are then led to the sauna at 145F for 10-15 minutes. This is when I was reminded that – yep – I do NOT like saunas! After you’re cooked, back out you come, cold-hosed off front and back, then (ack!) three more over-the-head plunges into the cold bath. Now you’re led dripping back to the room with the table, where you are washed all over with “Incredible Hulk green” seaweed (including your hair and face), then wrapped up a la burrito for 1/2 hour. (Don’t forget to pee first.) It makes your hair feel AMAZING, but REMEMBER TO BRING A BRUSH – otherwise when you leave you look um “special.”

Tuesdays are Water Aerobics Day – which is a lot of fun actually.

I also saw Dr. Labrada today (the chiropractor), who mainly did a lot of muscle-testing. He was the guy that did what hubby said was a “TED Talk-worthy” talk last week. Lots and LOTS of muscle testing, relating emotion to organs to muscles, etc. Head to toe. Very similar to mind/body work – muscle testing, put your hand here, make your brain talk to your body, etc. At the end, he adjusted my upper shoulder area, which has been out for 4 days and was why I wanted to be on a program in the first place 😉 (You can only see the doctors if you’re on a program – as a Companion, you can do spa treatments if there is space available, but you can’t see the doctors.)

The Fitness test was somewhat comical. I was told that I “had to do” push ups on my knees, which I refused, because it hurts. (I was told I was “prideful” 🙂 ) That said, and due to a few other comments that “got my dandruff up” as my mom might say (Hi Mom), I wound up doing 22 (Men’s) pushups, which blew me off the chart. (Hubby had done 13, by comparison.) I did 24 of the specific sit ups that they require – fingertips on your ears, reaching up with your shoulders (elbows need to stay even with your head). My heart rate only got to 91 doing 3 minutes of step-ups, my flexibility and torsion was Excellent, left grip Excellent, right hand Very Good. Can’t remember what else there was, but it was very much like a Presidential Physical Fitness Test.

The Dental exam showed no mercury, and I was printed out an incredibly detailed chart related to my mouth and what the doctor saw. One thing that was fascinating was that he showed me brushing issues. My top back molars were not “brushed as much as” other teeth, on their inside face. I said I’d try better. Gums tested as great. Interestingly, when I got back to the room I tried out the brushing protocol he recommended . . . and surprise! – when I got to the “inside upper back” molars, brushing there tickled the top of my mouth like crazy! So obviously I have subconsciously not been brushing those teeth as often.

My Quiet Room was a 60 minute treatment called “Ondamed.” This was really cool. It’s pulsed electromagnetic frequency therapy. You put …. hm, sort of like a diver’s weight belt on your chest, that goes from your pelvic bone up to your throat, and a thing that looks like a tuning fork on your temples. The machine delivers a series of electromagnetic frequencies as focused pulsed electromagnetic field stimulation (PEMF) within the spectrum of human physiology. This means that it uses the same frequencies that your cells use to communicate with one another. While you can’t feel these frequencies consciously, your cells respond to them. The cells tell the machine what protocol you need “the most,” first. (You get three.) Of all the possible frequencies, your body’s tissues resonate with only a handful that are favored. When the machine gets that information, it is tuned to the frequencies that it is being told the body wants “right now.” The machine is then set to those frequencies. After that’s done, another test is done, asking for the 2nd. And then the 3d. Marilu, the operator, showed me the book, which has about 300+ different frequency combinations and what studies have shown them to be tied to. She said that sometimes what comes up doesn’t make sense at that time, but that’s what the body’s asking for.

My #1 was Asthma. I told her that I do have athletic Asthma, though it doesn’t come up that often. We talked a bit about the energetics of Asthma, then she set the machine to give the body what it wanted in that respect. My #2 was (as she explained it) Biorhythms being off, “as if I were a night or swing shift worker.” Well, by this time, I’d been having a few horrible nights sleeping, since hubby had been in the hospital since Sunday. (I normally sleep like a rock.) She said that must be it (she was delighted actually), and she also said that this one hadn’t come up, so she had to figure out how to do the treatment for that one. It was more involved than my #1 and #3, which just involved the position of the “breastplate/diver’s belt” and the “tongs.” She had to get another, smaller “diver’s belt” and she had to hold it over my head, moving it each minute to a different spot, for this #2. My #3 was hormonal imbalance. This was also not a huge surprise, as that is what the Nutritionist and my MD had both said must be an issue, as I was overfat by about 25 pounds but with what I eat and the exercise I get, there had to be “something besides just stress” related to it. Marilu was very pleased that all 3 of my Ondamed treatments were something I could relate to.

Human cells operate in the range of 1 to 32,000 Hz. In other words, the highest frequency to which the body was designed to respond is approximately 32,000 waves per second. By contrast, cell phones operate in the range of 3 or 4 Gigahertz, meaning 3 or 4 billion waves per second. These waves have been clinically proven to damage DNA, and are being studied related to brain cancer. They are being tested as well for men who carry their cell phones in their front pockets/infertility. Physicists have been able to identify specific frequencies within the healthy human spectrum that help rather than harm human cells; they stimulate repair, reduce inflammation, and facilitate healing. That’s what Ondamed does.

Day 4 (Thursday): Happy Birthday America! (July 4th)

Today involved Mindful Movement Meditation (i.e., walking on the lawn) in the morning. I have to say that at one point I looked up and had to turn away so that no one could see me laughing. We looked like a flock of the living dead! Aaaarrrrrrr . . . all in our matching Sanoviv sweats, walking slowly, some with very intense looks on their faces . . .

Swedish Massage today, Thalasso pools, and two Quiet Room treatments.

My Nutrition “discharge” showed me the results of my BIA (Bioelectric Impedance Analysis). Both Sue (Nutritionist) and actually the chiropractor I saw today (H’s “miracle worker,” Dr. Raymundo) said that perhaps part of the OAB issue is that I drink enough water, but that it’s not staying in my system. Both suggested adding the electrolyte ice cubes (the recipes were back on the Recipe page – by the way, I’m updating that daily FWIW) and/or full spectrum salt every time I have water. My fat percentage is 28% – to have an optimal number (20%), I’d need to lose about 25-30 pounds, presuming that I could keep the muscle numbers where they are. My fat free mass is 72% or 133 pounds. My BMR is 1860, total body water is 49% or 69% of my lean mass. (It should be at 75%.) My intracellular water was 50%, which means I am dehydrated at a cellular level (optimal is about 55%). My phase angle is 6.7 – this is an indicator of cell membrane fluidity and integrity and can be an indicator of insulin resistance. Normal for females my age is 6.6 – 10.9, so I’m fine but on the low end. (We are doing an insulin resistance blood lab.) My capacitance, which is the electrical potential of the cell membranes (which relates to the minerals in body fluid or the total energy storage capacity of the body cell mass) was 686, where 600-800 is good for females my age. Again, this could be higher but it’s in the normal range. Finally, my body mass index was 25.1, which is over, though it’s not a particularly good measure (the others are better).

Then we were back to Hydration. I was reminded to continue to drink the lemon/cayenne water every morning, and to ensure that I have 1/2 my body weight in water daily – with this water having the electrolyte support. Water intake should be higher until about 4:00 p.m., then should taper way off, and water at meals should be limited to at most 3 ounces. This ensures that your stomach acid is optimally supported. A lot of water after 4:00 is suboptimal.

Another recommended hydration protocol was from 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m., drink 3-4 ounces of water every 30 minutes. Every OTHER drink, add the electrolytes. So it would be 7:00 a.m. 3-4 oz regular water; 7:30 a.m. 3-4 oz of electrolyte water; 8:00 a.m. 3-4 oz of regular water; etc. This is the best way to slowly rehydrate tissues and in particular intracellular areas. It allows the body to absorb the water optimally. Do not use a “commercial” electrolyte – make the one provided in Recipes, it is “real food” and your body will accept it best.

I believe that I’ve mentioned this before, but the only mineral that tested a bit low in my labs was iodine, so it was recommended that I be sure to use iodized salt; I can also eat “underwater green leafies,” or some wild-caught shellfish. Was reminded that eating “lower on the food chain is better” so eating the nori/kelp that the shellfish eat is the best option.

This is the day that hubby came home. Yay!

Day 5 (Friday): Discharge Day

Though you have a couple more days of spa treatments and Quiet Room, this is your last day with the doctors.

Every Friday starts with Meditation and Mind-Body Practice/Energy Medicine. Today we worked on the standard EFT Tapping Procedure, Connecting Heaven and Earth procedure, the Wayne Cook Posture, and a technique for anxiety, and one for anger. I’ll write more about these, perhaps, or do some links, but I’m getting tired 😉 You can find these in video form on YouTube by putting Donna Eden, Energy Medicine and then the technique you’d like to see. For example, “expelling the venom” is for frustration/anger, Wayne Cook is when you are overwhelmed, can’t stop crying, etc. and need to come back to yourself, Connecting Heaven and Earth is when you are starting to feel sick or have picked up someone else’s energy. It also brings fresh Oxygen to your cells. The doctor reminded us that if we don’t feel a reaction after doing a certain protocol, it is likely that our body just didn’t need it. But it can never do harm.

One technique that we did that is very useful and easy involves re-connecting your brain and your body. You pat your temples with both hands (on what’s called the “gamma point”) throughout. First, close your eyes, then open them and look straight ahead. Close them again, open them straight again. Now look down to the right, down to the left, circle them clockwise, circle them anticlockwise. Look straight ahead and hum a piece of a tune you know (example, “Happy Birthday”). This engages the right side of your brain. Then count loudly 1-2-3-4-5! This engages the left side of your brain. Hum the tune again, and count again. You’re done!

After this class, you move to a Stretching class (today it was done on the Swiss Ball, which was actually fun). One thing that we were reminded is that different types of exercise increases microbial diversity in your gut. So exercise is good for digestion in more ways than just making you a little hungry!

I had another lymphatic massage, and reflexology with parafango.

The tide was way out, and all the pelicans piled up on the rocks that, usually, you can’t see.

Day 6 (Saturday): Mo’Spa Mo’ Spa

Saturday is an Energy Medicine/Meditation day in the morning, and dinner has live music (wonderful old guy with a guitar, who will play whatever you like, but particularly likes to sing the old Mexican love songs). Saturday is also “movie night” but so far the movies have been the kind that we can stand for about 5 minutes, so generally it’s been a reading night for us.

Wow, have I read a lot of books while here! I brought Moneyball, How Not To Die, Killer Angels, Radical Remission, a book written by a friend of my dad’s, then I read the FBI novel the folks gave to me we met a couple weeks ago, borrowed a Michael Crichton (Prey) and a Richard Castle (yes really) out of the library, and I’m reading something else from there now.

Folks do a lot of puzzles here – hubby and I have played either backgammon, Scrabble, or Blokus every evening. We’re about evenly matched on the backgammon front (though I have better luck with doubles), I do better with Scrabble (I mean – I’d better!) and though I’m getting better, he creams me every time with Blokus. I watched TV when he was gone in Tijuana, otherwise we haven’t used the TV at all. (Though it wakes you up with Mozart at 6!)

Today I had the body wrap again, plus Matrix Regeneration Therapy (MRT) with parafango afterwards.

MRT manipulates the “matrix” (or soft connective tissue) of your body. It connects the vascular, lymph, and nervous systems with the organs, and is the infrastructure for the organ cells. If it is overloaded, care of the organs can be obstructed. The Med-Matrix machine gives the matrix/soft connective tissue the ability to be “freed from” adhesions, metabolic waste, etc. so that it can recover. It uses petechial suction and rhythmic DC current.

What does that mean?

Ahem.

You lie on your stomach. They turn on the machine, and “petechial suction” means they use the machine to suck your skin and connective tissue off your bones. They start at your neck, and “vacuum” from your spine down to your side (think ‘along a rib’). You can’t breathe, it’s so intense. They keep doing it, and you start listening intently to the machine, because when the pitch increases, that means they’re just about to “un-suck” the machine from your side in preparation to start again at your spine. The operator is very thorough – like a cleaner doing a rug or a mower doing a baseball field. Every inch is covered. You have from the moment they de-suction the sucker until they put it back at your spine to pant a little, then hold your breath again. They do this all the way down from your neck to the base of your glutes.

