We discuss in this podcast:

• After Louise’s knee became swollen she was diagnosed with sero-negative Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Her first intervention was steroid injections into the knees which provided short-lived results
• How the swelling increased and she was put on a mix of drugs
• Healing through food
• The importance of doing research and understanding the disease
• How Louise’s recovery shifted gear with the Paddison Program
• The right pace to come off medications
• Being an example and spreading the message

Clint – Here we go again with another inspirational conversation to help you with your journey towards improvements with inflammatory arthritis. Today’s guest is Louise. She’s from Wannabee, which is a part of Victoria, which is the southern area of Australia. And this is our very first conversation. We have jumped on this call and we’ve had about a five-minute chat. And I have not deliberately activity questions because I want to hear Louise’s story myself for the very first time. And it’s a story of recovery and it’s a story of hope and transformation. And she grew up on a dairy farm, she tells me so herself and I both have that in common, given that I grew up on a farm as well. And it was common to not shop for the meat in the family but to source it from the farm. And we are going to hear Louise’s story now. And she tells me it’s a good one. So thank you, Louise, for coming on the podcast.

Louise – Thank you Clint for having me, I’m excited.

Clint – Oh, yes. And I could tell from our email exchanges you said you sent initially an email saying, I really want to come on the podcast. You’ve been wanting to do so for some time and you feel like now’s the time. And so tell us, what are we going to expect. What’s the trailer of our experience today?

Louise – Yeah, sure. So I was diagnosed with Sero Negative rheumatoid arthritis over a year ago. And I really want to give a great snapshot to my recovery and the journey with the Paddison Program and how I’m feeling now. And some tips, and some inspiration on overcoming the disease.

Clint – Yeah, awesome. So how did it sort of begin for you? What were the first symptoms? What was your experience getting out of bed and all of the none of the negative things that were happening?

Louise – Yeah, I really had to, because it’s been over a year now, I really had to sort of think back into that mindset of what it was like. So around March twenty eighteen, I was looking out for my parent’s farm. Around that time, they dry off the cows so I was back just doing some farm duties. And I’d been out of action for a little while, I love my exercise, fitness has always been a really big part of my life, especially running. So the November twenty seventeen, I lost my son Max, he was born thirty two weeks, and sadly six weeks later he passed away. So between November and March, I hadn’t I guess I was just healing. And around March I thought, yeah, I’m going to get back into my exercise and my fitness. And I’ve always been into running, cycling and swimming, and I thought my aim was to do a triathlon. So I also went running around my parents farm and I guess my left knee just felt really, really peculiar. It was, I thought I’ve done my meniscus, it just felt like a real grind after the run. And that’s sort of sticking. It was like a real sticking point in my knee or in that meniscus area, and that went on for about three weeks. And I can vividly remember driving up to Melbourne, so a three hour trip and my left knee just blew, it just the fluid just filled up my left knee whilst travelling in the car on a three hour trip. I thought that’s really sort of that’s unusual, but I knew my brothers likemy family we’ve just had a funny dugee, sort of (inaudible) knees. And my brothers had previous knee fluid retention in the knees and died for covid. So I thought, oh, this is perhaps very similar. So the journey began. I went to the car pectore, I was getting dry needling, I went to the doctor, I got draining, they took the fluids. I remember getting steroid injections, what’s that called? The cortisone injections and this just went on and on for quite some time. So During that period of time, I wasn’t able to run, I wasn’t able to pursue my dream, my goal of doing that triathlon and when I really wanted to think after losing a child. Exercise (inaudible), and my mental health was everything. So look sleeping at night was so painful, just rolling over, sort of just from my partner in the middle of the night or maybe getting out of the car and sort of sliding out of the car because I couldn’t bend my knee, it was just so slow. And I had a really sedentary job at the time I was working for as a graphic designer. So I would sit with a box under my desk elevated because the joint is just so it would throb. And I just had no idea I wasn’t getting any answers. So as time went on, I’m really fortunate I live by the ocean. So during this period of time, I plunged, I plunge and I swam in the ocean to get some respite from that time and also to help with my mental health. So we’re going through the depths of the Warrnambool winter and I’m plunging in the ocean and limping around on the icy sand without an answer. And I think I was planning a lot as well because I was so tired, I was really, really, really, really petite.

