From the August 2005 Idaho Observer:

My life’s journey into the power of how God and nature "cure"

by Sara Landis

A rough start

My journey into natural medicine began long before I ever knew I was even on one. At six weeks old my mother took me in for a well-baby checkup, which included what she believed to be the DPT vaccine. The next day, between 5-10 minute sleeping intervals, I began arching my back and screaming.

Eventually my mother took me to the hospital concerned with dehydration since I was also unable to hold anything down. The doctor gave me a suppository to control the vomiting. However, by the time we reached home my diaper was filled with blood (thanks for the suppository, doc). My mother rushed me back to the hospital where they further assaulted my body. My mother and her best friend held me down while the doctors removed fluid from my soft spot and administered a spinal tap. I was diagnosed with "multiple viruses" and placed in intensive care. Night after night my parents were told not to expect me to live. They placed a cloth that many had prayed upon in my hands, and I held it tightly as a prayer chain continued around the world for me. I clung to my cloth as my parents sat outside the hospital crying. They told God they would love to keep me, but that if they couldn’t, they would still serve him. From that moment on I started getting better.

Second miracle

I spent part of my childhood in Alaska. I made sure I ate plenty of dirt and tormented my older brothers with my favorite snack: garlic oil capsules. For an extended period of time I would only eat French fries and apple juice. Later, my childhood fare consisted of the typical American diet: flour, sugar, canned and processed stuff labeled "food", and more than my share of French fries. My diet and extended antibiotic use (for chronic sinus and kidney infections) led to chronic constipation. Eventually, my bowel problems landed me in the hospital when I was 12, for a blockage that was to be removed via surgery. Not only were my bowels in trouble but they told me I had the gallbladder of a 70-year-old woman. Now I realize that my addiction to French fries led to my early gallbladder problems. Thankfully, I was spared once again as my blockage miraculously disappeared on the colonoscopy screen right before they were to begin surgery.

My brother’s experience

plants a seed

Shortly after my scheduled surgery was canceled, my older brother, Dan, was diagnosed with encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). His doctors theorized that the cause of the inflammation was from the water that we all had been swimming in. I now believe it was caused by a tetanus vaccine since he had received a Dt (diphtheria/tetanus) vaccine about five years earlier for stepping on a rusty nail. From my studies I have learned that encephalitis can show up years after a tetanus shot.

Dan became paralyzed on the right side of his body. I remember being with him in his room at Bonner General Hospital as they injected an unknown substance into his arm. "It’s burning!" he screamed. My Dad couldn’t take it any longer and said "that’s enough." He scooped him up and we took him home.

After many months in battle with the allopathic medical field, my parents realized Dan wasn’t getting any better. In fact, he was getting worse. He even lost his ability to speak. Since they were desperate to help him, they took him to a naturopathic doctor. The hospital doctors said it would take at least a year of physical and speech therapy to get him walking and talking again. The naturopathic doctor had him doing both in less than a month.

Naturopathy was also my first experience with muscle testing [kinesiology]. I remember thinking how fascinating it was. After that, I was hooked on alternative medicine. I read articles from health magazines my Dad would bring home to me and saved the graphs and interesting factoids from them. But, as I became a teenager, I moved away from all that and continued my carefree ways and bad eating habits. Little did I know I was in for the greatest blow of my life.

Three souls

At the age of 18, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Hypoglycemia. Soon after, I realized I was pregnant. My overwhelming joy of upcoming motherhood went spiraling down around me when I went in for an ultrasound at the end of my first trimester. I was considered 13 weeks along, but my baby had actually died at 8 weeks 2 days. I saw it on the screen, his/her little fingers and toes starting to form, but there was no heartbeat.

My loss was the first real devastation I experienced in my life. I became depressed and obsessed with figuring out how to prevent this from happening to me again. Unfortunately, I looked in the wrong place. I searched infertility and pregnancy books and left with less hope than I had before I read them. I made slight changes to my diet, but continued on with most of my bad dietary habits. I didn’t know they were as bad as they actually were for me at the time. Afterall, I went to public school and learned that the food guide pyramid was created for our health—right?