Once they’ve done the first side of your back, they hit you with a little wheelie thing, which is the rhythmic DC. You can’t actually see it (of course, you’re on your stomach, getting toilet-bowl face marks via the headpiece on the massage table), but basically it sends a weak direct current into your tissue via roller electrodes, which “neutralizes” the tissue, changing it from an abnormal charge (if you have it) to a healthy one. Just when you’re getting ready to relax, it’s time to start your other side with the MRT . . .

After the second rhythmic DC, the therapist goes out and gets the big parafango packs. These are huge paraffin/mud packs encased in a thin film, that suck toxins out of your body. they are about 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit. One goes on your back, the other goes across your butt. These stay on until sweat is dripping off the table in just the right amount, and then you can get up. I mean – if you can…

I had the MRT and then went directly into a Body Wrap (with Priscilla, who was fantastic) and from there into the Quiet Room. I was Detox-zausted.

Day 7 (Sunday): Last Day

Sunday is a quiet day at Sanoviv. There are no classes – just spa things and of course, meals.

Today I had a Swedish Massage followed by a Detox Chi Bath. I need to get the name of the therapist (I think it is Eunice, but I’m not 100% sure), because it was by far the best Swedish Massage I have ever had. The Detox Chi Bath is made up of:

4.0 mg of artemisia argyi – chinese mugwort/silvery wormwood
4.5 gm of atractylodes lancea

4.5 gm of carthamus tinctorius – safflower
4.5 gm of cinnamomum cassia – chinese cinnamon
4.5 gm of eupatorium fortunei

4.5 gm of ligusticum sinensis – chinese lovage

4.5 gm of notopterygium incisum – qiang huo

4.5 gm of saposhnikovia divaricata

Are you wondering why I have all those links at the ready, since I’m exhausted from typing? Because the combo of the Detox Bath and the Swedish Massage sent me into Detox Coma. As in, I got out of that bath (which also of course included the de rigeur cold hose off and three-times-over-the-head cold plunge dunk, x 2) and just about literally crawled into the elevator and into bed. Hubby, who for this week (until he got his results on Monday from the Tijuana hospital) was MY Companion, was in the room getting ready for Lunch, and I told him that I had to have him bring me the Lunch up on a tray. (Yes, really.) As I pretty much never ask for anything like this, he was off like a shot and brought it back for me.

About an hour later I was fine – and that’s when I researched the above (and sent myself an email). I made the therapist give me the packet that the bath came in, so I could research it.

As a glutton for punishment (no, you don’t get a choice – all are chosen ‘for’ you), my final spa therapy was the MRT/parafango again. Interestingly, it wasn’t 1/2 as bad this time (one day after). A few times on my sides and on my glutes I got the full-on Oh My Lord This Is Pantingly Painful feeling, but I guess that the machine “did its job” the first time, and my skin and “stuff” had been sufficiently “sucked off” of the “stuff” below it – so it didn’t feel like my skin and fascia was being vacuumed off my bones.

One thing I’d promised myself – because I could find next to nothing on Sanoviv – was that when I got here, I would really document what happened. So – that’s what this blog is about. I hope that it is helpful to something who might be considering coming here. It’s such a pretty place – though I did take a photo while waiting for the elevator today on the 7th floor of what the “surrounding area” looks like. (No, those aren’t space alien ships – those are the reflections of the lights above my head.) The white in the foreground is the wall surrounding the property, which we have taken to calling “Hotel Baja California” (for obvious reasons . . . ).

AAAAAAND, a reminder! Hubby does not know about the blog, please don’t mention it to “us” (or him) if you’d like me to keep doing it (and stay married LOL)

Sanoviv: He’s baaa-aaack

Posted on by Sandy
Dra. Michel Martinez Franco

Hubby returned to Sanoviv on Thursday night, after being carted off via ambulance on Sunday after breakfast. Yesterday (Monday) we went back to Hospital Angeles in Tijuana to be sure that his levels are clear enough for him to be clear of this – and he tested fine. Yay!

The “marker” that he had in his blood becomes septic/unsafe at 0.5. I had understood that it was at “5” that it was bad – since his was 30 on Sunday when he was rushed in, we were told that it was basically at “organ meltdown” stage.

But I hadn’t really realized the enormity of the numerical difference until Dr. Michel went over things with me yesterday when I accompanied him back to the hospital. I’m almost glad I didn’t know how bad things were!

If you’re ever in trouble in Mexico, I have to say, Dr. Michel is ridiculously amazing. She is smart, her English is good, and she is “la jefa” of Internal Medicine and Emergency (Medicina Interna & Medicina Critica). By way of example, we were told the lab test would take three hours to culture; when we told her that, she just raised her eyebrows, got on the phone, and surprise it was ready in 20 minutes. Yes, I have a bit of hero worship going here! Her direct line is 635-1814 or 635-1900- x 5303. Her cell phone is 664.204.8429. Her email is michelemartinezfranco[at] yahoo[dot] com[dot] mx. Hospital Angeles Tijuana is located at Av. Paseo de los Heroes #10999, Zona Rio Tijuana C.P. 22010, Tijuana, Baja California.

  • pandas

When hubby got back, he was told that he would “have to” sleep in the hospital-hospital portion of the building (e.g., where folks on chemo, who have undergone surgery, etc. sleep). He refused, and came back to our room. We received a call at about 9:00 p.m. from the attending physician “angry” that he was up in our room. He explained in no uncertain terms that he would “be with his wife,” and that I would be “better than any nurse call button”; if they wanted him, they would need to “come up and haul him out of bed and carry him down.” Then, with a raised eyebrow, I was asked if I had “remembered to pack my nurse’s outfit…” 🙂

That’s all that this post will be about. As such, I will sprinkle through it, for your entertainment, a few more of the table decorations that we have had. The guy who makes them is incredibly shy – I was able to get him to come out and take one photo with one of his creations though.

Next post, I will discuss the Detox protocol that I was on. Now that one will be a long post!

  • flying fish

Ohhhhhhh, and speaking of detox, um, yeah, well, the chocolate shake and latte reached out and bit us at the hospital cafe. We were overcome. 😉 At least we had them with almond milk, not dairy. 😉

Sanoviv: Why yes, it IS 3 a.m.

Posted on by Sandy

Hubby is still at the hospital. They have it narrowed down to two bacteria, but need to take him off the antibiotic IV to culture out what is really going on (as I understand it), which will happen tomorrow – oops, this – morning.

He is stark raving bored. He wanted me to stop the program that he had me start (more on that in a bit) and come bring him things that he just doesn’t have, since we left in an ambulance. Clothes, a couple books, computer, etc. The issue is that the hospital is 45 minutes away and if I catch the van that will be leaving here at 7 a.m. to go to the border/San Diego Airport and have them drop me off, they won’t be back through until about 1:00 p.m. (bringing new folks from the airport). It’s not a simple thing. It would be simpler if I had not started the program, because I’d just do it. But if I stop, then there’s no way for me to re-start really, since it’s an intensive one-week program. It’s different than the cancer program, which is a bit “looser” as it’s 3 weeks long and very personalized. This one is very “set” and so if you miss a day, the dominoes start falling. (By way of example, once he’s out of the Tijuana hospital, he could just re-start where he left off.)

We went back and forth a bit about this last night, and came to a “resolution” that I would see if I can send his backpack with clothes, his computer, a couple books, etc. (yes, and a wee love note from me of course) with the van driver to drop off when he comes back over the border tomorrow at 1:00. I can’t see him doing it on the morning “run” because if there is a delay at the border with folks trying to meet planes, I do not want that to be “our fault.” My only fear is that the driver will just drop and run, and there is a computer, etc. in there (as well as the very small amount of “regular clothes” that hubby arrived in!) I guess we’ll see when I try out this “scenario” with the Coordinator at 6:30 a.m. when he gets in.

As for the program I am on, it’s the DeTox/DeStress program. Yesterday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. I was quite literally at a doctor’s appointment, lab appointment, ultrasound, dentist (checking for mercury-containing fillings), nutritionist, mind-body session, psychotherapy session, etc. etc. every single “free” (non-meal) hour. Each day does contain a spa session (yesterday was lymphatic massage, today a 90 minute body wrap), which is great, as well as a Quiet Room session.

I had my Quiet Room “intake” and then a short session yesterday. I’d get up to get the hand-out on what the session was, but it’s 3 a.m. and I don’t feel like it (she says petulantly). It involved binaural headphone sounds, plus a blue light that intermittently went into my third eye area. If Leslie C-D-D is reading this, yes, I was thinking of Chuck the whole time!!!!!

In the “intake” I had a bio-analysis of my stress levels. Har-de-har-har. Actually body stress came in normal, ability to “combat stress” came in normal, but “Your mental stress is so high that it is falling off our charts” (soo-PRIZE, soo-PRIZE). Also my parasympathetic score was nearly zero and my sympathetic score was off the charts. I can’t remember what those mean. (Um, 3:00 a.m.)

The body-mind and psych appointments were really something. They use Narrative Exposure Therapy (“NET”). Hubby had some amazing breakthroughs using it, and it certainly got down to business with me as well.

There’s no time to do work-work, or workout-work unfortunately – at least, there wasn’t yesterday and doesn’t look like there will be today. My daughter mentioned that this is supposed to be a Detox/Destress, and so I should just put those aside for right now, which I think I will likely do. I have some trepidation about putting the workout aside in particular, but today I have a Fitness assessment, so I guess going in fairly “fresh” is not a bad thing! I think that hubby said that you have to do pushups to exhaustion, step up for 2 minutes then they see how high your pulse goes up and how long it takes to come back down, I think that situps might be in there (better Band-Aid my sticky-outy tailbone in anticipation 🙂 ) Sounds pretty “Presidential Physical Fitness”-y.

I get to see the chiropractor today – HALLELUJAH! The “real reason” that I went on the program is that about 3 days ago (maybe 4) I threw a rib out, and you’re not “allowed to see” a doctor unless you’re on a program. I completely understand that of course, because there are a lot of Companions here – probably 1/2 of the folks have one. As a Companion you can do any of the spa treatments, but not doctor visits. If they allowed Companions to do doctor visits, I think folks would cherry-pick their way to their own “version” of a program. So I cannot WAIT to get this rib back in!!! (She types, testing to see if it’s still out, wincing, YEE-OWCH!!! . . . WHY do we do that? It’s like when someone says “Oh, I smell skunk!” and then you breathe in deeply to smell it too – I mean, what? )

A little “hospital hot gossip”: There is a wonderful (LOVE HIM) guy in his 20s here with his Mom. He came for the Lyme protocol, but in doing the program they have found 3-4 other things that were never diagnosed (spina bifida occulta, etc.) Well, one test that they did showed that he is 100% infertile.

Um, and his newly-minted fiance is 8 months pregnant with “their” child.

!!!!!

Although I’m eating the same stuff that I was eating before, on the protocol I have been given supplements to “supplement” the food. I find out today what the (52 gallons of) blood tests, etc. show. I also did a bio-impedance test yesterday (shows your percentage of fat, muscle, water, etc.) I had done one before leaving, at my gym, but don’t have that with me so I can’t compare the results.

The one thing that I do know (as you’re weighed, blood pressure-d, pulse-d, blood-oxygen-level’d, etc. every day if you’re a patient) is that I’ve gained 4 pounds here. This is just depressing to the extreme. I – honestly – thought that what with no dairy, gluten, soy, corn, non-organic, blah-blah-name-that-tune, only veggies, small portion of chicken at lunch, no desserts, no sweets, I would have lost weight. Seems not. Harrumph. Interestingly (this being a “Detox” program, after all), I am having some skin issues – overnight I’ve had an eczema flare-up that hasn’t really happened like this since I was a kid. Since we were “re-visiting” issues from when I was a kid in the therapy sessions, I guess my skin is regressing!

While I’m up I really should get some work done. But I think that I’ll just watch some National Geographic. Haven’t had the TV on all the time we’ve been here, though I have read 4 books – How Not To Die, Moneyball, Killer Angels, Long Road to Mercy (the David Baldacci one), and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, plus I’m 1/2 way through Radical Remission. As soon as hubby hit the hospital though I’ve been hangin’ with National Geographic – harder to read when your mind isn’t all there/is partially worried about someone else.