Clint – How long was this going on for? So just to recap, you’ve had some, like, absolute world crushing, horrible experience of losing your son. OK, and then you’ve been through that emotional upheaval and developed joint pain. And this is common, you’ve had too traumatic a hugely traumatic event leading to the physical symptoms showing up. And you’ve got this terrible swollen knee that you’ve been through, you know, the cortisone shots and so on, and it continues to swell. So what I want to know is how, back in 2017 and how long did this go on for? And then did other symptoms start in other parts of your body whilst you were, going through your emotional recovery and plunging in the cold water and so on?

Louise – Yes, did so about September, March to September how many months is that?

Clint – March to September, March, April, May and June, July, August six?

Louise – Took me six months to finally get a referral through, I went to see a sports therapist, a sports doctor. Yeah, I thought this guy’s going to fix my knee. No one else’s. Yes. He gave me the referral to, see rheumatoid arthritis specialist in Geelong, so a two hour trip. So, yeah, I tell you what, you’re right, I can vividly remember being in the bathroom and looking down at my right knee and I’d notice the extra swelling and I thought, oh, my God, it’s spreading. And that is what is happening, what is happening to me? And that’s when I knew that it was more then than what perhaps my brothers had experienced in the past. So off I went Geelong with my mother in law and, you know, we made a bit of a day of it,And I went and met the rheumatoid arthritis specialist and she did an amazing job at her job. She had the most incredible poker face, you know, about delivering how serious of a disease this was, if that makes sense. So she played down, I guess, the severity of my outlook and how that would look on me for the rest of my life I guess. So, I just sort of went, so she diagnosed me with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, so that’s when it mirrors large joints. So that’s why it was going into the other to the other knee. And at that time it might have been a little bit later on and it did start filtering into my lower back as well. So, I said, how does this happen? I didn’t even, I knew what the boy didn’t even know what rheumatoid arthritis was. I knew what arthritis was, obviously the type that I didn’t know about this. And I’d given my, I’d given her a bit of an outline of me. You know, I remember her asking me, have you have a (inaudible) and have you ever experienced gut health and that was bad?

Louise – But um, so I gave her a bit of a timeline of what happened with me and the trauma and the loss, so she understood where I was at. And so I sort of spoke about, OK, what what’s going to happen. She said, look, we’re going to start you on Sulfasalazine. And we’ll get going, with a normal lady like yourself, you can say, can I run if you will, lead a normal, healthy life. What about if I want to try and have children again? Yeah, that’ll be a little bit of a different story, We’ll mix up your medication and we want you to we’ll have you on a cocktail of things, basically, you know, if it should be OK. And if it’s not, come back and we will up the dosage, we will try different types of medications. And if worse comes to worse, we’ll get you in for injections, I thought Oh my God injections. Yeah. So that’s when it all kicked off September twenty-eighteen. And I guess I was in a really vulnerable place. I was, I was just, I just wanted to be pain-free. The pain was just so it was just so uncomfortable. I just so I guess I was vulnerable and naive. And in that period of time the sports stopped giving me some meds. I can’t remember the name, and then just a Tie over.

Clint – Prednisone or Prednisolone?

Louise – Yeah, I think so, and it was always in flight fighting (inaudible) That was just incredible, the girls at work with sort of really quite concern because my jaw would be clenched and it was like I had 20 cups of coffee.

Clint – Because they’re steroids.

Louise – OK, so off I went. So what are we looking at. Yep. So I started taking the medication. She said, look at it, it will take quite some time to start coming into effect. And my energy levels were just so low. So I’m actually a really active person. I love sport, I love my fitness and actually very optimistic and positive. But I was just flat, you know, it was like my inner flame was out. I can remember being in the girls trip in Noosa and just so tired, I was just so unbelievably tired. So time went on would have been about December Twenty eighteen. And we did just zoom chat with the Rheumatologist and said, how’s it going? It’s not great, the swelling’s going down a little bit but not a lot. It was as easy as as buying off Panadol the shelf. She said not a problem, I’ll prescribe more medication. So to help further on with the reduction, so I took that so I was on two types.

Clint – What was the other type, do you re-call?