It didn’t help that I was on the W.I.C program and consumed large amounts of free cheese, milk, sugar cereal, and processed foods completely devoid of nutrition. Altogether, I lost three precious souls in a four year time period. Each one I loved, and each one I grieved for. I had pretty much given up on the fact that I would ever be able to have children of my own.

A dream come true

One night in October 2001 I had a dream. In the dream I was able to ask God two questions I wanted answers to and I would receive the answer in a print out. I only remember asking one question. Why can’t I carry a pregnancy to term? The piece of paper printed out only a list of seven or eight herbs and their actions.

When I woke up I could not remember what the list had said. Less than two months later I took an herbal course at the Workforce Training Center, where I learned of Dr. Christopher and his female corrective formulas. His diet consisted of cleansing and nourishing the body and reproductive organs. His formula contained eight herbs.

The first month I began taking it I was completely free of my horrible PMS mood swings, debilitating cramps, and heavy flow that I had suffered since the age of 12. I continued taking it faithfully every day for 8 months. Then I did the 3-day cleanse and continued with the mucusless diet, consisting of fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. I felt better than I can remember feeling my entire life. I had tons of energy! I was sleeping less and working harder. My mind felt clear and I had no more bowel problems!

One month into the diet I became pregnant for the fourth time. By this time I had completely thrown modern medicine out the window. I had an awesome pregnancy, and a beautiful home birth, but most of all I had Serenity. My little girl who completely changed me for the better and still does. She was the desire of my heart and is now the love of my life. I became a true believer in natural medicine and have continued my studies into alternative therapies with a passion.

Utilizing God’s gifts

I have seen many healings take place since then. When my mom broke her ankle, we placed comfrey poultices on it and administered it internally as well. One week after the break, her new x-ray revealed that it was completely healed. My brother Matthew had a flesh eating bacteria in his femur that left each side of the bone with only the thickness of a toothpick. He had surgery to remove the bacteria and was told he would have to have a metal rod placed in his leg. Comfrey brought back all of the bone, much to his surgeons disbelief. My Dad was healed from extreme dizzy spells and high blood pressure through dietary changes and nerve rebuilding formulas placed on his occipital bone and down along his neck. My husband saved himself from extensive problems by placing cayenne pepper on a hobo spider bite. It healed in less than 2 weeks and barely left a scar. Just weeks away from surgery, his aunt was cured from planters warts using Goldenseal. I honestly don’t have enough room here to write all of the wonderful things I’ve witnessed the body heal as more people become informed of the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

Just recently I was finally able to rid myself of ongoing sinus infections. Though they were less often and I knew how to treat them naturally, they were still a nuisance. I did another three-day cleanse and was taking large amounts of glyconutritionals. A hard tube shaped exactly like my sinus cavity, complete with perfectly-formed symmetrical rings, came out of my nose. It was hanging out of my nose and I tried to pull it out, but I could feel that it was stuck clear up under my right eye. The piece I was pulling on finally snapped off and the rest came out in three pieces the next day. Ahhh, sweet relief. No more sinus problems!

"Living" food – the key to life

The more I learn about this amazing being that we are contained in, the more I realize how simple true health actually is. What we put into our bodies is what we get out of it. If you fill it with dead, processed and devitalized products then that is what you can expect your quality of health to be—dead and devitalized. If you fill your body with whole, fresh, living food then that is also what you can expect for your health to be— fresh and whole. This includes what you put into your heart and mind, for they have an amazing amount of power over your body. This means forgiveness of self and others.

The human body never makes a mistake! It only reacts to the environment which you, yes you, have created for it!

I feel truly blessed that I am healthy today and able to share my story with you. My journey has had some bumps, but I learned something from each of them and can now see the good that came from all of my life’s lessons.

"…and the fruit therefore shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine." ~Ezekiel 47:12 

 Sara Landis is first and foremost a wife and mom. She is currently a Nutritional Herbologist and "very soon to be" a Master Herbalist and a Licensed Massage Therapist. Sara taught two classes locally on "Naturally healthy pregnancy and childcare." She is also the director of the Idaho Chapter of Vaccination Liberation. She can be contacted through email at saralandis@mail.com.

We believe that the best way to illustrate how our bodies work in both health and dis-ease is through personal testimonies. We asked Sara to share her powerful life story with our readers this month so you, too, will be empowered to take the steps necessary to heal yourselves.