Today, if I get a bit of time, I will probably try and go check out the sauna. It was one of the favorite parts of a friend who was here before. I tend to think that’s because she was here with women – the sauna/spa areas are segregated male/female, and so to do the sauna, I would have been separated from hubby for about 1/2 hour. That sounds pretty ridiculous, but when he was getting treatments, I was either doing work, doing this blog, or doing a workout. That took all the “free by myself” time that I had. When he wasn’t doing a treatment, we would do things together (Thalasso pools, playing a board game, etc.) I heard some gals “raving about” the sauna today, and it made me realize that (especially as I’m on a Detox program) I probably should check it out today. Heck, I’d go now, but – did I mention 3 a.m.? 🙂

Selfishly, I’m glad that hubby didn’t insist that I bring the backpack. I know that he’s bored out of his mind, and I am having some serious “bad wife” feelings about staying here. But I really don’t want to stop the Protocol, because I think that it will do me some good. Part of the Therapy yesterday had to do with the whole “doing things for everyone else versus doing things for yourself” issue. However, I do know that sticking to my guns (and trying to get the backpack to hubby a different way) is likely to get me some “cat” reactions when we are back together. I do think it’s the right thing to do though, for me.

And on that note, time to go get my “lab numbers” from Kaiser online (God bless Kaiser!) to give to my doctor here today. Had no reason to download them before coming because, of course, I wasn’t going to be the patient!

Peace, out. Sorry no pictures. Oh – wait a second – I’ll go get you some photos off their website, to show you the spa. I’m sure they won’t mind. 😉

Sanoviv: Facebook rocks

Posted on by Sandy
heading out the gate

I guess I’ll get right to it.

Yesterday, we took an ambulance ride to the ER in Tijuana. Since it’s still possible that one of you will spill the beans about me blogging I won’t go into details, but suffice it to say, we did.

I rode in the front of the ambulance – and that was a situation in itself! There definitely isn’t a “class in how to get out of the way of a siren” here in Mexico – the traffic was like a band of cockroaches, trying to crawl this way and that to get out of the way! The driver didn’t speak much English, but the “twirly finger next to the temple/’loco'” sign I made made him laugh and nod. It was something!

Tijuana is about 30 minutes away back toward the border. We had made the decision to stay in Mexico, because our Sanoviv doctor knew the doctor at this hospital, and knew that she would have a direct link to what happened to hubby here, versus if we had crossed back over to San Diego for the Kaiser system. We were admitted to the Hospital Angeles Tijuana. I’m the first to admit a prejudice thinking “We’re going to a hospital in Tijuana….????” but WOW, this place was really amazing. Our doctor was like a 1950s doctor, listening, really explaining things, solicitous of me, etc. Funnily enough, the Sanoviv doctor had called her directly, and she had been at an English Language intensive workshop weekend! She came in on her day off, and I teased her that she could practice on me – as I didn’t have any Spanish 🙂 Hubby was ultimately stabilized, and they will be running a battery of tests and a CT today (as yesterday was Sunday).

He’s arguing about how long the Tijuana doctor wants him to be under observation (7 days) – arguing is good. 😉 I could have stayed up there, but we talked about it, and he said that I should see if I could get a ride back to Sanoviv, which I was able to. Staying in a Tijuana hotel near the hospital v. Sanoviv – kind of a no-brainer as long as hubby was okay with it. Luckily Ernie (who had picked us up at the airport) had literally just dropped off a patient when I called, and the Reception was able to “catch” him. So he went back to the border to pick me up. Such a good guy! I found out a bit more about him on our ride back – he had been a roadie from the time he was thirteen when they lived in L.A. (he’s a big powerful guy), working for bands that came up from Mexico especially, as well as any band that might need Security (Tower of Power, etc.). He laughed and said there was one Mexican singer (I forget the name) who would come up to the U.S. and women would literally try to get up on the stage to rip his clothes off (!!). So Ernie’s “job” was to “take the hit” for him of all the women. He laughed a lot at the memory.

When I got back to Sanoviv, Dr. Danielle (who had been his attending here during the crisis) said she had talked to Dr. Michell (at the Tijuana hospital) and she was hoping that I agreed that it would be better to get hubby back down here once he was classified as “stable/able to move.” I agreed wholeheartedly. She said also that no matter how clean and beautiful a big hospital is, it’s a big hospital. As the hospital here is servicing only about 60 or so patients at a time, there is just less of a chance of a “hospital-related” illness, to which I agreed. Hubby feels the same.

I was supposed to start a program here for a week (a “treat” for me from hubby) and wasn’t sure that I should, but he said he wanted me to, especially as this had happened. (It’s a de-stress program – ha!) There’s nothing like having to plunk down a “deposit” that has a lot of zeros in it (don’t worry, it was pesos, but still….) that makes you re-think doing something that’s pretty pricey just for “a treat.” But he insisted. So as I type this, I’m back at Sanoviv and he will text me as soon as he knows what is up. I am sure that they will tell me, too, because they are amazingly “communicative” (is that the word?) here – all the doctors meet about all the patients every evening, they discuss everything that is happening. Then they give that information to the patient and the “companion” (they don’t like the word “caregiver” – they are there to do that…and to “give care to” the companion, too! 😉 ). So I do know that they will let me know as soon as they know.

It was really tough that this happened on a Sunday, because it’s the day at Sanoviv that the fewest “staff” are here. The kitchen staff are off after Dinner, etc. I only say that it was tough because it was tough for me 🙂 This all happened before Lunch, and though the kitchen staff were able to pack me up a “picnic” to take with me (a chicken breast and some veggies), by the time that I got back, it was pretty late. The Receptionist on duty went into the kitchen though and found me an apple, some nut butter (my favorite) and some mixed nuts. I had that and two of the packets of bone broth I had brought. Then (for the first time here) turned on the TV for company and watched a very silly movie about a comet hitting the Earth, that a young(er) Robert Duvall stops.

And so – to those of you who are reading this that are also on Facebook – all I can say is … I can’t even. That’s all. You guys are amazing.

When I was at the ER, their wifi was wonky at best. I would be able to get to Facebook, but nothing else, for a bit, then it would die. Then suddenly Facebook messenger would work, but not Facebook. Things like that. (Nothing else worked, just Facebook and messenger, intermittently.) I am sort of tearing up saying this. However, of course if hubby knew that I was sending out ‘distress signals’ that way, as I believe I have said before, Mexican divorces are swift and decisive!

I felt that I had to find a way to call Kaiser to notify them, and from a “Facebook and Insta friend I have never met but love like a sister,” two old Redwood chums, an old grammar school chum, my cousin, a cycling instructor (you know who you are), I was able to get the number to call to put in a claim, plus how to get “out of Mexico to the U.S.” to do the same (again, Google, etc. not working, unable to download photos/.pdfs etc.). Thank goodness that I did do that while I was still at the Tijuana facility (hubby wanted me to wait until I was back at Sanoviv with a land line), because they let me use their phone in Reception to call out, and then the Kaiser person needed info that I didn’t have! I said to him – “Um….do you speak Spanish??” And he laughed and said “Why yes, I do, my name is Ramon, just put them on.” So he talked extensively to the “Intake” person and got all the info that he needed, got me a case number and a case manager, all of which there is just no way I could have done as easily if I had waited to get back to Sanoviv.

There is nothing quite so helpless as when you are trying to find out information that should be super quick and easy to get – and being unable to get it. (I had thought that if the Facebook “plea” didn’t work, I would find an Internet cafe somewhere near the hospital and try to get the info that way.) Then there is nothing quite so “chest constricting in love” as having about 100 people just agree to say prayers and then other folks step up and hop to getting me information, that were “outside of my purview” as it were (Craig, Tommy, Lindsey, Val, Patty, Leslie M., you guys just blew me away, I have say! I am sure I am forgetting others, and for that I am truly sorry). Folks that by and large I haven’t seen since I was a kid that just jumped in and sleuthed everything out. I think I mentioned – I’m still “wet eyed” (really) about it.

My daughter kept my family apprised of what was going on, and waited I am sure with “bated breath” to find out what was going on – though luckily as Facebook messenger worked intermittently, I was able to get little “snippets” out. (Texting didn’t work, nor did the phone itself.)

There’s other things that Facebook folks knew that I didn’t. Like that if you are AAA Premiere, there is a “travel insurance” that just comes with it. (There also is with Amex Platinum, that one we knew, but the AAA Premium has some things the Amex Platinum doesn’t.) I had folks offering up their au pairs to do translations, trying to figure out what they could do, and over all, just saying prayers.

You guys sincerely ROCK.

This morning when I got up, I got a Marco Polo from a dear friend and fellow Hoffman Process person just to check in (Marco Polo doesn’t work all the time either, even here). I did a big involved Marco back to her (and copied a few other Marco-using folks, as it was a super long update). When I was talking to her, a raven flew into the palm tree above me. Ravens are hubby’s totem. It was one of those “bizarre/just right” moments. In fact, I finished the Marco, went to get a cup of tea, came back out, and the raven was being quite vocal – so I was able to film him “bitching away” right above my head. I take that as a good sign. We have seen a ton of pelicans, finches, doves, etc. but this was the first raven. He gave me a bunch of huffy caws, ruffled his feathers, then took off.

So, that’s the update. So much for the work that I had (still have) to do, that I was ‘supposed to get done’ yesterday. It is what it is (right, Leann??)

I will be sure to post this on Facebook as well (of course) – and once again, thank you thank you thank you for putting in a good word with the Big Is about all this.

UPDATE: I got a text from hubby about 1/2 hour ago. He had the symptoms again this morning (full body shaking/muscles seizing, fever, blood pressure spiking and plunging – remember, ya’ll don’t know that) and so they are holding him “3-5 days” to try to figure out what is going on. This is when medicine is really really hard – when you don’t know what’s going on, and it keeps happening. (Where’s Dr. House when we need his grumpy *ss?)

Sanoviv: This’N’That

Posted on by Sandy

My first laugh out loud moment of the day was from my latest opened card from my friend who sent me a dozen of them. She wrote, “I wanted to include some chocolate coins with this one, but I know that would be contraband…and sadly, with chocolate, it is not the thought that counts.” True dat!

Yesterday hubby and I did Kundalini Yoga, Stretching, and then I did the Water Aerobics. I also did my assigned workout, which involved jumping rope, carrying EmPack bladders (for the “farmer’s carry”), slow bench press (lying on the coffee table – EmPack again), weighted “dead bugs,” push ups, and a hang (from the side of the wardrobe). I’m sure there were other things – but that was plenty! 😊

I really liked the Yoga. The instructor was from a local Kundalini Yoga Center. She was Hindu, and brought a sheep skin (complete with curly/wavy hair) as her yoga mat. It is very “easy” yoga, though one of the things that we did was tough. It involved taking your right hand and putting it on the top of your head, gently pulling it over toward the right side, while you sat cross-legged and had your left hand in a “mudra” on your knee to the left. Then you had to tense the entirety of your right side, every bit of it, while relaxing the entirety of your left side. Down to clenching your jaw muscles on the right but relaxing on the left! We held this for what seemed like a very long time. About a minute past when I was ready to quit. Then we did the other side.

Oh – and – please remember that (ahem) hubby doesn’t know I am keeping this blog. So if you write to the two of us, please don’t say that you’re reading “The Blog.” I’m sure Mexican divorces are swift and decisive. 😊

  • the blue bags are IVs

Hubby had a long day yesterday and has been so pleased with the doctors. This is a guy who is very very picky. Each and every doctor he says is pretty much the best he has ever had. Chiropractor, Psychiatrist, etc. He is particularly taken with the Chiropractor – so much that he is going to pay to have me go on “a program” so that I can see him, too. (You can only see the doctors if you’re on an actual program – you can use the Spa, go to the lectures, get a facial/haircut/etc. . . . but no “doctor stuff.”) I start on Monday.

Last night the lecture about Energy was more like a TED Talk it was so good (even hubby remarked about that). It took very complicated issues and made them very accessible. The lectures are usually about 45 minutes – this one was twice as long. The speaker was not only engaging but walked around and made folks interact. This of course kept you really listening and on your toes! That isn’t that hard though, considering you’re not allowed cell phones anywhere! 😉

Today is Liquid Day again. (Every Thursday) I mentioned to hubby that we might want to incorporate this into our weekly schedule upon return, and he said “well, martinis ARE liquid….” 😊 The two breakfast smoothies were: (1) pineapple (don’t forget to use the core if your machine can take it – it has a lot of “good stuff” in it), mango, date, avocado, pecan, and then water to smooth it out and (2) strawberry, date, avocado, almonds and water. When asked, Frankie (the head guy that’s “client-facing”) said that it’s not really any particular “amount” of each thing when you’re making it at home – just put in what attracts you each time. He said to be sure though to not leave any ingredient out, because “the total is more than the sum of the parts.”