Louise – I can’t actually recall that. I’m sorry. So my sister sent me, she said obviously my sister knew my situation and my past and she’d seen a documentary on Netflix called Heal. So it was a very similar sort of story with a documentary about a football player and how he had a vulnerable injury, and it was just very similar to my story. But it didn’t give me the answer, It didn’t give me the answer. It was more about the mind and healing through the mind, I though okay, there has to be more (inaudible). So that’s when I really started my investigation, I thought, yep, yep, there’s more out there. But I remember being on the Internet and just looking and looking, and I couldn’t find you and I couldn’t find anything about feeling through food. Until my naturopath, was at work in and around January twenty nineteen and a little quiet word to, you know, and he said, come in and see me. So that’s when the ball started to get rolling. And he said to me, yeah, we, we can help you with this and I can get you off the meds, but it will take some time.

Clint – That’s a very bold naturopath, he’s got a lot of confidence.

Louise – Yeah. So if you shout out to Sharon Holland (inaudible). She had my back, she was the first person that said that she had helped treat someone like me.

Louise – So she had me sort of on a range of things and had got the ball rolling. Not quite as strict as the Paddison Program, but I had started in that whole food space. So and I thought, and I was and I guess in that period of time, I did a lot of research myself. I did a lot of reading about the disease. And I vividly remember this one line in a book or whether it was online that just shocked me and shook me to the core. And I guess doing that research and reading that bit of information made me so determined. So anyone out there and that’s what I want to advocate for today to people listening is to really do research and understand the disease and the severity of it. So the line that got me was they described it as rheumatoid arthritis is burning down the house, slowly burning down the house. And just, you know, sometimes it just rang with me, and I thought, oh, my God, I don’t get on top of this my body, my organs. I just kind of perish.

Clint – I don’t know whether or not it’s the phrase that I use, which is the having the disease is like having a house on fire and you don’t let it burn. You immediately bring it every single fire truck that you know and you put it out as quick as you can. You don’t just sit back and let it burn it.

Louise – Yeah, absolutely. So I was with the naturopath, it sort of got the ball rolling and I happened to be (inaudible) is a natural health food store in (inaudible), huge shout out to the girls there they do an amazing job. And Helen Harris and I was just chatting to Harris she works there. And I told her about what’s been going on, and actually, she’d lost a child as well, she lost a little baby as well. And I think that’s where we built that sort of connection, and I told her about my rheumatoid arthritis and she said, oh, you must be very I’ve still got a little piece of paper. She said, must look up Clint Paddison, when you get home. I went to a forum or a conference. Yes, and I did. I got home and I looked you up and I was like, yes, this is gold. So I quickly bought your program, I downloaded the app. I sent the and I’ve got the (inaudible), I’ve got your program printed off and I’ve got a spiral bound and laminated. And at that time I started studying and I was so excited to go to the printer because I knew it was ready that I’d left class. I left at about 10:00, it was like a full day. I just I just really wanted to get my hands on it and read it. So I did a lift, a lift, and I went and got a book.

Louise – And that’s when the magic happens. That’s when it all started, I got straight onto the cleanse and I think it was great where I was at, what I was doing with my naturopath. But your program just catapulted my healing and instantly. So I started to cleanse, I started juicing, I think the cleanse really, really catapulted my recovery, my healing, and my energy just went through the roof. It just I felt alive, like I almost feel like I was just existing. I guess I was I was just sort of dragging my body around, so it was just so amazing. And it was easy for me to to stop drinking alcohol, I love a good drink, love a party to stop drinking coffee to say no to. And I did it for four months, I did do a program for four months with ease actually, I did it with ease. I went to parties, and I’d go to parties and it really didn’t bother me. Yeah, that that’s where it all started. It’s changed my life. And I think that your programs not only healed me, but it’s made me. And it’s funny, isn’t it, like you go through these challenges in your life, but it’s given me the key to understanding how your body can function at a really high frequency and vibrancy through a plant-based diet.

Clint – Yeah, absolutely.

Louise – It educated me to understand that when I look back, know, I look back at my life and now it’s I feel so good inside and out because I know how to eat and I know what makes me feel good. Yeah.