One thing that I think I haven’t mentioned are the smells here. Not only do you have the brine smell coming off the ocean, but each of the paths has some sort of scented flower. There is honeysuckle, lavender, jasmine, etc.

flock of about 60 pelicans

As for sounds, there is the ever-present sound of the ocean pounding on the cliff, as well as birds in the morning, and crickets in the evening. No “motor” sounds, as everything is done without them. Well – except for Sundays, when you can hear the Harley groups bombing by outside the gates, and the local dirt bike facility (across and down the street) buzzing away!

Yesterday hubby asked the gardener in charge of the lawns what he was up to. There are “holes” in the lawn where they are installing new grass. You can actually tell there are two types of grass when you’re doing your “earthing” – one is very very soft on your feet, one is more the standard “hard bladed” grass. Unfortunately it seems like the soft one was installed on accident and it’s harder to care for. So they are digging up and replacing it where it has gone yellow. (We never saw the yellow, only the “craters” in the lawn.) First, they put down apple cider vinegar mixed with fresh lime juice, to kill any weed seeds that are “lurking” in the ground. (It’s put into a “backpack” sprayer, just like RoundUp – that’s what attracted hubby to go ask because he was certain it wasn’t RoundUp!) Then, they spread a full spectrum salt on top and let it sit that way for a while. (It’s supposed to “bake in the sun,” but when there isn’t a lot of sun, you have to wait longer.) When that’s all done, the new grass will be rolled out on top of it, but we have a suspicion that wheat flour is somehow involved.

Why? Because there are a few tons of wheat flour sacks in the driveway! We had a little fun about this with the Nutritionist. He’s really great, and just as nerdy about nutrition as I am. He said that his wife is more the “math and engineering” type – so we are a similar pair. We asked him if they had about 30 huge sacks of wheat flour out in the driveway just to give us all a big bowl of it, “reminding” us what toxins are all about. The look on his face! Then he realized that we were kidding. 😊

A new “flock” of folks came in over the last few days – mostly Lyme and Stem Cell. (Green badge and pinkish-red badge.) I think that their protocol is about a week, because we “ebbed” out a big group of the same before these folks “flowed” in.

After Lunch today there is another “Food Prep” class. I will probably just annotate the previous post that way, when I get back, I will have one place to go to find recipes. So if you’re curious about them, you might want to check back on that one. I found out in a Nutrition lecture yesterday that they’ve totally revised the cookbook, and so we will all receive the new (.PDF) copy when we leave. My friend who had been here, as I mentioned, had emailed me the cookbook, but apparently come July 1 it will be revised. Weird how slow time goes here. When the Nutritionist said that, I thought it was July already. Nope – a few days of June more 😊 (She said that we went from “Grey May” to “June Gloom” – in July it starts to heat up. I’m actually glad to be here now, it’s super pleasant.)

Speaking of slowing down, hubby happened to remark today that he is having no trouble just sitting doing nothing.  This is super uncharacteristic. This is a guy that can’t even just “lie on the beach” in Hawaii – his brain is always going, going, going and he always has to be doing something. He also had some profound realizations yesterday through the psychotherapy portion of his program.

Today I’m blogging in the living room in the Mansion. Normally I’m up in the room, but I wanted to let our housecleaner gal come in and not just tip-toe around me (and the 25’ Ethernet cable!). This is where we play backgammon in between dinner and the lecture for the evening. Hubby, who is very very good with math, is already beating me most times because he can see the board in a way that I can’t. My aunt Nina was the same. My only saving grace is that I’m “luckier” with doubles than he is! (If you play backgammon, you know that this is a very good bit of “Luck” to have!)

I got the bulk of the work that I brought with me finished, but then another big project came in yesterday. It actually will be an interesting one to do, but by doing it, I will probably be losing business from one of my biggest clients. They have done a re-org and brought on more people in-house. They want me to do up a document basically walking through their license agreement and detailing how we have negotiated this in the past many years I have been their licensing counsel. Once they have this “pathway,” they won’t need me, except when we are in the circumstance of negotiating on the client’s paper. So it will be actually a bit of a fun project, going back over all the different things that we have done over all the time they’ve been my client, but it will be a bittersweet sort of fun.

I think I’ve mentioned that every day is pretty much the same – Mozart out of the TV at 6:00 a.m., “vitals” for hubby at 6:30, lemon water at 6:40, then the “church bells” go off announcing that it’s 7:00. There’s a class from 7-8 (Energy Medicine/Meditation, Kundalini Yoga/Stretching, Tai Chi, etc.), bells, breakfast from 8-9, then hubby goes up for his IVs. Wheat grass at 9:56 a.m. (bells) which I bring up to hubby on the 2nd floor – at 10:55 I also bring him the electrolyte cubes to add to his water (recipe was HERE) and the snack (or, as it’s Liquid Day, whole food smoothie) at 10:56 (bells). He’s usually done by about 1:10; lunch begins at 1:00 (bells). Today being Liquid Day, this includes a “cream soup” meaning, for example, pumpkin or beet with whirled macadamias to make the “creamy” taste, and then a “chunky” soup which is usually for example a chicken and vegetable soup, with something like dehydrated veggie “chips.” Next is a Food Prep class at 1:35, a doctor’s appointment for hubby at 2:00 (bells), “green drink” at 2:56 (bells), “Quiet Room” appointment for hubby at 3:00 (bells), a “Digestion and Protein (pea) Shake” for hubby at 3:55. Usually this is when I do the workout from my trainer – in the 2-4 period – as it takes about an hour. There is often a class at 4:00 (bells) – today is tai-chi, yesterday was the water aerobics – an hour of personal time, dinner at 6:00 (bells). Hubby gets extra protein at dinner, since his blood shows that he’s a bit low – everything else e.g. cholesterol, Vitamin D, etc. tested great. In general, lunch has an animal protein and dinner does not, because this is better for digestion. There’s a lecture at (bells) 7:00 (except Saturday which is a movie – Bruce Almighty last week – and Sunday which is “rest day”). Lights out at 9:00 (special bells 😊 ).

Ah- and at that, bells just went off, time to go get hubby his “whole food” drink – today with raw cacao, mint, coconut milk, ground flax, and vanilla – Nom Nom!

UPDATE: Today was not tai chi – it was “exercise ball” class. Hubby went – I was doing some work. He came back not happy that he had done my Crossfit/exercise routine from home with me!

Sanoviv: Tidbits & Recipes

Posted on by Sandy

Some quotes . . .

The spirit is larger than the body. The body is pathetic compared to what we have inside us.

Diana Nyad, care of Claire Koch

Meditation is not about staying in the Present, but about returning to the Present.

Dr. Sandra Toledo, Sound Meditation Class, Sanoviv

The Hawaiian value of aloha: The way people understand the essence of your spirit is through what they see in your alo, or the face you put forth to the rest of the world. Ha is the breath of life – it’s who you are as an inherently good human being. A person can always breathe in and remember who they are. Put those two parts together and you have the concept of living from the inside out. When your alo is an authentic match with the spirit of your ha, that’s when the aloha spirit manifests. It’s self-love as well as the love for other people.

Rosa Say, Managing With Aloha

The Hawaiian value of ho’ohana: So many people do work because they’ve fallen into it or because of the expectations of others. Maybe their parents wanted them to be a lawyer or a doctor. Ho’o, a prefix that turns a noun into a verb, means to make something happen. Hana is the word for work. With ho’ohana, you do the work that feels good to you and to your aloha spirit. Work in a way that feels intentional, purposeful, and important because it’s an expression of who you are and what you can offer the world.

Rosa Say, Managing With Aloha

Instead of using a pH stick, you can use “Pee-H.” Purple, or red, cabbage provides one of the single best nutritional bangs for your buck, and you can even use it to perform kitchen chemistry experiments, or in this case, bathroom chemistry. Boil some purple cabbage until the water turns deep purple, or blend raw cabbage with some water and then strain out the solids. Pee into your toilet then take your purple-cabbage water and pour it into the toilet bowl. (Low-flow toilets work best, because there’s less water in the bowl.) If the liquid in the toilet bowl remains purple, or even worse, turns pink, your urine is too acidic. Blue is the target. If your pee and cabbage water turns blue, your urine is not acidic but neutral, or even basic.

Dr. Michael Greger, How Not To Die & NutritionFacts.Org
beets in the garden

Serving beets at breakfast allows you to check your bowel transit time. Anywhere from 30-40 hours is considered normal. You should take notice of when the beets have transited through your system. The longer food takes to pass through the colon, the more harmful bacterial degradation products are produced. When the transit time is shorter, the colon produces more substances that renew its inner surface, indicating a sign of a healthier intestinal wall.

Nutrition Class (after beets for breakfast), Sanoviv

Stress is not the same as “not relaxing.” In our society, we think of “relaxing” as sitting in front of the television, talking with friends, playing a game of Solitaire, or even reading a book. But these are all actually stressful, because our system sees anything but actual sleep, a nap, or similar as a stress. You need to add these into your life and get 7-8 hours of good sleep every night, and don’t con yourself into thinking that watching TV is “de-stressing” you. It’s not. The only thing that actually makes the mind relax is sleep or pseudo-sleep. It is incredibly important to get this into your day, every day. One “hallmark” is if you are yawning. If you are yawning, then you’re generally feeling in that relaxed mode.

Dr. Chong, Stress v. Relaxation Seminar, Sanoviv

I know that I am feeling ___[peace, anger]____. I know that ___[peace, anger]_____ is with me. (The idea of saying this quote to yourself is so that you re-member that you are just “feeling” these emotions, not that they are “in” you. They are “with” you – and they will subside.)

thich nhat hanh
please remember that hubby doesn’t know (and would NOT like the fact) that I am keeping this blog. So if you’re with us (or him) let’s not mention it, shall we?? I hear that Mexican divorces are swift and efficient…

Recipes…

  • cooking class

Flax Veggie Tortillas

In the bowl of a high-speed blender or a Cuisinart-type device, first pour in about 10 cups of chopped up yellow squash (or zucchini, or peeled pumpkin, or other vegetable like that). Add 5 cups of yellow pepper (or red pepper, it’s just yellow with the yellow squash = prettier), then 3 cups of ground flax seed, and 1 tablespoon salt. It’s important that the veggies are on the bottom/blade side. Turn the machine on a fairly low cycle until you have everything mixed into the consistency of a batter. Pour the batter onto a baker sheet and put in your dehydrator at about 105 degrees until they are dehydrated, but still “bendy.” (In theirs, about 9 hours.)

Apple, Zucchini or Sweet Potato Chips

Mandoline the fruit or veg that you’re using. For the zucchini, you can use a fairly thick setting, but for something like the sweet potato, which takes a lot longer to dry, use a thinner setting. For the veg, pour some coconut aminos into a bowl, and flavor it with what you’d like – salt, pepper, herbs, whatever. Dip the veg in, then shake it and put it on the dehydrator “shelf” (without the baker sheet), so that the air can circulate to both sides.

For the sweet potato, another choice is to dip them in lemon juice and sea salt – make them thin, and then “overlap” the slices so that you have one long “chip.”

For the apple, use the mandoline starting at the base of the apple – discard the first couple of slices – and push the seeds out of the middle slices. This will give you the most even drying slices. (Versus doing it on the side and trying to “avoid” the seeds.) Because the apple is sweet, you can dehydrate it without any other flavoring.

Flax Seed/Brazil Nut Nut-ola

(6 servings/3 cups): 1 cup whole organic flax seeds, 1 cup raw sunflower seeds, 2 cups Brazil nuts, ¼ teaspoon unrefined sea salt, ½ tablespoon cinnamon, ½ cup pitted dates (8 or so), 1-2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of grade B maple syrup. (You can do this with whatever nuts you like, add coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, etc.) Soak the nuts and seeds in water and leave them overnight in a lightly covered glass bowl (not metal or plastic). The next day, drain and rinse. Put half of the nuts and all of the flax seeds into a food processor and blend until ground. Take the remaining nuts and crush them a bit, putting everything into a large bowl. Mix the sea salt and cinnamon together and add to the mixture, then put the dates in a blender with a cup of water and the maple syrup, and blend (this should have the consistency of syrup – if you add more water, it will be less sweet). Mix the dry mixture with the date/syrup blend, using your hands to be sure everything is evenly coated. Press handfuls of the mixture together to release any extra oil from the nuts. Spread the mixture onto dehydrator sheets and dry at 120 degrees for 24-48 hours depending on the “crunchiness” you want (longer times will make it more crunchy and dry). Store in a glass jar or bowl with a tight lid.

fresh raw garlic on the dining tables.

Sanoviv Dip

2 cups of coconut cream, or 1 can of coconut milk (use the entire can – organic); 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves; 2 cloves chopped garlic; 1/4 cup chopped almonds; 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil; pinch of salt and pinch of cumin. Put all the ingredients into a blender until a “dip” consistency is reached.

Paleo Pancakes

(Makes 4 pancakes/2 servings) 1 cup of almond flour, ¼ cup of coconut flour, 3 organic eggs, 1-2 tablespoons of raw honey, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon of raw ground (unsweetened) organic cacao powder, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, 2 tablespoons of ghee or coconut oil. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Mix the wet ingredients (eggs, honey, vanilla) and then gradually add to the dry ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee or coconut oil to a skillet that has been warmed over medium heat, then pour batter onto the skillet to make two pancakes. Flip the pancakes after 2-3 minutes, cook for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the rest of the ghee or coconut oil to the pan to make the other two pancakes. Serve topped with nut butter, coconut shreds, mashed berries.

Homemade Coconut Yogurt

FWIW, H and I find this very very sour.

Ingredients: 4 cups of chopped coconut meat from young coconuts, 2 cups of raw coconut water (from the coconuts, or Harmless Harvest)*, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of probiotic powder (example, 2 packets of USANA brand probiotic) OR diary-free yogurt starter, pinch of unrefined sea salt, 1 teaspoon raw honey. Blend all ingredients except the probiotic in a high-speed blender, adding the coconut water slowly, only until smooth and creamy. Blend in the probiotic at the slowest speed. Pour yogurt into a one-quarter Mason jar, leaving about 3 inches of space at the top. Cover with the lid, and let the yogurt ferment at about 105 degrees for 8 hours (my daughter uses her InstaPot overnight). The yogurt can also be left for up to 24 hours in your oven with the door closed and the oven light on. Once fermented, add additional raw honey if needed. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before eating. *OPTION: Use canned organic coconut milk instead of fresh coconut meat and water – use 2 cans. The recommended brand is Native Forest. To thicken it to the desired consistency, add unsweetened organic coconut shreds. Often found at Trader Joes, can also be found HERE.

Date Rolls

These are great for a little energy in the day. In a food processor, put nuts that you like that you have already chopped coursely. Add dehydrated (unsweetened) coconut, about 1 tsp of coconut oil and 1 tsp raw honey, plus 4-5 dates. Pulse until it sticks together (easier if you have chopped the dates up first). You may not need as much coconut oil, it is what helps to blend it. Roll in more of the chopped nuts. They are very dense calorically so eat slowly!

NOTE: They made another version of these that were deemed Cinnamon Nut Rolls. They were so good. Basically it was the same as the above, but they added cinnamon to the recipe, plus they added some of the dehydrated almond pulp that comes out of the nut bag when you are making nut milk (see below), plus some vanilla. NOM NOM NOM! Didn’t get the “proportions,” but that’s where the fun of cooking comes in 🙂

Polyphenol Power Breakfast

Polyphenols in food change your gut microbiome within 24 hours, increasing the “good” bacteria and decreasing the bad. Aspartame kills your microbiome (like an antibiotic does). Lack of sleep does the same. Having a microbiome imbalance is called “dysbiosis.” Blueberries, dark chocolate (preferably organic cacao e.g. no sugar at all), hazelnuts, pecans, peppermint, and ground flax seeds (human body can’t process otherwise) are full of them. They can all be added to this base: 1 cup brewed green tea, 3/4 cup red leaf lettuce, 1/4 c. whole raw oats (need to be sure that they have no glycophate, i.e. RoundUp – check online the oats and all brands you’re going to use to be sure SPOILER ALERT – Bob’s Red Mill DOES), 2 scoops of a protein powder that works for you, 1/2 cup blueberries. VitaMix and enjoy!

nut milk

To make nut milk, take the raw nuts you’d like to use (macadamia, brazil, almond, hazelnut, etc.) and soak them overnight in water. The water needs to cover the nuts. Keep them out of the light while you do this. The next day, pour the water off through a sieve and wash the nuts. Add the nuts to 3x the amount of water. So if you have 1 cup of nuts, use 3 cups of water. If you would like your nut milk a little sweeter, add one date to each cup of nuts. Using a high-speed blender (e.g., VitaMix), start out slow until the nuts are pretty ground, then put it on high speed for about a minute. Turn it off, and, using a nut milk bag (you can buy these online), pour the mixture off into the nut milk bag, which is inside of a pitcher or other large bowl. Squeeze the bag until all the liquid is out. You can reserve the fiber that is now in the bag to use it as the crust for a paleo pie, or if you would like to dehydrate it (about 17 hours at about 105 degrees), this will become nut flour that you can use to bake things (for example, the Paleo Bread). The nut milk will keep in the fridge for about a week, but you will need to mix it as it will start to “settle” after a day or so. (NOTE: When I make it, I keep a “bartender spoon” in the pitcher, so that I can “twirl” it back into milk.) If you make hemp seed milk (using the same 1:3 proportion) you do NOT need the nut milk bag, as there is not enough fiber to necessitate straining. Oh – and I think it goes without saying that peanuts are not nuts – they grow underground and are legumes. So you can’t do this with peanuts.

smoothie ideas

  1. pineapple, mango, date, avocado, pecan. Add enough coconut water (or regular water, or ice – after it’s already mixed) to make the desired consistency.
  2. strawberry, date, avocado, almonds. Same re the water. BE SURE to use organic strawberries – they are the #2 pesticide-ridden food. Avocados, on the other hand, are the #1 not-pesticide-ridden food, so it’s not critical that they are organic. (If you give a small donation to the charity EWG.org, they will give you the “dirty dozen” and “clean thirteen” on a keychain, to attach to your grocery bag.

Chia pudding

Chia and spirulina were what the Aztec warriors used when they were in battle or on long treks. It provided enough nourishment for them to keep going, and are deemed “superfoods.” To make the pudding, take 1 cup chia seeds, 3 cups coconut yogurt (or almond/coconut milk. For a “savory” one, add lemon peel, ginger, cardamom and warmed lemongrass (needs to be softened). Put in blender, let the chia fibers “turn it into” pudding. If you want a sweet one, mix vanilla, unsweetened dried coconut, plus berries, or you can mix the vanilla, coconut and “apple pie spices” to make one that tastes like apple pie. If you need it sweeter, add a small amount of raw honey or a small amount of stevia.

Quick awesome smoothie

coconut water (for a potassium boost – they only recommend Harmless Harvest or if you get it out of the coconut itself); kale (stem removed) for iron; pineapple for Vitamin C and digestive enzymes (bromelain); full lemon (rind and seeds have good things for you); fresh coconut meat (if available – i.e. if you made your own coconut water); 1/2 c. walnuts that have been soaked overnight, water discarded (good for the brain and decreases the acid that often makes your soft palate “shred”), a couple scoops of a protein of your choice. Blend, then add the ice after to make it “thicker” or it will not mix at all.

Teas: Ginger, Basil Blossom or Rosemary

Rosemary tea offers a pine flavor and aromatic fragrance that is invigoraing and rejuvenating. It can help: (a) ease digestion, because its carnosic acid is a potent antimicrobial and helps balance the microflora and good bacteria in your gut; (b) decrease oxidative stress, because it has polyphenols and flavonoids which are both antioxidants (this is why essential oil doesn’t work as well as the whole plant – that is distilled out); and (c) increase cognitive function during aging, because cooking with just 1/2 teaspoon as been proven in medical studies to improve alertness and speed of memory during aging. Avoid rosemary if you are allergic to pine trees or aspirin.

Ginger is great for lessening nausea symptoms, digestive issues, reducing muscle pain, migraines and lowering cholesterol levels and lessening fatty-liver damage. If you can find a ginger root “shaped like a person” that is the best, per Chinese medicine.

Basil is a great: anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; pain reducer; anti-stress solution (especially after a long day); source of iron. It has Euginol oil, which is similar to ibuprofen in anti-inflammatory effect. (HOWEVER, do not take basil essential oil internally – it is too strong and toxic to the liver.)

In each case, start with 1 cup boiling water.

To make the ginger tea, break off about 1 inch of the ginger root (to yield about 1 Tablespoon when prepared). Peel it, and either slice it very thinly, or grate it to maximize the surface area. Add to the boiling water for at least 10 minutes and let steep. For stronger tea, simmer the ginger in the water for another 10 minutes (you will need a little extra water for the water that will become steam – put a lid on the pot). Add lemon or raw honey if desired.

For the rosemary tea, wash it, and peel off the “needles” by pulling backwards from the tip toward the base. The stem can be reserved for adding to soup stock/bone broth/etc. Crush the needles slightly by rolling them in your hands, then drop the needles into your cup. (Slowing holding your palms to your nose and mouth and breathing in slowly through your nose activates the rosemary in your sinuses and is very good for stress reduction while also being invigorating.) Pour the boiling water over the needles, and let steep for 5 minutes. Add lemon or raw honey if desired.

For the basil tea, use 1 tablespoon basil blossoms, or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil leaves. Remove the stem, which can be bitter. Using the leaves renders a grassier taste while steeping the flowers develops a sweeter, slightly spicier taste.

On Basil Varieties:

African Basil has the highest level of Eugenol (the anti-inflammatory compound similar to ibuprofen); Thai Basil is associated with the reduction of stress (NOTE: This is what we used, it was great); French Basil is commonly used for aromatherapy to help lessen migraine symptoms; Holy Basil (a/k/a Tulsi) is a common tea staple in India and tends to have a sweeter taste.

Wild basil or “exotic” basil is not recommended for infusions or consumption, because of the eugenol – be sure to use a type that you know due to liver effects.

In all cases, don’t steep for more than 5 minutes. If you want more flavor, add more herbs. Take the herb out at the 5 minute mark.

NOTE: This was where the ThinkSport thermos was genius – it has a small removable strainer in the top, so that you can make the tea into it and the strainer keeps the rosemary, ginger, etc. from pouring out into your cup.

Green Pina colada smoothie

Blend all of the following until smooth, in a high-speed blender:

1 fresh young coconut, which yields about 1 cup of coconut water + 1 cup of soft young coconut meat; if you don’t have one, use 1/2 cup of canned organic unsweetened coconut milk (example, Native Forest brand); 1 cup pineapple (use the core!); 1 cup of kale (without the stem); 1/4 lemon with or without rind depending on your preference; 1/4 cup of walnuts, 1 cup of ice. Add coconut water (Harmless Harvest) to make smooth and desired consistency.

Electrolyte Beverage

I took a photo of this and inserted it in a previous post, but I will just type it in here. This is a concentrated mixture – you make it into ice cubes, then add them to melt into the water. The best natural electrolyte replacement is raw, unprocessed coconut water. If you can’t actually obtain it from young coconuts, “Harmless Harvest” is the only recommended brand. Blend the following ingredients in a high-speed blender and make ice cubes, or you can store in a Mason jar in the fridge, though the ice cubes last forever; from the fridge you need to drink it within a few days. Combine:

2 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 Tbs fresh squeezed lime juice, 3/4 cup of raw coconut water, 1/4 tsp raw honey, 1/4 tsp of unrefined full-spectrum salt (not table salt – so for example pink Himalayan salt, Hawaiian black salt, etc. Table salt doesn’t have the full spectrum of salts that you want in an electrolyte beverage).

Infused Water

Here are some recommended combinations for infused water. You want to infuse the water and put it into the refrigerator – put it into as big of a pitcher as you have. At the end of the day, eat what’s in the water, and make a new one tomorrow. 😉 1. Rosemary and Watermelon; 2. Cucumber & Ginger; 3. Blueberries & Mint Leaves; 4. Mandarin Orange; 5. Grapefruit & Rosemary; 6. Grape, Strawberry & Lime; 7. Cut Apples and Cinnamon Sticks.

monks love golden milk

Golden Milk

Ingredients: ¼ cup of water, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 cup of almond milk or other nut milk, 1 tablespoon of almond/coconut oil (optional), Pinch of cardamom, Pinch of black pepper, 1 small piece of ginger root (peeled and minced). Optional: ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of raw honey. Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Put in a saucepan and heat over medium heat (do not boil). Serve warm. Makes 2 servings.