Clint – Isn’t it crazy that, you know, if you were to study animals in the wild, a chimpanzee knows what to eat, it doesn’t have to look it up on the Internet. A tiger knows what to eat, every other animal other than human beings just know inherently what to eat and they don’t question it and they seek it, even if it’s challenging to get food. If a Lion only eats every four days and to get food, it has to take an entire day and a pack of pack of them to be able to expel all the energy they have to just get one catch or one kill to feed the family of lions and then lie down for another four days. They don’t have a question. Is there a better way of doing this? Should I be eating something else? No, it’s just how it is. But with humans, which we just like we just don’t seem to have ever worked out or at least have understood until probably the last several decades and especially in the last decade, how the body responds best to food and what tends to prolong life. And a plant based diet does that according to the science. And so we’ve had the studies now and we’ve seen this and we’ve had enough research done on enough people to know that, look, the body likes fiber, it likes it likes, you know, to thrive. It thrives on plant based foods. And so. You’ve got the keys to life when you know what to eat and you do it, that’s like one of the biggest keys to life that we should be just we should be educating our children from when they’re born. You know what I mean?

Louise – It’s everything really. Like anything you eat, it’s your fuel it’s the key to to a happy life.

Clint – So some things come to mind. First of all, you mentioned the word catapult. I love the word catapult and catapulting. Yes. So that implies to me that changes happen quickly. So did you experience fast changes?

Louise – Yes 100 percent. It was a little while ago when I did it, but, yeah, absolutely so and I was working with my naturopath to gradually come off those meds as well. I didn’t want to do it too quickly, but I noticed within the first couple of weeks reduced inflammation, especially my left knee, which is the most vulnerable me. So absolutely within that first couple of weeks and in that month, I was just I was killing it. I really was and my naturopath was sort of walking with me as well, she said Louie I expected this to take a lot longer. She expected it to take a lot longer but I’ve done it in such a short amount of time. And I was gentle as well, like I didn’t push myself to exercise, I just took it really gently. And that’s one piece of advice, I couldn’t do everything in your program. I couldn’t do the Bikram yoga, a little bit of love. We didn’t have that facility here in Warrnambool. But instead I went to the beach and I think that’s one piece of advice that I’d love to give to your listeners, is just manipulate things that you can’t quite do in your program. And tailor it to you, to your to where you are at. So I for four months, so I can’t quite remember what sort of time frame it was when I come off all the meds.

Louise – I went on a European holiday in August and I thought, here we go. I thought this is really going to test me to see whether or not because I couldn’t control the way I ate in that four month period. The beauty was and I will say it does require a lot of energy and time and preparation, it never had so many pots and pans and juicing equipment before. So while I was studying, it was awesome. I had my sit times and I’d set my meals, and my peers would just so intrigued with what I was doing, what are you eating? But I couldn’t control that, I remember in the first week of the holiday, so I sort of I got some basics and things like that, but I didn’t allow myself to indulge. I drank alcohol and I drank coffee and I tried some things that I wouldn’t normally that I hadn’t in the last four months. And I was waiting for it, I was waiting for the inflammation just to flare. And it didn’t, and it didn’t flare And I was so happy. So in the back of my mind, I thought, this is really interesting to see. So I’ve wrote my rheumatoid arthritis specialist a letter, and I guess is a very cathartic experience to do that. And I never got a response, which is fine. But it just and it baffles me Clint.

Clint – What did you write in the letter?

Louise – I wrote in the letter, my findings of how I got to be in her office. So I understood the core root through my investigation and through your help and my naturopath. I understood that Leaky gut. So I always had of a gut going through the trauma and the loss of my son Max, and what impact that would have had on my whole being and my knee injury. So that predisposed knee injury, I understood it. I was like, right, I get it. So I just said I just Dear Doctor, you know, I no longer require you no longer require your assistance. I understand the core root of the problem. And yeah. And I’m just baffled that yeah. I’m just baffled that I don’t know the words.

Clint – So I think what you’re wanting to say, the sentiment that you’re wanting to convey is that it would be nice that the people who you go to see as the basically the pinnacle of all your treatment, understood that diet plays an incredible role in the outcome of the patient and that anything that affects the gut microbiome affects the outcome of the patient. They are very much aware that pre-existing conditions in joints tend to attract more inflammation and tend to be sources of high disease activity. In fact, my rheumatologist told me that I think in our very first visit. So we know the medical community very much aware of that. What we would really like is that they are aware of the science, the published medical literature that shows how much diet plays a role in rheumatoid arthritis. And something like our program just takes it to an extreme, where it’s a compilation of the science put together into one source where you can address the microbiome from every angle, from exercise, diet, supplements and so forth. So. Well, it’s interesting also to me that you came off the meds with your naturopath, so did you actually not go back and see the rheumatologist again?

Louise – No, I didn’t. And I’ve never had a follow up, but I’ve never had a call. I’ve never had a call back from that practice to see if I was okay I could imagine.

Clint – Interesting. Yeah.

Louise – That must mean, they did get the email.

Clint – Ok, so that chapter’s closed for the moment. So what about the knee, how’s the knee today? And I can you just clarify for me, because right at the start of our conversation, and I’m not sure if I’m the only one who got this wrong, but it sounded like you said you were diagnosed a year ago, but the symptoms started 2017. So just give us the timeline in terms of key, can I attempt it and you correct me. So I’m somewhere throughout 2017, the knee began to swell. It had swelling for six months that wasn’t controlled by steroid injections. Then you notice the other knee started to swell. You started sulfasalazine and then later when that was failing, you added another drug which you don’t recall the name of, and then you saw the naturopath and then you started the Paddison Program. And about four months after doing those interventions, you were able to to to come off the medications. How long ago since you took your last med?

Louise – That would be let’s have a little look here.

Clint – I mean, roughly a year,

Louise – No, it would have been about, say, March, April or May last year.

Clint – Oh, right. So if you’re in a bit and how is the knee or knees now?

Louise – So I achieved my goal.

Clint – You did the triathlon?

Louise – Yes, It was pretty and so the wonderful triathlon club held little mini triathlons. In November last year, and someone just a friend of mine just said you should give the little mini triathlon’s and crack, so I did and I got myself a bike, natural sort of a swimmer and runner. And yeah, I competed in the three mini triathlons and then I ran in the Olympic size, competed in an olympic size triathlon here. When was that? Summer in January sorry, January this year. And it was you know, it was amazing, I thought it was a really big milestone for me to achieve, actually. So I did eventually get there, I’m pain-free, my knees are great, I can run, I can swim, I can ride, yeah, I chased that goal. So not a lot of people know my story, a few people do. And I think inside me, when I was competing, I was really leadoff inside. I was so happy that I was able to overcome. I think, what I’ve overcome in the last couple of years is massive. And I think to heal yourself through food, through (inaudible) yeah is incredible. And I think that’s the main reason why I wanted to come in and to do this interview with you today to reach people, because I know what it’s like to be all alone and have no understanding. And I’m sure the same is to a lot of other diseases out there. I really want to promote and advocate your program.

Clint – We should reach out to plant-based news, which are a large reach organization based out of the UK, but have a very large worldwide reach. They’d love your story and reach out to plant based news. I’ll grab a contact for you and they’ll run your story because it’s really, really cool. One thing I love about it is that it’s quite it’s quite complete, you know. So you’ve got quite a complete recovery, and it’s also really focused on the food side of things. And so it makes for a great story of real feel good story for really, really wide audience. So I recommend you do that.

Clint – The other thing that I like about it is that it’s your attitude so good, you know, and that’s not to say that all other guests have not. It’s just that, you know, you’re saying to me, I want to promote this message and I feel that I can assist you with that and say, OK, well, we’re doing this. But if you want to take that further, let’s take it further. Reach out to plant based news. I mean, then you’re hitting a really, really big audience. And so I’ll see what I can do to assist with that.

Louise – Oh, that would be amazing to help, it’s the whole package, isn’t it? It’s just psyche, your mental health feel ill being, you know, and if people are suffering and in taking that tablet there is more to life, you know, there is more to life than just feeling 50 percent.