A few more tips . . .

Provided in your bathroom: shampoo, conditioner (works!), body wash, dry brush (you can take home), toothbrushes, tongue scrapers, dental floss, toothpaste, hand soap, laundry bag (for their laundry). If you use any face cleansers, etc. you need to bring that.

Not provided in your bathroom: Lotion. It’s very dry here. You can buy it in the Shop; frustrated I didn’t bring it – of course, it would need to be one of their ‘approved ‘ ones! (a la Beautycounter)

The piano has earphones! I was in the computer room this morning and I could hear “clicking” in the sitting area/tea room and came out to investigate. Here was a gal (not the one mentioned before, because this one actually had “real music” in front of her) playing away – with headphones on! Genius!

If you need it dark when you sleep – bring a sleep mask. Each bedroom has floor to ceiling windows and two sliders looking out at the ocean, and there is a lot of ambient light. No blinds or curtains. Fine by me, but I have heard folks in the elevator grousing about it.

Bring a plastic bag for your swim suit. I might have said this already, but there is no “suit spinner” in the spa/changing area. As such, you need to have something to bring your suit back to your room.

Clothing provided: two hoodie sweat jackets, two sweat pants, two T-shirts, two tank tops, two “camisole” tank tops, two pair shorts (think “men’s cotton athletic shorts from the 80s”), two pair socks (more on those in a second), a pair of Birkenstockesque sandals (to keep), bathrobe. About the socks: The socks are of the “men’s tube sock” variety, however, they are not tube socks, they are actual socks with a heel. Why is that important? Because if your foot isn’t just the right shape and size for the socks, you can’t get them on. Hubby’s foot is slightly too big (size 10) to get his foot “around the ankle bend.” Mine is nearly the same, though I can force it (size 9 men’s/11 women’s). Everyone gets the same socks, so not quite sure what this would mean for wee feet. Suggestion: bring your own socks, but be sure that they’re white athletic socks. I actually did just this – I brought “toe” socks and I’m glad to have them. I can wear them with the sandals, or athletic shoes, and they still are basically the “uniform” that you’re provided. About the shorts: I’m doing all my working out in the room, and it’s not warm enough for shorts outside. Not so sure I’d be super happy to be seen in these – they’re grey cotton, baggy, old-school Champion shorts. They absorb sweat like a champ, so if you’re sweating, believe me, folks would know. Not quite sure how one would get around wearing these, as their clothes are your “uniform.” Just wanted to take note.

Bring two swimsuits. At least during “May Grey” and “June Gloom,” it isn’t warm enough for your suit to dry on the balcony overnight. I’ve put in a “request” for suit spinners in the spa (which was accepted as a ‘great idea’), but until then, bring two suits if you plan to be in the water often.

Costco LonoLife dehydrated organic grass-fed bone broth is great! I picked some of this up on a whim, and it is very tasty!

Today was my day off from working out, though I did the Tai Chi class this afternoon with the hubby. We also did the Thalassotherapy baths together. I’d say that the temperature is about 68F with a nice brine-y sea breeze, but not windy by any stretch of the imagination. The sun basically hid today all day under the “marine layer.” The constant sound is of the ocean hitting the shore – it works as a “white noise” machine! We leave our two sliders open at night.

Tonight we have a Digestion and Detox class, after dinner.

Sayonara . . . Time for dinner!

Sanoviv: The Grounds & The Fitness Center

Posted on by Sandy

This will be a quick post (HA HA HA).

I have received a few questions about the grounds, and the fitness center.

Well, as I mentioned, I hadn’t been able to get into the fitness center until this morning – when we had a Stretch class there. So I took a few photos for you. The first photo is from the door, towards the back wall (the “long” side of the room). The next photo is taken with my back against the “short” wall, looking out the window. A couple of shots from each corner – and then what I referred to in a previous post as the “I Love Lucy waist wiggler” machine. Finally, a photo of the entirety of the dumbbells in the place – I am so glad that I brought my TRX and bands! Hubby actually worked out with me yesterday, and though he had “trepidation” doing the ring rows from the wooden wall ladder in our room, everything was fine. So there you go – if you (like me!) had been looking for something to show you what’s in the fitness center – here it is!

I also took a few photos of the grounds:

You can see that the grounds are mainly grass. Dr. Wentz dug up all the old (chemical-fed) grass (and dirt) from the original property, and replaced it with grass that doesn’t get anything but tender loving care (okay, and a lot of water . . . and dandelion picking . . . and mowing . . . and organic fertilizer 🙂 ) The first photo is the fountain out front. The next is the view outside the tea room sliders. Next is the grassy knoll from the patio outside the tea room, and one of the patio, then from in front of the fitness center from two angles. The big high rise that you see next door was built for “old surfers” who want to have a place down in Mexico and to just “step outside” and ride the waves at KM 48!

The grass is used for Grounding walks – which hubby has been doing every morning when the grass is still wet, before going up for his first IV. By the way, hubby does NOT know I’m keeping this blog, so let’s keep that a secret between all of us, shall we?

I took a photo of the snack today, because it was just so doggone cute. They were wee sesame bars. Not sure if you had the Helva sesame honey candy when you were a kid – it came in like 3 “sheets” that all stuck together? I loved it and these tasted just like it. I’ll also include a photo of breakfast, which was “nut-ola” – because there are no “grains” in it. They had ground flax seeds, whey protein, and hemp to add to it (in the photo, that’s what’s on top), fresh-made coconut or almond milk, plus pears, papaya, and blueberries. My friend who has been to Sanoviv sent me the cookbooks that she had received after her trip (via .PDF). They have the nutola recipe, the sesame/honey “candy,” the paleo bread, and the rest. Let me know if you’d like a copy. She has smoothies on her website too – they are HERE. The last photo is from our “Quick Prep” workshop class. We learned how to make concentrated electrolyte drink ice cubes.

I’ve been very bad today. The “ski couple” I mentioned left me with a David Baldacci book called “Long Road to Mercy.” And I’ve been unabashedly (well, a little “bashedly”) reading it all day. They said the protagonist “reminds them of me.” She is a six foot tall bad ass FBI agent in her 30s. She is an Olympic weightlifter – missed the U.S. Team by one kilogram in her snatch – “I’m more a clean and jerk girl,” she says at one point and I laughed out loud. Me, too! I’m more than a little chuffed that they think of me that way! They left this morning. Boo hoo 🙁

So, a story about Meditation. Remember yesterday, when I said we were to think of a word to bring “in” with the inhale, and “out” with the exhale? And mine were “Soothe” and “Release”? I asked hubby what his were, or if he did the exercise at all. He said he had, and that it had left him feeling very relaxed and satisfied.

I asked whether he was willing to share his words with me. He said he would:

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(Breathe in) Negroniiiiiiii……

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(Breathe out) Escaaaape…….

Sanoviv: Day 4

Posted on by Sandy
a wee monk on a swing.

We were told that the weekends are pretty easygoing. Saturdays (today) hubby will have a few treatments – unclear if there will be any treatments on Sunday.

Today started with lemon/cayenne/hot water, then Energy Medicine, then Meditation. Though it seems like we are doing this every day, apparently it’s Thursday through Saturday. So we’ll see what happens on the other days! It seems likely that they might have some sort of service tomorrow, being Sunday? Not sure.

By the way, by way of update, the Amish family are Amish. (I edited the blog from yesterday where I was trying to decide Amish/Mennonite/old-school Mormon, but I asked today.) I spoke with the wife today. I didn’t get her name, as they don’t wear the nametags. They’re from Ohio, and he has Lyme. He works in a carpentry shop, and it had gotten so bad with the brain fog, aches, etc. that he couldn’t work or put “simple things” together.

I think that different “diseases” sort of seek others out here. She spoke about other folks here that are being treated for Lyme – one is from Australia, one from Ireland, a couple others from the U.S. Because you wind up in the same treatment “area” and with the same meals (many patients have supplemental, or entirely different, food), you do meet folks that are doing what you’re doing. I happened to be reading in the living room in the Mansion, and she came in to work on a puzzle. You really only see this couple in the lobby area, because they take their meals to themselves. His main treatments revolve around the hyperbaric chamber.

Aaaaaand, back to our morning. In Energy Medicine, we learned two new protocols – the handout is above. They are all from the book that I mentioned yesterday. The first one today was to rid yourself of someone’s energy – in the description it says to “flatten your hands” – what this means is that the hand that is on the “up” arm has palm toward the ceiling, the one on the “down” arm has palm toward the floor. Looks like I didn’t quite photograph the 2nd page correctly, but you get the gist.

As we were doing the Energy Medicine, we watched the pelicans fly by over the ocean. Sanoviv is on a cliff, so you get the ocean breezes and “brine” smell, but you’re not on the beach/on the water. You’re cautioned not to go there (not sure how you would anyway – rappel?) because the beaches and water aren’t the cleanest, and of course, this is all about the Detox.

The pelicans all seem to be flying North – in one “gang” we saw 31 birds! I really love pelicans. I remember when I was young, the DDT was making pelicans’ eggshells too brittle, so that when the mom bird sat on them, she would break the eggs. I was in I want to say third grade when the teacher told us that there “might be no more pelicans” because of the DDT. Right around this time, we also had a huge oil spill on the Bay, and it mired and killed a lot of birds. We have a place just down from our house where they were trying to clean the birds of the oil, but the problem was that this would strip them also of the essential oils that helped them float – something like that (hey, I was in 3d grade). Not a great time for pelicans. Makes me super happy to see them here. Apparently they’re Wentz’s “talismanic” bird, too. When he was going up and down the Mexican coastline to try to buy a property for what would become Sanoviv, he got to this one and a pelican flew down and landed at his feet as he was standing at the front door. He didn’t go any farther, said “Well, this is the place.” So says the tour guide, mind you.

At Meditation, we talked a bit more about the “Why” of meditation. (New psychotherapist led today’s session.) She reiterated that the reason for doing Meditation daily is to be Present. But what does that mean? If you’re feeling an emotion that doesn’t serve you, you’re generally either in the Past, or in the Future. Guilt? Past. Remorse? Past. Fear? Future. Anxiety? Future. So Meditation is geared to keeping you in the Present, at least for those 15 minutes. It “grooves a new neural pathway” for really understanding what being “Present” means. When “monkey brain” tries to take you out of the Present (“Did I lock the door?” (Past)…..”What are we having for Breakfast?” (Future)….) just calmly thank your Brain for sharing, and go back to what you were concentrating on, in that Present moment.

We were to concentrate on the waves today, but one of The Group was out in the tea room, playing the piano. Which wouldn’t have been terrible, if she hadn’t been out there playing the same ~16 notes over and over and over. And over. Finally I just “leaned into it” and made that part of my meditation, too. (Yes, she really did do that, the entirety of the 15 minutes. She must have been pushing hard on the keys too, because you could hear it all the way down to the Meditation room. It wasn’t a scales/finger exercise – it was a tune. Over. And Over. And Over.)

We were also to think about a word and color on breathing in, and a word and color on breathing out. The “in” was to be refreshing, “nutritious for the mind,” the out was to be letting go. So, for example, Gratitude, Anger. I started with a different “in” word (can’t remember it right now) but I wound up with “Soothe” (and a light turquoise color) and “Release” (and a mustardy yellow color).

Between Meditation and Breakfast, we had a Tea workshop. They have a professional kitchen in the Mansion where these workshops are held. We worked on herbal hot and cold water infusions. I happened to have my ThinkSport thermos, which became a Hot Topic. 🙂 The instructor loved it; she said that the only thermoses she had seen had glass on the inside, which she “seemed to drop and break within the first month.” (The ThinkSport is double-walled steel, so it keeps things cold without sweating, and hot for a very long time. In fact we had tea last night, and this morning the left over tea in the bottle was still warm.)

We had breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Yes, I’m really getting hubby up at 6:15 (when the TV starts playing Mozart) to do his bloodwork, get his supplements, etc. This is generally about two hours after he goes to bed back home! He has his “vitals meeting” on the 2nd floor, cayenne/lemon tea, Energy Medicine, Meditation, Breakfast and such before he would even be awake at home!

This was my favorite meal so far! Strawberries, and pancakes of “Paleo Bread” (so said the sign) with macerated blackberries for on top, and then nut butter made from putting “whatever nuts were left over – brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds” (I asked) then “adding just a little bit of coconut oil until it smoothed out – but not too much.” It was delicious. I’ve asked my friend who has been here whether these recipes are in the cookbook that she was given when she visited. As you can see from the photo, the Paleo Bread has cacao in it – and it smelled like chocolate. Nom Nom Nom!

Mostly today, during hubby’s infusions, I have been reading the “How Not To Die” book. It’s written by a doctor, advocating a 100% vegan diet. About 1/3 of the book is just endnotes and medical citations. It was recommended to me by a friend who has had a heart issue, and I just recommended it today to a friend who’s husband dropped from a heart attack this weekend (fittest guy you’ve ever met, etc. – he’s on the mend thanks to quick thinking and a great hospital system. Love you guys A&T!) The Preface, Introduction, and Chapter 1 are all about the heart. I’m not sure that I will go vegan after reading this, but it’s good to know the things that you can do to up your chances. Yes, of course, Cancer is in there too, and a whole host of other disease.

  • wheat grass is so green it looks black.
  • kale chips: yesterday’s snack

Wheat grass hour, snack time (housemade coconut yogurt – super sour, not sweet – with blueberries), lunch time with dessert (little squares of a butternut squash dessert), back to the room. Nap. Hubby gave me a “lick” of one of his supplements – phosphatidylcholine.

lunch dessert.

Imagine the nastiest Brewer’s yeast you can possibly imagine. The taste doesn’t hit you right away, which of course made it far funnier to watch (I’m sure). I was just about to say “Hey, this isn’t so bad,” when it hit me. It does leave a slightly yeasty flavor in your mouth (I mean, unless you gag it out) which isn’t terrible, and hubby says that he’s getting around to liking it. My guess is this is like Vegemite without the salt and spices. The first time you taste Vegemite, you’re like Oh My GOD what is THIS? And then you suddenly are ordering it from Australia because – well – there’s nothing like it 🙂 Mind you, I think that the salt and spices make Vegemite – if this is the base that he started from, Cyril Percy Callister (“inventor” back in the 20’s) really is a magician-chef.

Next? Green drink time (celery, pineapple, lime, cucumber and chard – pretty tasty for a green drink), and in about 2 minutes hubby starts his procedures again (colon hydrotherapy, another IV infusion). So I’m going to do my workout. Today is cardio day – I will sub stair climbs for the run, instead of the 10 x 30 second sprint at 100% effort with 30 second jog between I will do the jump rope at the same effort level (or climb stairs, haven’t quite decided), then I will do the waiter walks with the EmPack. My “Crossfit wife” Sharon is doing the workouts too – she did the Cardio yesterday, and she warned to start the waiter walks light because there are a lot of them. So my guess is I will load the EmPack up with the bladder that’s about 1/2 full, which should be around 7 pounds. I already tried – the hardback book that’s still in the pocket allows me to hold the bag up without it sagging around my hand. (Such a genius, am I!) I’m to do glute bridges and then a weighted tabata plank – those I can do with the EmPack with the two 1/2-empty bladders and the one full one (which will make it about 30 pounds, give or take). Dinner tonight says that it’s with “Live Music” – Hubby has trepidation. (“Mariachis, I know it…Please, don’t let it be Mariachis….” LOL) Then we have a “Hollywood movie” in the theatre. We’re dead curious to find out what it is – as everything is geared to Detox, believe you me, it’s not going to be John Wick III!

Opened my second of the “Advent” cards from my friend. I laughed out loud. These are just spectacular cards, and she has such a good sense of humor. Inside, she said that – since I can’t get to Instagram from here – she had printed me out some dog memes because, I mean, what else is there? I really laughed. Just the best. Big Air Kisses, C!

I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite pieces of art from the Mansion. Most of it is what we saw by the 1,000s in Vietnam – assembly-line or you might say “Sausalito tourist art.” But they do have a few pieces that I like – the dancing manatee (or walrus) sculpture is to the “covet” status 🙂 (You can’t really tell, but it’s pretty tall – I’d say about 1.5 feet. Too hard to pack into my suitcase. 😉 )

  • “If there are pandas, it might be okay.” (Hubby’s animal totem.)
  • dancing manatee/walrus
  • another view

OK – so I lied, I didn’t leave you, I’m baaaa-aaaack . . . To tell you I finished the workout. Today was Cardio. As I mentioned, my “Crossfit wife” told me to be sure to do the waiter’s walks light, so I did them with a +/- 7 lb. EmPack bladder. Still rough! 6 x 50′ each arm (I did all the way from one end of the hallway to the other, then switched). Between the waiter’s walks were 20 glute bridges – so I took the 7 lb. bladder, put it into the EmPack (making about 37 pounds, plus or minus) and did the bridges. At one point the EmPack was wet and I thought “oh crap, one of the bladders is leaking.” I took them all out, didn’t find any leaks . . . then realized it was sweat! (TMI?)

  • today’s workout is on the left
  • tough – even with the beautiful view!
  • tabata songs & EmPack

Instead of the prescribed 10 x 30 sec sprint, 30 sec jog, I did 10 x 30 sec jump rope as fast as I could, 30 sec mini-tramp. A little odd, but it worked 🙂 Finally, did the tabata plank with the 30 lb. EmPack. That nearly killed me. Just as I finished (lying on the ground panting), point hubby showed up and said he had seen a sign downstairs – dinner had been moved from 6:00 to 5:00 – and it was 5:12, let’s go! Not possible in my then-condition, but after a quick shower, off we went. We sat with a couple I’d met previously – turns out she was a former US Ski Team skier (he had been a skier then moved into selling ski equipment – that’s how they’d met) – and in her off season, she’d rowed at University of Washington. They were so amazing. By what she was saying, I think they were in their 70s – you would never know. Unfortunately they are leaving Monday – I say “unfortunately” because hubby really liked them! (I mean, this is the man that doesn’t know a thing about basketball, baseball, football – but has a subscription to the ski channel! 🙂

For fun, here are my printouts (from my watch) of the workout yesterday (“Push”) and the workout today (“Cardio”):

Might not blog tomorrow – I do have some work to do, and I’ll probably take this “blogging time” to do it. So – likely see you Monday! Thank you again for all the Comments!

Sanoviv: Day Three

Posted on by Sandy

Here we go, here we go, here we go again . . . I have received some messages with respect to computer access, so I will start there.

I was gifted an Ethernet cable and adapter, to enable me to use the computer in my room. The best part is the cable is 25 feet, which allows me to use it over on the chair/couch area – the Ethernet plug is part of the phone/on the far side of the Queen bed, so without it, I would be “stuck” there. That allows me to type up these blogs and check email. However, we discovered the first night that things are still “blocked” – access to Netflix, Xfinity, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Marco Polo . . . So while I can post this blog (on WordPress), to link it to Facebook and Instagram, I have to do that in the “computer room” over in the Mansion. It’s not that bad – it works fast – but it’s the only place that I can do any of the “things” listed above.

the tea room

I did get a chance to watch the “Marcos” that a number of you had sent – thanks! It was so great to see your smiling faces. I sent a quick Marco out to some of you, at least showing you the computer room, and a tiny corner of the ocean! I am not sure how far their wifi extends, but I also don’t want to use the phone/computer in areas we are “not s’posed to.”

Today was lemon/cayenne hot water, then again Energy Medicine and Meditation. In Energy Medicine, we did Emotional Freedom Technique work (EFT or “tapping”). The psychologist walked us through a portion of the leading book in the area, “Energy Medicine” by Donna Eden. During Meditation, we were to focus on a word, though if you didn’t have one, you could focus on the ocean waves (quite loud – you can hear them even if the sliders are closed), or on your breath. I was going to do the waves, but then got “hit in the head” (metaphorically of course) by the word “Release.” So I did the 15 minute Meditation concentrating on that word.

Aaaaand, once again, here I am, with a snarky comment. Judge-y McJudge-pants, that’s me. A woman from a certain group (I’m going to stop there, you decide) came in late and settled onto her zafu in the front row – literally right as the “bell” sounded for Meditation – with her shoes, cell phone, and water bottle! She was politely instructed to take them all back outside . . . How one can scurry past a hallway lined with 30 pair of shoes, canvas bags, bottles, etc. and just settle yourself in? Fascinating.

We went to breakfast afterwards, forgetting that there was a stretching class in the Fitness Room that I had wanted to check out. It wasn’t on hubby’s “schedule” – I think that they manage “crowd control” this way. The Stretching Class was from 8:00-8:30, but we were slated for Breakfast at 8:00. My guess is that some folks have the class on their schedule? Or that you just need to “know” that Breakfast actually is served from 8:00-9:00, and you can “decide” whether to do the Stretching? A bit unclear.

Hubby’s schedule contains all his appointments, meal times, and some of the workshop times. But the “overarching” schedule (that caregivers get) contains extra workshops, classes, and the like. I am trying to take the copy of his schedule that I get and annotate it with things from the “overarching” schedule. I just missed this one. I also annotate it with the times that he is supposed to take any sort of supplement. He gets a big paper bag of them each morning, containing wee ziplocks with times on them. Last night, turns out that he had missed everything from about 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. So today, I just put them on my copy of his schedule. Because, ya know, Caregiver.

One thing the Oncologist mentioned yesterday was stem cell implant therapy. The patient is given an implant that apparently works for about six months. It’s a new therapy that addresses building up the patient’s own system. I asked him about the Vitamin C + doxycycline regimen that Broffman mentioned to us, and he said that they don’t do that protocol, as the studies are “old” and he doesn’t think that it is valid. I’m not so sure about that.

As for the stem cell treatment, yesterday we came down in the elevator with a gal who is getting it (Detox/Stem Cell Therapy), and her nametag was pinkish-red. Today, just by way of curiosity, I started really trying to look at nametags. A number of Orange (cancer) tags, many Yellow (caregiver) tags. The Chinese group tags are either pinkish-red or yellow. There is an Amish couple here – haven’t been able to see their tags yet. He has the bushy “beard-only-no-mustache” beard, and hair cut in a “bowl” at the back (hard to explain). Her baby, Katie Mae, has a tiny white bonnet – the mom has a long blue scarf that she wears on her hair, which is up in a bun. Katie Mae is a little cherub – so sweet, and so well behaved. She’s at the “alert, bubbly, but not walking yet” stage. The man is wearing the Sanoviv “prescribed” clothing. His wife, however, is in the ivory Sanoviv hoodie, over a floor-length dress made of the same “sweatpants” fabric, in the same ivory color. Herbert commented on this, but if you were Orthodox Jewish, etc. you would need to have some sort of accommodation – nice to see that they are all set. I think the man is the patient, because I’ve seen him taken into a room without her. Will try to talk to her tomorrow to find out.

For Breakfast today we had frittata, an incredibly bitter cooked green, oranges, and grapes. I was super curious if I would have my “egg issue” with the frittata (Leann – like Michael) since we’re in the “Healthiest Place On Earth” 🙂 Turns out that – yep! Just the same!

My thoughts have always been that fats cause this issue. Let’s just say that 20 minutes after eating them, all eggs except ones I make – or that are poached or hard boiled – go “right through me.” I had surmised that perhaps it was an “industrial spray-on fat” causing the problem, which I don’t think that they’d use here. I have the same issue if there is too much melted butter on something (like veggies), too. Anyway – suffice it to say that – sigh! – yes, same issue. As the only thing that we had to eat other than the fritatta were the bitterest cooked greens ever, oranges, and grapes, I guess I’ll just have to “brave” the eggs when they show up.

As I type, it’s time for “wheat grass,” so off I go! More later!

I’m back – miss me? I waited around for hubby in the lobby for 20 minutes, then gave up and came back to the room. I was to go with him to his Oncology follow-up, but as he was already up on the 2nd floor (“Special Care,” a/k/a the hospital-hospital), I’m guessing that the doctor saw him and just called him in. The only issue with this is that – when he sees doctors alone – he doesn’t tell me much of what is said. He also doesn’t really remember that well what he’s told. So, I guess we’ll just see what we see!

looking out from “The Bridge” (a/k/a Quiet Room)

In about half hour is Snack Time, then, as I mentioned already, hubby has his follow-on dental exam, an hour of free time, and then lunch. After lunch, hubby has a mind/body appointment, then we have green juice (“Oh Yay!” says hubby LOL), after that he has his fitness evaluation (which he does not want me to come to – silly boy), then another Quiet Room hour for him. After that is Golden Milk Time, an hour, dinner time, then the documentary Grounding, then bed. So while I could work out during the Dental/free hour, I think that I will do it during his fitness eval/quiet room period since that way I’m free to do what he wants to do during the “free hour,” and I can use his Dental follow-up time to do a bit of work that I have.