Clint – Yeah, absolutely. When you were telling your story, I was nodding along with such familiarity and I’m sure so many other people were the drugs can cause a lot of fatigue. The disease causes fatigue so even without the drug, you would have been suffering from low energy levels. And then the medication as well for some people the side effect is lower energy. Me with my methotrexate, it was I was actually smashed, I was like a zombie walking around all the time. So I totally get it. And so, look, the naysayers might say, oh, look, Louise, she didn’t it was zero negative, so it wasn’t sero positive, which tends to have a less overall severity. So nay-sayers might say that. Naysayers might say, you know, oh, well, you know, you’re a high responder and that doesn’t normally happen so quick. And the answer to this is so what, this is your story, you had it this could have ended up in an absolutely shocking scenario, the fact that you were developing that in your other knee. I mean, if you play this forward long enough with enough inflammation in those knees, that’s a double knee replacement in, let’s say, worst case, say, 10 years time. And then you’ve got all the medications that you’re taking, which can lead to other side effects and all sorts of lifestyle, sort of depression also stuff. So, look, let’s not compare you to anyone else, let’s just look at what you were going through and where you are now. And it’s extraordinary, it is extraordinary. The way the body can heal, you are all swollen in the knee and then all that swelling has dissipated and been removed from the body, and your knees now back to normal. I mean, God is good, right? This is freaking incredible.

Louise – And I think the funny thing is growing up on a dairy farm and growing up on dairy and meat, you know. And like you were just stay in the lead up also into it and so excited, you know, I’d be telling people my story. (inaudible). But nobody wasn’t getting the response I was looking for because people died. Not a lot of people get it, not a lot of people understand. I personally feel and I was in that space to, let’s say if I can advocate for people in the south west of Victoria and be that person that helps. And I will be so humble in doing so if it.

Clint – I always compare it to cancer, because people understand cancer. When you hear cancer, the human reaction is, OK, if you can beat that blah, blah, blah, like let’s get the whole community together and get balloons and give you money. Right. So and I’m not being facetious, I’m just saying that my illustration is everyone comes together and rallies for you and there’s a community support. When it’s autoimmune, there’s a lot of kind of like there’s just no understanding, there’s whispers behind closed doors, there’s what’s going to happen to them? They’re going to end up crippled and stuff. And nobody understands because it’s just this it’s this we are misunderstood and just this cloud of confusion. And so when you then say, hey, and now I feel great, there isn’t the full feeling of tremendous understanding and concern to then relieve that with the own down. What an achievement. And then you’ve got that happy connection between the two differential points. Instead, it’s like, okay, well, I was confused before and now you say you better. Okay, but what does that mean? Like, you know, there’s not that sudden snap of happiness.

Louise – Oh yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s education isn’t? And it’s the awareness. And if I can help someone in that period of time when I couldn’t find what I was looking for, whether it’s rheumatoid or lupus or any other auto-immune. There’ll be thousands people with autoimmune diseases, it could greatly benefit from your program. So I hope today by coming on here that I’ve inspired someone, please contact me if you want. I’d love to be contacted if that’s possible and help motivate. I think that I’m really lucky because I had that motivation in me. I had that determination to smash this disease, and I did. And it also. It’s going to be a cool foundation of my life moving forward. So while I’m doing your cleanse again is, I will sit back on the coffee and drinking wine in isolation during the pandemic. Pretty good, I’ve been in a predominantly plant base, but I’ve just introduced specialty coffee, coffee. I have significantly understood with my body we just don’t get along. It drains me of my energy, I know it sounds really strange, but that’s why I’m back on your cleanse program at the moment to cleanse, to restart. And I really think moving forward, my body functions a hell of a lot better on a plant-based diet. They did a great job Mom and Dad, raising me on that dairy farm with full cream, fat milk and beef that I really do (inaudible) on plant-based diet.

Clint – It’s funny that that also tends to be the case for most people, but it can take a long time when switching before the body starts to develop the enzymatic activity and the gut microbiome to match the food. So I describe it as you driving down quickly down one side of the road, and then when you switch immediately to a plant based diet, it’s like having to cross over the median strip and it’s like clunky in the trees and you to the grass down the gutter. And then you’ve got to get back up to the other road and then you’ve got to slowly build up momentum and acceleration on the other side. And the whole process can be a big shake up, and it’s all some kind of, you know, disruptive process. But slowly, the body adjusts, the digestion starts to adjust, and then we feel good. But yeah, that can be a bit of a clunky period for a few weeks, sometimes a month or so.

Clint – So I think the only thing that we agreed to talk about before this, I don’t think we’ve quite nailed it. And just even though we’re on a bit of a hyam, we could wrap it up now just for completeness so that we don’t think we should have mentioned that is the curiosity angle. You said that you wouldn’t have gotten here if you hadn’t have been curious, if you hadn’t have seen the naturopath, if you hadn’t have spoken to the wonderful person that Gaviota who saw me speak at one of the conferences that I was hosting. So you said that the curiosity is important, can you explain that a little bit more?