I have a “hang” as part of my workout today. I’ve been looking at the top “lip” of the clothing/TV cabinet, which is about 9 feet off the ground. If I stand on my tip-toes, I can grip it and get off the ground (mind you, my nose is pressed to the cabinet side). So I’m thinking I will do that today. There aren’t really any chairs in the room (just plush chairs) – if the table was a little shorter I might be able to use this lip to do jumping pull ups on “Pull” day, which is coming up in a few. I could try to stand on the mini-trampoline and use that instead, but there are all sorts of comedy sketches that I can see in my head, “launching off” from that position . . .

So, how are we doing? I’m doing fairly well on the “eat until not hungry” thing I blogged about before. There’s plenty of food here (even if it is Liquid Day). The food is pretty good for having no sauces, seasonings, etc. (There is a container of salt, pepper, and cayenne powder (!) on your table to use.)

Hubby seems a little out of sorts – not quite sure what’s up. (The photo at the top notwithstanding.) I know that he hasn’t eased into being here yet. Maybe he’s in a Grief cycle. He’s doing a lot of Bargaining. 🙂 He even asked the doctor if we’re allowed “off campus” on any day and (interestingly) the doctor said that if you really wanted to, someone could take you to Rosarito Beach (which is just down the road) and if you really wanted to, though “he didn’t say this,” you could have lobster, margaritas, or whatever you like. I wonder if they tell this to everyone, or just the Cancer patients.

For your viewing pleasure, here are those photos from inside the Mansion, as promised 🙂

  • the library
  • the living room/game room
  • the mirrored bathroom (!)

Today I met a couple that were here for the Stem Cell Therapy – he had the ultrasound that’s required beforehand, and they discovered he had a bladder/prostate issue. The doctor called his doctor stateside, and he was taken to a hospital here for prostate surgery – 4 hours later and he was “whisked” back, a bit dazed, but fine. He said he hadn’t realized he “had an issue” but “while he was golfing, on some courses” he’d “need to be sure to hit the head before heading out,’ and then he’d “be out there and suddenly have to go again.” Okaaaaaay Mens – please? Get this stuff checked out?

  • sooo faaancy
  • lunch
  • dinner

We were surprised to walk into Lunch to tables set with chargers and cloth napkins! The Lunch was very tasty – Dinner a bit less so. Dinner was quinoa with a “topping” of garbanzo beans and other things – which gave me gas (TMI!) There were two salads that were tasty though – a spinach, strawberry and walnut salad with balsamic, and a green apple, jicama, avocado and “some other things” salad. I actually went back to have a bit more of the avocado salad, as I wanted something else to “mute” the beans. Hubby immediately said “Are you still hungry?” Good on him! I was not hungry. So I gave half of the salad to him. Hmmmm, was that his ulterior motive? 🙂

Hubby had had an issue with one of the IVs, and that’s why he hadn’t “made it back down” to meet me. The good thing though is that the Oncologist went over his panels, and the only thing that showed up was that he “wasn’t getting quite enough protein.” That seems amazing to both of us, as protein isn’t generally one of our concerns. Everything else looked good though, and his ultrasound, Xrays (teeth), etc. all were fine.

One thing that I realized today was that all the water bottles from which you’re to fill your personal one are not only glass, but they all have a word written on them (a la Dr. Masaru Emoto). How’s about that!

  • Strength
  • Joy

And – for your viewing and laughing pleasure, I will leave you with a photo that hubby took of me when he came into the room in the middle of my workout today . . .

Sanoviv: Day Two

Posted on by Sandy

When last we left our intrepid Health seekers . . .

Last night we had a very good lecture on the Mind/Body Connection. Nothing new – well, to us – such as Masaru Emoto’s slides from speaking words into water. I slept like a rock – we have separate rooms, with me in a small internal room with a twin bed, and hubby in the main room with a queen bed. He has to get up every 2 hours due to his neobladder, and been months since I have not been sleeping with that.

The thing is, generally I’m fine. (I think I’ve blogged about this before.) But if he doesn’t catch the alarm and it wakes me up, then I’m toast. (It’s usually the 4:00 a.m. alarm that he sleeps through – until I “accidentally” kick him while I’m getting out of bed, now wide awake!)

He doesn’t want me to sleep in there (my snoring notwithstanding). But it’s where I’m “supposed” to be – we’ll see whether he keeps arguing to have me in the main room. He finds the bed too hard – I think that it’s great. Maybe the queen is harder than the twin?

The TV really did “wake us up” in the morning, even though hubby had closed it into the closet it lives in 🙂 We got up, and hubby had to go (has to go, every morning) to the 2nd floor to be weighed, measured, logged, and supplement-ized. (Supplemented?) I went down to get some of the lemon/cayenne tea, and then we met up in the “Energy Medicine” session followed by the Meditation session.

A couple of the protocols that we learned in “Energy Medicine” were:

To stop worry, anxiety and help with sleep, cross your right arm over your left (or, if you do yoga and know “eagle pose,” you can do “eagle” arms, again, right over left), and cross your left foot/calf over your right. Breathe in through your nose, out through your nose or mouth. Relax into it. When you feel like it, put your tongue gently against the roof of your mouth as you breathe in, saying (in your mind) “Relax” or “Rest.” When you breathe out, put your tongue down, saying “Release.” Do this as long as you feel like it. (We did this for about 5 minutes.)

To stop a panic attack or an anxiety attack, you can put your finger out at arm’s length. Focus on it gently. Deep breath in through your nose, out slowly through your nose. Then look past your finger, and focus on something in the middle distance gently. Breathe in/out. Keep doing this calmly. Eyes are very important in “tracking danger,” and by changing the focus you are exercising the nerve endings behind your eyes, sending a “brain hack” that there is no danger. Once you understand how it works, you can do it without “holding up your finger” – all you need to do is focus on something that’s an arm’s length away, then something in the middle distance. (So you can do this “without people knowing.”)

After those classes, we were off to Breakfast. Today was a “liquid day” (“Oh YAY,” says hubby, rolling his eyes). I took a number of pictures of what we had for Breakfast, “snack,” green juice, “whole food smoothie,” Lunch (which did have a “chunky soup” as well as a smooth one, and then some croutons and “onion rings”), golden milk, Dinner. I’ll just put them in a “gallery” here.

  • breakfast
  • breakfast shake 1
  • breakfast shake 2
  • lunch soup 1
  • all the lunch things
  • onion ring writeup
  • onion rings
  • crouton writeup
  • croutons
  • midday fiber drink
  • dinner soup
  • soup, pumpkin seeds & kale chips
  • golden milk writeup
  • golden milk (served warm)

Today hubby had all of his “first consultations” with his doctors. While he did the dentist, psychiatrist, “Quiet Room,” chiropractor and the like, I first had a “Quick Food Prep” class (making smoothies), and then did my workout. I accompanied him to the Nutritionist and the Oncologist. He particularly liked the chiropractic appointment. There was a lot of muscle testing involved – at one point, when he was testing as weak, the chiropractor put hubby’s finger in a glass of water, then re-tested and the muscle was strong. The chiropractor told him he was dehydrated and that he had to drink 1/2 his body weight in “water fluids” (water, sparkling water, herbal tea) a day.

  • nutritionist’s office

As for my workout, I’ll say this about the Fitness Center. What Fitness Center? My understanding was that, while it was small, it was available. This is not really correct. You can use the Fitness Center in a group class (of course), but if you want to do a personal workout, you can’t do it during a group class, nor can you do it if the fitness folks are doing an assessment. I went by there three times today, trying to get in to do my workout. Each time I was turned away with a firm head shake from the trainer, who was “busy assessing.” Finally, I just decided that I was running out of time, and made the choice to do what I could in my room.

My Crossfit wife and I had done the first Day of my workout plan the day before I left. She thought (rightly) that in this way, I would feel that I had “gotten started” already, and would keep at it. (Ah, wives. They know EVERYTHING!) That day had been Pull – pull-ups, jump rope, banded pull-overs, stuff like that. Today was Push.

It was to have started with a 200m Run, 50m lunges, then 50m broad jumps. As it’s frowned on to Run on the walking path, I decided that I would walk quickly (that’s the best I could do) up the stairs to our room. (Seven stories.)

I then lunged my way down the hallway and back, and broad jumped (if you can call what I do a “broad jump” – white girl don’t jump) down and back.

Next were banded spiderman pushups, which turn out to wreak havoc on my bad shoulder. I was to do three sets – after having real trouble with my right side, I swapped out and did just straight (banded) pushups. As with the mobility work that I had to do next, I was able to attach the bands to the wooden “ladder” on the wall no problem.

One wee “wrench in the works” was that part way through my pushups I discovered I didn’t have my wristwraps on, and my wrists started aching. I searched high and low, and couldn’t find them. Undaunted, I took my voodoo floss bands, and wrapped them a few times around my wrist, and finished the pushups that way. (Turns out that my wristwraps were in my EmPack – phew! But it worked, nevertheless!)

The actual “workout” portion of the day was to be slow dumbbell bench press, seated overhead press, and “L” press (one hand forward, one to the side). The problem was – no dumbbells. So I decided to use the EmPack.

I filled two of the bladders up full for the bench press. (So that’s about 30 lbs.) I lay down on the table, which was the wrong height and length for me to do anything except put my knees up to keep my back in the right position.

Here’s the thing – the EmPack sags if you try to do bench presses with it. I tried a number of ways, but then finally came upon the genius solution. I put a hardback book into the front pocket, then turned the bag with that side toward me. The book “braced” the bladders on the inside, and no more middle-bag sag! (See photo.)

When it came to doing the overhead “dumbbell” presses and the “L presses,” though, 15 pounds in each hand (one full bladder) was way too much. So I let some of the water out . . . until I could lift the bladders. How many pounds is that? Haven’t got a clue – I want to say that I let about half of the water out. So maybe 7 lbs a piece? Funniest part of course was that as it was water instead of a stable dumbbell, my arms shook a LOT in “stabilizing” the weight. (Taking photos with the “dumbbell bladder” was laughably hard.)

I did get out to take a few photos of the “mansion” today, but I’ll save those for tomorrow. A few things of note:

Get a ThinkSport hot/cold bottle. I brought one (the biggest size). It’s great to get hot water in from the “Tea Room,” to bring back up to your room. (We particularly like to have herbal tea before bed.) There are lots of herbal teas down there (this is where you get the lemon/cayenne water every morning), but we brought an orange Tazo tea that hubby particularly likes. Having this bottle is genius. (We did have to “liberate” a couple of mugs from the dining room though.)

Bring your Nalgene bottle! I was told/read in other folks’ reviews that I couldn’t bring my own bottle, that I would be given a “special Sanoviv bottle.” The thing is – that they’re small Nalgene bottles! As such, if you have a larger sized Nalgene bottle (especially one with the “bite top”) then you should pack it. Unscrewing the top of the bottle every time you want to drink water (which is lukewarm, by the way . . . apparently cold water isn’t great for your gut biome) is a pain.

Don’t forget your pill containers! I assiduously counted out all pills into their bottles . . . and then forgot the “daily pill” containers to put them into! Can’t believe it! So far, no one has given us heck about the supplements/pills we brought. In fact, no one has looked at anything. (Hubby keeps reminding me we could have come in with a “James Bond briefcase” of Absolut red label 100 proof, caviar and pate and no one would have been the wiser 🙂 ) The Oncologist (of course) wanted a list of everything – he took hubby off all of Broffman’s supplements except the Melatonin and DHEA. Hubby is “prescribed” (no joke) 2-6 pills every other hour, liquid iodine, liquid something-else-that-tastes-terrible, and also that “Flora” stuff that you can get at Whole Foods that needs to be kept refrigerated.

And for your viewing pleasure . . . a “snuck” photo of one of the Chinese visitor tables – all on their cell phones. I am likely going to Hell for doing this, but, as noted in the last blog post, this is just too funny.

How’s by all of you??