Louise – I guess it’s the curiosity around what’s happening to you holistically, the bigger picture. The curiosity to your lifestyle, to your past, to your past medical history, to really question, really question where you are and why you’re at this point. And I don’t come from that medical that sort of medical background or that health real health background, so to me to really investigate and research what this disease is and to really weigh up, really weigh up the pros and cons of what that looks like, going down, going down to pass. And yeah, and I think to network, you know, to have those little conversations and be brave enough to talk about your health, I think especially being someone who likes to make someone feel uplifted, talking about your problems and your issues, especially your health, had a little curious conversation with people.

Clint – I completely agree. Have these conversations and yes, they are tricky to talk about, if you’re trying to be the upbeat, happy person and then you bring up health and you’ve had a challenge, there’s a balance to make that conversation still remain a positive message. And I think that you do a great job of that. You know, your story is compelling. You have, when you are talking about the onset of the condition and having, you know, lost Max and in the knees, you know, so all of this is very, very somber and serious. But then you’re able to say, hey, I hit the water, I’m swimming in the cold no matter what. I’m doing everything I can and I never gave up. And now you’re doing cleansing again, it’s like this is a lifelong thing. And whilst we hope that we never have to, lose faith, face and show up again with our tail between our legs to the rheumatologist. Weirder the things could happen, I’ve said in the past, you know, if one day I need to take medications because of some, stupid change I’ve made to my diet, you don’t know if I have some traumatic event in my gut microbiome gets blown out through some horrible event, then medications might be necessary. We never say never, but we fight the fight every day because it’s crucial when we’re swimming against the tide of a serious health condition to swim at least as fast as the current trying to take us the other way. So I know you’re going to do it because of your attitude and the sort of natural optimism that you have and the vibrancy that you have. So I think you’ve conveyed a lot of that today, and that’s been really, really great. There are nay sayers, there are people who question that if you can be the spokesperson and the source of light amongst your little community and get that out further by reaching more people, I think that you have found a part of your purpose. You know, this is such a rewarding and incredibly valuable gift to be giving the world is helping people with their health.

Louise – Absolutely. And I just want to take this time to thank you, you have educated me and given me the key to optimal vitality, and that makes me a better human being.

Clint – Oh, thank you, Louise, and thank you, because, you know, once this is something like the hundred or something podcast, I still get goose bumps when I hear your story. And I’m getting goose bumps as I’m hearing about you getting all your kitchen organized to do the cleanse and how it’s making you feel better and so forth. And it’s just it uplifts me, this session has been uplifting to me to think, yes, set up the camera, make another video, put it on youtube, put up with occasionally some nasty people saying silly things, because the vast majority, the ninety eight percent who say wonderful things and then have wonderful experiences is worth it. And so, thank you for giving me the energy again to do this. And if any other people are thinking about telling this story, please reach out to me. Come tell your story, these stories that motivate me to keep doing this stuff, to put out the content. So thank you.

Louise – That’s what stories are out there, we’re for a purpose. And if that’s a part of my journey that I help people, with their health and I’m humbled to be able to do so. So thank you for giving me the key, because it makes me very human. It gives me the energy to be able to put myself out there and do things that I once was too tired to do.

Clint – Awesome. Well, keep it up, Louise. Thank you so much. And when you told me the triathlon bit, I’m like, wow, that is brilliant you did well keeping that from me. I didn’t know that.

Louise – I’m so disappointed because of the coronavirus at the moment. I probably would yeah, I would have been really actually having a bit more of a crack this year. I probably I reckon I would have got someone maybe like a trainer to do me a bit of a program to be able to compete this summer but because of the pandemic that’s not going to happen. But that’s all good.

Clint – That’s right. That’s right. That’s right. It’s you know, compared to others who have been affected in much more negative ways by the virus, that’s not too bad. And you were able to achieve that goal earlier anyway. And so anything beyond that is cream. And any other exercise you can do, you know, regularly is going to be fantastic for your ongoing health. So I’m going to wrap it up and say thank you so much and keep up the wonderful effort.

Louise – Cool. Thanks so much. Clean and good luck to everyone out there.